Old Age. Adventure. NoretirementinGod'skingdom.

I heard and read three things this week which got me pondering my contribution to life. The first was from an organisation called Our Daily Bread which gives reflections on a Bible reading plan. It talks about a an ancient lure used to catch trout:

"Fishermen still use this lure today. It is called the Red Hackle. First used over 2,200 years ago, it remains a snare for trout by which we “get the better of them.”
As the years add up, God's faithfulness keeps multiplying.

When I read that ancient work I thought:Not all old things are passé—especially people. If through contented and cheerful old age we show others the fullness and deepness of God, we’ll be useful to the end of our days. Old age does not have to focus on declining health, pining over what once was. It can also be full of tranquility and mirth and courage and kindness, the fruit of those who have grown old with God.

“Those who are planted in the house of the Lord . . . shall still bear fruit in old age; they shall be fresh and flourishing” (Ps. 92:13–14 nkjv).

Lord, thank You for Your faithfulness throughout our lives. Help us finish our lives well in service to You and to remember that old age does not mean uselessness.

As the years add up, God’s faithfulness keeps multiplying."

The second was a reflection and celebration on Jackie Pullinger's life, as she has served God so faithfully and pioneeringly in Hong Kong for the last FIFTY years. It was by Pete Greig, founder of 24-7, He says: "Giving thanks today for this woman whose resilient witness over FIFTY years has impacted millions of lives, including my own. Whilst working with Jackie Pullinger I found my faith, discovered the power of prayer, saw that women can lead as well as men, smuggled bibles, ate dog-meat, chased men in pyjamas through Kowloon, and came to understand God's fundamental passion for justice.

Without Jackie Pullinger there might well still be a 24-7Prayer movement but I'm not sure I would ever have had the joy of being part of it. Thank you Jackie for changing this one life."

And the third was hearing about a very elderly member of my church. When my dear friend Renee went into a residential home, little Margaret Le Page faithfully posted Renee the weekly church newsletter, with a handwritten note of encouragement. Now she herself is in a nursing home, but she prays for the church members and phones them to ask how they are so that she knows more specifically how to pray for them. All she has is an armchair and a phone... and a heart willing to serve the Lord in any way she can.

As Cat and Andy prepare to go to Iraq, serving refugees, I reflect on what I have done for my life to serve God. And yes, I know it's not about DOING but BEING the best person God has designed me to be, but nevertheless.... doing is outworking of being. The most 'Jackie Pullinger' type of thing I have ever done is to teach in a bush school in Africa for a couple of years.  And spend the rest of my life trying to work out how to live better. I said 'yes' to Jesus forty odd years ago and have been trying to work out what that means and how to do it best every since.

So, nearing retirement from paid work in a couple of years, I, as I suspect others of my age do, start to reflect on how much time I have left on this earth and what I can do with it. If I were to die in a year's time, what would I do now?  

Not sure.  But it's good to reflect, be intentional... and not take myself too seriously. As in these videos:

So this is it... getting it all into perspective.

Deuteronomy 10:12 - 21 " So now Israel, what do you think God expects from you? Just this: Live in his presence in holy reverence, follow the road he sets out for you, love him, serve God, your God, with everything you have in you, obey the commandments and regulations of God that I’m commanding you today—live a good life.

Look around you: Everything you see is God’s—the heavens above and beyond, the Earth, and everything on it. But it was your ancestors who God fell in love with; he picked their children—that’s you!—out of all the other peoples. That’s where we are right now. So cut away the thick calluses from your heart and stop being so willfully hardheaded. God, your God, is the God of all gods, he’s the Master of all masters, a God immense and powerful and awesome. He doesn’t play favorites, takes no bribes, makes sure orphans and widows are treated fairly, takes loving care of foreigners by seeing that they get food and clothing.

You must treat foreigners with the same loving care—
remember, you were once foreigners in Egypt.
Reverently respect God, your God, serve him, hold tight to him,
back up your promises with the authority of his name.
He’s your praise! He’s your God!
He did all these tremendous, these staggering things
that you saw with your own eyes."

What else can we say? Paul echoes this in 2 Timothy 1:9 "He has saved us and called us to a holy life – not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,"

We are set apart to love God, to live to honour him, to obey his commands and to serve his people.

With everything we have in us.

This is it. To live a life passionately devoted to the God who loves us so passionately that he sacrificed his son for our sakes. Remember his mighty power and his relentless desire to save us from ourselves. Left to our own devices, how quickly we descend into selfishness and sin when we lose our grip on His Reality.

"Reverently respect God, your God, serve him, hold tight to him,..."

Hold tight

Love, not 'works'

"the great truth that if once a man gets it into his head that God’s principal relation to him is to demand, and to command, you will get no work out of that man; that such a notion will paralyse all activity and cut the nerve of all service. And the converse is as true, namely, that the one thought about God, which is fruitful of all blessing, joy, spontaneous, glad activity, is the thought of Him as giving, and not of demanding, of bestowing, and not of commanding. Teach a man that he is, as the book of James has it,’the giving God,’ and let that thought soak into the man’s heart and mind, and you will get any work out of him. And only when that thought is deep in the spirit will there be true service." Comment on 2 Peter 1, Maclaren's commentary.

Grace, not works.

Receiving love, not trying to earn it.

Gratitude, not guilt.

Intentionally focused...on ministry, hospitality and PUTTING OTHERS FIRST

Peter says (The Message, 1 Peter 4:1 - 2) "Since Jesus went through everything you’re going through and more, learn to think like him. Think of your sufferings* as a weaning from that old sinful habit of always expecting to get your own way. Then you’ll be able to live out your days free to pursue what God wants instead of being tyrannized by what you want."
*sufferings: aka my struggles, difficulties, little problems, inconveniences...

So: "take nothing for granted. Stay wide-awake in prayer. Most of all, love each other as if your life depended on it. Love makes up for practically anything. Be quick to give a meal to the hungry, a bed to the homeless—cheerfully. Be generous with the different things God gave you, passing them around so all get in on it: if words, let it be God’s words; if help, let it be God’s hearty help. That way, God’s bright presence will be evident in everything through Jesus, and he’ll get all the credit..." (vv 7 - 11)

Baroness Cox wrote this week: "While we might like to think that generosity is largely about what gets given from our own hands, the truth is different. Generous people understand that giving is inseparably linked to receiving, that we can only begin to be used by God to meet another’s need because we have begun to allow Him to meet our own."

Romans 12:3 puts it like this: "it’s important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him."

Proverbs 31 extols the virtues of the Good Woman.

"When she speaks she has something worthwhile to say, and she always says it kindly.
She keeps an eye on everyone in her household, and keeps them all busy and productive.
Her children respect and bless her; her husband joins in with words of praise:"

Hmm.  I ALWAYS feel incompetent and all the other in- and un- words which tell me that I don't measure up, can never measure up to this Impossibly Perfect Woman.

BUT.

I CAN do what I can with what I have. I might never, will not ever, achieve her perfection, but I can aspire to be more like her. Also, I am comforted when I think that, perhaps, this is also a picture of the church. Because, together, we CAN achieve all this and more.

"So since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvelously functioning parts in Christ’s body, let’s just go ahead and be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren’t." (Romans 12:4 - 6)

Good Morning girls posted: We aren’t aiming for perfection here but rather a heart of serving and loving those who enter our homes. I’m sure it’s not an accident that hospitality and hospital come from the same Latin word meaning healing. When we open our homes and hearts to those who are hurting, God uses our act of service to begin healing hurting souls.

Who can you open your home to today? What about the single mom down the street who is needing adult conversations and for someone to look her in the eyes and ask, “How are you really doing?”, or what about the widow whose husband recently passed away from your church? Maybe it’s the co-worker who needs to hear that they matter to God...

You see I think as Christians we have bought into this big lie that satan is selling us. (and yes, I have purposely typed a lowercase “s”) We think God only wants us to do BIG things for Him. That only the BIG things count. Big things like becoming missionaries and moving overseas, adopting 100 children, selling all our belongings or going into full time Christian ministry. You know, the BIG things.

But what if He’s not telling many of us to do those things? What if that isn’t His plan for many of our lives? What if His plan is even better than that?

What if His plan is actually to multiply our reach by each of us individually becoming intentional and purposefully, using the homes He has already blessed us with to reach those people He has sent us… by opening our doors and hearts to them?

What if we are just called to help those who are lonely feel welcomed by offering a simple meal and an open seat at a well-worn kitchen table?

God is amazing like that, you know. When we reach out to bless others, to open our doors and place an extra plate at the table, many times we end up being the one who is blessed.

So what if? What if we dream together and think about the possibilities of change God can do in our homes as we embrace our call to be hospitable? What if we push aside the temptations of perfection, the unrealistic expectations and instead offer real homes, simple meals and loving hearts? How can God move through these simple acts of obedience?

And so: "Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don’t quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality."

I've heard it said that hospitality is not about homes and hearty dining, food and feasting - though it can be. No, hospitality is about inviting others into your heart and blessing them with what you have. It is about adaptable attitudes, selfless serving and generous giving.

Is that really so hard to do? Take the first step - TODAY.

When obedience becomes a God-sized dream...

Holley Gerth has been blogging about God-sized dreams this year.  Today, Cara Sexton is contributing. These words have opened my eyes:
"I can never see to the end of a God-sized dream. There are big, fat “how?” holes lining the path and unlike my Technicolor substitute, I cannot self-construct a roadmap or define the ultimate purpose. While I may envision a pit stop on the road, I will never know the whole impact, the complete story of the dream’s fulfillment, as it is a life’s work and gracefully, I am not the only the author of this story. God dreams move by Spirit, one shaky footstep at a time into landscapes we have never imagined.

The faithful journey of following a holy dream often requires actual miracles, but even more, the faith to ask for them, to expect them while you work hand-in-hand with intimate mystery.

God dreams are always outside of our own abilities, outside of our understanding and comprehension."

Somehow, I'd thought that God-sized dreams were my own dreams which would be impossible to achieve unless God worked a miracle. But perhaps God-sized dreams are also God-inspired dreams. God's dreams. Not mine.

This seems, on a human, selfish level, if I am to be honest, quite disappointing. 'What about MY dreams?' screams my heart. 'What about MY longings, needs, wants?' As I struggle with serving in a small, traditional, so-not-how-I-want-to-worship church, my sense of frustration mounts.

Perhaps I am looking at this the wrong way round?  Psalm 37:3-4 says "Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart."



Perhaps my 'dream' is not a personal, selfish one but 'God-inspired'. And, if so, I know the dream is the call he gave me to this desert place, where my heart and spirit seem to shrink, I see nothing before me but a grey fog and I serve out of obedience. I serve.

I need to remember this:
"God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us."  – Ephesians 3:30 (MSG)

So, when I am feeling tired, and weary, and old at this game for nothing much seems to have changed for years... I remember: Psalm 71:
"In you, Lord, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame.
In your righteousness, rescue me and deliver me;
turn your ear to me and save me.
Be my rock of refuge,
to which I can always go;
give the command to save me,
for you are my rock and my fortress.
Deliver me, my God, from the hand of the wicked,
from the grasp of those who are evil and cruel.
For you have been my hope, Sovereign Lord,
my confidence since my youth.
From birth I have relied on you;
you brought me forth from my mother’s womb.
I will ever praise you.
I have become a sign to many;
you are my strong refuge.
My mouth is filled with your praise,
declaring your splendor all day long.
Do not cast me away when I am old;
do not forsake me when my strength is gone.
For my enemies speak against me;
those who wait to kill me conspire together.
They say, “God has forsaken him;
pursue him and seize him,
for no one will rescue him.”
Do not be far from me, my God;
come quickly, God, to help me."
I remember. I put myself in the right place: a servant of God. I repent of my selfishness and I choose to praise.

As Brenton Brown sings:
I will remember you, always remember you,
I will remember you and all you've done for me (x 2)
I will not forget all your benefits

even when the storms surround my soul
how you comfort me, heal all my diseases
how you lift me up on eagles wings
I will remember you always remember you
I will remember you and all you've done for
me (x 2)
I will not forget all your benefits
how you've chosen and adopted me
Orphaned by my sin grace has let me in
and never once have you abandoned me
I will remember you always remember you
I will remember you and all you've done for me
I have tasted and I've seen how you Father faithfully,
how you shepherd those who fear Your name
When the shadows start to fall and my heart begins to fail
I will lift my eyes to you again (and)

The Building and the Cornerstone

Ephesians 2:19 - 20, according to the Message:
That's plain enough, isn't it? You're no longer wandering exiles. This kingdom of faith is now your home country. You're no longer strangers or outsiders. You belong here, with as much right to the name Christian as anyone. God is building a home. He's using us all—irrespective of how we got here—in what he is building. He used the apostles and prophets for the foundation.

This is the fellowship of the saints...
It strikes me that our unity - our oneness, our sense of community, our belonging as family - rests ON the heritage of Peter and James and John and Paul...held together by Jesus.
This is different from the world.
In worldly life, we find our place in a hierarchy of others. The leaders - the best, the cleverest, the richest, the most successful - are at the top. Yet Jesus is not some remote Lord and Master, some distant boss whose business we aspire to work for or are employed by but are unsure how long we will be employed. He is the CORNERSTONE: "... the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation, important since all other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure."
We are being built TOGETHER, joined together, working together to form the church with Jesus holding us TOGETHER.
An upside-down pyramid which cannot totter and fall because of JESUS!

Chasing Francis: A Pilgrim's Tale by Ian Morgan Cron

I had no sooner finished reading ‘Chasing Francis’ than I turned back to the beginning to start all over again: this time, concurrently with the study guide at the back of the book. Every chapter provoked a hundred thoughts and questions: the study guide posed even more. This is a novel, telling the story of Chase Falcon, a modern Christian (he is actually a pastor of a mega church) who had become disillusioned with post-modernity to the point of losing his faith, alongside the story of St Francis.

It is amazing: the kind of book which references ideas - and, in this case, other writers - which make you just want to start reading and studying all about them as well. Add the comprehensive bibliography at the back of the book and years of adventure await.

Every chapter struck a chord. Chase wrestles with the kind of questions which many of us have but rarely dare to voice. Like Francis, he rediscovers his faith and, with it, different ways of expressing it. Francis served Jesus completely and unreservedly. If that’s your aim, too, then start a pilgrimage to find out how you can best do that. Start with this book.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from NavPress Publishers as part of their Blogger Review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”