JP

When I moved to where I am now, I never imagined that I would see JP and her husband CP retire.  Today was JPs last day in the office.  CPs was some weeks ago.  It will seem strange without them

Opps, I forgot

Twice recently, I forgot to attend Tuesday morning meetings.  I also forgot to book a mail bag because I had already booked a box with the same company.

I sometimes take things out of the freezer and forget to put them back in.

I have also been known to leave the cooker on.

I need to remember to work on my memory

A wealth of photos

I have discovered a large number of photos on a certain drive that I scanned or took.  Some of them contain members of my family now deceased and there is one that I think I took when I was a child as I am not in it, so I must have been behind the camera.

It is interesting to see these people, as they were when they were young adults as in my memory, I remember them in more clearly in old age.

email

I have spent the past two days putting together a long list of email addresses for a fourth coming email launch.  I can see the potential to raise prayer and support from this. It is by far the most comprehensive search through all my email accounts that I have ever done.  I am really looking forward to seeing the first edition

S and D

I had a phone convesation with S last night.  She has suffered, and I feel for her, and if it had not been for D, I would not be in touch with her.  The last time I did something D asked me to, it was going to the shelter and that was life changing for me.

I have embarked upon a path that only a few weeks ago, I did not expect.  I wonder it is will lead anywhere.  At the very least it give me an option which I am very thankful to God for.

Yesterday

Yesterdays birthday was lovely.  Apart from what I have already said about it, the same four year old who said "Happy Birthday" also picked and presented me with a flower.

birthday 2

At church today, they sang happy birthday to me.  The thing that touched me most though was that four year old Josephine said, "Happy birthday".

I the evening, to my surpise, I was presented with a birthday cake. It is nice to be appreciated

Last year the theatre surprised me by presenting me with a birthday cake.

Well here we go, into the coming week and the coming year util the 20th of May 2013

birthday

As I write this, in a few minutes time, it will be the 20th of May. It is my birthday.  I wonder what this new year will have in store?

GV Interviewing me and S

I now have a couple of photos of George Verwer Interviewing me me last saturday. One of the photos has been copied into my prayer letter.

S has been looking at my albums.  There is one album in particular that I had almost forgotten that I had of when I visited the logos Hope at leith.  I found that I could look at it with fresh eyes.

Macclesfield

Last Saturday was great. I went to Macclesfield where George Verwer was celebrating 50 years of OM in the UK.  There were people there who were X OMers whom George Interviewed, and then he walked around with a microphone interviewing serving OMers.  He came to me by saying, "Here is a Scotsman, George Falconer, how did you join OM?"  I gave a brief answer that involve me saying that I prayed for other people to go and join the Quinta team, to which George said, " Here am I, send my sister".

It was such a privilage to be there. I met a man who is an evangelist in Sheffied.  He cleans in schools and he is an alcohoc.  He has a problem with vodca.  He is divorced and can only read slowly. However, I could see that he had a great love for the lord and being at the meeting was very exciting for him.  I appreciated being there, but I think he appreciated it so much more.

It is amazing how God calls people and one never knows who he will call, or when.  That man was a reminder to me, not to dismiss people. 

pleading with M

I sent M a detailed email today, pleading with her to examine the scriptures and not to dismiss what God has revealed, lest she get her own way and God send leanness to her soul.

I felt that I had to send it.  I also pointed out that when the apostle Paul was dealing with the issue of meat offered to Idols,   he pointed out that "Everything is permissible" but not everything is beneficial, "Everything is permissible", but not everything is constructive.  U was in devotions this morning and having prayed about how I could help M, I noticed the words that I have highlighted and repeated them to her.

I think it is important that we understand the bible correctly and apply it.  So many people take things out of context and mis understand, or they construct their arguement using bullet points and do not really listen to what the lord has revealed.  We need to take time to let scripture speak to us and not approach it with our own agenda and impose it on scripture.

The call of Isaiah and Jeremiah

Isaiah chapter 6

Jeremiah chapter 1

It seems to me that neither Isaiah, nor Jeremiah expected to be called of the lord to be prophets. 

When Isaiah saw the lord, the thought he was doomed.  He said that he was a man of unclean lips and he lived among a people of unclean lips

It was the holiness of God that made him all the more aware of his sin and that of his people

Note that the live coal that the seraph took came from the alter.  The alter would be for worshiping the lord and sacrifice and he is told, your guilt is taken away.

Our guilt is taken away in Jesus Christ.

First of all God dealt with Isaiah’s sin, then when he hears the question, “Who will go for Us?” Isaiah is able to respond, HERE AM I SEND ME.

In the case of Jeremiah, his call seems to reflect that of John the Baptist.  Just as John was exceptional and filled with the Holy Spirit from birth, so Jeremiah is told in verse 5 that before he was born, God had already decided that he would be set apart to be a prophet.

Jeremiah was already of a priestly line

Isaiah thought he was not fit for the task, because he was a man of unclean lips

Jeremiah thought he was not fit for the task because he was too young.

In both cases God deals with their objections.  To Isaiah he takes away his guilt, for Jeremiah he says. “Do not say I am only a child, you must go to everyone I send you to, and say whatever I command you, do not be afraid of them for I am with you and will rescue you declares the lord.

Jeremiahs name meant “ONE WHO IS RAISED BY THE LORD”.

I AM WITH YOU   God said this twice to Jeremiah. Think on these words.  What do they mean?  I think they mean that God was promising Jeremiah that he would fight for him.  They do not mean what I think we would commonly mean that things would go well.

I see in Jeremiah chapter one, a strong implication that he was afraid, otherwise why would God say to him in Jeremiah 1:17 GET YOURSELF READY, STAND UP AND SAY TO THEM WHATEVER I COMMAND YOU DO NOT BE TERRIFIED BY THEM?

An almond branch would have symbolised the punishment to come. It was used as rod for beating.

God then adds a solemn word of warning to Jeremiah, OR I WILL TERRIFY YOU BEFORE THEM

God then gives him a promise saying TODAY, not tomorrow, not next week or next month, but right now, I have made you a fortified city, an iron pillar and a bronze wall to stand against the kings of Judah its officials and priests and the people of the land

We are here to resource other fields with people.  People we believe God is bringing into the work.

We tell them to look at our web site, read Global and Go4 it and they will see exciting opportunities that they may respond to.

AT THIS POINT READ SOME THINGS OUT OF GO 4 IT

I wonder what responses we would get it we put into Global the sort of things that God said to Isaiah and Jeremiah.  They went out in full knowledge that God had called them.  The also went out knowing that people would not listen to them

In Isaiah 6 v 9 God says, “Go and tell this people, be ever be ever hearing, but never understanding, be ever seeing, but never perceiving.  Make the heart of this people calloused, make their ears dull and close their eyes, otherwise they might see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand in their hearts and turn and be healed

At this point Isaiah wants to know for how long

God says until the cities lie in ruins and the fields are ravaged.

This is not my idea of an inspiring and exciting message.  Isaiah had already agreed to preach it.

You see in what he said to the lord, I dwell among a people of unclean lips, Isaiah acknowledged their sin.  He could not dispute this.

Just as Isaiah’s lips were touched with a hot coal and his guilt was taken away, so the lord in Jeremiah, having been told that the lord would be with him, the lord touches his mouth symbolising that he would use it to speak to the nations.

Note that in Isaiah’s case, he is a man of unclean lips, yet it was his lips that spoke the word of the lord.  God took what Isaiah thought was vile in him and used it to proclaim his word, It was not a popular word, but it was what the lord wanted him to say.

Jeremiah 1:12.  Jeremiah is asked what he can see.

He says, I see the branch of an almond tree”  the lord then says you have seen correctly, for I AM WATCHING TO SEE THAT MY WORD IS FULFILLED 

There seems to be little significance to what Jeremiah saw, but the point is the lord was watching, watching to see Jeremiah do as he was told, and he would be watching as the results of what Jeremiah had to say was carried out.

We now know that what Jeremiah prophesied was that God was angry with their sin, especially their idolatry and would bring Judgement upon them by destroying Judah using the Chaldeans.

Some of us have been in OM for some time, I wonder what we would have said, it like Isaiah and Jeremiah, would we have been so willing if God had told us about the difficulties ahead?

I see two men who did what God commanded out of obedience, I doubt if they would have been excited about doing it.

I do however think that starting out with anticipation and excitement is a good idea.  It gets you going, and when the difficulties come let us be faithful. 

When Isaiah and Jeremiah wrote what they did, they were looking back on how the lord called them.  I sometimes look back on how I started. It started with a letter from a friend who suggested that I go an join him in Amsterdam. It was my first taste of international mission.  It was difficult. I knew it would be, but the difficulties I experienced were not the ones I expected.

When someone joins OM, it is inevitable that they will have things they are afraid of, but they have laid that concern aside, and applied.  They are going to be engaged in activities that will certainly change their lives and potentially the lives of others.

I think that the stories we read in Global are exciting and uplifting, but how many stories are we not told of how hard the work really is and how discouraged people can be as they do not see the results they may have hoped for?  God is still watching, God is still with them even in the difficulties.

Two ways the lord calls people

People are called of God in different ways.  For some they see a need and respond to it as Isaiah did, God draws them out.  For others it may be more as individuals they feel called to a work as Jeremiah was, God had fashioned him for this purpose.

Jeremiah was fashioned by God for a purpose, he was of the priestly line, but he was  destined to be a prophet to the nations.  This would have been Judah and the surrounding nations.

Isaiah, without asking what lay ahead for him saw the need and said, “here am I send me”

How did God call you into the work and how is he though us calling others into the work and sending them out?  We do not put the negative stuff in our publicity, but we do prepare them before they go out.

The 8th of May

One of my childhood memories is of my mother talking about her mother and saying she would have been ( mention an age) today.  She was of course long dead having died in 1958.  I now find myself thinking the same thing.  Today is the 8th of May and Mum and her twin sister (Aunt Margaret) would have been 86 today.

May day

I did not go anywhere on May day. Someone on the radio described bank holidays as being trapped in the house, ( in her case with children) and raining and lo and behold it was raining.  I decided not to spend any money as I will be spending quite a bit on fuel over the next couple of weeks.  a lot of it spent going back and forth to the theatre for rehearsals and for the final performances and I intend to go to GVs event in Macclesfield on Saturday night and I will need a fair amount of fuel for that.  Whatever GV has in mind will be memorable. I hope to go up early to have a look at the town first.

People of Influence

This mornings address was a bit all over the place with humour and focusing on physical objects, but the essential thing was that it was about people who have influenced us.

Earlier this week, I had come up with the idea of writing a Blog about people who have influenced me.  I wrote down some names and such a blog will appear in future God Willing.

Most of them were not academics.  They are and were people who loved the lord, prayed and who,s lives refected the love of God to me

What is the most important word in the bible?

What is the most important word in the bible?  That was the challenge to us yesterday.  After some discussion and looking at a passage on practical matters, it was suggested that the most important word is OBEDIENCE.  One of the practical matters that was listed in the passage was Teaching.  I do not know if it means teaching the afore mentioned skills, or as I would normally use the word, Teaching the word of God, but I do feel that I have entered a time when this matter needs to be looked at.