I will never forget the lady who came to me one day to talk about some difficulties she was having with her son. It soon emerged that the bigger problem she was having, was that of accepting herself and realising she was a person of great value. The breakthrough came when I told her how special she was because she was unconditionally loved by God, and was of great value because God created her, and that He would never make “junk”, and even more He sent Jesus to die for her.
The next day I received the following note from her:
“Dear Rod, at our last meeting I came to …
Category: Mission
THE TIMES THEY ARE CHANGING…..Living in times of transition
In 1964 when I was about to be conscripted into the Australian Army for 2 years during the Vietnam War, the well known song writer, singer Bob Dylan wrote the song called The Times They Are A-Changing, a song deliberately written to create an anthem of change for the moment. There was a new generation making its voice felt and it was particularly expressed in the following verse:
“Come mothers and fathers throughout the land, And don’t criticise what you don’t understand,
Your sons and your daughters are beyond your command, Your old road is rapidly agin’
Please get out of the new if you can’t lend a hand, For …
LIFE CYCLES…….don’t miss what they are teaching you!
Human beings are not the only ones who proceed through a life cycle. Every organisation has one.
One day in my mail, I received a poster to advertise an event soon to occur in another church. I was struck by the irony of the fact that it contained details announcing the “celebration” of the closure of this certain church. It caused me to realise that any church is ever only a generation away from closing. I placed the brochure inside the cupboard of my office to remind me, whenever I opened the cupboard, that every church/organisation is either on a life cycle or a death cycle. (See brochure at end …
TO BE LIKE JESUS (1)…..The Son can only do what He sees His Father doing.
The remarkable life of Jesus was brought home to me when I read these words,
“The life of Jesus was so unique, unpredictable, illogical and inconsistent that it would have been impossible for someone to make it up. It had to be true.”
And yet Jesus’ calling to us is that we are to learn to live like Him. He said to His disciples, “As the Father sent me, so I am sending you.” John 20:21 As I grew to understand this calling, the words of a Salvation Army song took on a deeper meaning for me :
“To be like Jesus, this hope possesses me,
In every thought …