Beersheba

Harry Williams, Lynn Cairns, Mary Wasik, Ellen Cox, Bob Wasik, Bill Lauderdale, Dottie Cairns, Charlie Cox

Keepin' Movin'!

The past few weeks have been incredibly busy, I always seem to be moving - heading somewhere. Sometimes I will have a task to perform when I arrive, sometimes I won't even know where I'm going and have to rely on directions written on a post-it and stuck on my dashboard. Then there are the everyday trips to university for class, to church for work, to CYMT for pastoral care and of course to the coffee shop across the road for a regular fix of caffeine. The talk today in Sunday School was focussing on Jesus' environment policy if he were president - one of the verses that was emphasised was PSALM 24:1 "The earth is the LORD's and everything in it". As we move about and get overwhelmed with all the places that we need to be, whether we're one of those people who are always early or whether we're prone to running late, we would do well to remember God's claim on this world. There is no where we can go where Christ has not already been. The earth is the LORD's. There is nothing there we can experience in this world that God doesn't already know about. The earth is the LORD's and everything in it! God moves as we move!

The ebb and flo of spiritual seasons

Fall has arrived here in Nashville and it's not like Autumn back home - given that I got a little sunburnt this morning at a soccer match. Incidentally, I've also entered a new phase in my spiritual life, although it seems strange to view my life as consisting of separate components, I prefer not to treat my 'spiritual' life in isolation from the the whole. However, if you have been a Christian for more than a week then you will realise what I mean when I say that, fluctuation in emotions and feelings towards the disciplines of prayer and bible reading happens. Our enthusiasm for personal soul-tending practices experience highs and lows. Actually, the picture of 'highs and lows' doesn't really cut it - after all, no one season is necessarily better than another. Currently, I am going through a quieter Fall period, where as my weeks schedule seems to be filling up my relationship with God seems to have slowed down a little - and not in a bad way, just different from the initial craziness! So, I continue to remind myself that God is faithful, and that he is in control, teaching, loving, guiding, comforting, prompting and preparing for action. This is a time of rejuvenation and vision-casting. I pray for patience during this season, as it ebbs and flos, that God's Spirit will rise up from within me and surrender my agenda for God.