What do two weeks in a tent in France do for you?

I guess that depends on what you do with your time!!

For me it was a time for spending with the kids, swimming, cycling, playing cards etc. No screens in sight for anyone ... And so we were "forced" to talk with each other!! Good to have nothing to do with a day except whatever presents itself ... Well, for two weeks anyway...

Reading also played a big part of the time - two Harlan Coben novels (weekend reads) then Hunger for Reality (G Verwer), Outpouring of Grace (Roy Goodwin), Discerning the Spirit of the Age (D Tidball) followed by the completion of The Everlasting Man (G K Chesterton) ... An excellent riposte to the wave of aggressive atheism based on the 'science' of evolution. The scientific argument may have moved on since 1925 but the underlining arguments for a creator God remain unshaken and, indeed, unanswered by science.

Having space ... no emails, texts, phone calls, facebook, twitter etc ... So what happens in space? In my experience, if you are looking for Him, then the Holy Spirit fills these spaces ... Presses meaning into them and speaks ... Silence and space are very important gifts that we throw away at our peril.

I recently read another leader's blog, which explained the degree to which he was bombarded with information from the moment he arose to the moment he went to sleep ... This is part and parcel of modern day living I am afraid and we cannot ignore it, but we can 'manage it' rather than letting it 'manage us' ... We need space to think, ponder, dream, listen, hear and let the Spirit speak truth, light, meaning and direction into all aspects of our world.

I wonder how good I will be at maintaining that when I get back to life and work at home!?!?

Oh ... and eating! ... who can resist Blue Cheese, Pain au Chocolate etc etc. (Though not on the same plate of course!)

Comments

Labels

Who are you? I have never been a great fan of labels when it comes to describing members of the body of Christ. eg. he is anglican, she is Baptist, they are Charismatic, etc. etc. I remember once causing a man to become increasingly hot under the collar when he asked me who I was? To which I replied I was a disciple (follower) of Jesus. He was meaning which Church did I attend (presumably so he could classify me and decide whether I was bona fide or not) and my answer did not bring him peace, but I refused to go any further. Why? Because, as I said, I am not a great fan of labels, but also because for me there is a very important distinction between primarily identifying myself with Jesus and identifying myself with Church. Of course, I recognise that by becoming a follower of Jesus I become part of the body of Christ, but that can be very distinct from being a member of a Church. To me this is the crucial difference between vibrant faith and dusty religion. ...

Homes I have lived in #3

This year I am celebrating my silver wedding anniversary ... Just for something to do I have begun to sketch all the houses we have lived in during that time. So here is house number #3 On our return to the UK we were faced with the question that faces all people in transition, what next? For us, we were encouraged by our friends to investigate further training and opted to spend a year with Kerygma ministries. We joined with a group of some 20 other people from various different cultures and backgrounds to join the ministry led by Dr Bob Gordon, based at Drayton Hall near Norwich. We spent one year here, between September 1993 and July 1994. Significant events that took place here included: Suffered reverse culture shock, as I grappled with the transition from life in a mudhut in Africa to life in the UK in a Manor House! (Struggled with the amount of money being spent on a sign that was being placed outside ...

Helpful read ...

Sacred Pathways: Discover your Soul's Path to God - Gary Thomas When you became a christian did you look around other people's lives and seek to model some of their spiritual disciplines? Did you find that somehow they didn't work for you in quite the same way as they seemed to work for them? Did this lead you to a place of discouragement? Did you think that, somehow, the things that bring such life to other people but don't bring life to you must mean that there is something wrong with you? Or that maybe God doesn't love you as much as He loved those people whom you sought to emulate? These are very real questions that all c hristians probably grapple with at some point. As we grow and mature in Christ we eventually reach a place of liberty where we realise that we are unique and therefore we shouldn't be surprised when our Father deals uniquely with us - and the way we most easily 'connect' to Him is also unique. Or perhaps we find over time th...

Pressing On

Search This Blog