Harvest-time Prayer

Claimed

I read this week of a family pet from my home town.

The family had a monster of a tortoise that lived free-range in the family back garden. Not being content with having the whole outside grass and shrubs at his disposal, he often decided to do a Steve McQueen and pull off daring escapes. OK, there were no motorbikes or wooden vaulting horses involved, he simply burrowed under the panel fences and (in some cases) made it four houses down. Upon the third ‘prison break’, the family decided drastic action was needed to avoid losing him forever. They took a brush to his shell and painted their full home address for all to see on his back. Upon personalising that tortoise, they made an oath that it was theirs for life - for all to see.

It's amazing that God does the same with his people,

See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands (Isaiah 49:16)

Revelation Song

Kari Jobe's song is the worship song of the moment so I thought it ought to reach my blog.

Having lived the Texas life in the past I had a smile when I found out that Kari's church has a Senior Pastor. And it has an Executive Senior Pastor. And it has several Associate Senior Pastors. Goodness knows how far down the chain a mere 'Pastor' is!

Meeting

One thing every minister knows about is meetings. Recently I went to one that will live long in the memory.

We reached our scheduled starting time and - alas and alack - we were one person short of a quorum.

It was pointed out that this therefore was not, in fact, a meeting. We talked and waited with messianic attentiveness. And waited. And waited.

The missing one did not arrive.

Well, we'd all taken the trouble to be there so it was suggested that we give some news even though it wasn't a meeting. And some more news. And more news.

The meeting that wasn't a meeting finished 90 minutes (yes, you read that right - an hour and a half) after it hadn't started.

So the next time someone complains that a meeting has taken 90 minutes I shall be sorely tempted to tell them that, even if the meeting hadn't started it might have taken 90 minutes anyway and when it was over it would never have happened . . . They should be thankful for their meeting being a meeting!

Columbus

We wandered around Barcelona in the blazing sun and came upon this chap.

He's quite hard to miss but, not having my guidebook in hand I didn't recognise him at first. I felt a bit embarrassed when I discovered that it is no less than a statue of Christopher Columbus. It was a mistake no American would ever have made!

I plead two things as excuses.

1. His hand is pointing out into the Mediterranean. From this I'd assumed he was some Catalan general or admiral who fought upon that sea. America is, after all in the other direction (at least when you head the way Columbus went)

2. Each evening, when the building fascias on the waterfront are floodlit and each palm tree is also lit by floodlights poor old Columbus was left in the dark. From that I wrongly deduced he really couldn't be very famous, who ever he was, because he was deemed less worthy of a floodlight than a palm tree.

I reflected that in a funny way it reflects how our society honours Jesus. He is still thought of quite highly and worth some substantive piles of stones and art.

At the same time although he clearly pointed one way (I am the way, the truth and the life; no-one comes to the Father except by me) he can now be thought of as pointing in any direction we choose.

And when the lights come on, the streets buzz and the bars open, we are much more likely to be thinking about palm trees than about Him.