Age in general and the General's age

According to an article my husband Alan tore out of a magazine at his sisters house, the middle aged brain is smarter that you'd expect. For years it was believed that our brains peaked in our mid 20's but now it is believed by experts that we are cleverest between the ages of 40 and 65!

They also say the mid-life crisis is a myth and that our sense of well being increases with age and we become more optimistic. By the time we reach this age our brains tend to focus more on what can be done rather than learning what we should be afraid of.

If all this is true, and being 50 myself I of course would love to think it is so, is it a good case for the Salvation Army to consider re-evaluating the age at which a candidate is most suitable to be elected General?

What do you think?

God bless

Carol

Tingling ears and streams in the wasteland

We had a blessed day at our recent Pray for a Day. I was led to several scriptures during the day and with them a real sense that we are on the brink of something new that the Lord will do among us.

Samuel said to the Lord, "Speak Lord you servant is listening, and God replies, "See I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears of it tingle." (1 Samuel 3:11)

It is probably just me but I found the image quite funny. I thought that what makes someone ears tingle is a clip around the ear or being out in extremely cold weather. In my imagination then, there are loads of people with bright red ears, jumping up and down shouting "Ow, what was that? I wish I'd worn me ear muffs!"

But I think the message really was that God was going to do something that people will not be able to ignore. In fact when I looked up the verse in The Message it said, "I'm getting ready to do something in Israel that is going to shake everyone up and get their attention."

Two others verses that leapt out at me when I was looking for something else were Isaiah 43:18-19 "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland." The other one was Joshua 3:5 "Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you."

I do pray that God will move among us in a powerful way. That is an exciting thought, whilst at the same time a challenging one, because when God moves, he shakes us out of our comfort zones. The key is to consecrate ourselves and to be ready.

Just for interest here are some pictures of Pill Corps Prayer Room and various prayer stations around the hall.

God bless

Carol

Pray for a Day Pill Corps

Pray for a Day is a bi-monthly event held at Pill Corps where we have the hall and prayer room open from 9am -9pm. Our folks call drop in during those hours and simply pray.

The next Pray for a Day is:

FRIDAY 12th NOVEMBER 2010

Usually we recieve more than 100 requests for prayer from all over the UK Salvation Army. Our usual means of communicating our day is no longer available to us so we are using every other means possible to let the people know that we are willing to pray for them.

So if you are reading this blog and would like prayer, get in touch, either through a comment, me on facebook or contact alan.young@salvationarmy.org.uk via email.

Every request is prayed for on the day, followed up in Sunday worship where everyonde attending is given a prayer request to pray for in the meeting and later at home.

We have had great feedback and our folk love doing this. As a small village community we feel in the worlds of Wesley Duewel that we are "touching the world through prayer."

God bless

Carol

It's like that because of Jesus

We have have recently returned from a short holiday in the Yorkshire Dales and a brief visit on the way home to the Peak District. I don't think I have ever seen such stunning Autumn colours as we saw there this year. Apparently the trees are particularly sensational this year because the UK had a long drought last spring and then a wet, cool late summer. I just know that

it is brilliant. By the way the photo is from the internet but what we saw was equally spectacular.

Before we went away it was my turn to preach on Colossians 1:15- 20 which is all about the supremacy of Christ. V16 says of him, “For by him all things were created; all things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers of rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him."

Now of course creation involves the work of the whole Trinity. Pastor Ray Stedman, says that “It is proper to say that the Father willed there should be a creation. All the initiatory movements of history begin with the Father. He willed it. The Son, then, planned it. He programmed it and designed it, even to its slightest detail as its Architect and Designer and the Holy Spirit is the executor: He carried it out. He made it actually appear, according to the plan and program of the Son.”
What he is saying here is that when we see the beauty, the order and the wonder of the world we have Jesus to thank. The world is powerful and beautiful and wonderful because he made it that way. Bishop Tom Wright writes, “When the lavish and generous beauty of the world makes you catch your breathe, remember it is like that because of Jesus.”

God bless

Carol