On the road

Reading
Since having to travel in to the Corps each day I have managed to finish New Love, (Thinking aloud about practical holiness), by Shaw Clifton and other guest writers. There is something good in each chapter but I liked this from Jo Noland

"Where is God's perfection? It is found in our personal and corporate response to others. It is not holiness constrained; it is holiness released. It is not holiness "from" the world; it is holiness taken into the world. It is not holiness controlled; it is holiness directed. It is holiness portable, adaptable and all inclusive."

Looking
I have also decided that during my journey I would ask the Lord to use what I see out of the window to speak. Here is one example.

Most mornings we pass a car washing business. This firm specialises in handwashing and drying the customers car with a in a few minutes. To do this uses 8-10 men all working together, each with an appointed task. Apart from the obvious analogies of each person playing their part and the idea that the individuals matter and that it a persons needs are often met not just by one person but by a community of people, the thing that struck me most about this team was their readiness.
One morning there was no car in the bay being washed, but the men were still there, buckets, sponges, etc to hand. No one had wandered off because they were bored and neither were they distracted by other jobs. They seemed, to me at least sure of what they were on site for and stayed on duty.

O that this same readiness and focus was seen among Christians. We are so easily distracted and often so unprepared that when people do come to have their lives cleaned up, we struggle to find the resources to help them. I will never forget, a lady I was called in by the military army to help. She said that she had called Churches and gone to churches many times for help in the past but whenever she approached them, they were either shut, or the phone was answered by the cleaner, who had no other connection to the place. In the end she turned to New Age groups who always opened the door to her and offered her something. She came to realise that what they offered was empty but how sad that the Church was not ready to receive her.

Listening
The CD "A New Hallelujah" by Micheal W Smith has kept my perspective, despite the traffic lights, slow drivers and road works!


God bless

Carol