I’m looking at a list of notes of things I’m curious about. That always takes me to writing so here I will mention some thoughts in brief.
Does she love Walter? In the film, ‘Sleepless in Seattle’, the female lead is smitten with a story and voice she hears on the radio while on the way to meet her future in-laws. The reason I ask is the shocking disclosure that so many people are unfaithful. If she is deeply in love and committed to Walter, could she have more easily dismissed the obsession with someone she doesn’t really know? Can we stick to our promises since Jesus has clearly showed that we can commit sin in our mind and hearts. Stick with the promise but, at least, break up before you marry. Marriage is a long business (line from Downton Abbey).
Brant Hansen mentions in his book, ‘Unoffendable’, that there are at least ten times the number of books written on leading then on following. Do we all aspire to lead even when God gave us other qualities? Is following a show of weakness? Are you a good follower? We are commanded in God’s word to be followers of Jesus. We are to go beyond knowing to following. Am I sounding like a broken record?
Last January I was serving at Kingsley Hall. Kingsley Hall is a community center, in Powis Road, Bromley-by-Bow in London. All day I had flashes of people I’d met and prayers prayed. I wonder how goes the ministry. In the 1920’s the building became a soup kitchen. In the 60’s it was used for treating people affected by mental health issues. The 2018 renovation added a cafe and street-front for inviting the neighbors in, hoping for encounters of significance. The goal is helping others and hoping they meet Jesus. I took a bus there with teammates and helped in the clothing ministry, prayer room, hanging in the cafe to meet those neighbors, door-knocking in the freezing cold to invite people back after covid and anything else they needed. In my spare time I would play their piano. I felt many urges to lay hands on these people. That have never been a thing for me until now. The team still there is working very hard to do two things; 1)Jesus is establishing his Kingdom, and 2) Jesus is inviting redemption. This is a good work and I will not forget you.
We start the day but don’t know how it will end.
Knotting Hill in London. I watched the film of that name this week. The filming looks like Ilford where I would catch the train for ministry travel (unless a red double-decker bus was more direct). The background streets look so similar and storefronts familiar. Nostalgia.
Last thing. This week I was on-line doing some medical thing/inquiry. My provider asked me to edit my profile. Here were the three suggestions for edit. 1) Gender identity. How can this be as every cell in my body has female DNA. I can do some crazy stuff but my identity (the science of DNA) will be unchanged. 2) Race. How does one change their race? What are they suggesting? and 3) Language. Ah ha. This is something I can change. I can add a language. The medical community has gone mad.
Christmas regret. I love a chocolate advent calendar. I love advent more but when I saw that the cheap version with inferior chocolate had gone from the $1.99 I used to spend, then the $3.99 I more recently spent, to $9.99. I could not pull the trigger. I should have done it!
That’s all – aren’t you glad I did not spend seven blogs on this stuff?
