- Tue, Jun 19, 2007
- Christian Life
A Long Obedience in the Same Direction
I spoke Sunday at Gresham Bible Church, a recently-formed fellowship with lots of “former-kids” in their mid-twenties. It was Father’s Day, and my daughter Angela introduced me. Her kind words brought tears to my eyes. (No matter who says what about my books or my life, I always care most what my wife and daughters think, because next to God they know best who I really am.)
As I spoke, I looked out at these people thinking how thirty years ago Nanci and I were in the brand new Good Shepherd Community Church (in Boring, Oregon, believe it or ...
George Mueller once said something like this (not verbatim, but this is its essence): “I read Scripture until I come to a verse that can bear my whole weight, and then I stop and ponder it.”
The child in this picture is NOT one of my grandchildren. But he pretty much captures what a lot of us, older and younger, behave like when we don’t get our way. (And have you noticed, we often DON’T get our way…which is actually good.)
I’ve had nearly six weeks now in which I’ve no longer experienced the depression I was battling the prior two months, which 
This is a picture of Charles Haddon Spurgeon at age 23. Only a year previously, an event happened that brought on a severe depression that he nearly didn’t recover from. 
I spoke this weekend at the Peacemaker Conference in Charlotte, NC. Peacemakers works to resolve conflicts within churches, Christian ministries and between brothers and sisters who wish to obey God’s command not to bring before civil authorities conflicts between Christians (1 Corinthians 6).
When the summer started, our grandsons weren’t having all that much fun in our big side yard. Why? Because there’s a road on the north side of our yard, and these days the cars present a real danger to careless children chasing balls. And our grandsons love to chase balls.
Most days, by God’s grace, I am happy and content, even joyful.
A friend recently asked me, "What would be some of the characteristics of the life of a person who is bearing their cross? (Matthew 16) What does this cross-bearer look like?"
I've been thinking lately about how differently I look at God's will now than I did when I came to Christ in high school.
