The Watering Hole: February 2013

Welcome to my Watering Hole

Years ago, I heard a man say, “You will be the same in five years’ time as you are today, except for two things—the people you meet and the books you read.” When I look back over the past 32 years of following Jesus, I would have to say that I agree. If not for the people who have come into my life and the books I have read over the years, my life would have changed very little.

The first book that I read was the Bible. I picked it up, after making a decision to follow Jesus, and to this day I have been unable to put it down. The second book I read was called Where Is God When It Hurts? by Philip Yancey. I think we all struggle to find ways to understand what God is trying to tell us. For me, one of the most effective ways is through what I read. Over time I have kept a journal of quotations that have had an impact on me. Often I reflect on something I recorded years ago and see that in some areas of my life I have grown and in others there is still much work to do. Sometimes I have been motivated, encouraged and inspired by what I read, sometimes frightened and overwhelmed, but never, never discouraged or without hope.

In my conversations with men, more often than not, other than the odd newspaper or magazine, many read very little if at all. My suggestions is, before you read on, take time out to pray, ask yourself and God what are the challenges at this time in your life and then read, expecting the Holy Spirit to bring alive what is relevant to you. Don’t read for reading’s sake. See it as a watering hole where your thirst for life’s answers can be quenched. As time goes by, I will add to the site. I want it to be living.

In conclusion, I have to say that there are many things I don’t know. One thing I do know is that God would want me to share with you what He has shared with me. I pray that He will bring alive these writings and burn them in your heart. I wish you well. Life is very demanding for many, and at times it seems that society is demanding more than we’re able to give. But don’t give up. To borrow the title of Wayne Bennett’s autobiography, Don’t Die with the Music in You. That would be a tragedy.

In His name,

Grahame

Thursday, February 28, 2013

Doug Coupland, who wrote Generation X and popularised the term Gen X, also wrote the book called Life After God. . . . Let me quote from the dustcover of Life After God:

As suburban children we floated at night in swimming pools the temperature of blood, pools the color of earth as seen from outer space. You are the first generation raised without religion. What happens if we are raised without religion or belief? As we grow older the beauty and enchantment of the world tempers our souls. We are living creatures with strong religious impulses, yet where do these impulses flow in a world of malls, TV, Kraft dinners and jets. How do we cope with loneliness? How do we deal with anxiety, the clash of relationships? How do we reach the quiet, safe layer of our lives?

Coupland tells many such stories in the Book, but on the next to last page he writes this conclusion:

Now–here is my secret: I tell it to you with openness of heart that I doubt I shall ever achieve again, so I pray that you are in a quiet room as you hear these words. My secret is that I need God– that I am sick and can no longer make it alone. I need God to help me give, because I no longer seem to be capable of giving; to help me be kind, as I no longer seem capable of kindness; to help me love, as I seem beyond being able to love.

–Patrick Morley, A Man’s Guide to Spiritual Disciplines

To all who read these words, I have a secret also. Thirty-five years ago I sat in a quiet room and struggled to say yes to a man’s invitation to ask Jesus into my life. Not because I didn’t want to, I just struggled to find the confidence to be sure that I could make this relationship work, though I did not articulate it in my heart the same way at the time.

I harboured a deep, deep secret like Doug Coupland. My secret was that I needed God, that I was sick and could no longer make it on my own. I needed Him to help me give, because I no longer seemed able to give. I needed God to help me be kind as I no longer seemed capable of kindness, to help me love as I seemed beyond being able to love unconditionally. In that moment back in 1978 in a quiet room I said yes.