When I grow old...

Paul says,

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.  For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Don Carson, in A Call to Spiritual Reformation (chapter 11...I've nearly finished the book) says,

Sometimes we can see in elderly folk something of the process that Paul has in mind.  We all know senior saints who, as their physical strength is reduced, nevertheless become more and more steadfast and radiant.  Their memories may be fading; their arthritis may be nearly unbearable; their ventures beyond their small rooms or apartments may be severely curtailed.  But somehow they live as if they already have one foot in heaven.  As their outer being weakens, their inner being runs from strength to strength.  Conversely, we know elderly folk who, so far as we can tell, are not suffering from any serious organic decay, yet as old age weighs down on them they nevertheless become more and more bitter, caustic, demanding, spiteful , and introverted.  It is almost as if the civilising restraints imposed on them by cultural expectation are no longer adequate.  In their youth, they had sufficient physical stamina to keep their inner being somewhat capped.  Now, with reserves of energy diminishing, what they really are in their inner being is coming out.

Since spending time reading A Call to Spiritual Reformation I have been thinking a lot about storing up treasure in heaven...

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 
Matthew 6:19,20

...and where my true citizenship is...

But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ. 
Philippians 3:20

But before heaven there is the rest of life on this earth.  That will include old age, unless Jesus comes again in the next decade or few.  And to that end, when I grow old I so want to be like the dear folk in the first category that Carson describes, and not in that second group. 

Prayer seems to be important in all of this.  Other things too, but prayer is certainly high on the list.   It's not about duty bound, legalistic, fearful, I'd-better-pray-or-else-I'll-end-up-like-a-cranky-old-person type prayer.  It's about growing a vital prayer life over time, founded upon a deep love of God and a joyful, longing desire to see Him glorified in all of our life.

Do we bring our petitions before God both with a proximate goal (that we might receive what we ask for) and with an ultimate goal - that God might be glorified?  For that, surely, is the deepest test: Has God become so central to all our thoughts and pursuits, and thus to our praying, that we cannot easily imagine asking for anything without consciously longing that the answer bring glory to God?
(From right at the end of chapter 11...there's one more chapter and an afterword to go!)

Vital prayer is definitely a long term project.  Good to be thinking about it now. 

Peter on prayer - the motivation and the mechanism

You've probably noticed that I have been doing some thinking about prayer lately.  My hope is that I might see a deepening in the scope of my prayers and a building up of my "praying on my own" prayer muscles that have atrophied after long years of sleep deprived or toddler driven distractedness.  

Last week I had the joy of reading through 1 Peter and found a new verse to underline.

The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray.
1Peter 4:7

This verse seems to sum it all up for me and has been rolling around my head ever since.

Prayer is important because the end of all things is near.  All the major events in God's plan of redemption have occurred with Christ's work on the cross, his resurrection and ascension and now all things are ready for Christ to return and rule.  We have been in the end times for nearly 2 000 years.  We don't know when Christ will return.  It may not be for another 2 000 years or more.  Or it may be in a minute.  "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father" it says in Matthew 24:36.  What we do know is that it will happen and so we need to be ready so that it doesn't come upon us like a thief in the night.  Part of being ready, Peter tells us in this verse, is to pray. That is the motivation.

And then he provides the mechanism. Therefore be clear minded and self controlled so that you can pray.  Which for me means I just really need to keep a clear mind to make mental and physical space to pray.  I have moved out of the season of being distracted by sleep deprivation followed by the endless, energy sapping vigour of toddlers.  That season is over.  I am without excuse now.  Except that I find myself distracted by the various balls I gradually added to my juggling act as the boys grew into greater independence and ultimately reached school age, leaving me with five free hours for five days a week.  More than ever it seems I need to show some self control in regulating my activities so that I can pray serious, sober, informed, intelligent, deep prayers with a clear mind. 

The end of all things is near.  Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. 1Peter 4:7

Tim Keller on prayer

Back in January I listened to this sermon on prayer given by Tim Keller.  Here's a bit that I found helpful.

If as we lay our requests to God we find ourselves sinking deeper into despondency, anger or self pity; if when you pray for things you don't find the burden lifting off you, then we must a) be sure the things we are asking for aren't idols or else our petition will only make us more discouraged... b) be sure the things we are asking for aren't enhancing our anger and sense of superiority over others or else our petition will only make us more bitter and c) be sure that when we are aksing God for things, we also spend time thanking God for the things we already have and cannot lose in the Gospel.

Garden Update # 9

It was a very long, hot summer.  By December I had all but given up on the garden.  But about a month ago winter showed up.  The temperature dropped.  The rain started to fall.  And it was time to get into the garden.  So here are some before and after shots.

Before...

and after.

Before...

...and after.

A smaller variety of herbs this year - basil, thyme, coriander, parsley and mint.  No need to grow perfect sage when I don't use it!  But I would like another rosemary plant and look, there is an empty pot in the corner.  One more trip to the nursery. 

Before...

...and after.

Needs weeding...but I am loving the life and colour even so.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon

The following excerpt was on the Desiring God site today.

May our own dear ones be among the better generation who shall continue in the Lord's ways, obedient to the end. And their seed shall be established before thee. God does not neglect the children of his servants. It is the rule that Abraham's Isaac should be the Lord's, that Isaac's Jacob should be beloved of the Most High, and that Jacob's Joseph should find favour in the sight of God. Grace is not hereditary, yet God loves to be served by the same family time out of mind, even as many great landowners feel a pleasure in having the same families as tenants upon their estates from generation to generation. Here is Zion's hope, her sons will build her up, her offspring will restore her former glories. We may, therefore, not only for our own sakes, but also out of love to the church of God, daily pray that our sons and daughters may be saved, and kept by divine grace even unto the end—established before the Lord.

Excerpted from The Treasury of David (Psalm 102:28).

That is just beautiful.  I am thankful to God for the rich encouragement of these words today. 

I've been thinking for a while about reading some Spurgeon.  So if there are any Spurgeon experts out there, what would you recommend?  Where does one start with Spurgeon?

The Book Depository

The Book Depository is an online bookstore that markets books at extraordinarily good prices and doesn't charge postage!  And it runs an affiliate scheme.

What does that mean?

It means that if you buy your books at the The Book Depository and happen to go to their site via my blog then I get a 5% credit for the books you purchase.

How does it work?

All you have to do is visit my blog on your way to the bookstore and while you are here you click on the Book Depository button on my sidebar.  That will take you to The Book Depository site.  Then you do your own shopping in the normal way and 5% of the sum of your purchase is credited to me.  It doesn't cost you anything extra.

Why would you do it?

Well, as it turns out, I checked my shopping history at The Book Depository and of the nearly 30 books I have purchased there I've only kept two for myself.  The rest have all been gifts.  And most of them bear the titles
Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus,
Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross,
Be Still, My Soul and
Valley of Vision. 

So my intention in joining this affiliate scheme is not to profit from your book shopping and plan a holiday for myself in Tuscany but rather to increase my capacity to give away more great books like these to lots more people.  The Key to the Door is a not for profit organisation!!  Who knows, I may even give the odd book away right here on this blog!  So if you would like to help me out, please make your travels to The Book Depository site via this blog and click on the Book Depository button in the sidebar.

What if you you are not comfortable with this?

Some will not be comfortable with this and that is fine.  If that is you then please ignore this, do your Book Depository shopping by going to their site directly and still be my friend.  Forget I ever mentioned it.  :-)

Paul on prayer

So you may have noticed that I have been reading A Call to Spiritual Reformation: Priorities from Paul and his Prayers by Don Carson.  I have a couple of friends who have read this book in recent times and have commented that it breathed new life into their prayerfulness.

Now we all know that we can read books on prayer and listen to sermons on prayer (and I have listened to a few lately!!) until the cows come home but none of this going to have an impact on our prayerfulness unless, at our end, we have a desire to grow in our prayer life and we just get on with the business of praying.  This book is not a quick fix.  There is no quick fix.  But if you have a yearning to grow in prayefulness - quality or quantity - then there is much in this book for encouragement.

In chapter four of A Call to Spiritual Reformation: Priorities from Paul and his Prayers Don Carson pauses from his exposition and in a discussion on praying for others, quotes most of the prayers from Paul's letters in full over six solid pages.

I confess, right here on the internet for all to see, that when I first read this chapter at the beginning of June I travelled through these six pages pretty quickly.  I skimmed a few of the passages, skipped over others having read the references because they were so familiar and by the fifth page, just turned it right over to get back to Carson's text. Tut tut!

At the end of each chapter there are three or four study questions or ideas to promote some deeper thinking. At the end of this chapter, point number two is, "As a spiritual discipline slowly read through the prayers of Paul every day for one month.  Record in what ways this discipline influences your own praying."

So my reading of this book has slowed a little because I have decided to have a go at this exercise.  I've only managed to read through the passages three or four times in the last ten days but it is definitely a worthwhile exercise for widening and deepening scope in  prayer.  And for honing focus.  I may tinker away at it as I can during June and then pick it up for daily reading and reflection come the July school holidays.

What follows then is the list of the Scriptures Carson quotes.  I know a long list of Scriptures makes for absolutely deadly blogging so feel free to stop reading right here if this is not for you - at all or just at the moment. But there may be one or two who would like to have a go at this...and so here goes - most of the prayers of Paul.

Romans 1:8-10
Romans 10:1
Romans 12:12
Romans 15:5-6
Romans 15:13
Romans  15:30-33
1Corinthinans 1:4-9
1Corinthinans 16:23
2Corinthinans 1:3-7
2Corinthinans 2:14-16
2Corinthinans 9:12-15
2Corinthinans 12:7-9a
2Corinthinans 13:7-9
Galatians 6:18
Ephesians 1:3-8
Ephesians 1:15-23
Ephesians 3:14-21
Ephesians 6:19-20
Philippians 1:3-6
Philippians 1:9-11
Philippians 4:6-7
Philippians 4:23
Colossians 1:3-14
Colossians 4:2-4
1Thessalonians 1:2-3
1Thessalonians 2:13-16
1Thessalonians 3:9-13
1Thessalonians 5:23-24
1Thessalonians 5:28
2Thessalonians 1:3-4
2Thessalonians 1:11-12
2Thessalonians 2:16-17
2Thessalonians 3:2-5
2Thessalonians 3:16
1 Timothy 1:12
1 Timothy 2:1-6
2 Timothy 1:3-7
2 Timothy 1:16-18
2 Timothy 4:22
Titus 3:15b
Philemon 4-7
Philemon 25

If you think you might like to have a go at this and I know you (in person or via frequent commenting between blogs) and you would like me to photocopy the six pages out of the book and post them to you (it is helpful to just have the passages in front of you, all in one place) then leave me a message and I will see what I can do.

Don Carson on prayer # 3

Brothers and sisters in Christ, at the heart of all our praying must be a biblical vision.  That vision embraces who God is, what he has done, who we are, where we are going, what we must value and cherish.  That vision drives us toward increasing conformity with Jesus, toward lives lived in the light of eternity, towards hearty echoing of the church's ongoing cry, "Even so, come, Lord Jesus!" That vision must shape our prayers, so that the things that most concern us in prayer are those that concern the heart of God.  Then we will persevere in our praying, until we reach the goal God himself has set for us.

A Call to Spiritual Reformation: Priorities from Paul and his Prayers  p. 62

Don Carson on Prayer # 2 (with a bit of Tim Keller)

I've recently listened to a couple of sermons about prayer delivered by Tim Keller.  In both sermons he asked a very helpful question.  Given one of those rare moments when you have absolutely nothing to do - it may be that you actually got to the end of that TO DO list and you're experiencing one of those rare lulls in proceedings or it may be that you are waiting (in a queue, in a traffic jam, for someone to arrive) and you have a few unfilled moments or it may be that you are doing something menial with hands engaged but mind free to roam - where does your mind go?  Do you plan, dream, remember, worry, pray, create, blank out? Where we go in those empty moments gives window to our hearts. It's a good question to ask of ourselves.  Maybe a bit scary even.

There was a similar echo in chapter two of A Call to Spiritual Reformation: Priorities from Paul and his Prayers on the subject of prayers of thanksgiving.

For what do we commonly give thanks? We say grace at meals, thanking God for our food; we give thanks when we receive material blessings - when the mortgage we’ve applied for comes through, or when we first turn on the ignition in a car we’ve just purchased. We may sigh a prayer of sweaty thanks after a near miss on the highway; we may utter a prayer of sincere and fervent thanks when we recover from serious illness. We may actually offer brief thanksgiving when we hear that someone we know has recently been converted. But by and large, our thanksgiving seems to be tied rather tightly to our material well-being and comfort. The unvarnished truth is that what we most frequently give thanks for betrays what we most highly value. If a large percentage of our thanksgiving is for material prosperity, it is because we value material prosperity proportionately.  From pages 40-41

And then something to encourage some growth in this area.

If in our prayers we are to develop a mental framework analogous to Paul’s, we must look for signs of grace in the lives of Christians, and give God thanks for them. It is not simply that Paul gives thanks for whatever measure of maturity some group of Christians has achieved, before he goes on to ask for yet more maturity (although in part that is what he is doing.) Rather the specific elements in his thanksgiving show the framework of he brings to his intercession – and we urgently need to develop the same framework.

For what have we thanked God recently? Have we gone over a list of members at our local church , say, or over a list of Christian workers, and quietly thanked God for signs of grace in their lives? Do we make it a matter of praise to God when we observe evidence in one another of growing conformity to Christ, exemplified in trust, reliability, love and genuine spiritual stamina?”  From page 44

Don Carson on Prayer # 1

I've just started reading A Call to Spiritual Reformation: Priorities from Paul and his Prayers by Don Carson.  Well, I started it last year but November and December got in the way!  So I am starting again, this time with a view to finishing it.

Here are the opening two paragraphs from the preface.

I doubt if there is any Christian who has not sometimes found it difficult to pray.  In itself this is neither surprising nor depressing: it is not surprising, because we are still pilgrims with many lessons to learn; it is not depressing, because struggling with such matters is part of the way we learn.

What is both surprising and depressing is the sheer prayerlessness that characterises so much of the Western church.  It's suprising, because it is out of step with the Bible that portrays what Christian living should be; it is depressing, because it frequently coexists with abounding Christian activity that somehow seems hollow, frivolous, and superficial. 

Ouch!  Important to know however that Don Carson hasn't written this book to send us to the time out corner with regards to our prayer life.  He's written it to encourage his readers, to invigorate their prayer life.

More to follow.

Holiday reading

Two weeks of school holidays.  Four books from three different Australian writers.  And a whole lot of housework pending to show for it.  But it was fun getting into such a mess.

I started with The Spare Room by Helen Garner.  This is a story about Helen (it isn't autobiographical) who prepares her spare room for friend Nicola, who is coming to the city to undergo three weeks of experimental treatment she believes will cure her advanced cancer.  I've read some excellent reviews for this novel.  And it is well written.  Garner uses her words economically and creates believable characters in easy to picture settings.

Her powers of description are so good however that as it turns out, I didn't really enjoy the book.  It's a hard subject.  And the descriptions of this desperately ill woman with more emphasis on bodily fluids than I can manage (I'm the person who, when pregnant with our first child, prayed earnestly that I wouldn't give birth to a vomity baby!) and the hopelessness of the situation (it's not a Christian book - but to face death without the hope of eternal life found in Jesus is a desperately sad thing indeed) just made it all too bleak for me.  In and of itself it's fine prose...but I was glad I hadn't saved it to take as holiday reading to the beach.

I moved onto Land's Edge: A Coastal Memoir by Tim Winton.  Ahhhh...Tim Winton - prize winning West Australian author.  I love his earlier material.  My favourite big novel of his is The Riders which I read compulsively quite some years ago over three big days and nights, interrupted only by needing to go to work and needing a few hours sleep to prevent my eyes from falling out of my head. I haven't enjoyed his more recent offerings - far too much information and far too much pushing of the boundaries for me, I'm afraid.

I referred to The Riders as a "big novel" because my absolute favourite YOU MUST READ THIS work by Tim Winton is his novella Blueback.  This is the story of a mother and son who live on the coast and fight to protect their little piece of marine paradise from developers.  Winton's powers of description take you to that bit of beach and that beach shack - and it is there that a very tender and beautiful story unfolds.

Land's Edge is like Blueback, except that while Blueback is fiction, Land's Edge is Tim Winton's own experience of coastal existence.  He loves the coast.  He lives for the coast.  And he can describe it like none other.  He captures the sting of the sand on your legs on a windy day, the smell of the ocean, eyes watering from the salt and the glare, the windswept vegetation, the peace and tranquility, the danger, the colours, the feelings evoked.  It's all there. He captures it and bottles it on a page. 

Land's Edge also taught me that if you want to remain standing in rough surf, it is better to stand side on rather than front on in crashing waves.   I remembered that little piece of information after my first unceremonious dumping at the beach during the holidays...and was subsequently saved from further unplanned somersaults in the crashing foam!

Finally, feeling like possibly the last person in the world to read these books, I moved onto My Seventh Monsoon and No Ordinary View by Naomi Reed.  Two great reads as she describes life as a cross-cultural worker in Nepal with her husband, both physios, and their family .  There is much to love about these books.  Early on in the first book she wrote,

We arrived back in Khammam in June with a renewed vision and purpose.  We would use any opportunities that came our way to love and pray for people.  Beyond that, we would rejoice in God and in the place where he had put us.  
(My Seventh Monsoon, page 39)

This was the Reeds' fresh resolve after some really hard months in India, enroute to Nepal.  If they couldn't do anything else for lack of language, cultural awareness, resources or real opportunity, they could do that.  And that resolution to be content was evident throughout the remainder of My Seventh Monsoon and No Ordinary View.  These books exemplify Christian contentment - the deep joy of being a child of God that runs at the foundation of all of life, irrespective of what life throws at you.  It doesn't mean always being deliriously happy.  It means being anchored.  Their lives in Nepal were not easy, by any stretch of the imagination.  But in seeking to serve God, honour Him and be content in and dependent upon Him, they thrived and their ministry to the people of Nepal bore fruit.

I read these two books while away at the beach.  We stayed in Youth Hostel accommodation which is good but basic - definitely not what you would call fancy.  Had I not been reading these books at the time, the fact that the drains in the bathroom (toilet and shower) that we were to use at the end of our verandah were blocked, smelly and out of action could have had me feeling very sorry for myself.  But really this was nothing compared with the conditions in Nepal.  I had access to another bathroom where there was running water - hot and cold - and good drainage!  And we had electricity, refrigeration, good food and no threat of civil war. 

Naomi Reed's amazing godliness and contentment in the face of all sorts of hardships and her capacity to see not an ordinary view but treasure around every corner is inspiring.  It works because she has written with integrity.  This isn't someone putting on a happy face or looking back with rose coloured glasses.  It's real, authentic and growing faith in action.  And these aren't the sort of books that might make you feel inadequate.  There is genuine encouragement, in the true sense of that word, to press on  to "use any opportunities that [come] our way to love and pray for people" and to "rejoice in God and in the place where He [has] put us."

And take a peek here for a great set of emails from 2009 between Naomi Reed, now back in Australia, and Rachel Connor, serving with her husband and family in Vanuatu.

That's it for holiday reading.  I am slowly retrieving the chaos of the house and returning to term time routines.  And I have made a start on A Call to Spiritual Reformation: Priorities from Paul and his Letters by Don Carson.  I don't think the title of this book, at least the first bit, is especially helpful.  But the book itself is great.

The thing about holidays and kitchen benches

It was back to school today after two weeks of holidays.  During the break we spent five days away enjoying a beach holiday.  We were treated to glorious weather - sunny days hovering about the 25°C mark - even though it ought to be cooling down by now.  Lots of swimming, reading on the beach, walking, good food and time together.

I like the uncluttered feeling of holidays.  There is no housework to do, no phone to answer, nothing pressing that needs attending to.  And I am most keenly aware of the lack of clutter as I survey the holiday kitchen bench.  Holiday kitchen benches are always bare.

And it's usually as I prepare meals on holidays that I resolve to return to normal life and simplify.  On holidays we have less props (toys, computers, books) and yet we have a great time.  On holidays we eat much more simply ("No, I didn't bring the soy sauce for your rice!") and yet we eat well.  And on holidays I seem to enjoy food preparation so much more than I generally do at home (despite the crazy assortment of utensils, odd saucepans and blunt knives that seem to haunt holiday kitchens) and I am sure that the clear, clean benches have something to do with that.

So I come home and clear the bench.  After about twelve minutes the first thing is dumped on my newly cleared surface and I groan inwardly (or outwardly!)  And then I remember.  I say I like food preparation on holidays so much more but the thing is, I have done most of the preparing at home and it is just a matter of cooking up some rice/pasta/potatoes and heating up the curry/bolognese sauce/stew and throwing a salad together.  I'm not actually cooking.

And the thing about the kitchen bench at home is, well, if it was left bare, where would you put all the mail, library books due back tomorrow, newsletters (of the school and church varieties), those little bits of broken toys that you promised you'd superglue back together, the keys, the various items of stationery that get used every day, bills to pay...? 

Sometimes I despair of my kitchen bench.  But mostly it's OK because the kitchen bench is the nerve centre of the house.  Holiday kitchen benches are uncluttered.  And holidays are uncluttered.  And that is great.  Normal life is full and busy.  The kitchen bench at my house is also full and busy.  And that is great.

And it's great to enjoy the contrast between the two.

My thoughts on Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross

I read Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross, an anthology of readings about Easter edited by Nancy Guthrie, during the run up to Easter. And it was just as good as Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus was for the season of Advent.
  

As Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus did for Christmas, Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross drilled down into the Easter story quickly, profoundly and powerfully. It opened up lots of the small detail that can be missed when reading over such familiar stories, bringing a freshness to the Easter story.

Interestingly, when I read Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus I started it two days before Advent.  I'd been waiting a long time to read that book and couldn't hold out for those last two days.  Twenty two readings - one a day with a few missed days here and there because December is such a busy month - should have seen me finish the book pretty much on Christmas Day.  As it turned out it was all done and dusted by 10th December.  I was like the child who just can't wait to open the presents under the tree.  Two or three (or five!) readings a day.  I virtually swallowed the book whole and it was pure joy.

I started  Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross at the beginning of Lent.  Now if my Lent maths is correct, that should have given me 46 days to get through the 25 readings.  And as it turned out, I needed every inch of Lent to get through it.  I loved this book like the Advent one.  And yet it sat untouched on my desk for days at a time and when I did pick it up I could only take in one reading at a time.  I finished it just in time for Easter.

Which seems about right.  Because Easter is much harder to take in than Christmas.  Christmas is all about the greatest Gift ever - the gift of Immanuel.  And we get to share in the celebrations and rejoice.  But at Easter we become aware of why God needed to send this gift of Jesus.  The spotlight is shared between Jesus - the crucified and risen Jesus - and our wretched sinfulness that nailed Him to the cross. 

If you don't have a strong sense of God's love for you, of the sacrifice He made in sending His one and only Son to die on the cross, of the enormity of Jesus' work and the pain He bore on the cross or of the magnitude of your own sinfulness then this is a must read.  It isn't an easy book- although there are some glorious bits - but it is truly worthwhile. 

And it need not be confined to the lead up to Easter because we need to understand all of these things all year round.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,

that whoever believes in him shall not perish

but have eternal life. 

John 3:16