These Lively Oracles

Sometimes over the years I have sat and pondered over my Bible, various churches I belonged to or visited, and various Christians that I have known or been involved with. I sat and looked at young Christian couples and families in the churches. I sat and watched young men serving as deacons and youth workers. I sat and watched older men serve as elders and church teachers. And I have seen the most tightly knit of couples, groups and cliques fall apart. Some quietly and discreetly, and some in scandals. I have seen the most unlikeliest of people stay firm friends for decades. I have seen the most vibrant of married couples end up seperating and going their separate ways, and I have seen the most introverted of couples stay happily married for their whole lives and have loving relationships together. And I didn’t realise it at the time but what I was actually watching was one of God’s great ingredients of “people building” that he has. Aside from the great work of redemption ...

Some years ago I got a chance to fly an aeroplane. It was one of those gift certificate things that gets you a one hour free flying lesson. I loved it. The experience gave me a few insights into some of the things a pilot has to think about when they take control of an aeroplane. However, after the teaching pilot talked me through things and got the plane flying into the air he pointed out something very significant. “You’re making the exact same mistake that every single beginner makes,” he said. I looked at him quizically. “You’re flying the plane at a slant”. He said. “We call it ‘one wing low’ .” He then pointed to a little dial which shows which angle the plane is actually flying at in relation to the horizon. True enough, the plane was slanty. He then went on to explain that flying an aeroplane is not like driving a car. You can’t actually see directly out in front because the engine and propellor are in the way. You have to use the information that you get from the i...

When I was a teenager I belonged to a youth organisation. It was called the Army Cadet Force and it catered for young men by teaching, training and challenging them in activities such as map reading, orienteering, shooting and camping, etc. I really loved that organisation and thrived through all the tests, courses, programs and exams they had set for us. There came a time when I was asked to lead a team in a national competition against other groups from around the country. This would involved a lot of the things that we had learned and by using this knowledge, we would complete a series of tasks over the course of a weekend camping, trekking, orienteering and then race back to camp. I accepted the task and started to chose other guys who I wanted to be on my team. However, I was told that I was to take this one certain member on the team and I wasn’t allowed to refuse. I said that I didn’t want him on the team as I had known him to be someone who was less than enthusiastic ab...

Many years ago I was made redundant from a place where I worked. In truth I was glad to have been paid off for I no longer enjoyed working there anymore. I had an idea that I might be included in the redundancy scheme as there were many of us going, so I sat down and got the details of the severance packages, did my sums, talked with a few close friends and I came to the conclusion that this could actually turn into something good. After the process had ran its course, and I had sorted out all my financial issues I decided to update my previous work qualifications and try to get back into that line of work. It was, afterall, my first love. Time came and passed. I did the courses, applied for a few jobs, tried them out, but was never really content in them. One day, I decided to go and register with a recruitment agency. I normally try to avoid recruitment agencies but this time I decided to give it a go. I made the appointment and got the bus into town. I arrived early so I...