As we get older can we say ‘we have had a life of service’, ‘given a cup of kindness’ or supported and encouraged someone?
It brought it home to me, relating to one of the key events in my life, when we read about St. Paul going to Rome, and he was shipwrecked and helped others to survive. The boat had 276 people on board. I can equate to the situation as a guardsman in National Service being one of about 200 soldiers, on the troop ship Devonshire, sleeping in hammocks, going across the Bay of Biscay. The smell of vomit, dysentery and sea sickness having its effect all in a confined space, always stays with you.
We also serve being employed, a member of an organisation, and having the right heart, being thankful servants. As we mature we can see how the roles are reversed and people have served us when we were, charge hands, managers, company directors, church leaders, trustees etc.
Whatever the position we have held or are asked to undertake we are all servants and it’s the quality of serving that matters. I wonder what the next challenge will be? I hope that I can listen to the Holy Spirit, as Paul did, to serve in order help others.

Why do some over 50s find it hard to use modern technology to communicate? We do not want to go back to school but find it hard to learn as we get older. It is complicated by the number of choices we have. The youngsters are so quick and we get left behind, or can’t remember, but we want to keep alongside them.
It is important to communicate better with family, friends, church members, missionaries and new people we talk to. Over a year ago we started to meet in our Parish Centre on Monday’s, as CAPIT (Computer And Phone Information Technology) to help each other to try and keep up to date.. As well as meeting for personal learning, last month we launched our own website allowing us get connected better.
Fortunately we don`t need technology to talk to our heavenly father!
Image Credit: Luke Chesser

Separation must be one of hardest things to endure for a husband and wife and family. They have to face situations , through war, being away for work, out of fellowship, divorce, going off to university, hospital stays etc..
We have seen two of our close friends face the hardest situation of death of a partner just before Christmas. Others who have had to make very difficult decisions related to jobs, retirement, education and a calling to progress their careers .
There is no choice with death, but at other times we have to weigh up the choices we make and the consequences separation will bring.
As we see things round about us change we try and look at things in a balanced way., We can keep our minds active, and know we should exercise and have a good diet for our bodies but spiritual things are not always that easy.
The recent events in Paris have highlighted the cultural differences that exist in the world today. Freedom of speech has brought unity of the world leaders marching together instead of separation .
When last did we talk to someone about mediation, prayer, a rhema word, quote from the Bible, or God’s love, in our materialistic world ?.
Trust pray and that we do not lose the Love of God in our lives to help us through separation.
Rev 2:7 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

Are you making a good pace in life towards your vision?
Some of us over 50`s need a pacemaker, or a heart bypass, or a stent to keep us going.
As we get older there are major hurdles that we continually have to take steps to overcome. Things we are going through: ill health, moving house, financial problems or depression.
The reason I am writing this is because I need my pacemaker changed. We only have one heart and if it stops we have problems! It concentrates the grey matter to count your blessings and realise that every day is a bonus.
After a while we get complacent and take things for granted again. Or we get dragged down and need the batteries recharged.
It reminds me of someone walking along the beach, there are two sets of footprints in the sand, then they become one set. It is that time in life when we need Christ to lift us up and carry us to the safe shore.
The challenge is knowing we have to go at his pace and be in step with what he wants from our lives as a pacemaker or a peacemaker for Him.
What a difference a letter makes!

We are all body, mind and spirit connected to a family. There have been lots of programmes on TV , the 100 years anniversary of the first word war, computer links, as well as local computer and history groups all enabling us to learn more about who we are and find lost family members. Personally our family records go back over 400 years, after that your names have to be recorded in the Lord of the Manors records, and that is difficult to find and follow.
Our bodies can be kept in trim by walking going to the gym or having regular exercise. Not always altering the features of the generational likeness as shown photographs. (‘Isn’t she like her mother’).
The mind boggles at the DNA profile which can now tell us where in the world we originate from. With help of the internet, the local libraries and various historical groups we can build an intellectual picture of our past and potential capability.
With our spiritual ancestry it’s different. We may be able to find out how part of ‘church’ history might have been influenced by a member of the family, and we learn from their example. However our spiritual walk is a personal one starting and finishing with us.
We need that introduction to Christ. The Bible gives us his genealogy , and examples of how to live our lives with the Holy Spirit to be our guide. There is no pressure of looking up and finding personal records but know that our spiritual father listens to and answers prayer to guide us through a new life with unlimited ancestry and his healing power to mend broken relationships
Authors Note
I had more or less completed the above and wondered what scripture was relevant. Then I read my daily reading, Bible in One Year , which the following was part. Ancestry is only mentioned once in the New Testimony.

“One who has become a priest not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life.” Heb 7:16:

In a materialistic society what interests you most, what and are you passionate about?; Football, food and drink, theatre and music, fishing, gambling, holidays, internet/computing, Jesus Christ, money finances, etc.
Or are you Passive about; Religion, politics, watching TV, motor racing, going to bingo, volunteering, Facebook, Twitter, etc?
Whether we are old or young we prioritise what we do through listening, email, tasks, lists, phone calls, writing, talking, reading, watching etc. These actions allow us to move our interest and calling from being passive about something to being passionate.
There is always a will to find the way. The newness of that phone, computer, car, there is no need to hear that word of encouragement our expectations rise. Transferring those expectations to allow our Christian walk to top the priority list can be helped by

• Praying – Keep our prayer task list up to date
• Bible – Use an App and have it with you all the times
• Fellowship – Join an active Christian group and share testimony

At times I feel as the man in Act 2:17 old men will dream dreams, and find it hard to get motivated
Then we read what Paul wrote, ‘We are fools for Christ…’ (1 Corinthians 4:10 NIV). God uses radical people who don’t care how they look: people who’ve survived difficult pasts, defied the odds, held onto their vision, and declared, ‘My God is able!’
Together we can each be one of those people

While on holiday in Malta we were sitting having a coffee opposite the island where St Paul was shipwrecked on his way to Rome. A desolate place, yet a stopping off place for him. He must have considered what and where he was going to next?
We often find ourselves at those cross road situations in life, though probably not as dramatic as being shipwrecked like Paul.

The view of Saint Paul’s Island Malta from where we had our coffee

Looking across the sea, I thought ‘no man is an island‘ as in the classic poem by John Donne: ‘‘I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee.” Whether we like it or not we are involved in what is going on in the world. We can’t just sail away from it by surrounding ourselves with the familiarities and materialistic comforts of life such as TV, football, shopping, cars, holidays and the like.
Paul embraced the challenge of listening to God journeying on to Rome, writing to his friends and building relationships which formed the basis of how we got to know the good news about Jesus.
As we get older it is harder to see what God wants us to do and the part we have in His plans. Are we listening or are we in heard it before mode when we listen to this week’s sermon, church announcements or when we read the notices about what is happening?
Are we doing nothing or are we just turning up on auto-pilot?
We can sincerely pray and listen to the Holy Spirit and make commitment for the next task, getting closer to God and worshiping Him. We know in our hearts that ”We are not an island”, being wiser even though we sometimes fail, we know the Lord will give his blessing, anointing and ability to do the tasks required.

“For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone.” Rom 14:7

“What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe–as the Lord has assigned to each his task.” 1Co 3:5

Are we communicating and speaking the same language on a day to day basis to the people we meet? A good starting point for thinking about spreading the gospel. With a friend a few years ago we stared to have a coffee and share about how to operate an iPaq. From this evolved a Churches Together computer group which continues to help people .
COMMUNICATING

A Computer and Phone IT group has been meeting in our church cafe weekly for 4 weeks. Meeting together to try and keep up to date learn from each other about laptops, computers, phones and tablets,. People are interested who don’t understand this new technology, but want to learn at their own pace .

THE CHALLENGE

We are looking at learning more about internet shopping, Face Book, Twitter, Anti- virus, Blogs, down loading a bible App. and other areas suggested by the group. With a personal touch, we learn more allowing us to communicate better with family, friends ,missionaries and other areas in our lives. Allowing us to reach out with God’s love, with a Christ like vision. to serve the people we come in contact with

WHERE TO FROM HERE?

Passing on a vision and keeping things fresh in a joyful way is not easy. As with modern technology and spreading the gospel we need confidence to pass on. We have found the best way and learning and helping each other is on a one to one basis. A challenge to do this is by developing Christian lead groups on church premises such as a café with Wi-Fi, art classes, photography groups, cell groups, etc. running in parallel with the secular keep fit, music groups etc. Out of something new and challenging one of the fruits will be if it brings new people into the ‘church’ ?

Over the years the methods of communicating messages are always changing. With a clear vision so that we know where we stand, and what we stand for we need to pass it on. Then I thought where have all the fax’s gone?  It was for a season and we hardly use them now.
It’s the same way with hammer and chisel, papyrus scowls, quills, pen and ink, typewriters, ballpoints, and other means of writing all seem to have a natural progression.
What do we have at present it is a minefield to convey a message with Dongles, ISP, Bit’s , USB’s, Tablets, Bugs, Blogs, Apps. iPads. iPods ,etc. all to help us !!!! Then all we have to do is communicate through email, the web, twitter, Facebook, Linkedin or just write a letter.
Then I thought what is the most important thing they were transmitting. It must be the basic spiritual and guide lines for life the ten commandments. As we read in Exodus Moses wrote them on tablets, given to him by God. The tablets are here a again as part of our arsenal.
We are blessed that we now can carry a full bible with us all the time on our mobile phones , lap top computer and like Moses on Tablets. When we have time we can forward a word in season or bible verse to encourage someone.
How will I know that the Holy Spirit has spoken in what to do? Particularly when we use this new technology ? Or by the Lindisfarne gospels written in 970AD which has drawn the crowds in Durham cathedral this year?
Trust and pray for there is no other way, have faith, do it. It will produce the result that God wants.

‘Give thanks to the Lord, his love endures for ever’

We all enjoy a good melody that lifts our spirits into worship whether Sankey Wesley or Kendrick depending upon our taste it does not matter as long as our heart and attitude are right and we are honouring God

At a recent meeting with good praise and worship there were restraints of being allowed to worship. The was a plan to share from the word , have a good testimony, pray together, sing, praise, worship and finish on time. Elements of the service would be relevant to some people but I missed out as the leader seemed to want keep to the programme
It easy for our minds to wander in church, remembering things from work, or just the person next to us. King David is a phenomenal example, of someone who worshiped with the whole of his being. We do not see many examples like his that we can follow these days.
They are also different ways seeing Gods handy work through the beauty of flowers, stunning scenery, quietly reflecting , or listening to music. Each way helps us to worship as a unique individual, to come into His presence .
Are we missing out?
It should be relatively easy to go to meetings, services or our special place, and make worship an integral part of our lives. Take away the materialistic things of life we think we want , not what we need. Be refreshed and have our spirits lifted up to enable us to affirm the vision God has given us through Jesus’ example to worship the one true God.
Get rid of the clutter, focus on what matters, let the holy spirit renew our minds and focus on what God wants from us to worship him.