Tuesday.....two's day....month seems to be flying by. the year? Let's just say "light speed". Had a really good meeting with my good friend Jim Bentley yesterday morning. We try to meet every Monday for a catch up time to see how the weekend went for the two of us. Jim is the senior pastor of Gadsden Vineyard Church, and the one who ordained me more years ago than I care to remember. Jim has been someone who has encouraged me all the years I've know him.
Early on in our friendship, since we both loved Simon and Garfunkel, we kind of adopted the song "OLD FRIENDS" as one that would describe us in our older years. You have to remember that when we met it was 1968, so we had no way of knowing where life would lead us. The words to that song has now come to pass. Two grandfather's sharing memories of our life and time together. Seeing God's hand lead us. We didn't always follow though, sometimes we got off in the ditch and He had to come haul us out. As I've said many times in my teaching....He is a God who is faithful all the time, and we are a people who aren't. Yet he continues to work in us and through us.
Yet, as I sat there with him yesterday, here we were.......old friends. We've both seen a lot in this journey that God has taken us on. Probably more than we should have, but He entrusted a part of the kingdom to us, and with that comes spiritual warfare. You know, the enemy hates old friends, especially when the Holy Spirit is the one that binds them together. There have been times when we both wanted to quit. Wanted not to be responsible for what God has given us. But we knew deep inside that such thoughts came from our flesh and were not from God.
Jim is at the point in his life where he is looking to the future of Gadsden Vineyard. Making sure that it will continue to not only exist, but thrive in ministering to those that come searching for "life' answers to questions that are truly beyond our pay grade. The one thing I love about Jim is that he has learned to pray, wait, and watch for God's answer to his prayers. A lesson that I still haven't mastered, but am trying to.
Me? God has transitioned me to a kind of new role in this journey in recovery. I've turned into the "grand father" to those I meet and talk to. It's all about phone calls and lunches where I get to listen and hopefully give some direction to those who are struggling. Of course, God let's me continue to churn out these posts here on the blog. I'm grateful for that. And I do seem to have a bit more time in which to study the Word and write in my journals.
Years ago when we were hosting "House of Blue" I began to see a group of young people show up every Saturday night. They were an eclectic bunch to say the least. They would come, sit on the front rows and worship like it was nobody's business. I was puzzled by why they chose our meeting. Don't get me wrong, I was grateful that they came. I knew it couldn't the style of worship we played, because it was nothing close to what these kids were listening to. After a month of them coming to Saturday night, I commented to Jim about being at a loss for why these folks would choose our meeting. Some were traveling from Birmingham and farther to be with us. I'll never forget what Jim said. "You are a father to them. They see you as someone that they can be safe with and trust that you will share truth with them." That kind of dumbfounded me because I never set out to be that to anyone.So I guess at this point in my life, I have moved from father to grandfather. I can live with that.
I'm excited about the new endeavor the ReCovery Church is taking on. God is leading us to begin serving a meal to anyone who needs one but maybe can't afford it. As I've shared before, we will begin serving breakfast the 2nd and 4th Saturday mornings starting in April, from 8:30 a.m. till 9:30 a.m. We have no agenda in doing this ministry other than to let those who need a meal know that God loves them, and so do we.
Old friends....
So here on Tuesday, March 9th of 2021, I bless my friend. If I had anything I'd like to say to him, it would be..."Hey! Let's keep doing this and see what is over that hill."
God on you...
mbb
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