10/04/2018
Christ -The ReeseSource September 2018 Edition
In the past week, I have celebrated two friend’s birthdays. The first was a friend who turned 100! The other friend turned 70 (just a kid!) This got me to thinking about my age. If I were to live to be 100, I would live another 28 years. (Do the math!) Wow, another 28 years. I think back on what has happened in my life in the last 28 years. In 1990, Net Work Ministries was not in existence. I had left Young Life. I was in between careers. I was seeking God’s direction for the next stage of my life. I was experiencing God’s faithfulness in a dark and difficult time. I coined the phrase, “I am looking forward to looking back on this time!” Neither of my daughters were married and obviously no grandchildren. Peggy and I had been married 23 years.
It’s 2018, Peggy and I have been married 51 years. We have seven grandchildren ranging in age from 24 years old down to six years old. Net Work Ministries has been in existence for 26 years. I have gotten back involved with Young Life as a volunteer pastor to the staff of the Southeast Region.
Looking back on the last 28 years and beyond that, I have learned, first hand, God’s faithfulness and provision. He is supremely trustworthy.
Recently, someone asked me a rather interesting question. “How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are.” After giving it some thought, I would say that most of the time I feel like I am around 35 or 40. I certainly don’t feel like I am 72! Now, having said that, on some days after working in the yard all day, I might say I feel 90! I think age can be as much a state of mind as it is an actual age.
There is a saying that I like. “I don’t know what the future holds but I do know the One who holds the future.” Also there is a hymn that expresses the same sentiment, “Because He Lives.” The chorus says, “Because He lives, I can face tomorrow, Because He lives, all fear is gone; Because I know He holds the future, And life is worth the living, Just because He lives!”
For those of you that are reading this newsletter and are much younger, in your 20’s, 30’s and above, you may say, I really do not worry about what will happen 28 years from now. I am too busy living life for today. As for God being involved in my future or, for that matter, in my life at all right now, remember this, we are not guaranteed tomorrow or even the next breath. If you are ambivalent to God’s offer of eternal life and His final intervention in your life and what your response to Him has been up until that moment when you draw your last breath, I offer this quote from C.S. Lewis.
“When that happens, it is the end of the world (for you…my words) When the author walks on to the stage the play is over. God is going to invade, all right: but what is the good of saying you are on His side then, when you see the whole natural universe melting away like a dream and something else—something it never entered your head to conceive—comes crashing in; something so beautiful to some of us and so terrible to others that none of us will have any choice left? For this time it will be God without disguise; something so overwhelming that it will strike either irresistible love or irresistible horror into every creature. It will be too late then to choose your side. There is no use saying you choose to lie down when it has become impossible to stand up. That will not be the time for choosing: it will be the time when we discover which side we really have chosen, whether we realized it before or not. Now, today, this moment, is our chance to choose the right side. God is holding back to give us that chance. It will not last forever. We must take it or leave it.”
The Bible talks about the years of our life in Psalm 90:10 “The length of our days is seventy years-- or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.” Now, with improved healthcare we may add a few more years to that number if God wills. Nevertheless, we must never take a single day for granted. As I said earlier, we are not guaranteed tomorrow. Enjoy each day or even each moment we are given. Strive to keep a positive outlook, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.”(Proverbs 3:5,6) With all this in mind, our daily prayer should be: “Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”
Ministry News:
I would love to write about something new and dynamic but this ministry is involved in the lives of men and their families on a day-in and day-out basis. Eugene Peterson, author of “The Message” translation of the Bible wrote another book entitled, “A Long Obedience in the Same Direct ion” That’s what Net Work has sought to be about in its twenty-six years of ministry. That’s what I have tried to live out in my forty two years of ministry. I pray I may continue to be faithful to the call that God has placed on our lives.
I still meet with men individually for counsel and encouragement. Although the Friday Men’s Group no longer meets, several of the men try to meet every other week for lunch.
I have an active Board of Directors that meet quarterly. They are a great encouragement to me!
I am very active in my role as pastor to the staff of Young Life’s Southeast Region.
In short, I have not retired! I have not sensed that God is calling me away from full-time ministry. I promise I will let you know if that happens. To that end, I still desire your prayers, words of encouragement and financial support. Please pray that I may be found worthy of those things.
We are:
Together, In His Love and Service,
