FAIR STOOD THE WIND FOR COIMBRA – 70 - MINTY REVISITED 05 - FORGET NOT THEM, O CHRIST, WHO STAND THY VANGUARD IN THE DISTANT LAND. - Shane’s home church stTracy’s is about 10 miles South of the City in a prosperous part of sarfLondon; stAbles is in a prosperous “village” about halfway between. - JULY 2006 - on the Monday evening Shane had gone out for a few beers with Luke; there were four rounds; the total was about £15 each, not really a lot. They left well before last orders – both of them could have seriously put it away had they a mind to, but they drank responsibly and in moderation: enough is as good as a feast; four pints each is MORE than enough. - It was a great night – they learned a lot about each other, and it was an evening of added gospel value: God was honoured and his kingdom advanced by their robust, open and honest sharing of things they had in common and things where they differed - Since Shane’s arrival at stAbles the previous autumn, they had always been good mates. Luke had a degree and was an office line manager, and before defecting to GRACE ABOUNDING he had served as a churchwarden – aye – and he had made a really good speech at an open Deanery Synod meeting, but somehow the wider church patronised him as a worthy duffer who wouldn’t amount to much – like they regarded lay people in general – LOOOLL!!! - As regards youthwork, keen parents like Luke and Louise were the workhorses – they were the keen, devoted but essentially DUMB parents who would do anything for you, but YOU had to come up with the ideas and the initiative - And now within months Luke was one of the LEADERS at GRACE ABOUNDING and on Sunday he came across as a MAN OF AUTHORITY with a CALM AND FERVENT ZEAL: he had a growing knowledge and love of the Bible; he had something to say; he said it with clarity and conviction; people listened – and he would be preaching next Sunday evening. Shane was well impressed – such a lovely Christian – and Shane was coming to have a deep respect and affection for GRACE ABOUNDING. - IRON SHARPENETH IRON; SO A MAN SHARPENETH THE COUNTENANCE OF HIS FRIEND ;) - Shane in particular felt much encouraged when he got home – until he found he had less than £10 in his pocket. Well there was some money in the bank, but not much. There was food in the fridge but that was for Toby and Clarissa and the children. They had said he was free to take what he needed, but he couldn’t - £10 was more than enough for beans and toast for the rest of the week, and Luke and Louisa were taking him to the Bistro later in the week… - TAKING HIM TO THE BISTRO – OMG!! He recalled the occasions when some guy on the street asked for money, and he would take him to a burger bar, and they would sit down together and talk – and he would then either direct or take the guy to somewhere he could find help – and now Luke and Louise were taking him for supper. - “I HAVE BEEN YOUNG, AND NOW AM OLD, YET HAVE I NOT SEEN THE RIGHTEOUS FORSAKEN, NOR HIS SEED BEGGING BREAD” – in your dreams ;( - Suddenly his head began to spin – it wasn’t the drink: he was overwhelmed by despair. He didn’t even have the energy to go to bed; he fell asleep on the sofa, and in the wee hours he was enjoying a delightful dream in which he was at a Teaching College and he was about to go forward to receive his teaching certificate, when he woke up… - A year before in 2005 he was planning on teaching, but instead submitted to his church’s desire for him to be their “Youth Minister” – this would mean three years on a Youth Course and then being paid peanuts by the church for the foreseeable future living at home with mum and dad – and the PCC (Parochial Church Council) had already reneged on their promise to pay for his training, on the grounds that it was for the placement church to pay – and (OH PLEASE) he wasn’t on the list of BONA FIDE “LINK” MISSIONARIES who get an equal allocation out of the church’s “Missionary Quota” (currently 15% of gross income)… - Anyway – by now (July 2006) he should have got his teaching certificate and looking forward to his first appointment, at the start of a really great teaching career and engaging with some really interesting people, colleagues and… he thought of HER – she was handing out the service sheets at GRACE ABOUNDING and her friends – he thought of evenings in the pub and Bistro in a group of Christians his own age, discussing the meaning of life, God, the Bible, putting the world to rights – and all the things I dare say his university friends would be doing… - It was almost certainly too late to get on a teaching course this year, so it was going to be the Autumn of 2007 – SH**!!!! - TWO WASTED YEARS – perhaps spending a year FLIPPING FLIPPIN’ BURGERS for PEANUTS - OMG :’(( - He went to bed at three, and woke up about 8 – there was nothing on at College today, so he took another two hours. - He was refreshed, he got up, and as usual he read the Bible and prayed, and felt a sense of peace: someone was telling him not to do anything silly without talking to Toby and Clarissa; they would be back in a few days - It was late Tuesday morning; he would go to the hole in the wall, draw £20 and use some of it at LUIGI’S DELICATESSAN – for just over £5 he could get the ingredients for something which was both wholesome and a tad exotic – perhaps life wasn’t so bad after all ;) - - “Forget not them, O Christ, who stand Thy vanguard in the distant land. - In flood, in flame, in dark, in dread, Sustain, we pray, each lifted head. - Exalt them over every fear, In peril come thyself more near. - Thine is the work they strive to do, Their foes so many, they so few, - Be with Thine own, Thy loved, who stand, Christ’s vanguard, in the storm swept land” -
Posted on: Wed, 31 Jul 2013 20:58:17 +0000
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