A guy called Neil Metcalfe hit the headlines this week when he showed genuine love and a great deal of courage in reporting his son to the Police when he found a gun and ammunition in his son's possession.
As a dad myself I know it can't have been easy to do, it would have been easier to turn a blind eye, or quietly dispose of the gun in the local canal. The trouble is, that whilst it might have "fixed" the immediate problem, at what might have seemed a lower personal price, it would not have tackled the wider problem. The gun may have been found and used in a crime - His son would still have been in contact with the supplier of the gun, and may have found himself under pressure to do much worse than simply hide the weapon....the chain of possibilities goes on and on. Putting it bluntly Neil Metcalfe's compassionate and brave action may well have prevented someone being killed. If he'd fallen victim to the trap of taking the easy way out, he may well have unwillingly allowed his son to participate in a chain of events that robbed someone of their life - it would not have felt like the easy way out at that point I'm sure.
As it is his son has been imprisoned for three years, and I guess Neil will feel torn by his actions, and hurt at seeing his son's liberty taken away, due to his actions. At times it's tough being a parent, you have to face situations and make decisions you'd rather not take - but good parents don't duck the issue, real parents act out of love, no matter how hard that decision may be.
I'd like to encourage folks to pray for Neil, his son (Paul) and all who know them at this time - I'm sure they need it. There will be those who will criticise, there will be moments of doubt and hurt, so lets pray that Neil and Paul know God's love, peace and guidance at this time. We need strong fathers, fathers who know how to love their children, even when the price of that love seems impossibly high. Neil, thank you for your courage and compassion.
I'd also like to encourage anyone reading this to pray for parents in general, Neil is not alone in having to make tough decisions about children, at some time or another it happens to all parents. There comes a day - or several days - when a Mum or Dad has to tackle a tough situation, it may not be on the scale of the story above, but nonetheless it can leave the poor parent feeling stressed and distraught. Mum's and Dad's need the wisdom of Solomon, and the patience of several saints, that's the nature of parenting...and so they (we!) need those prayers!
Neil's true story carries with is the echoes of a much older true story, where a loving parent had to allow his son to face the consequences of wrongdoing - the difference in this case being that Jesus wasn't the one on the wrong - He took the punishment on our behalf.
God didn't spare his only Son, He freely allowed him to face the penalty for our wrongdoings, and as a result many lived have been saved. - Father thank you for your Son. Jesus thank you for giving us life through your death on the cross.
Friday, 20 June 2008
Thursday, 12 June 2008
Not giving up on persistence
We've been praying for various people and situations for some time now (over a year), it's probably the longest time I have stuck at it, in interceding for anything or anyone. In the past I'd have prayed a while, then simply moved on to pray about whatever else I felt "moved" to pray for. I now realise that I've been pretty fickle in terms of my prayer life, too often I've prayed as an "ad hoc" conversation, where, whatever came to mind, came up in conversation. Recently it's dawned on me that if I only ever talk about what's currently on my mind, it's a bit of a one way relationship.
Through the process of praying regularly and in a more disciplined way, I can now see that those one way conversations have also been pretty shallow. Persevering in prayer for the same few important things, I soon found myself running out of steam....I mean how many ways are there to ask Father please will you...? The longer I pressed on, the worse it felt. I found myself reciting a shopping list mantra of the things I was interceding for. Then one day I bored even myself with my uninspired praying, and found myself saying "Father I don't know how to pray for these things, I've re-worded and re-phrased it ad infinitum, what should I pray?" Gradually I realised that this was what I should have been doing all along!
As a Christian I'm a disciple - someone who is learning - I'd lost sight of that important principle in my prayer life. I sat in the driving seat as if I was running things, when the whole point is that God is in charge. So, for some time now I've been asking Father how I should pray about things, rather than simply diving in and talking from my viewpoint.
As I've done that I've realised that my persistence has paid some great dividends - No, I've not yet seen the people around me fully healed or saved, (though I have seen some encouraging progress) above all I've learned much about myself, and the changes God wants to make in me. I've learned (again) that listening in prayer is at least as important as speaking. I've learned that prayer is both more fun and much harder work that I'd realised. I've also learned that asking God to direct and guide my prayer life is every bit as important as speaking to Him about the situations I'm interceding for. So don't give up on persistence, stick with it, don't just re-phrase the same old thoughts ask God to guide you to new ones - It's well worth the effort!
Through the process of praying regularly and in a more disciplined way, I can now see that those one way conversations have also been pretty shallow. Persevering in prayer for the same few important things, I soon found myself running out of steam....I mean how many ways are there to ask Father please will you...? The longer I pressed on, the worse it felt. I found myself reciting a shopping list mantra of the things I was interceding for. Then one day I bored even myself with my uninspired praying, and found myself saying "Father I don't know how to pray for these things, I've re-worded and re-phrased it ad infinitum, what should I pray?" Gradually I realised that this was what I should have been doing all along!
As a Christian I'm a disciple - someone who is learning - I'd lost sight of that important principle in my prayer life. I sat in the driving seat as if I was running things, when the whole point is that God is in charge. So, for some time now I've been asking Father how I should pray about things, rather than simply diving in and talking from my viewpoint.
As I've done that I've realised that my persistence has paid some great dividends - No, I've not yet seen the people around me fully healed or saved, (though I have seen some encouraging progress) above all I've learned much about myself, and the changes God wants to make in me. I've learned (again) that listening in prayer is at least as important as speaking. I've learned that prayer is both more fun and much harder work that I'd realised. I've also learned that asking God to direct and guide my prayer life is every bit as important as speaking to Him about the situations I'm interceding for. So don't give up on persistence, stick with it, don't just re-phrase the same old thoughts ask God to guide you to new ones - It's well worth the effort!
Thursday, 5 June 2008
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving!
Yes I know, it's nowhere near the time of year when our colonial cussons prepare the turkey and set about hunting cranberries. I'm talking about, what old fashioned folks would call good manners. Saying thank you for what you have received.
When it comes to prayer it's all to easy to fall into the trap of seeing God as a kind of omnipresent on-line ordering system. We sit down with our list of urgent requests, and ask for them to be delivered as quickly as possible.
On the other hand too often we don't even bother to pray for the important stuff, that isn't yet urgent.
Not sure what I mean? How about that meal you just ate? Or that clean water that just appears through your taps? How about the roof over your head, your plumbing, the car, your job, or your family?
You know what I mean that "give us today our daily bread" stuff, that Jesus mentioned!
When was the last time you were truly thankful for any of that day-to-day stuff?
Yet if God did not deliver on that day to day stuff, how long would it be before it became urgent, and reached the top of your shopping list?
How about taking five minutes to stop, look around and list ten things you'd like to say thank you to Father for delivering, unrequested day after day?
Thank you for reading this!
Yes I know, it's nowhere near the time of year when our colonial cussons prepare the turkey and set about hunting cranberries. I'm talking about, what old fashioned folks would call good manners. Saying thank you for what you have received.
When it comes to prayer it's all to easy to fall into the trap of seeing God as a kind of omnipresent on-line ordering system. We sit down with our list of urgent requests, and ask for them to be delivered as quickly as possible.
On the other hand too often we don't even bother to pray for the important stuff, that isn't yet urgent.
Not sure what I mean? How about that meal you just ate? Or that clean water that just appears through your taps? How about the roof over your head, your plumbing, the car, your job, or your family?
You know what I mean that "give us today our daily bread" stuff, that Jesus mentioned!
When was the last time you were truly thankful for any of that day-to-day stuff?
Yet if God did not deliver on that day to day stuff, how long would it be before it became urgent, and reached the top of your shopping list?
How about taking five minutes to stop, look around and list ten things you'd like to say thank you to Father for delivering, unrequested day after day?
Thank you for reading this!
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