There is a season to everything

Ecclesiastes 3 says that there is a season to everything. A time to keep silence, and a time to speak (verse 7). 

A lot has been changing around us here. The Queen has passed. Long live the King! 

Our new Prime Minister took office - the third since July.  

Then we got COVID. Finally, after successfully evading it, it caught up with us. The other family member commutes regularly to a Central London office and she might have picked it up from her commute, or church which is also a considerable distance away and where the people have forgotten all about keeping the distance. 

The Central London churches are more international, and this means that the boundaries have stretched. Multiculturalism is not a swear word (as some have quite mistakenly been thinking), but it comes with its pluses and minuses. 

When Michael Whitehall (the father of a well-known British comedian Jack Whitehall) thought in their Netflix travel series of a prospect of meeting the Americans who are habitual huggers, he winced, and this is a very English reaction to it. Cultures differ. Every culture has its good and bad sides, and we go with the good. But I (albeit not a native Brit) react to hugs in a very English way - with a shudder. 

Then again, we can always believe that we as believers can fend off the attacking diseases. 

During the heart of the pandemic many US believers saw themselves as John J. Lake. If you are not familiar with his name or ministry, then I am not going to invent a bike. You can watch a video, made by a minister who has extensively studied his ministry and learn it by yourself https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__bKu8AzU3k The video begins with the famous example where the disease bacteria on Dr. John J. Lake's hand were investigated under a microscope. He held a firm belief that the sickness would be terminated at contact with his body (for the Greater One lives in us), and this was exactly what happened. 

It was a good and right belief of the named US believers, and I do trust it helped them if they held on to the promises of God and fended the sickness away via that. The attacks will come, but we do not have to accept whatever is sent upon us. We can use our spiritual armour, take our shield of faith, and stand, after having done all (Ephesians 6:13). 

Then again, there was a disparaging attitude towards unbelievers, and other people of faith who chose to do different. And that was ungodly. (Leaving it here.)

Time has passed. And I submitted already happily the details about my negative test. But alas! When discarding the testing strip, I happened to have another look at it. And, still positive. A very thin second line, but a line, nevertheless. 

This makes me think that the immunisations have something to do with terminating the live virus in the body (I received only one, and no, I am not an anti-vaxxer, but we live in a tiny London village, which has two functional pharmacies, but I happened to look for my injection from a wrong place - and when my GP practice vaccinated people at the end of last year, I was busy with work, working a deadline, so....I successfully managed to miss the right time, and the local branch of my GP practice which is closer to me said to me later on that they did not do it, and overall, their main branch did not do them either by then, so I went with my one and only immunisation, trusting God and the healing promises all of which have come handy now). 

I have renewed my acquaintance with an Australian preacher whom I last saw in person decades ago. He visited the first ministry where I was working. He came from Ruth Heflin's church in Jerusalem (I remember it vividly, for I had just borrowed a book from the Singaporean founder of the ministry and found a piano. There was a special song Ruth Heflin had received from the Spirit of God, and I was playing that song when the minister walked in, so he recognised it, and we struck up a conversation.) Now, time has passed, and we have all lived our lives the best we have been able to. My life has brought me to Great Britain, and London. His life has had its twists and turns, and he is back in Estonia where we last met sometime around 1993. 

It is the first day of November 2022 today. About thirty years later. 

He is still going good with God and looking for new ministry contacts in my former homeland. 

There was a young preacher - the son of my former ministry mates, who was inspired by his Gospel-preaching aunt. (Eleanora has maintained her original spark and has been regularly preaching the Gospel in the Swedish streets and elsewhere day in, day out.) Her young relative grew up in a believing family and rose to a place where he felt inspired to join the CfaN ministry school, and ever since he has been going strong. He has been to places all over. Previously, in Africa. These days, in the Ukraine. If our heart is burning and on fire, the sky is the limit. 

It does not take so much to go to places. But we begin from our "Jerusalem" and our "Judaea" - by going to the ones in our immediate neighbourhood, by reaching out. 

I was always similarly on fire. I invested most of my earnings into going to places and winning the souls. But then, life happened. I needed to make a few adjustments, as the finance was needed elsewhere. 

I used to think with some of my London School of Evangelism mates (and it was a CfaN ministry school - the only one the late Evangelist Reinhard Bonnke had in the UK) that it was a bit of a stretch for them to accept the young men to their internship programme. Young and free. Why men? Why not women? Why not married men? 

Well, there was clearly a very practical reason underlying that decision. As there is always a cost. And it is not necessarily just a financial one. But, if you have a family, then there are certain responsibilities. We cannot just take off and leave our family on their own. And yes, some have done it. I managed to do it with my tiny daughter who accompanied me everywhere. And later, I went on, propelled by inertia. I was on the roll and kept rolling on. 

But back to my former Australian minister friend. He was older than I. And he must be free again to just take off and go to places. 

On the other hand, if we have a family, then it takes wisdom. And responsibility is not an overrated concept. A family needs our attention. Our spouse needs our attention, as do our children. We do not just dump them to the roadside, telling them to grow up on their own. There have been ministers who have no such responsibilities, and whom I have heard preaching that the "soccer training" and "ballet classes" are a hindrance and not the most spiritual part of our life. While they are not a spiritual part of our life, the mundane responsibilities are not to be discarded. 

Hence, what to do, and how to conduct your life when called into ministry? We cannot clearly win the rest of the world while forsaking our familial duties. We cannot be everywhere, all things to all men. It takes wisdom. And wisdom often comes with years. 

Reinhard Bonnke taught us to be led by the Holy Spirit in our ministry endeavours. There are 24 hours a day, and we all are limited by the time. We cannot go to all places. But we can do something. So, this is where our Jerusalem, and Judea lie. 

Christianity is often seen as a big volunteering programme. The ones who volunteer the most are seen as the most spiritual people. 

Now, there is nothing wrong with volunteering, although the concept is still different from the voluntary work done elsewhere, for different target groups, and different organisations. The Christian idea is not to ask the pay for every step we take, doing things as if unto God. But the church was not established for a voluntary work only. There is a spiritual component that makes the church a church. We are all called to play a part in it. We are all the players in God's Master Plan, and it is a spiritual plan. He never intended the church to be run as a business model only, with one or a handful of select doing the spiritual work, and the rest locked into the cycle of perpetual volunteering. Mistake me not. There is a time and a place to everything, and we do not expect the spiritual leaders to do it all. The church is there to help. But the saints of God are supposed to grow spiritually at church. And they are supposed to grow up and do the grown-up things, the way the world works. 

I think this part has been insufficiently targetted in our western churches. Not everywhere, though. America is full of strong and vibrant churches. The UK has its fair share of churches. Some are strong, some are developing. And there is nothing wrong with the concept of development. We are all being constantly changed. 

But we do not have to be just volunteers at church. This is a concept which automatically leaves most of the church into a position where they are allowed to do only practical tasks. And when we add to this the distance, and the long hours we spend at work, and the family, there is only this much time that is left over. Should we take the time at the expense of our family, and invest it into volunteering? Now, if we feel it is something we desire to do, all good with this. It is a noble investment. But if it means that our familial relations suffer for our family never sees us, then it can be "dead work", or a religious exercise, for the sake of it. Waking up early, leaving ourselves no time to rest, burning our midnight oil to the last bit. It can be a recipe for a divorce. Or for children who grow up, feeling and being neglected. Or it is something that is seen as a "sacrifice" we must make, for this is what the Christianity is about. 

But is it supposed to be so? Are we going to reap praise by denying our elderly parents the financial support and time investment into helping them, for all our finance goes what is called "korban" in Mark 7:11? Is it right to channel most of our financial and time investments into the work of God? I am sure that most ministers would agree. But Bible mentions this here, and clearly it means that there is a balance which must be found in our dealings with the church, and our family. It is good to give to God, but we may want to do it not out of a sense of a compulsion, or a religious duty, but the way God puts it into our heart. We do not have to outgive ourselves (although many might teach us to do namely this). There is a healthy balance, and we do what we do as if unto God. 

That applies to our finance, and time and attention. There is a time and place for everything. When we are unencumbered, we can easily go to places, and do things, and our money is ours to use only. But when we have a family, then there are responsibilities, and we cannot just forsake them all, and take off while leaving our family on their own. They deserve a fair share of the family finance, and time and attention. And when we have children, our children deserve to grow up in a safe and secure environment. And yes, it may just be that some of them may grow up to be promising footballers, or ballet dancers, and that means it is their path in life. Not everyone is called to be a Christian minister, while we all are called to have a relationship with Holy Spirit. We are all called to do also spiritual ministry. We are all called to get to know God as He is. We are all called to move in the gifts of the Spirit. We are all called to be in a living interaction with the world around us, and that does not only include the specially assigned ministry hours. We are called to be open to the leading of the Holy Spirit and flexible. This way He can use us to the max. He can lead people on our path, and we can introduce them what we have received from Him. Healing to the ones in need of healing. Deliverance to the ones in need of this. Creative solutions. Wisdom. Advice. 

There has been an unnecessary emphasis on just spiritual work, and spiritual efforts. Or volunteering at church. And while the church is set up for a purpose of making the difference in our local community, it does not have to necessarily mean that the believers are called to do only voluntary work, on top of their long and tiring working days, commuting at least a couple of extra hours, arriving home by midnight. Eating quickly around midnight, getting their few hours of sleep, back to work early in the morning. And replicating the same at weekends. Up with the cockcrow. Working hard the entire day. Going out to volunteering attempts and small group meetings at the end of the day, arriving home in pitch dark by midnight. It does not make a good family life. And with a demanding job or living in a place where the distances are significant it can waste your life, if you feel you need to stick to this cycle of permanent volunteering, without rest. 

Again, if you can do it without a significant disruption for your family life, and not sacrificing your health to such schedule, good. It is good to have the church going. It is great to have small groups, which meet in the middle of the week. But if it is not so feasible due to natural constraints like the distance and the challenges of our working week, or the presence of a family, moderation is the key. 

And it takes us back to the idea of accepting young, unencumbered men into the spiritual internship programmes. For a family life comes with its limitations, and if we as ministers, are not wise here, our family suffers from the deficit of attention, and finance and time which should be otherwise spent on our loved ones. Yes, ministry comes with its challenges. And yes, how does the church operate if the people are not involved. But there is only this much time and so many resources we have. It is good to learn to be a good steward. That includes wisdom which the believers do not always have. 

We learn as we go. But we cannot be everywhere. And hence, it is good to learn to recognise the voice of the Spirit of God and be led by Him. Yes. Also, in our volunteering for the church. And we can still be a meaningful part of our church and community. Just we do not have to rip ourselves to pieces, by overstretching our time and budget. We do not have to succumb to a subtle manipulation which urges us to do this at the expense of the rest of our life. And yet, we can! It is a privilege to do just anything as if unto God. It is a privilege to be an usher, or help count the money, or go and help the ones in need of help. Then again, there are so many voluntary organisations which do the same. How does it make the church any different if to reduce our church attendance unto volunteering, often at the expense of having no time left to even sit down and rest and breathe and communicate with Holy Spirit and learn about God. If our Christianity is focused on being work-based, then how much of it is going to stand by the end when it will be tried by the fire? How much of it is going to burn up in flames, like hay, or stubble or wood? How much of our Christian deeds are going to stand as the ones done with God?

Ephesians 2:10

New International Version

10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

1 Corinthians 3:11-13

21st Century King James Version

11 For no man can lay another foundation than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

12 Now if any man build upon this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble,

13 every man’s work shall be made manifest; for the Day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire, and the fire shall test every man’s work of what sort it is.