Sliding Around!

The weather people had been forecasting snow, but after the early evening flurry melted away yesterday, I figured it would all come to nothing.

However, when I heard some weather battering off the window in the night I wondered if there might be snow on the ground in the morning, despite my scepticism. Indeed there was, and the photo above shows the scene that met my eyes when I looked out of my front door.

On Sunday afternoon we had had a discussion about whether I could pack away my thermals until next winter. I and some others had thought 'Yes', but my wife was not alone in being right - again! - in thinking 'No'! And today I proved her right by adding that extra layer under my jeans!

There were some massive showers during the morning, but in the afternoon the showers came less often and the sun has melted most of the low-level snow away. Above about 500 feet though, the snow is still lying. Ben Hope, which looms over Tongue at a mighty 3041 feet (927m), is getting very white again. It had almost melted clear during the warmer weather of the last few weeks.

Just when we all thought that we would be on secure ground until next Winter, the rug is pulled from under our feet and we are slip sliding about again.

I suspect that's what the man who built his house on the sand thought (Matthew 7:26). Everything looked great during the dry weather. But when the rain came down, and the floods rose up, it went spectacularly wrong, and the house fell down with a great crash.

The world's banks have gone through a similar calamity in the past few years. And I don't think they have learned their lessons yet. The problem is not just limited to the banks, but to the global economy, which only thinks it is doing well when the economy is growing. The present structure of our world economy cannot cope with a static situation.

But the World is nearly full up. We cannot continue growing our populations forever. Climate change is going to give us major problems ahead. I think it is more likely the global population will shrink over the next 100 years, rather than continue its meteoric rise of the past 100 years. We must re-evaluate the stability of our economic assumptions. We cannot expect to borrow today and pay it back tomorrow. Each one of us must start living within our means.

The church too is slip sliding about. The foundations we thought were secure have become unstable. Mighty buildings, filled with rows of pews, with a giant pulpit and table at the front, no longer result in the people pouring through the doors.

Preaching the Good News inside the building won't draw anyone in from the outside, unless the people inside become able to preach the message themselves, outside, in their everyday conversations - amongst family, friends, neighbours, and work colleagues.

This means that our church pulpits should be used for teaching and encouraging the people in the pews to do the preaching, instead of the preaching being done by the minister (or pastor or priest).

Relationship with Jesus is the true solid foundation of the church. Lift Him up and all people will be drawn to Him. If people are not being drawn to us, then we are lifting up the wrong thing.

Jesus is the light of the World. He will fill your hearts with joy. In the Father's house there is eternal life. Jesus has prepared a place for you. He is standing at the door waiting to welcome you in.

Don't slip up on your journey through life. But if that's what happens, you can depend on Jesus to give you a helping hand. If you're having troubling finding Jesus, then ask someone from the church to help you!