Spring Chickens

[John Alton]

A middle age phenomenon is occurring in our lifetime, one which would have been impossible just a few generations ago. That is when people reach 40 something there is this urge to go out and buy music that they used to listen to in their late teens and early twenties. Not only do we re-purchase the music we originally had on vinyl but many of those bands are back out on tour in response to the renewed interest due to the baby boomer sense of nostalgia.So now your children look at you with a smile and a somewhat bemused look on their face. Here you are, their Dad, someone who in their eyes is this figure of maturity and dependability and now they see you thrashing around the kitchen looking like a commercial for an iPod. In their young minds they are alive and pulsating with all the things that are current and cool. The promises of learning and the perceiving of facts never before grasped by the human experience is within their grasp. The youth looking forward the parent looking back.I wonder if this is a parallel for this Way Corp web site? Are we a bunch of 40, 50 something’s that have found a portal to view our past, to reconnect with friends and faces perhaps long forgotten, pictures and words awakening memories both joyful and sometimes not. This flirtation with the past may re-open memories and be a reminder of our membership with a group long since gone but the Way Corp was about people who made a decision to serve God, people for whom “it is written” was enough.In many ways those days were just like my children and young people today whose world is filled with the possibilities of learning realities and the understanding of facts never before grasped by the human experience. They look at DNA and think they can extend the average life up to 150 years. Is not that the way we thought back then? Did not we think we had it all before us that we could only continue to grow in the things of God? Well grow we sure did but maybe not in the way we expected!And this Way Corps site this dalliance with the past does by no means suggest a desire to return to or re-live that past, about as much as I would like to stand in line for hours on a cold February morning to buy tickets to see the Stones (which I did in 72). But I am reminded of the good things the richness of the fellowship, the unity of the body the singleness of heart the love which passes knowledge these are the qualities that remain and should remain for they are good and godly.Today I am reminded of those wise words that said something to the effect of, “The steady advance of the veteran accomplishes more than the reckless rush of the young” or words to that effect well now it’s our turn to be the veterans. In our younger days we may have looked forward and saw nothing but possibilities but years later we now have the value of lessons learned. We have far more capacity and ability to think and evaluate, to balance and judge; but the simple truth of “it is written” is still the standard as long as the desire to continue on Gods path burns strong.The way I see it the best days are still to come and I don’t just mean Christ’s return (lol) but think about Abraham, he was no spring chicken when God called him out of Ur. Moses was eighty years old when God called him to lead Israel out of Egypt, Noah was a whopping 600 years old when God told him to build a boat for rain which he’d never seen, so who knows what’s around the corner. When it comes to Gods plan we are all spring chickens. Society (and of course our children) may pigeon hole and categorize us by age, but the reality is we can serve God with as much vitality as we ever could. Philippians 2:13For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. And God’s still working. The desire to serve matched with seasoned grace is a powerful combination and I continue to pray to be equal to the task. People have churches with names and people have groups with members, but God only has the seed of faith in the hearts of those that Love Him and that’s all I’m interested in and I pray that we are like those to whom Peter spoke by Gods divine revelation when he said in 1 Peter 1:5Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.Our salvation is a future reality ready to be revealed at the last time, but today and tomorrow and until that time we are kept by God through faith. But then at that time we shall see those things which have not been seen and we shall hear those things which have not been heard. All these things God has prepared for them that love Him, then with finality and certainty we will say that our learning and the perceiving of facts and truths never before grasped by the human experience will be a living reality not just a hoped for dream for we will know (finally) even as we are known. This will be a living reality and we know it will be because “it is written”.

[Alison Smith]

Dear John..
A fantastic..and TRUE piece of writing. Thank you.
May we ever serve God ....knowing that
"It is written" is truly all we need.
Agape
Alison

[Bob and Annette Eachus]

John, Believe it or not I have only just read your blog. To quote Mr Burns from the Simpsons, EEEXCELENT!

[John Richeson]

Nice posting, John. Thank you. My mid-life crisis is evident on my page and is reflected in the first song on my playlist and in my pictures. But I love every minute of it. I concur. The best is ahead.

Of all my years in The Way ministry, 1974 - 2000, that which impacted me the most was the awesome (midlife word) people I interacted with and friends I formed relationships with.

It is impossible for me to simply set aside that part of my life and pretend it did not exist. I would rather embrace it and rejoice about it. For me it is not over. More to come.

[Terri Moore]

"Dear John", I have not had the blessing of meeting you, but reading this has caused me to think of you as a good friend. You have stated things that are in my heart and I so look forward to seeing his plan continue to unfold in my life and in my family and friends. WE are not near Abraham's nor Moses' age so the best is yet to dome. God bless you. Terri M