Tuesday thoughts

1.  I listened to a talk Forgiveness brings liberty by Bill Johnson who, while not my man on quite a few things, I appreciate from time to time. The first ten minutes stuck with me- then I fell asleep so I can't speak for the rest of it.

2.  I have been praying for a door to open for six years and yesterday it swung ajar a bit and let in a shard of light.

3. Eugene Peterson has told me over and over again, particularly in his memoir, that you have try to stay as a Pastor in a place and with a people for the long haul. I generally think that over time in one place you can connect up the kingdom dots with more clarity.

4. It's hard not to catch a bit of 'Tis the season too by jolly' when you hang out with a 3 year old.

5. Darryl has posted his list of 'Best books of 2018'

6. A clicked about a bit on this set of 2018 links.

7. I have loved preaching on Ephesians.

8. We are going to be walking through Judges in the New Year. This quote starts off one of the commentaries I am reading:

'Whatever controls us really is our god....The person who seeks power is controlled by power. The person who seeks acceptance is controlled by the people he or she wants to please. We do not control ourselves. We are controlled by the lord of our life'

Rebecca Manley Pippert, Out of the Saltshaker, page 48-49

9.  Someone today told me of an elderly Godly politically well-read man in a local church near us who said on the day of the referendum result: 'They'll never let it happen'. Quite who 'they' are is one for you to speculate on but that statement looks more likely than it did two years ago when the PM said categorically 'Leave means leave'. We'll see if he's right.

10. The Calvin quote on page 18 of this is blessing and strengthening me.