I've been recovering at home from having an operation to take my tonsils out, and although I'd been warned that it was going to be a painful time I didn't envisage picking up an infection, getting severely dehydrated and losing 9 kilos in a week! Thankfully, I'm much better now and focused enough to share some thoughts about my number 8 good choice in life. Interestingly enough, our daughter Bethan has left home this weekend for her first term at Swansea University-a big step for her and a landmark time for Gill and I. No-one else but the two of us at home now, and we are praying that Bethan will flourish and enjoy her Politics and American Studies Degree.
Ever since my earliest forays into leadership with The Boys' Brigade over 30 years ago, I've tried my hardest to help develop. equip, and release younger people into the purposes of God and especially into positions of ministry and leadership. Nowadays, I spend as much time encouraging others to do that as I actually do it myself, and over the recent years a significant part of what I've done with Ignite and with Third Day has been to challenge people to find three important friends:
a PAUL- an older person who can offer you wisdom and guidance, and be a mentor.
a TIMOTHY-a younger person who you can invest in and be a mentor to them.
a BARNABAS-someone about your own age and experience with whom you can share your spiritual journey.
You are never too old to need a Paul and never to young to be one! However inexperienced or inadequate you feel, there is someone out there who is more inexperienced and feeling more inadequate than you!
The Paul's, Timothy's , and Barnabas's in your life might change from season to season. But it's a good question to ask yourself- Who is my Paul? Who is my Timothy? Who is my Barnabas?