Dear Saints,
Last month was an interesting one for us here in the hills of Donegal, and for various reasons I found myself with much less time than usual for ministry work or for blogging.
Sometimes a little break from things is good anyway. Sometimes it is very much needed. It is all too easy to lose yourself in work and forget to take some quieter moments during your day. It is all too rare to spend a day doing nothing but enjoying the quieter moments of life. I was reminded of this when a bout of illness forced me to lay down my tools and pretty much do nothing for a week or so. At least a bout of illness can sometimes be a blessing in this way, forcing you to have a fallow season if even just briefly, a kind of Sabbatical, a time to revive.
Days assume a certain character of innocence when you have nothing to do with them but idly pass the time; watching the birds and the sky and the life buzzing around you, making notes or reading scriptures, sharing observations with loved ones, enjoying a stretch of the legs in the garden or just pottering around for a bit, reflecting, contemplating, being here now as you slowly recover. On such days time itself seems to relax as much as you relax, so that you see and hear and feel many more details in a higher definition of reality; your flighty soul settles down into your centre, so that emotions grow calm and more open to reflection, the mind running clearer and deeper, more true and gentle; and at the same time your spirit grows buoyant, freed from the usual daily gravities of care, and rises up more eagerly towards the Light, further into the presence of our Maker, so that prayer becomes an unending two-way communion with the Most High.
Be still and know that I am God.
Personal Testimonies
I must confess that not many of these things have much to do with the subject of this blog posting. They are only proof that I cannot sit down and write a simple introductory sentence without writing a page.
Which does, helpfully, remind me that I have been prompted again to provide my personal testimony for the Parables blog. I have held off from providing my testimony due to the length it will likely end up being, and the time it will take to write it all, but it is still very much in the works.
I would also like to ask readers to send any personal testimonies they too would like to share on Parables. The personal testimonies of readers is something I am very keen to publish on the blog.
New Parables Recordings
I have not been entirely remiss with ministry work recently, as I have just added some new audio recordings on the Parables homepage for readers to listen to and download.
Firstly I have added a section for Joseph Herrin recordings, which come from the archives at Heart4God.
Secondly I have added a section for ‘Guest Audio’ recordings. Here I would like to highlight contemporary talks and sermons from fellow saints in these last days. Talks that may be relevant to events happening now. We are beginning this Guest Audio series with the talks of a fellow brother in Christ, Brian Klumpenhouwer. Brian provides a weekly Bible Study to a small group of the Remnant in Canada. Each time one of these recordings is shared with me I am struck with the sense that Brian’s words would greatly benefit others of the Remnant. So I hope to include these weekly recordings on the Parables website for the foreseeable future.
Check out the new recordings on the left-hand sidebar of the Parables homepage.
And if you have any suggestions for other Guest Audio speakers, please let me know.
Summer Visit
We were also blessed a month ago with a visit from Brian’s son, Jordan Klumpenhouwer, and his lovely family, who came all the way from Canada to stay with us in Ireland. What a pleasure to watch all our children playing together, and to enjoy late night fellowships of thickly-honeyed-tea (‘preachers brew’) and open discussions about life and faith and the Kingdom to Come. What a blessing to make new friends with both Jordan and Catherine.
There was some sense of the early ecclesia in their visit; of saints visiting other saints abroad, and bringing news from afar while also bringing exhortation and gifts. It was a special time.
Thank you
I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has donated to the ministry in any way. Your generosity allows this blog to continue and also ensures that Joseph Herrin’s works remain freely available for all.
In particular I would like to offer my sincere thank you for the kind gifts to the ministry that were made by Brian Klumpenhouwer – yes, Brian again! – and the fellowship which he belongs to. Much support has also been offered to Joseph too. It is always a wonderful thing to be offered aid in ministry work, not only for the obvious practical reasons that come to mind, but also because it is truly heartening to witness brothers and sisters operating so freely in the selfless giving spirit of Christ.
“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.“
– Luke 6:38 –
May you be blessed with peace and understanding in these last days.
Colin Buchanan
thiswisefool@protonmail.com
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