Where have I been and where am I going?

It is quite a long time since I have posted on this blog, for which there are a number of reasons. First, illness in the family and other family circumstances have made it difficult to find time, as well as other new opportunities for ministry in local churches and community services. In response to the question I have posed as the title to this blog post, I think I know, more or less, where I have been over the first six months of this year, but I don't know specifically where I am going, because I don't know where God is going to lead me next. it is all very well to talk about having a "Purpose Driven Life," about which I have read in years gone by, but like many other Christians I have spoken to who have read the well-known book by Rick Warren, I don't really buy into the brand. This may be owing to a fundamental cultural difference between the UK, where I live, and the US, or it may be a different perception of the way I have been taught to interpret the Bible and the events we see playing out on the world stage in our times! Who would have believed, a few years ago, that we would see 59 million people displaced, becoming refugees, not welcome anywhere, in 2014 alone? Or that we would see Egyptian Coptic Christians being beheaded on a beach, by IS Jihadists, who covered their own faces, so that they would not be recognized, but left the victims' faces uncovered, so that relatives and friends could recognize these martyrs and testify to their faithfulness in following Jesus even unto death? We live in a tragic, broken world, where so many need to experience the love and grace of Jesus for themselves, and to be set free from sin by accepting Him as their Saviour. I only want to be involved in spreading the Good News of salvation in Christ alone (John 14:6). Anything else pales into insignificance beside this; ethnic, cultural and denominational differences, political viewpoints, differences in the ways in which God speaks to us individually and our various tastes in music, fashion, films and hobbies! All these things are rather like rearranging the deckchairs on the "Titanic" just hours before it hit that huge iceberg. May I challenge you (and myself) to try and focus our attention on following Jesus more closely every day. May it be our aim to see Him more clearly, love Him more dearly and to follow Him more nearly, day by day, to His glory and the blessing and salvation of many others in these challenging times!