Personal

The other day the web site was down. Many of you were concerned. It was just a mixup at the server, who was using the wrong credit card to try to pay the bill. When it didn't work, they suspended the web site. Because of other factors, it took a few hours before we could find the phone number to contact them. When we did, the problem was resolved in a few minutes.

Sorry for the inconvenience, but it does illustrate the fragile nature of things. We cannot assume that any earthly thing is forever. Get what you can out of the web site now, because one never knows how long it will last. There are always unexpected things in the future. As for me, I try to live life as if this is my last day on earth. It is part of living in the moment. It is also a discipline against procrastination, of which country I was once the King.

Years ago, while I was in Bible College, the thought occurred to me that I was too dependent upon the church and upon other people for my spiritual life. "What if I were stranded on a deserted island?" I thought. Would my spiritual life be destroyed, or would it grow? How much of the Word would I be able to remember? The Word in your memory is like food storage.

Little did I know that this thought was already preparing me to think of myself as having an independent relationship with God, which did not depend upon the church. Later I came to see it as truly a "personal" relationship with God, rather than an indirect relationship with Him through the church. That was healthy, and it had its part in altering my course in life.

It was a bit like the first psalm that I ever memorized. I was a first grader in the Philippines. Before I could even read, we would gather in the bedroom of our house parents, and our "mother" would have us memorize one verse each evening. In a week we had memorized Psalm 8. I never forgot it. Little did I know that this would set the course of my life by laying the foundation of the Word, "Thou hast put all things under His feet."

If I had been a castaway on a desert island, this psalm would have been part of me, for though I eventually memorized about 40 of the psalms, along with many other passages of Scripture, Psalm 8 was the only one that I never had to review. It was written in my heart at age 6. Fifteen years later, I discovered its meaning, and my life has not been the same since.