God’s timing

TRANSITION

(October 27, 2022) Dr Robert McQuillan responds to a concerned friend…

Dear Dr Robert

You’ve helped me before and I want to share something with you that has me confused. I really love the church I’ve been attending for the last few months… the preaching is great, the teaching is soundly Bible-based, and the pastor really cares! Nothing is wacky! But  recently I’ve felt somewhat uneasy. Nothing wrong with the church, but I don’t feel to become a member, or to be involved in any ministerial way that would commit me. I started thinking what’s wrong? Then last week while enjoying the service, I heard that ‘inner voice’ whisper one word… ‘Transition.’ Transition? Would you please help me here. Harold

Hi again Harold

Yes, I believe I can. I’ve come to know you and suggest you take a step back and see the bigger picture. I believe what’s happening to you gels with what has happened to some certain others in their Christian experience, even myself. Let me paint the picture as I see it.

The word ‘transition’ means the ‘process of changing, or a change from one from or condition to another.’ Now you won’t find the word in scripture – unless you read the Message version of Hebrews 9, that chapter that talks about the Calvary death of Jesus and the new covenant. It actually combines verses 16 and 17 as one, and begins ‘Like a will that takes effect when someone dies, the new covenant was put into action at Jesus’ death. His death marked the transition from the old plan to the new one.’

Scripture tells of God transitioning chosen ones into new positions or locales… Abraham, Moses, Gideon (His being supernaturally called by God, such as in Judges7:9 is very interesting).

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FIVE RELIABLE REASONS TO REJOICE THROUGH UNEXPECTED TEARS

(May 18, 2022) Mama Lava shares personally and deeply from her heart…

I got down on my belly, forehead to forehead with him. I petted him and spoke softly to him, reassuring him and telling him how much he was loved. I texted my son and husband to come quick, but I felt his last breath on my cheek before they got downstairs.

I am surprised how hard this hit me. Makali’i (AKA Maka) had just turned 12 and because of his breed, pug mixed with Japanese Chin, he’d already exceeded lifespan expectations and had been slowing down. I knew this was coming, yet is anyone ever really prepared?

(Photo right: Maka, on our first snowy walk, in our new hometown)

As sad as today has been, I have found five reliable reasons to rejoice through the many – oh so many – unexpected tears.

1. God’s Timing
‘There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die…’ (Ecclesiastes 3:1-2a).

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EVERY CHRISTAIN A MINISTER

(April 01, 2022) Charles Schwab shares that every Christian is a minister so let’s cut to the chase…

I feel led by the Holy Spirit to share here my long-term convictions about Christians taking up their God-given capacities to be vessels of God towards a whole range of needs in the lives of others.

Yes there can be challenges to Christians – ordinary Christians – when it comes to being mobilised in ministry. We will come to these in a moment.

Biblical truth
Since the Protestant Reformation (1517 AD – 505 years ago) which highlighted the biblical truth that justification – being made right with God – is a consequence of faith in Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord (Romans 5:1), various other biblical truths have been resurrected from relative obscurity.

One such truth is that every believer has one or more areas of ‘ministry’ or service to which the Lord has called and is equipping them. We don’t get to ‘call the shots’; God determines and in such a way that we are not consulted!

The notion that ‘the priest is the minister and does everything that is central in the life of the church’ had its ‘back broken’ in the Reformation.

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INNER LEADINGS

(September 14, 2021) Dr Robert McQuillan responds to this query about trusting the Spirit …

Dear Dr Robert
I know you assured me that the Holy Spirit is within me and can lead me and help me be an achiever. Here’s the thing at the moment… I have to make a major decision about taking on a new staff member. She seems to be the right person; says she can introduce new profitable clients and so on. But I have this feeling – that’s the only way I can describe it, a strange feeling – that although everything seems okay, I should not take her on. Could this be the Holy Spirit warning me… just like you’ve said that there’ll be times when one feels to either do something or not? Am I making sense? Simon (not real name).

Dear ‘Simon’

Of course you’re making sense. Yes, as we commit everything, including our business life to the Holy Spirit each day, there will be times when he will warn us not to down a certain road, to reject something… just as easily as we can feel it’s okay to accept something or do something new.

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GODLY ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING!

(September 4, 2021) Maureen McQuillan reflects…

It was Francis Bacon, who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England, who said, ‘Knowledge is power.’

Never underestimate the power of experience. Most importantly, never underestimate that key word in trusting God and living the Christ-life – attitude! Not only is attitude a key word in our Christianity, but it’s also a major one. And why you ask? Well, let me explain by linking attitude with experience, the knowledge of what we’ve learned.

Experiences
Admittedly certain experiences aren’t pleasant… yet we still learn from them. In fact many times experiences are incidents that have taught us something from which we learn and gain life values. Such as the ‘hard lesson-teaching experience’ I had some years ago when…

Oh, let me quickly give you the background, We had just moved into a new home and I decided to save us some expenses by doing some painting. As quite a few of you know, as well as ministering, I’m also a designer/decorator and I had decided to save finance by painting the inside doors myself – all 22 of them! So, Robert’s study first and, paint and brush in hand, up the ladder I go and begin painting. But, twenty or so minutes later… Crash!

Foolishly I had walked backwards off the wrong side of the ladder!

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GOD’S BIG CLOCK

(October 20, 2018) Dr Robert and Maureen McQuillan encourage making the best of our ‘time’…

The 1948 film noir movie, The Big Clock, is about a tyrannical magazine tycoon (Charles Laughton) who, having just committed murder, is trying to frame an unknown, innocent man for his dastardly deed. Innocent Ray Milland tries to solve the murder himself.

But time is against our hero and every now and then viewers are drawn to the ominous tick tock and vision of ‘the big clock’ – the largest and most sophisticated clock ever built, dominating the lobby of Laughton’s New York media industry building – reminding us that time is fast running out for the innocent Milland.

And there’s a quote in itself about time… ‘The clock is ticking and time is running out.’ One can think of several other well-known quotations about time… Google indicates that it can give us at least 8544!

Scripture has several too… for example Ecclesiastes 3:1GNB, ‘Everything that happens in this world happens at the time God chooses.’ (more…)