Scott Tolhurst

The command of our Lord is clear. Faith begins and continues with a simple plan—stalk Jesus. The plan is simple but the execution of it isn't. You and I both admit that following Jesus is layered with struggles and questions.

Every new start arrives as a mixed blessing. With one hand we welcome them but pull back with the other. A clean page is welcomed because there are things on the previous page we might like to forget.

We’re prone to treat the Bible like a textbook and we’re cramming for a test. We know how to read, analyze, colour code, timeline, and graph the Scriptures, (all good!) but meditation is a neglected skill.

There are some things about God I take for granted. They are truths so deeply embedded they have become assumptions. But what I see as assumptions were once stunning revelations.

The daily nourishment of grace to our souls overshadows loss. Glory illuminates darkness. All of this is good theology but it tends to stay in our heads. What practical difference does it make when I confront living changes?

Over the decades, the people have not changed but the ministry has. There has been an undeniable pressure to adjust the model of church.

The Bible isn't just ink on a page, but a conduit of the Spirit. It is not ours to dissect, summarize, manage, or control. It presides over us. With Lectio Divina we read smaller amounts and take more time to do it.

It sounds like a cliché, but the best is yet to come. The far side of 50 is a good place to be. Despite the losses, aging is not about losing.

We are to walk humbly with God on the path of justice and compassion. We are not allowed to privatize our faith and care only for our backyard. A social conscience extends compassion and justice to all.

We are to convey Christ across the canyons of age, nationality, language, gender, cultural bias and spiritual blindness. There is no doubt the truth of Jesus can transcend every canyon, but are we equipped to carry Him well?