Today was an at-sea day, as our ship took us from Edinburgh to Invergorden, Scotland.
It was a day to relax.
There was little or no cell phone coverage and spotty wifi but plenty of time to read, relax, and talk.
I hadn’t mentioned it yet, but our newcomer to the GSB team on this trip is Cindi. She is a great addition. She has an amazing story of how she encountered God when her son, a former Nascar driver, dragged her to a church one day.
Those who have had a powerful experience with God often are the most convinced and committed Christians. We can talk all we want about not building faith around a subjective experience but explain that to the Apostle Paul, or those present at Pentecost. Those who have experienced the presence of the Lord in a powerful way know it and seldom need apologetics to convince them because, like Paul, they know by Whom they have been apprehended.
As I mentioned, Cindi’s son is a former Nascar driver, and her daughter is a stunt person and actress in Hollywood. Cindi’s son and daughter are both serving the Lord. Cindi told us stories about some of the sacrifices her daughter has had to make being a Christian in Hollywood.
At dinner, the Wife and I shared our stories about how we became Christians and were baptized in the Holy Spirit. Ann knows our stories well, but it seems there is always grace imparted in the telling of what God has done in one’s life. I’ll often ask friends “tell me again how you got saved” because I love hearing how Jesus transforms lives.
Our guest lecturer on the cruise is a Baptist minister, who became a Presbyterian minister and is now a professor. Today, he lectured on Scottish history and later led a Scotch tasting for those on board. I’ve made it a point to try to catch up to him later and hear his story, particularly the part about how a former Baptist became a Scotch lover.
The day was almost completely relaxing until I had to deal with a problem in our law firm back home. It was frustrating because I was in this place where I wanted to be on a cruise, relaxing, and then I was pulled back into a trying to solve a problem in a place I didn’t want to be.
The more I thought about it, I realized this is how many Christians try to handle their work. They want to live entirely in a place in the Lord that is like a vacation from the world and then feel interrupted when they have to go to work or solve problems in the world.
The thing is, though, I realize I am on vacation. Vacations are not reality; they are a brief escape from it. If I tried to pretend I was on vacation when I was at work, I would be mostly miserable and largely ineffective. A little like I was today.
Sometimes though, we do get a vacation. Tomorrow I plan on getting back to ours. GS