The Experiences and Relationships of Life

I came to pastor in the city of Prince George in November of 1978. I have a very deep appreciation to God for the experiences and the relationships that have come into mly life during these past thirty years plus! In fact as I think back over the past fifty-seven years of pastoral ministry in six different regions of North America, I am so thankiful to God for the great variety ofpeople who have brought such positive experiences into my life, resulting in deepening relationships with God and man!

I am amazed at the noted individuals that God has allowed me to meet over these many years, let me just name two such individuals, E. Stanley Jones, and Paul S. Rees. When I was a very young pastor pioneering a newly planted church in the city of Winnipeg, I was invited by a friend to attend a small group meeting in the YWCA being addressed by a guest speaker, E. Stanley Jones. I had never heard of the speaker, but that night I was to experience a touch of the Holy Spirit through Jones, that would ultimately lead me to read most of the writings of this noted author and missionary.

After nine years in Winnipeg, my wife, Glenna and I accepted an invitation to pastor in Omaha, Nebraska. It was in that city that I attended a pastoral leadership meeting at which Paul S. Rees was guest speaker. He too was an author who was to bring enrichment to my spiritual life by his writings.

Interestingly enough, this week (January, 2007) as I was looking through some of the books on my library shelf, I found a magazine article written about E. Stanley Jones by Paul S. Rees. The article was entitled, "Drenched with Christ." Let me share certain noteworthy highlights from this article by Paul S. Rees: "At the General Conference of the Methodist Church in 1924, E. Stanley Jones was elected as bishop and was within hours of his consecration." "I (Paul S. Rees) heard him tell about the sleepless night he spent after his election. He said that in the night the Inner Voice had spoken to him, saying, 'Stanley, if you will decline this honor, I'll let you walk with me through Asia.' It was enough, he declined the bishop's chair. The Inner Voice proved right. Not Asia only, but the world!"

"Stanley Jones was a man of the people---all the people, all denominations, all classes, all colors." "Stanley Jonses was a man of prayer. He wrote, 'I find myself better or worse as I pray more or less.'" "Stanley Jones was a man of passion---not boisterous and bossy, but controlled and compelling. His passion was Christ!"

What is the significance of these brief encounters that I had with E. Stanley Jones and Paul S. Rees? Can I say that I know these men, or that I have a personal relationship with these men? No, but I did have a spiritual experience by these brief encounters, and these experiences eventually resulted in a deepening of my spiritual relationships both with God and man! Personally, I believe that these experiences were a means of bringing improvement in my relationship to God and man because of the priority that I placed upon relationship over experience.

I have often said the following to young people: When I began a courtship with a young lady, named Glenna about 58 years ago, I did so, not to have a romantic experience, but to explore as to whether there was the possibility of a lasting (marital) relationship. Glenna and I came into agreement that the necessary character qualities for a life long relationship were present in each of our lives, and upon that basis we committed ourselves to God and each other in a marriage relationship that has spanned fifty-seven years, as of July, 2009.

May I encourage you to share in experiences that will lead you to committed relationships!