40 Bicycles

Some of you might be wondering why the rest of my Wright posts have been delayed. To be honest with you, I have had neither the energy nor the time necessary to do them properly. Over the last few weeks my schedule has been thrown out of balance by a number of different things. At present we have a very young Christian staying with us. He will probably be staying for anything up to a couple of years. He has been going through a lot of difficulties and encouragements recently. One day he is in the highest heaven; the next it seems that he is in the deepest depths of hell. He has wanted to spend a lot of time talking things over. Last night, for example, he spent almost three hours talking with me after I had returned from attending a theology class and I was up into the very early hours. This is far from unusual. In the past I have suffered badly with serious fatigue and intense conversations late at night many days in a row are not very good for my health, let alone my schedule! I usually need quite a bit of space and time alone if I am to cope in a given situation. This is a luxury that is less readily afforded to me at present. I simply cannot count on having the free time after work that I used to be able to count on. I have to recognize that I simply cannot manage long-term under pressure and so I must organize my time accordingly. However, things are complicated when I cannot always find private space and time at home. I am not sure that I can work in such a situation indefinitely. I would really appreciate all of your prayers at this time, both for the young Christian staying with us and for myself. Much as I would love to put everything to the side and continue my series on Wright, I think that it is more important for me to be there for this young man at this crucial time in his life. I don't doubt that God has brought him into my situation for both of our benefit and I don't want to miss out on what God would have me do. Please pray that I will have the wisdom to be able to deal with this situation in a God-honouring way. Whilst there is much to be (very) excited about, there is still a long way to go. Please pray that God will give me the strength that I need day by day. Whilst I will still be posting on a variety of subjects on and off and commenting on a few discussion forums, e-mail lists and blogs, I do not have the time necessary at present to immerse myself in a subject as big as N.T. Wright's view of justification. I would rather do the series well than do it quickly, so I ask for your forgiveness and patience on this matter. When I can count on having more time, it is the first thing that I both want to and plan to get done.