See and Share the Pilgrim Vision
It's About Time! — The Time Is Now
by Phillip A. Ross, 2008
First Edition, 46 pages.
Introduction
I am a pensive person by nature, or rather I should say that I am what I am because of what God created me to be, as are you. It's funny how saying such a simple thing can be so controversial—not the pensive part, the created part. We are all what we are because we have been created by God, both as individuals and as the cultures in which we live.
That simple statement about being created by God begs the question whether God created us to be sinners, since we are all sinners according to the Bible. Oops, I did it again. Sin is such a controversial subject. Not everyone believes it. If you don't, you may as well stop reading here because you won't be able to hear anything else I say. End of story — your story, not mine. Actually, the story is not mine, it's God's. I'm just trying to tell part of it. And because it's not my story I won't be saying anything new. But I will be telling it from my own perspective, as we are all called to do.
This book is about thinking about God, the gospel, and Jesus Christ. We all need to make more time to do that. It is for the Mid-Ohio River Valley, but it is also for every valley where people live. It comes to a valley perspective from a valley perspective. This book is not about a mountaintop experience nor is it from a mountaintop perspective. Rather, it is from the "street," down in the valley where people actually live. It is not sad or morose, but it is serious—and it's about sin, yours and mine. It is an invitation to think more deeply about the things that we deeply care about, the things we believe. It's about Jesus.
These essays were originally given in 1998 as a short sermon series during Advent. I'm sure you will agree that they are not the usual Advent presentation of well-worn platitudes and biblical pablum. Unlike too many of my peers, I can't stomach that kind of stuff. To me, warm milk not only tastes bad, but it makes me sleepy.
This book is about the time in which we live. Hopefully, you will find it to be timely in your own life, as well. Time is a funny thing. We all live in it. Most of us are slaves to it, driven by appointments and schedules that must be kept. Asking people to think about time is like asking a fish to think about water — with one important difference. As far as we know, fish can't think at all, at least not in the way that we define thinking. I will ask you to think about time, about how much time you have, how much you need, and what you do with it.
This book is about schedules and appointments — not ours, but God's. God is also on a schedule and has appointments to make, and a timetable to keep. He has appointments with you and with me. He'll eventually meet with everyone because He has some things to go over, some accounts to close. It'll be an important meeting, so I'm hoping to help you think about it, even though there isn't much you can do to prepare for it. But there is this one thing that you can do. It's probably not what you think it is, but it is important. And so I'm trying to help you think about it by thinking about it myself.
Think of it as a gift, a gift that you can't really refuse, a gift that goes on giving. But it's not a gift for you, it's a gift through you — maybe, hopefully. I suppose it depends on whether you "get it" or not.
Phillip A. Ross
April 2008
Marietta, Ohio
