It was after my husband passed and the reality of our need to move to the next town began to quicken. You see my son had just finished fifth grade at the Catholic elementary school he attended, with all of his friends living close by. We on the other hand lived in the next town over and he would not be going to the same middle school as his friends were.
There was also a desire to move away from the home with ten years of memories. This is where I saw God show up in my ordinary; within two weeks of starting a search in the new town for a rental home we found the perfect one. It was only one or two miles from both of the kid’s schools, there were friends nearby, and we could move in right away! That was God looking out for a mother in need.
The podcast I am reviewing this week is called “God in the Ordinary” with host Sharon Tedford and her guest Keith King. Keith has degrees in theology and spent many years helping to lead churches in the south of England. In 2015 he ‘retired’ from paid pastoral ministry and focused more on equipping Global Church leaders to be missional ambassadors for Christ. (Cited from Langley Institute of Ministry website). He is the founder and leader of the Langley Institute of Ministry, which exists to train leaders in Africa, India, Pakistan & Nepal for ministry within the church and the world.
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners. Isaiah 61:1
This is Keith’s backstory and it is the crux of how he began his ministry career. He grew up in a home that did not expose him to Jesus and he was wild and free in his teen years.
“I started my own business at the age of 17 and I started knocking on doors and asking them if I could deliver my paraffins, and I got a contract with a local paraffin company. The interesting thing, one of my customers was a born-again Christian, and she went on and on and on about this Jesus. It wasn’t just a religious character at all, he was a person that loved me and wanted to get to know me, and suddenly I discovered that he died on the cross for me to take away all my sin and guilt. That was really good news. She’d witnessed to me every week for three years, and I came to the point where I took her up on an offer. She said come to my house this next Tuesday, we’re hearing a testimony of a young man who went to college, he took all the sorts of stuff and yet he turned his life over to Jesus. At the end of that evening, I was just totally gob smacked because it was as though he was talking about my life and I simply said a prayer at the end. I said, Lord Jesus, if all this stuff is true, I need to know this and I invite you to come into my life and be my Savior and be my friend, come and cleanse all this garbage from me, because I need to make a fresh start.”
Keith had a long pastoral calling in England and then decided to retire but God had other plans for him. “I served the church for 37 years, when he called me to go to the Baptist Church, we had over 30 missionaries, serving God in various parts of the world. I was particularly interested in visiting Africa. I worked with New Life, to minister to orphan children, we took over 30 children off the streets. We constructed an orphanage, through the school. I began to visit them every year and give them free theological training and this was the beginning of me sensing the tremendous need many of these pastors were intelligent and inspired wonderfully effective in communicating.” Keith woke up to the need of training for those in ministry in parts of the world where they did not have access to it or could not afford ministry courses. This was the beginning of Langley Institute of Ministry.
Sharon pulls the entire interview together with this statement “I love that story, that it started off with witnessing to one man. Absolutely that is very ordinary, often we hear about people who are witnessing the hundreds of people and we say, oh, I can’t do that but every one of us can talk to one person, and then let God do the rest.” Such truth and power in that!
If you listen to the entire podcast, you will hear Keith speak of many other inspiring stories, including his own God in the ordinary experiences. He also explains exactly how the Langley Institute of Ministry began. It is a good podcast and you definitely see God’s hand in Keith’s life.
These are Keith’s closing words. “God is a good news God because he loves every one of us, stop thinking that you’re not good enough, or even that you’re too good. None of these things are true, none of us are too bad. He loves us, he is a God of grace, and none of us are too good. Actually, we all fall short of discernment. I believe that deep down, every one of us know that we need a helper, we know that we need forgiveness and cleansing. So please, you know God is a breath away. You can pray to him right now.”
Friends I have some bittersweet news, God has called me back into serving on staff at our local church. The role is Director of Adult Discipleship and I get to help grow and give vision to their small groups and bring people into closer relationship with God. I adore small groups; they are the instruments that help build our relationships with those in the group and with God. Since I will be starting this soon, I will no longer be able to write podcast reviews. Don’t worry I will occasionally write a short Five-Minute Friday post, so keep looking for those.
So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10
I would love it if you would pray for my new ministry opportunity and please leave me a comment on where you are seeing God in your life today! I truly appreciate each and every one of you for your support and kind words. May God continue to bless you and your families as you continue to look for him in your everyday lives.
God in the Ordinary podcast with Sharon Tedford and guest Keith King
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