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"Take
Heed" Ministries
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Cecil Andrews, PO BOX 13, Ballynahinch, BT24 8AL, Northern Ireland. Telephone/Fax 028 9756 5511. E-MAIL - takeheed@aol.com WEB-SITE - http://www.takeheed.net |
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Derick Bingham and ‘Nouwen’ |
In his ‘Thought
For The Weekend’ [Belfast Telegraph –
By Derick Bingham, teaching pastor
Twelve days ago I looked for the first time upon our first grandchild, Jamie. You’ve guessed it, I cried. He caused me to do more, though. He caused me to worship. If the creation is so awesome what must the creator be like? if this little child is so inspiring what must the Inspirer be? Ten days after his birth I walked with Jamie and his mother and father under the stars. The moon was up and Mars was as clear as any guiding light. I looked at Jamie's tiny face and up at the night sky and I was overwhelmed with a sense of wonder and the thrill of being alive.
A few weeks ago I came within four minutes of death. I choked on a piece of food and a woman called Mrs Joyce Mullen, to whom I am deeply grateful, saved my life. People, of course, keep asking me what it is like to be a grandfather. It's a sign of ageing, if ever there was one. How do I feel about it? Not like some people I have read.
"I loathe the hardness of old age. I feel it coming. I creak. I am embittered," wrote Virginia Woof at 58. "Being old makes me tired and furious," wrote W B Yeats at 57. "I am everything that I was and indeed more, but an enemy has bound and twisted me so that although I can make plans and think better than ever, I can no longer carry out what I plan and think".
"Do you know the worst of all vices? It is being over 55," said Ivan Turgenev.
As it happens, this week I will dine with my friend Os Guinness, great grandson of Arthur Os. He had wisely maintained, regarding ageing, that God's calling makes the difference. "Followers of Christ are wayfarers," he writes, "not wanderers. They have found the way but they have not yet come to their destination. They may retire from their jobs but there is no retiring from their callings.
"As Nouwen wrote, 'He who thinks he has finished is finished.
Those who think they have arrived have lost their way!'"
Is the only option to heed what Dylan Thomas advised his ageing father: "Do not go gentle into that good night?" Never. It is to follow God's calling and leave the entire outcome of our lives to Him.
Who is the
‘Nouwen’ referred to by Derick Bingham? I am willing to suggest that
it is the late ‘Father’ Henri Nouwen
whose Bible- contradicting, gospel-rejecting, occult and mystical-promoting
views are exposed in other articles on our web site.
But let me
just give one quote from Henri Nouwen
to show the danger of someone with the influence of Derick
Bingham quoting him favourably and thus perhaps introducing some Child of
God to his pernicious writings –
"Today I personally
believe that while Jesus came to open the door to God's house, all human beings
can walk through that door, whether they know about Jesus or not. Today I see
it as my call to help every person claim his or her own way to God."
(From Sabbatical Journey - Henri Nouwen's last
book )
Further
helpful warnings on the writings of ‘Father’ Henri Nouwen
can be found by following this link
http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/nouwen.htm
‘Take
Heed’ Ministries
PS The
‘friend’ that Derick Bingham plans to
dine with, ‘Os Guiness’ was unfortunately one of the
signatories to one of the ‘Evangelicals and Catholics Together’
documents issued a few years ago, so that is a further example of the ‘new-evangelical’
company that Derick Bingham keeps and
is in reality a part of.