Rev. & Mrs. E. Anderson
EXTRACTS FROM LIFE
When you have lived a considerable number of years in relationship with God one gathers a tremendous amount in testimony to God’s grace and goodness in life. One discovers that He does some amazing things with ordinary people and through the course of this page I would share some of the wonderful and interesting experiences He has wrought. And all is to His honour and glory.
CALLED TO BE A PATRIARCH
Being in the Christian ministry for over 50 years I thought that there were five main-fold ministries as expressed in Ephesians 4. This is what I had taught throughout my ministerial career and rejoiced that I had been able to play some role within the Church of Christ for a significant period.
It was whilst I was in South Africa just a few years ago that the Lord challenged my thinking and changed my considerations especially with regard to later life and calling.
Throughout my life I had been greatly challenged by the adventurous life of Abraham the Old Testament saint. It inspired me to think that God could and did lay hold of a man at 75 and commenced a powerful work in and through him. Although late in life, he became an outstanding individual who knew the favour of God on many fronts. In particular, he was not a father at that time but God assured him would become a father of nations. He is recognized in both the Jewish and Arab world as being their patriarchal father.
The spiritual revelation came home with some force to my spirit that the greatest calling in life was not to be an apostle, prophet, pastor, teacher or evangelist good and essential as these vocations are in the Christian Church, but the noblest was to be a spiritual father and patriarch. These are quality men with longstanding experience of God, life and many other things. Paul made the point to one church that they hadn’t got many ‘spiritual fathers’ – Corinthians.
It came through to my mind and heart that the greatest of all was God the Father and Christ paid deference to His Fatherhood. He is the ageless One and the Supreme Patriarch of all. Surely the finest calling of all was to attain this stage and to be able to exercise a role and ministry in this connection. Patriarchs do not retire but have a definite, worthwhile task to perform for God. He, above all, would honour the same and fulfill a service through them. It is one of the things that the Christian Church somehow fails to recognize and employ.
One of the choicest and memorable moments of my life was when in South Africa at a ministers’ conference. It happened as I was about to leave after ministering God’s Word. The chairman sensed it would be good for the brethren to pray over us before returning to the UK.
Inwardly I desired that he would ask Brother Bond the retired and senior leader and pastor amongst them to pray over me. How I valued and appreciated that man’s inspired prayer! I knew it would be answered and it has over the following years. Knowing his favour with God assured me that his prayer would find fulfillment.
In my early seventies I received the conviction that I was now in the patriarchal period of my life and that by faith I had something to convey to this generation. It was to be a new phase that would be owned by God if I was prepared to receive and enter into it. I shared with a very successful pastor in South Africa, in whose home I was staying this fact, and he was delighted with it and called his wife and three big sons together to allow me to pray and lay hands on them all for God’s blessing. What a pleasure it has been to see God’s grace and abundant goodness being poured out upon them and the assembly he leads. They have just moved on in God.
I now live with and in this conviction that I possess the divine right to place God’s benediction upon His people. There is the special and unique prerogative to represent all my family to God and to command His favour upon them. Within the Christian community one is able to render a positive ministry and see God’s family blessed through spiritual fatherhood. God the Father through the spiritual fathers He has created and established would further His Fatherhood and make evident His incredible kindness and goodness.
No Christian minister should be redundant when reaching late life because there is this new calling and dimension to be embraced and a service that is utterly invaluable to others.
