Thanks for the lessons Dr. Sala
I'm estimating that the temperature in this city of China is about 10 or 11 degrees. Got a slight fever and me joints are achin'. But what the heck...
Lest I forget the big thoughts on the meeting with Harold Sala and his wife Darlene a few days ago in Manila, I might as well summarize them while they are fresh on my mind.
WISDOM: "Wisdom is a combination of our experiences and failures - rarely do we learn them from safe environments like classrooms. The summary of all wisdom is found in Christ and our day to day relationship with Him (Ephesians 1:8). Experiences and failures without Christ will not produce wisdom."
It's people you meet and share life with where you learn many of your experiences. Bottom line it is still all about relationships. He met Lester Sumrall when he was 12 and witnessed ministry at a young age. He worked under Charles Blair and saw the failures of blind ambition in ministry. Worked with numerous leaders and staff in various parts of the world. Most amazing story was about his friend WangMing Dao - he was teary eyed telling his story and I will never be the same person again after listening to it. I got to get Wang Ming's book Stone Made Smooth. He highly recommended it. Note to self, read Harold's book "Heroes".
How to stay humble? "Life has a way of keeping you humble. At one time a man said. 'You're the guy on tv, right?' It felt good until he said, 'You're Ernest Angley.' Picture the day you walk into the threshold of heaven and you look into Jesus' eyes and you know that He knows exactly what your motives were for doing the things you did."
What are your health secrets? "At 74 I've had two knee replacements but I'm good. We do 5-6 trips a year but I have no plans of retiring - just don't think that's biblical. Best advice - discipline. Watch what you eat - small is always good, exercise - stretch, walk and do some weights. Most important is your motivation to stay healthy should be to glorify God and wanting to finish well."
Building projects: "Don't worry about money, it's a simple thing. If God is behind your project He will provide all that you need." Heard that before but just sounded 10 times better coming from him.
There were more stories and thoughts about marriage, children and grandchildren but me joints are saying - go to sleep NOW!
"Gray hair is a crown of splendor; it is attained in the way of righteousness." Proverbs 16:31
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