Haunted by the Past

Tinku Thompson Personal, Health and Ministry Updates

Oct 03, 2024

Hello Friends and Family,

white and black analog wall clock at 10 00 — Photo by taichi nakamura on Unsplash

After six months, I am writing a newsletter. The summer months have been busy with travel. Since my last update, I have been in Dallas, Chicago, Oklahoma, India (2nd time this year), New York (2 times), Canada, and the UK. I have had the opportunity to meet many people and preach in different meetings. Sometimes, people ask me how I manage everything, and I have one answer: " It is God’s grace.” I also had an opportunity to present the gospel to university students and speak on the topic of “Creator and sustainer of life.” Our God sustains life and provides everything we need to survive.

We all have a past that, in some cases, we are proud of and, in some cases, we do not want to talk about. At times, we live in fear of the past. Many live in depression, always thinking about past events. Our current situation and promise of God for the future may be way better, but still, there are times when our past haunts us, and we regret things that happened. It also raises a lot of questions. People struggle to overcome and are often stuck in the past.

In the Bible, we see many people with a past that may have disqualified them from many things, but God still restored and used them. In some cases, it may have been a severe false accusation. Still, God transformed and used them for His glory. Let me list a few examples.

After committing a murder, Moses ran away from Egypt. He would have never expected to be back. The first forty years of his life were spent in a palace. The next forty years were hard, and he was in the wilderness most of the time. Later, God called him and sent him back to Egypt with a great mission. He led Israelites out of Egypt and led them for another forty years. He faced many challenges, but still, God fulfilled His purpose.
Joseph kept integrity throughout his life. His brothers sold him. He was falsely accused of rape by a lady, which landed him in jail. At that time, everyone would have written him off. No one would have expected a comeback for him. Well, Joseph’s history did not end in prison. God made him the prime minister of the land where he went as a slave. What a turnaround!

Our current situation is not the last chapter of our history. A new chapter will start if we let the past go and surrender to God.

God gives another chance, gives a comeback, and restores what is lost.

Do not let your past tie you down. As Paul said, “Forget the past and look forward to what lies ahead.”

¹²I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. ¹³No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, ¹⁴I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. (Phil. 3:12-14, NLT)

✍️Quotes of this edition

“To preach Christianity meant primarily to preach the Resurrection…The Resurrection is the central theme in every Christian sermon reported in the Acts. The Resurrection, and its consequences, were the ‘gospel’ or good news which the Christians brought.” — C.S. Lewis

“He who has never learned to obey cannot be a good commander.“ - Aristotle

“Many who aspire to leadership fail because they have never learned to follow.” – Anonymous

“No one can be a good bishop if he loves his title and not his task.” – Augustine

“Truly Christian conduct is not predicated on whether I have the right to do something, but whether my conduct is helpful to those about me.” — Gordon D. Fee

📔My Health/Personal Update

Thank you for your continued prayers for my complete recovery. Things are progressing in the right direction, but I am still on some medication. The doctor wants a few things to stabilize before taking off some medications. Things are progressing, even with some challenges here and there.

I plan to travel more this month and in the coming months.

Once again, I want to thank everyone who has not given up but continues to pray for me.