Sorry it’s been a couple of weeks since my last blog! I’ve had a new grandson! I think that’s a good enough excuse!

Let’s continue….

Patriarchy

Patriarchy has been a part of society for thousands of years and I can’t put everything down that Beth talks about in the book so I’ll jot down the basics that lead us to the question,

 ‘what if patriarchy was a product of the fall and not God’s original design?’ (Pg 25)

 In 1839 a young English scholar discovered the remains of the great Assyrian cities of Nimrud and Nineveh. It housed fragments of one the oldest stories in human existence, the story of the warrior King Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh was half god because of his goddess mother and half mortal because of his earthly father, so the ancient text tells us that Gilgamesh was the fifth king of the First Dynasty of Uruk around 2750BC.

What Beth points out about this ancient story is the continuation of humanity and how emotions of love and loss are exactly the same as they are today. We love and grief just the same.  The reality of patriarchy is also present in this story. Again, time won’t allow me to go into it, suffice it to say although women played not an insignificant role during this time in ancient history but it was seen as always guided by the male characters.

So, in one sense, this could put history on the side of complementarianism, meaning, woman was created to compliment the man and have a role defined around home, children and family. But Beth, and hosts of others, she isn’t alone in this, want to suggest that what if the history that we look back on isn’t, in fact, what God designed, but a product of the fall?

I find this fascinating!

John has often used the analogy of a golf ball to describe something like this. If you miss the trajectory by just a few centimetres, it is easily fixed. If you miss it by miles, it goes way off and is very hard to correct. Have some taken their beliefs that the women should be a home maker and I embolden ‘should’ because that is many women’s choice and I have had my years doing this and loved it! Well, most of the time!  Actually, I think it’s the harder choice – staying at home with young children or being a CEO? Staying at home is by far the harder ‘career’ choice, in my opinion. Personally, I’ve never believed that that should be the role of all women. I repeat, what would happen to our world if every woman stayed at home? I can’t see how some justify this at all.

What is being challenged in this book then is the forced notion that the place of the woman is the home and that a woman shouldn’t preach, teach or work outside of the home – like I said, I’ve never believed that.

So, let’s ask the question again, where did this idea of patriarchy come from? And has it just continued because the writers of history (who are almost always male), only looked back as far as Gilgamesh and not creation?

I’m sure all of you who are reading this are very aware of the creation of man. God said let us make man in our own image. Male and female he created them.  There wasn’t any talk of man ruling over woman until after the fall. I’ve never registered these verses as post-fall despite the times I’ve read it.

 

This comes in Genesis 3:16

To the woman he said,
“I will greatly multiply your pain in childbearing;
    in pain you shall bring forth children,
yet your desire shall be for your husband,
    and he shall rule over you.”

 

Patriarchy wasn’t what God wanted; Patriarchy was a result of human sin and Patriarchy is created by people, not ordained by God (pg 29)

 

Before the fall, Adam and Eve were both in submission to God’s authority. After the fall, women would now turn first to their husbands and their husbands, in place of God, would rule over them. (pg 30)

 

The debate between egalitarians (those who argue for biblical equality between men and women) and complementarians (those who argue for biblical gender hierarchy that subordinates women to men) is in gridlock (pg 32)

Complementarians would say that male headship existed before the fall and the egalitarians state that it only came after. (pg 32)

For the author we are looking at, she says it wasn’t just the biblical text that convinced her on the belief of egalitarians, but historical evidence too and she thinks that this evidence can take the conversation forward.

Beth Moore also sees the disconnect between biblical womanhood and the real lives of women in the Bible. She pleads that we should grapple with the entire text from Matthew 1 to Revelation 22 on every matter concerning women. To grapple with Paul’s words in 1 Tim and 1 Cor 14 alongside other words he wrote and make sense of the many women he served alongside…(Pg 36)

Patriarchy exists in the Bible because the Bible was written in a patriarchal world. Historically speaking there is nothing surprising about the many patriarchal bible stories, but what is surprising are the stories that undermine rather than support hierarchy – e.g. Deborah, Huldah – these pair are even a challenge for John Piper (pg 36)

And then we read the verses that are most difficult to explain like Galatians 3:26-28 which says there is no longer male and female….. etc. This is what is radical! And what makes Christianity so different from the rest of humanity! This is what sets both men and women free.  (Pg 37)

Sarah Bessy in her book, ‘Jesus feminist’, says, Patriarchy is not God’s dream for humanity’

The world of Galatians 3 seems more like the world of Jesus. Patriarchy may be a part of Christian history, but that doesn’t make it Christian. It just shows us the historical (and very human) roots of biblical womanhood. (Pg 37)

I’ve just taken a pause, because this is not an easy thing to write about and I wonder if I can continue! It’s certainly stretching me which isn’t a bad thing!

So, for the close, here’s something to think about:

It’s a challenge from Beth. ‘When we rightly understand that biblical passages discussing slavery must be framed within their historical context and that, through the lens of this context we can better see slavery as an ungodly system that stands contrary to the gospel of Christ, how can we not then apply the same standards to biblical texts about women?’ (Page 34)

And, breathe!

See you next time!

D x

I ended last time by saying, maybe this book will change my mind on what I’ve believed all of my life and, although I’ve never believed women shouldn’t be in leadership or have a platform to speak, I have always believed in male headship in the home and, like everyone who believes that too, we get it from scriptures like 1 Timothy 2:9-15 where Paul seems to be saying that he doesn’t permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man and he seems to go further in 1 Timothy 3: 1-7 and Titus 1: 5-9 where it says that only men who excel as heads of their wives and children can be considered for eldership. And then there is the obvious Ephesians 5 one which I actually used at my Minister in Training interview! I bet some of the female panel were cringing! J This was just over a year ago and, given the opportunity again, I probably would have looked at it differently. Wow, I really am re-thinking!

I said seem for a reason which will become clear as we move on through the book.

I want to interject at this point, that for me, John being head over our house has never been a problem or a bone of contention. He is the most wonderful husband (of almost 35 years) and father and I totally trust him to make the right decisions for our family. I was 18 when we got married and it was very natural for me to let John lead. We work together side by side and have a mutual submission to each other nowadays, but I did want to say that I never balked about headship, in fact I said ‘obey’ in our wedding vows! I know it’s not there anymore and could certainly be a problem if your husband is a jerk! (Can I say that?)

Men lead. Women follow. The Bible tells us so.

Page 11

Generally speaking, in Church, you believe what you’re taught whether you grow up in church or come to faith as an adult. Until you do your own research, you grow in the environment and the culture of the church that you belong. I’ll say again, it’s not easy to ask the question, ‘what if I’m wrong’ but, it’s a good exercise to question things, once an alternative is placed before you.

Back to the book!

For Beth (author of the book), even when she began her training as a historian, Christian arguments about male headship troubled her. Christians were not the only ones to argue that women’s subordination is the divine order. In fact Christians were not the first, they came to the party late. So, although we may claim to be different from the world, we shall see how much Christian patriarchy mimics that of the non-Christian world. Page 12

What do I see?

Such an interesting thought here. I don’t know if you’ve EVER imagined that the church could be the thermometer (fitting into the world) rather than the thermostat (setting the correct truth) as far as this subject is concerned. I’ve just accepted this as the Church’s teaching and am looking forward to seeing the history of this from the world history perspective.

Back to the book

What is Patriarchy?

1. Male ecclesiastical leaders, such as the patriarch (archbishop of Constantinople) in Greek Orthodoxy. 2. Legal power of male household heads. 3. A society that promotes male authority and female submission

Page 13

It’s the third meaning that the focus of patriarchy seems to fall. It’s not talking about the ecclesiastical structures of Greek Orthodoxy or about a specific form of fatherly domination within families, but more about a general system through which women have been and are subordinated to men. Page 14

What do I see?

The first two could be accepted, and, we know that we talk about the patriarchs of our faith, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They were male and I’m not upset about that – I hope no one is! But the traditions that we look back on have created a culture of male authority and female submission which is, I think I’m tentatively beginning to see, not Biblical.

Back to the book

In 2017, American evangelicalism provides a case in point. A 2017 Barna study, focused on the perception of women and power in American society I don’t know how a UK study would have gone (emphasis mine). There were 3 polls to compare attitudes towards women across several demographics, gender, age, political preference and religious identity (Evangelical, Protestant, Catholic and practicing Christian) Interestingly (emphasis mine) Evangelicals came out as the most hesitant group in supporting women’s work outside the home. Only 52% are comfortable with the future possibility of more women than men in the workforce, (this percentage is more than 20 points below that of the general American population. Evangelicals also expressed the most discomfort with female CEOs and pastors. So, for evangelicals these two attitudes are connected. Limiting women’s spiritual authority goes hand in hand with limiting women’s economic power. Page 14

What do I see?

The traditions of evangelical teaching regarding the subordination of women within the home and the church, morph into attitudes about women in the work place. John and I have just had a chat about this and John asked the question, what would happen to the world if we took out all the women who are part of the work force? I think a big thing for me is motive. If our arguments are based on the desire/call to be a female CEO, a football player, a football pundit, a marine or a pastor then I think women should absolutely go for it! If our motive is women’s rights then I think we will become unstuck and our lives will be one of dissatisfaction.

The world values men more than women. The pay gap is just one example. In the 1960’s women earned 71 percent of male wages; today it’s 76 percent

Page 20

Not much change there! I believe in equal pay for the same job, absolutely – however, 3 sets of tennis vs. 5 sets of tennis, equal pay, not so much!

As we continue on this journey, let us do so in light of the Kingdom of God. It is a kingdom that Jesus is pleased to give us, it is a Kingdom that cannot be shaken! More on the history of Patriarchy next time!

D xx

The book I am referring to is The Making of Biblical Womanhood

 

 

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Books – They are such a great thing and I could say, I wish I had more time to read all the books I want to read and, the truth is, I do really. Just turn the TV off more! It’s not rocket science. I read books every day, but I’m challenged to read more and so I aim to do so in 2023.

Books can just be for relaxation, and when I think of my favourites for this, I have to go to the Francine River’s series, The Voice in the wind! Brilliant books. Other books teach you to be bold and confident in your dreams, like, Chase the Lion by Mark Batterson. Others tell the life stories of people we ‘know’ from our TV screens – Matthew Perry was a Christmas present for me! – the book, not him!

Then there are the books that make your eyes water and challenge your ‘all my life’ thinking and to question whether you might actually be wrong in what you thought about a subject. ‘The making of Biblical Womanhood’ – Beth Allison Barr is one such book. I thought I would journey through it with you, if you want to join me, to explore a deeply engrained subject. Some of you will no doubt say, at last, here she comes! I know I am late to the party for many people, but I also think there are a lot behind me too and because it’s not easy to write that you could be wrong, I wanted to document my thoughts as I go through it. Will it convince me that I’ve been wrong? Probably.

Beth Allison Barr is a Professor of History and teaches at the Baylor university in the US. It’s important to note that. She is qualified to speak.

Let’s go.

Beth begins the book by explaining where she is from – Texas and her Church back ground – Southern Baptist. In everything from sermons to Sunday school, she was taught from well meaning teachers that women were called to secondary roles in church and family, with emphasis on marriage and children. That women behind the pulpit were not acceptable unless just describing experience. In other words, no preaching, just story telling. [1]

I am from the North of England and my church background is Pentecostal. I can’t honestly remember that kind of teaching being so prevalent. I know that Elim in the early 90’s debated for years on the ordination of women, but I was outside of that and I don’t remember having an opinion back then. I think I am right in saying that Marilyn Harry – a wonderful friend, who also happened to be on the panel at our very first church interview in Porth 1989! Thank you for giving us the job! – was the first woman to be ordained in Elim – and I will say, very worthy of that ordination. I don’t know if there was pain attached to that journey for Marilyn, I hope not, but there probably was. My thoughts on women leading churches is mainly protective, I have other thoughts too, but protective of my own sex is up there. Ministry is TOUGH. I’ve been in it all my life. My dad was a pastor and the pain I have seen my parents go through, who would want that? And it’s only when the buck stops with you, that you will understand that pressure.

At this point, I should probably tell you that I am in the process of ministry training – I will get ordained in a couple of years unless I’m cancelled for my thoughts! Hahaha! I am laughing as I write this because never in my wildest dreams did I think I would go down this road, maybe I will tell the story later.

For now, back to the book.

Beth was taught and ‘believed’ that women were meant to let their husbands rule (Genesis); wait for the perfect husband (Ruth) mens’ voices were public and women were to be private (1 Corinthians and 1 Timothy) and, when women did take charge it was either because of sin, (Eve) or because a man failed to do their job (Deborah) [2]

This was her world for 40 years. It’s impossible to comment on the whole book, but the crux for her was when she was told by her church that she couldn’t teach anything biblical to a Sunday School class because it had 14 year old boys in it and it was at this age that it was considered you moved from being a child to an adult, therefore not theologically acceptable. The year was 2016.

Again, I would love to know if it was like this in Elim because I don’t remember it being so when we joined Elim in 1979 (my parents were given the Blackpool Church at that time). When John and I first went into ministry, 1989, I said I would never preach because I didn’t think it was for me, not for women, for me. We are over 30 years away from those early days and preaching/teaching are among some of the most favourite things I do! (Not just my opinion by the way). I have never been told I can’t preach/teach in the sense of not allowed. I have had people walk out on me because they don’t think women should, so I don’t take that personally, but it’s never been an official stance of any church I have been in. Let me know if it has been for you. I am interested.

Beth’s qualification as a historian and the evidence she has found, has shown her how biblical womanhood was constructed, century by century and it is this evidence, brick by brick, that changed her mind on everything she had been taught in the church regarding womanhood.

I think it may just change mine too.

Until next time, D x

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[1] Page 1

[2] Page 2

I am fully aware that God needs no defending especially by me, but I went with this title anyway! Here are my thoughts on a subject that comes up a lot within the church. Disappointment and anger towards God.

Before I go on though, let’s just start with this….

Usually, the condemned man, after being whipped, or “scourged,” dragged the crossbeam of his cross to the place of punishment, where the upright shaft was already fixed in the ground. Stripped of his clothing either then or earlier at his scourging, he was bound fast with outstretched arms to the crossbeam or nailed firmly to it through the wrists. The crossbeam was then raised high against the upright shaft and made fast to it about 9 to 12 feet (approximately 3 metres) from the ground. Next, the feet were tightly bound or nailed to the upright shaft. A ledge inserted about halfway up the upright shaft gave some support to the body; evidence for a similar ledge for the feet is rare and late. Over the criminal’s head was placed a notice stating his name and his crime. Death ultimately occurred through a combination of constrained blood circulation, organ failure, and asphyxiation as the body strained under its own weight

Jesus did this for us.

God could have said, that’s all I’m doing. If you accept Christ’s sacrifice, and invite Him into your heart, I will give you a brand new spirit and on the day that you leave the earth, you will be with me in paradise. That’s really enough isn’t it?

But, He gave us some promises, some ‘laws’ and a prescribed way to live that by His mercy and grace we could have an abundant life here on earth before our appointed time to depart.

It’s a two-way street though. God isn’t our fairy God mother handing out our requests whenever we demand them. I think most Christians would agree with that. What most wouldn’t agree with is is that maybe we don’t get the answers to our prayers because of the consequences of our actions. And maybe we never will in this life.

Consequence – ‘a result or effect, typically one that is unwelcome or unpleasant’

Let me point out three, which will be hard hitting I think, but worth exploring.

Relationships

In the beginning God said this:

‘For this reason, a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife’ (Genesis 2:24)

God’s plan, God’s law. How He ordained it. Because we ignored this, we are now in a world where children are trafficked for sex; Where pornography is accepted as the norm and where divorce is as easy as going shopping, to name just three consequences of us ignoring the Genesis mandate. We want these things and we want God to give us our needs and desires.

Granted, you or anyone you know are probably not involved in human trafficking, but can’t you see that pornography and divorce, which are just as much as outside God’s plan, have slipped through the net and are huge in God’s church? These things are not what God wanted. They happen, we make mistakes, we make wrong choices. After we recognise our sin, we confess it, we repent and God, in his amazing grace will forgive us. BUT, and this is where we never go as God’s church by and large, do we live with the consequences of our choices which will mean us not having the best life that God intended? I don’t know for sure, but it seems to me that we want our needs met, but we don’t want to live righteously. David sinned badly, he repented in sack cloth and ashes, God forgave him, but he still lost a child. That’s not God being mean, that’s a consequence of David making very wrong choices.

Health.

I am learning so much at the moment about this that what I eat has changed dramatically over the last few months – 80% of the time at least. I’m not going to launch into what I think you should eat, but I am encouraging you to go and explore the links between what you eat and serious disease.

If you’re not sure where to start, read this book How not do die

For me, it’s been a life changer. It made me ask the question, what if we’re not getting healed from serious diseases because we are not looking after the bodies that Jesus gave us? Go on your own journey.

The easy one to pick on is diabetes 2. The whole world knows that this can be fully reversed by a change of diet. Don’t come out for prayer and then go for a Dunkin’ donut. We have responsibilities.

Finance

Simply a question here, are you robbing God by not tithing and sowing? Is your financial difficulty a consequence of that?

Now, here’s the thing with consequences, you can’t say, ‘I didn’t know’ and avoid them.

In 1865 a civil engineer named Egbert Viele published a topography map that is still used by geotechnical engineers 150 years later. Viele mapped the location of streams, marshes and coastlines, superimposing them over the street grid. When the sixty story Chase Manhattan Plaza was built in 1957, the chief engineer failed to reference the Viele Map. If he had, he would have realised that he was building right over a subterranean stream that created quick sand. (Chase the Lion, Mark Batterson,)

Engineers now have to spend time and money hardening the quick sand underneath the skyscraper. Ignorance is no plea.

Another obvious one is, you can’t jump from the Eiffel Tower and say you didn’t know about gravity (not that you could say because you’d be dead! But you get my point)

God is good. He never does bad things. He sees the big picture. We see a teeny weeny picture – usually of us and our needs – I want to encourage you and me to zoom out. See if you can see something where you made a wrong move and you won’t fully get what you want in this life because of that.

I’m not judging anyone, I only have to look at mine and John’s life to know that we are living in some consequences of our own because of wrong choices.

Don’t beat yourself up, but do have the guts to go and explore. God is a good, good father.

And if you’re still not convinced this could be a possibility, ask the foolish builder what he thinks.

D x

Be Real And Victorious Every day!

BRAVE began quite a few years ago now when we were pastoring in Wales. It took a back seat for 6 years when we went back to Tanzania and when we began our time at Kingdom Life Church, Newcastle, it was re-born with the Acrostic coming into play!

I’m writing this on the day before our second conference here in Newcastle. The first was last September having been re-scheduled due to the first lock down. In fact, Boris locked us down on the Monday and BRAVE was due on the following Saturday! If you’ve ever organised a day conference, you will know it was awful to have to cancel! But, that’s water under the bridge!

What are conferences?

They’re an event! They’re a place where you can immerse yourself in an atmosphere that isn’t every day life. Hopefully it’s a place where you encounter God on a new level in a more intense way without the distractions of normal life. It’s a place to make new friends, to do something different – (BRAVE is definitely offering that this year! Not saying what quite yet!) If you’re not coming and want to know, drop me a line! (I won’t have to kill you if I tell you! Hahaha)

They are hard work. So much planning that begins months before, prayer, rooms to set up, things to order, teams to gather, treats to buy, messages to prepare, and the list could go on.

What conferences aren’t

They’re not the process of life. You can’t sustain yourself on conferences alone. They aren’t normal, you can’t run your life or your church on conferences. If athletes only did events, they wouldn’t be successful at all. Getting up every day – usually very early – to train, is what gives them successful events.

If you’re training yourself to be Godly, every day, conferences are an incredible addition to your Christian walk. If you’re not training yourself to be Godly, every day, conferences are an incredible chance to get back on track!

I’m humbled at the chance to lead a conference this weekend with an incredible team – couldn’t do it without them! One of my best friends is travelling on a plane from Africa at this very moment (7.00am Thursday) to speak and be part of our conference! Wow! (She will love the Friday night surprise!)

Thank you God. I pray that every delegate will first and foremost encounter you. I pray that every delegate will be set free to be the woman you are calling them to be. I pray that laughter will ring out from Kingdom Life Church – if you know me, you know there is going to be lots of fun!

If you’re coming, sign up for the ride! Don’t sit back, do something new, get stuck in, make new friends!

If you’re not coming, I will miss you! Maybe next year? Newcastle is an amazing city, Kingdom Life Church is a amazing church to pastor – thank you God (and Paul Hudson! – our boss) for giving us this incredible opportunity!

Hold onto your hats! BRAVE 2022 – Here we go!!! Woohoooooo!

D xx

y

If you doubt that the media is controlling and agenda driven , then let me take you to the headlines on the 10.00pm BBC news, 30th July. The headline was the women’s England football team making the final of the women’s Euros.

Followed by the murder, stabbing of a nine year old girl.

I have no words. This world is under the control of the evil one. Of that, I have no doubt.

VICKY….. MY FRIEND, MY TRIBUTE…

AUGUST 12, 2015 | DEBBULLOCK51

Thinking of my friend 7 years on…..(I wrote this in August 2015)

On Saturday 25th July 2015, wherever you were in the world and if you loved and cherished Vicky Taylor as a friend or family member, our worlds were shattered. I was in Tanzania watching a movie with John. My messenger app pinged and nothing could have prepared me for the message I read.

“John, Deb. In case you have not heard, we have just seen the very sad news that Vicky Taylor has passed away today. I know you would want to know, to be praying for Al and the children. God Bless.”

 The person who sent us that will never know how eternally grateful I am that I knew before I read it on Face Book. I know that FB is a great place to let a lot of people know stuff but amongst status’ of what someone had for tea or where someone is on holiday, or wedding photos, it would have been very tough for me to read of such a close friend’s death because I had no idea such news was coming. So thank you to you.

Through my tears this is what I said over and over. ‘This can’t be true.’ I guess you said the same.

This is the first time I have lost a close friend and the pain is immense. Being 5000 miles away doesn’t help. I wanted and I think needed to laugh and cry with the Free- Range-Chick girls. I wanted to be at the funeral. I wanted to hug Al and the kids and I couldn’t. Thanks goes out again to friends who called and messaged, for those who I laughed with during those horrendous early days. Facebook was a friend to me during that time and continues to be.

The last time I saw her was at the end of January this year at a Free Range Chick’s retreat. I flew out to Tanzania the week after that and if anyone would have told me that that would be the last time I would see her this side of heaven, I would never have believed it.

I first met Vicky at the Elim conference – it must be over 10 years ago now. I was a pastor’s wife in Wales and I had heard about Vick so wanted her to come and speak at our church ladies’ weekend. She was running Life Link (an organisation that raised money for missions) at the time and it won’t surprise those of you who knew her that she was running around, red in the face in her blue Life Linkt-shirt sorting out an event for the conference. After that initial meeting, we became great friends. I never saw her angry, or sad – her smile would greet you across the room and laughter was always high on the agenda even when her world was crumbling at times – and she did have those times.

If anyone were to ask me who is one of my greatest influencers, it would be Vicky. I know so many would say the same. She helped me believe in myself, we did so much stuff together including women’s conferences and SUMO training. The SUMO training event holds a memory! We shared a room and her snoring was sooooo bad, I ended up sleeping in the bath! I’ll never forget seeing her come into the bathroom the following morning and we laughed for a long time. We would meet for coffee/lunch in Marks and Spencer’s at Cribbs Causeway, Bristol and we would talk for hours. She always made me think and I think I did the same for her.

I was at the very first Free-Range Chicks conference and I still don’t know how this came about but she asked me to sing the Shania Twain song, Man, I feel like a woman at the banquet. There we were all dressed in our poshest dresses ready for a lovely evening of wining and dining. I had NEVER done anything like this before in such a setting and, to be honest, I was very nervous! I didn’t know how it was going to go down and I wondered whether I’d be kicked out of our denomination for it! (Not really, but I think it crossed my mind!) There were some older ladies there from Elim and I just didn’t know if they’d get it! Let’s face it, it’s and unusual song choice for a ladies conference, right? Maybe they’d walk out? Anyway, the time came and within the first few beats of the song, it took off! I loved it, they loved it and I ‘forgave’ Vick for making me do it!! I’ve sung it at a few women’s events since then and it’s all down you to my friend…Thanks!

If your passing was the end, I’m not sure how a lot us would carry on especially Al, Abi, Luke, Jon and Sam – you were an amazing friend, wife, mum, aunty, sister and cousin. I am so very grateful that Jesus was the reason we met and that Jesus is the reason we will see you again – what a party that will be – do you think I could sing, ‘Man, I feel like a woman??’ My heart is at rest because I know thattruth but still, for now, this truth remains:

My world will be a little less because you are gone from it.

See you later Vick……

Deb x

A letter from God,

I gave my son for you

His back was lashed to the bone, a crown of thorns was placed on his head, nails were hammered into his hands and feet and then, after all that, he took the sin of the whole world and I forsook him for a while…

So many people don’t know my son yet… your friends, your family, your work colleagues, government leaders, tv presenters and so on….

You do know my son, you are going to live in Paradise forever and ever. I, God Almighty gave birth to the church of Jesus Christ and I – God Almighty ask you, my children, through my leaders, the ones I have called, to serve the church, many of you say no. I ask you to work with kids, youth, coffee, tea, cleaning, you say no, I ask you to pray and so many of you say no, I ask you to do the works of service within the church and many of you say no, I ask you to live a sexually moral life and many of you say no, I ask you not to commit adultery and too many of you say no. I need you to do better. So many people don’t know my son yet and so I’m asking you that do, to represent me better.

Please

Your Father, God x

While elephants are still babies and they need to be trained, their trainers tie them to a steak in the ground with rope that they cannot break free from. As the elephant grows, they are still tied with the same type of rope, only this time, they could absolutely snap the rope and go free. Why don’t they break free? Because, after so many attempts when they couldn’t break free because the rope was too strong, now they just believe that they can’t.

I’ve been thinking a lot about this lately and, if you’ve had a conversation with me this week, you’ve probably heard me share the elephant story!

One of the things that we have been conditioned in is Covid. Today (Thursday 24^th March) marks two years to the day that we were ordered to stay at home for three weeks!? – I know, right! I heard someone call it the ‘good lock down’ and I understand what he meant. It was new, novel and gave us all a chance to live life differently, no-one would ever have thought that we would still be living with it today.

Please understand that what am I about to say is regarding the BIG picture, so don’t take it personally and don’t take offense. Only you know your own body and what is needed when sickness strikes.  But I must say what I find interesting now is, we’re no longer being ordered to stay at home, wear masks or even self-isolate if we test positive, yet so many people are still doing the things that were once mandatory. We were tied to a steak in the ground two years ago and, many people don’t believe or don’t want to believe that we are no longer tied. Is it fear? Is it conditioning? Is it wise? Of course, in some instances, the right thing is to stay at home, we all know our own bodies and what we need, plus no -one wants you coughing or sneezing over them! Please stay home! Haha!

Covid is just one example of many that we can use in this analogy. A fear of flying, driving, heights, lifts, shyness, sickness, habits, barrenness and on and on we go.

All these things are genuine ropes, but in Christ, they are breakable. If we are conditioned to a belief system that tells us that our rope isn’t breakable, we stand tied – possibly for life.

Let’s flip it on its head, what if your rope is something you’d like to do or should be doing but you don’t think you can – eating well, exercise, bible study, prayer – you’ve tried to break free from ill-discipline and apathy, you’ve tried it so many times and failed that you’ve just accepted that you can’t move.

What do we do? We must be transformed in our thinking. So, if you’re fearful of driving in the dark or on a motorway. Ask a friend to go with you, just do it. If you’re scared of getting in a lift, ask a friend to go with you, just do it! You will be amazed, and you will never look back. Once a barrier is broken, it is broken forever. Once you snap the rope, it will be snapped forever. If you’re longing for a baby, believe, then act (I won’t go into detail with the acting here! Suffice to say, you’re not going to have a baby if you don’t act! I have prayed with many couples to get pregnant and can testify to results, after I have prayed, I always say, now go and practice!

Once you believe, you will act. It happens that way round. Believe then act!

You have 2 paths to choose from – the wide path where you let all the ropes you have keep you pinned in one place or the narrow path where you’re making decisions to cut the ropes and enjoy the life that Jesus died to give you. Which path is easier? The wide one! It’s much easier to stay tied to the steak than it is to go on a journey to break chains. Which path is freer? The narrow one! It’s on this path that you will fly in all the freedoms that are yours in Christ. Which path are you on? If you need to switch lanes, just do it.

Until next time, D xx