John & I began our ministry journey in September 1987! John was enrolled in Elim Bible College, Nantwich to begin his training. We’d been married for just 6 months and, looking back, it’s fair to say that from day one, our adventure began! We were talking about Bible college today (Saturday 31st August), it wasn’t my favourite two years, but it was where it all began!

In 1988, college saw a change in principle – Jim Dick took the helm. I know that I can speak on behalf of most, if not all, of the students at the time, that Jim and Margery were great!

I worked with Trish Waller in the kitchens! And amongst our many tears that were often on Margery’s shoulders, we had some fun times too at Jim’s expense. We once hid a few alarm clocks in his office that went off at various times, then there was the time that we covered is door with paper so he couldn’t get out without breaking himself out. He always took it in good faith! And I don’t think John and John got less marks because of it! Haha!

After Bible College, we had numerous times together in Scotland and in our first church in Porth. Jim and Margery gave us loads of wisdom over the years, but one thing he said to us that we have NEVER forgotten and often quote was, ‘Enjoy the journey’. We can honestly say that we have. Of course, we’ve had pain and many mountains to climb, but my word, what an adventure it has been and continues to be.

When we heard the news of Jim’s passing on Monday 27th August, we were on Holy Island. And if ever there was a good place to hear such news, Holy Island is definitely one. We stopped what we were doing and thanked God for his life and the week has been one of memories.

Margery and Andrew, our thoughts are with you as you grieve. Jim, you have run your race, you have finished your course, you have been reunited with your daughters and I’m sure you’re doing a dance around the throne of Jesus! What a Saviour.

For us who know Jesus, we should all take Jim’s advice. ‘Enjoy the journey’

The truth is, in one hundred years from now, I think I’m safe in saying that everyone reading this blog will be in paradise, (if you know Jesus), maybe we’ll be sitting by the tree of life having a chat with Jim! Do you ever think about that? Or does life on earth, that is but a breath, consume you? Are you overwhelmed? Are you grieving someone who has gone on before you? Of course, it’s right to grieve, but just for a season, because paradise is our destination, paradise is our destination and, in case you didn’t get it the first two times, paradise is our destination!

Jim, thank you for your wisdom, your counsel, your love and for cheering us on! As for us, we will continue to enjoy our journey until we meet again.

D xx

 

We’re on holiday! We decided to spend two weeks in the UK in our lovely camper van, Charis (yes, we named it). As we counted down the days, I imagined al fresco breakfasts, lunches and dinners, sipping wine and beer (of the non-alcoholic kind – a story for another blog!) outside our van, but I quickly came back down to earth when I ‘remembered’ this is the UK. We’re just over a week in and we’ve sat outside for breakfast a couple of times. John is outside right now and keeps shouting, ‘sun’s out, oh wait, it’s gone in’ ha-ha! You have to laugh, or you’d cry! Fortunately, we’ve learned over the years, as the song goes, to take the weather with us. We love reading and resting and so if we can do that, we’re happy. Would I prefer to read whilst getting a tan? Of course, but whenever you take a UK holiday, that’s a blessing rather than a given! I trust for all of you who are yet to go on holiday in the UK, the worst of the weather is on our shift. We’ll take one for the team!

 Now to the main point of this blog. Part of our trip from North to South was a weekend in South Wales with our wonderful kids and grandkids! We got to visit with them all over a meal or two, John & I got to baby sit our three lovelies, Ari (6) Tali (4) and Noa (18 months) a delight and a highlight of our hols for sure.

We also got to see them all in action! Chris and Justine at the church they planted two years ago and Sam and Beth in a gig. We came away feeling very proud of all of them. John had a few people ask him how we’d managed to raise such great children. This question led to this blog.

 How?

Do you really want to know what I think the answer is?

 Jesus.

 Were we perfect parents? Absolutely not. Do we have regrets and wish that we’d done some things differently? For sure – when I think about what I fed my children, I have regrets! I’ve learned so much about food and non-food in the last couple of years and I know beyond any shadow of a doubt that a lot of the stuff my kids ate wasn’t real food and don’t get me started on the number of sodas we all drank when we lived in Tanzania! – hindsight and education are great gifts! We regret putting ministry ahead of them at times, regret some of the ways we disciplined them, regret not including them in some of the huge decisions we made, and I could go on and I write it because it wasn’t because of what we did in those areas.

 Were Chris and Beth perfect children? Of course not. And if you’re waiting for me to write down their mistakes, sorry! Not gonna do it. 

 So, how have they turned into the Jesus loving adults they are today?

 John & I loved Jesus.

 

Even when our kids perhaps weren’t loving him as they are today, we still did.

Church was a huge part of our lives even when we weren’t in ministry, it was a non-negotiable part of our week. Chris and Beth never once said they didn’t want to go to church even though I know there were times when they wouldn’t have wanted to be there. It was our families’ culture.

 Daily times with Jesus were and still are a huge part of our lives. I admit, John had this nailed way before I did, but our kids saw us do this.

 We created a home where the words, ‘I love you’ were heard every day.

 We were the same people in church as we were in the home. It concerns me deeply when I hear kids say, their dad is a different (meaning nicer) man in church.

 When they slept, I would pray over them and tell the enemy he wasn’t having our children. Even when someone once told me, ‘They’ll go their own way for a bit and then come back to God’ I rejected it at once – not on my shift. Let me add, it wasn’t an easy fight, I had to work hard for the enemy not to have them, he fought dirty.

 One of them once said to me, ‘even though I had my struggles with faith, I knew Jesus worked for you and dad’ What a sentence!

 They couldn’t deny Jesus in us.

 You may have kids who don’t walk as you’d like them to, and I can’t say why that is for you, it’s not my story. I just tell you our story – 1. Because someone asked us the question and it got me thinking and 2.  Because maybe it might help you to think if your kids see Jesus working for you and if they don’t, start there.  They are never going to walk with Jesus if they don’t see you walking with Him.

 Being a follower of Jesus is the best possible way to live, and if we are blessed with children, then it’s our responsibility to model this.

 And if your kids know that Jesus works for you, but still don’t follow him at the moment, keep doing what you’re doing, don’t give up, it’s not the end of the story yet.

 We love what we do, we get to inspire people to become followers of Jesus every day. But, we know that our greatest achievement is watching our kids, their spouses and our grandchildren follow Jesus too and, whilst all the glory always belongs to God, I know that John and I played the leading roles under His directorship.

Until next time,

D x

Hi!

 I haven’t written a blog in a while! I do love writing! And I must get into a better habit of writing blogs! If you have any subjects/questions you’d like me to tackle, just let me know. I’ll have a go at anything.

 John (my wonderful husband) and I celebrating 5 years of being at Kingdom Life Church, Newcastle. (May 2024).  We were initially asked to do 1-2 years, but we’re still here, loving it and, we believe, about to enter the best season of our ministry.

 As I reflect over 35 years of full-time ministry, what do I see? I see an incredible life of adventure. A life of storms, mountains, rivers, and valleys. It hasn’t been boring. We’ve lived/ministered in South Wales, Tanzania, Blackpool, Halifax and now Newcastle and Whitley Bay!

 I have no regrets. Of course, there are things that we probably wouldn’t repeat, but, life, no matter what, is a great teacher if you allow it to be.

 I’ve just finished a life-transforming book, ‘God is good, he is better than we think’ – Bill Johnson. It’s safe to say, it has changed my life.

 I’m 55 years of age and here is the thing I am learning and wish I’d have known back when we started. My bar, for life, is Jesus. Jesus said, ‘Come and follow me’ not ‘put your hand up in a meeting and go to church every now and then’. If we want to see the UK turn to following Jesus, the church is going to have to lead the way.

 When you know your bar is Jesus, it takes much of the mystery out of life or at least it should. So often, we say, ‘what about Paul, he had a thorn’ or ‘What about Job – he lost everything (he also got back more than he’d lost, we don’t tend to focus on that as much). Well, what about Jesus? He didn’t have a thorn, he was never sick, depressed, angry (apart from righteously) or nasty and the list could go on. He was fully God, we know that, but when he came to earth, he let go of his power and took on human form.

 “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power and how he went around healing all who were under the power of the evil one.” Acts 10:38

¹⁴ The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. 1 John 1:14

 ^5 “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷ but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. ⁸ And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” Philippians 2:5-8

 Everything Jesus did was through the power of the Holy Spirit. He healed everyone, delivered everyone, walked on water, calmed the storm, put a coin in a fish’s mouth, fed 5,000 plus with 5 loaves and 2 fish!

 The body of Christ today: (generally speaking)

 Is committing adultery.

Getting divorced

Massaging and wrestling young boys

Spiritually/emotionally and sexually abusing those within our care.

Struggling to heal ourselves of a cold.

Struggling to get out of bed to pray.

 I know what you’re thinking – we’re not Jesus. But here’s the challenge, we’re meant to be like him, or at least aiming to be. We should be walking like he did when he was on the earth.

 Don’t believe me? 1 John 2:3-6

“We know that we have come to know Him (Christ) if we obey His commands. The man who says, ‘I know Him,’ but does not do what He commands is a liar, and the truth is not in Him… This is how we know we are in Him: Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did.

  ¹² “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. ¹³ Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ¹⁴ If you ask me^[a] anything in my name, I will do it.” John 13:12-14

 If you are a follower of Christ, I don’t know how those two verses make you feel. They make me pause, sigh, wonder, and question. I don’t question God; I question myself and the wider body of Christ.

 By and large, we’ve created a lazy theology. What do I mean by that? We make our theology fit our circumstances, our outcomes in life. It’s easier to put everything bad that happens into a box called ‘The mystery of God’ and, whilst some things do belong in there, God is God, we are not, we can’t shove everything in there and make our theology fit that. Maybe sometimes we must admit we got it wrong, or the devil stole from us, or they didn’t look after their body – lots of questions that so often get swept under the carpet because, like Bill Johnson says, it’s easier to do that than to admit we’ve not been as successful as we’d like to be.

 We’ve been asking the question for years – ‘why don’t we see the greater things?’

 Maybe it’s a very simple answer, we’re not walking like Jesus did.

Paul isn’t our bar.

 Job isn’t our bar.

 Jesus is.

 

Think about it…

 

Until next time

D x

“Be in the ministry”, they said, (We are) “it’ll be great”, they said (it is); “Full time working for the Lord, what a privilege” they said (and it is!)

John & I love Jesus and love serving Him and the call of God to full time ministry is indeed an honour. BUT, I thought I’d write some of the reality that hits at times, that hurts at times and that baffles you, at times.

As most of you know, we’ve been in full time ministry for over 30 years, and we’ve seen a lot! The funny side – someone being baptised with teeth and coming up out of the water without them because they were false! True story – John went back under the water to ‘rescue’ said teeth. To the utterly heartbreaking scene when John did the funeral service of Siamese twins just after they were born. We’ve made lifelong friends and, on occasions, even those friends have wounded us to a point we wondered whether we’d recover. We did recover and we recovered the friendships.

So, yes, it’s extremely fulfilling, and heart breaking almost every day. We gave up leading a church when we went back to Tanzania in 2013. We did have a house church, but it wasn’t anything like leading a church in the UK for a number of reasons. During those 6 years, we discovered that we could live without leading a church, in other words, it never defined us, our lives were just as fulfilled without that particular role. BUT, we also discovered, without wanting to sound conceited, it’s what we do best. Equipping the church for works of service (my understanding of pastoring) is what we actually loved to do, so when we got the call for Newcastle, even though my initial reaction to our regional leader wasn’t the best! Hahaha! Thank God He doesn’t listen to us, we know that we are in the right place at the right time and we are in exciting days up here in the Northeast! Why more pastors don’t want to move up here is a mystery! It’s a fantastic part of the UK!

BUT, there are days when you wonder what it would be like to be a deck chair attendant! Read John’s book to understand that comment!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cant-deckchair-attendant-instead-Bullock-ebook/dp/B085S2J3F5/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3QK524D7YWBWD&keywords=Can%27t+I+be+a+deckchair+attendant+instead&qid=1701168547&sprefix=can%27t+i+be+a+deckchair+attendant+instead%2Caps%2C112&sr=8-1

I’m not sure you ever learn to take compliments with a pinch of salt. We know of mans’ need of significance, acceptance and security, we want to be liked and so when people say things like ‘top pastors ever’ ‘top drawer sermon pastor’ ‘we love your teaching’ ‘hope you never leave’ I do think they mean it at the time, but when you have to bring a challenge, suddenly, they don’t think that anymore. Often, they leave without a word; and you’re left wondering why. Or they withdraw their tithe, their smile, their encouragement. AND IT HURTS.

I have to say that I’m writing this more for you, the reader, than for me. Even though things still sting a bit, I’ve matured to a place where it doesn’t hurt as much as it once would have. People are human, affected by deceit, and probably don’t even realise they’re hurting you.

For you pastors, who have maybe just begun your journey or you’ve been at it ages, and you’re hurting because of what some of your sheep may be doing, if you’re called, don’t quit.

When Peter had denied Jesus, in Lukes’s version of the story, there is a poignant verse where he writes,

 

^‘Peter replied, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.” (Luke 22:60-62)

I can’t imagine how Peter must have felt by the look that Jesus gave him.

The word, ‘agape’ is mentioned pretty much every week in our church. Why? Because, by and large, we’re not living it. We live in conditional love most of the time. All of us. So we must keep Agape before us. It’s a power, not an emotion. It’s a command, not a choice.

The reason for this blog – I woke up this morning with this thought. ‘How do you lead people without worrying what they might think or feel towards you?’

Answer: I think! Get so full of God’s love, that you will only do what the Father tells you to do and if you know you’re doing that, it matters not what others think. We serve an audience of one.

Tough decisions are a part of leadership. Oh, and if you’re a sheep, be a nice one.

Until next time, D xx

I’ve never written a blog like this before and that’s because it’s not going to be me speaking! Freaked out? Me too! I feel like God wants to communicate with us. We were in our prayer meeting last night (Wednesday 25^th October 2023) praying for Israel and I had what I can only describe as a few moments where God was speaking to me concerning what is happening. This is what I believe He said:

 

“The only way you can approach what is happening in my beloved Israel is through the eyes of eternity. My desire is that no-one should perish, and I give everyone a chance to receive me into their hearts, ‘For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse’. (Romans 1:21)

I want you to know that every baby that has been ripped from their mother’s womb, every child that has been murdered is with me now. Free and happy with me.

I want you to know that I have appeared to many adults too. As rocks and bombs fall, as women are raped, as people are beheaded, I can reach them in ways you will never understand this side of eternity. I have and will appear to those who are still alive in their dreams – you know this is true because you’ve heard the stories.

What’s coming on this earth is only going to get worse, the book of Revelation will tell you that.

‘And out of the smoke locusts came down on the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. ⁴ They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. ⁵ They were not allowed to kill them but only to torture them for five months. And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion when it strikes. ⁶ During those days people will seek death but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them.’ (Rev 9:3-6)

‘They were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory.’ (Rev 16:9)

Even in their worst nightmare, men and women will still refuse to accept the one who gave his life for them. They choose to go to hell. It is not my choice, but theirs alone.

In a million years from now, the atrocities that you’re witnessing on earth, will cease to matter. What matters most to me is eternity. You want to know how to pray? Pray for the salvation of humanity. I repeat, they won’t all make it to Paradise, but that will be on them, not me. I AM AGAPE.

Ps: If you don’t know me yet, now would be a good time. Deb will tell you how. X

Recently, I woke up at 6.am with the following on my heart. For me, it’s a dangerous time to write! In the sense that I know it’s probably going to be a challenge!

I was at the MIT (Minster in training) conference 2023. My second one. I am 54 years old, been in ministry alongside my fantastic husband for over 30 years. We pastored in the Rhondda Valley for 22 years, (2 separate stints), we were missionaries in Tanzania for 9 years (2 separate stints) and we’re now leading the Elim church,  Kingdom Life Church, in Newcastle – been there for just over 4 years and we are loving life and ministry! 

How did I get to be a MIT? If you’d have said to me in the summer of 2021 that I’d be applying to become a minister, I’d have laughed you out of the park! It was never something I thought I wanted or needed to do! And I know this may sound a bit weird, but it was a dream, which I believe was from God that got me in the position I now find myself. I can still picture me and John in the car driving through Wales when I told him my dream. His response wasn’t what I thought it would be! I thought he would also laugh me out of the park, not in a demeaning way at all, just because he, like me, didn’t ever see this coming! If you see me, you can ask me about the dream, but it’s enough for here. However, the more I go on this journey, the more I can see that God has a purpose for it. I believe I can confidently say, I feel called to this. 

That being said, I’m kind of a reluctant MIT! Haha!

This is what was on my heart when I woke up! 

If we don’t put the right people, male or female, in charge of our churches, the church will become weak with no voice. If pastors, seek to ‘climb the ladder’ to manipulate positions, it will not end well. Now, more than ever, leaders need to be men and women of integrity. The stories that we are all reading or watching at the moment e.g. Mike Pilavachi; Hillsong; the Falwells, must create an urgency in everyone who is responsible for interviewing, training and commissioning leaders to get it right – and if ‘no’ is right, then ‘no’ is good! 

I worry that a motive of diversity, i.e., male to female ratios and inclusion are in danger of becoming bigger than the call of God, I worry that people will be put in charge of churches who aren’t meant to be there just so we can say we reached the target. We will let men and women into training who maybe shouldn’t be, we will put them on the front line of ministry when they shouldn’t be there. I don’t think targets will be at the forefront of decisions, but, if they are in the picture at all, these things have a way of being in the background and ‘help’ us make decisions that perhaps we wouldn’t make if there weren’t targets to reach or people to please.  

I don’t want to be a part of something that ticks an equality box. Don’t get me wrong, of course I believe in equality, but that shouldn’t be the driving force of any decisions, from local church teams to lead pastors and everything in between. Being in ministry is very hard. Being the no. 1 leader of a church is very hard. I am extremely blessed to be working with John. I’m not sure I would want to be ‘no. 1’ without him by my side. It’s too hard. Granted, after over 30 years, the things that once bothered us, no longer do, but for those starting out in the world in which we live, we have to know it’s a calling from God. 

Here’s a ‘shoot from the hip’ question if you’re a pastor – “Are people following you?”

Don’t shoot me for saying this, but, at one time, not that long ago, I would have said, women shouldn’t be no. 1’s (Lead pastors) in churches simply for their protection. Put the guns away haha! –  I no longer think this. I have been on a personal journey to the point that I now believe that women can and should be no. 1’s. BUT if we move away from the call of God to a target-based selection process, it won’t end well, and people will get hurt. Every denomination and movement have a responsibility to put the right leaders, called by God, into leadership positions. God help us never to make any decisions based on boxes ticked. 

And now for something completely different! A little less of a challenge

Nature is amazing isn’t it!? Let’s look at three fascinating creatures. 

Ants

Did you know that Ants can carry 10-50 times their body weight? And when you see an ant hill above ground, beneath your feet is 185 square metres of a mini city where life happens for ants.

After about a year, they move on and can create their new home in around 3 days! They are hard workers.

We read a few things about ants in the Bible.

Proverbs 30:25 says,

²⁵ the ants are a people not strong,
    yet they provide their food in the summer;

Isn’t it strange how it refers to them as ‘people’?

Proverbs 6: 6-11 speaks to us about how hard working the ant is and if we don’t work hard, life won’t be good or easy. (my paraphrase!)

Bees

I first read this about a year ago and I was totally blown away.

Queen bees and worker bees are genetically identical. Queen bees lay up to two thousand eggs a day, while worker bees are functionally sterile. Queens live up to three years; workers may live only three weeks. The difference between the two is diet. When the hive’s queen is dying, a larva is picked by nurse bees to be fed a secreted substance called royal jelly. When the larva eats this jelly, the enzyme that had been silencing the expression of royal genes is turned off and a new queen is born. The queen has the exact same genes as any of the workers, but because of what she ate, different genes are expressed, and her life and life span are dramatically altered as a result. 

Wow! Can we apply that to us? Of course. How we live and what we eat is going to affect our souls and our bodies. Do some research on food and serious illness, I think you may be surprised – I know I was.

Finally and perhaps the most fascinating,

Butterflies

I think you’ll probably know that a caterpillar is completely different from the butterfly it becomes, it metamorphosises into a brand-new creature. 

Sound familiar? (2 Corinthians 5:17)

We’ve been talking about caterpillars, cocoons and butterflies a lot lately and one of things I said to John was, you can’t be a butterfly unless to go into the cocoon. 

Watch this video for a look at what takes place.

Caterpillar, cocoon, butterfly

Some of the words that I was thinking when watching that were, it’s messy, looks uncomfortable. Also, how good would it be if all we had to do was eat! 

If you’re a follower of Jesus, an obvious picture of this caterpillar to butterfly experience is the one of salvation, hands down, the best one, but I think throughout our lives we can experience a few chrysalis moments if we sign on for a life of adventure with Jesus. 

What we do and how we approach Chrysalis or cocoon moments is up to us. I imagine the caterpillar just hangs there! For us, it might be right to just hang! To be still, to listen to God. When was the last time you sat in silence? In our noisy world of distractions, it’s not easy to do, but it’s a good discipline to get into. 

Just recently I learnt that if you were to open a cocoon, you wouldn’t have a clue what was happening. You’d basically see caterpillar soup.  The phrase used to describe what’s happening was identity suicide. (Paul Scanlon)

Transition is hard, and our default can be to go back to being a caterpillar because that’s what’s known.  But if you want to become a butterfly you will have to commit identity suicide. You will have to become a different person. I’ve had a few cocoon moments in my life, just recently been through one. I know I’m not the same person I was even a few months ago. 

We must do what we’re told in Ephesians 4:22-24

“You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” 

Put off your old self. Put on the new self. We are responsible for this. 

Get rid of stuff that so easily entangles. What are your defaults? Are they healthy ones? 

Someone brought a great challenge to us in one of our prayer meetings, ‘Would you live yesterday the same again, or would do some things differently or not at all?’ Great question!

I’d like to incorporate some of the life lessons of the ant, the bee, and the butterfly. 

I’m up for working hard, I’m up for looking after my body & soul, and I’m up for the stretching/cocoon times.

Are you?

Until next time

D xx

Before I get onto this great subject that I’m learning about in this season (wish I’d known about it 30 years ago!) I have to say a huge thank you to all of you who read my blog last week. “Can I get a lift with you, no, sorry” It had a LOT of readership and I had some great comments, so thanks!

Sabbath v. day off – If you’d have asked me a few months ago whether I took a Sabbath, I would probably have answered, ‘yes’. Since we began in ministry back in 1989, we have always taken a Tuesday off. I don’t know why we took Tuesday, but it’s always worked for us. And, unless there has been an emergency or a meeting we had to attend, we’ve stuck to it – our churches have known it and it’s been great. Then we read ‘the ruthless elimination of hurry’ by John Mark Comer and we realised the huge difference between a day off and a Sabbath!

Before we go to the Sabbath, let me challenge this – over the years, I’ve often asked ministers if they take a day off – so many say, ‘no’ I don’t have the time. I don’t have to say much on this, I’ll just leave it to God and then pose a question and a challenge.

“By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work” Genesis 2:2

Who do you think you are, with allegedly no time to rest, when God rested? If you’re in full time ministry and you don’t take a regular day off, in mine and apparently God’s opinion, you’re doing it wrong. Yolk easy, burden light. This isn’t about an easy life, but we should all be carrying easy yolks. If that’s not your experience, then as the girls in Frozen say, ‘let it (some things) go. We can’t possibly function better than God.

The challenge now, for me, is the Sabbath and what that means.

Here is the first time we hear about the Sabbath:

“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. ⁹ Six days you shall labor and do all your work, ¹⁰ but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. ¹¹ For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” Exodus 20:8-11

It’s the longest commandment and the only one with a reason to do it, and that’s because God did it.

When I was a kid, we weren’t allowed to go to the shops on Sundays, I never understood why, it was just that way. Learning about the Sabbath 50 years on, I kinda get it now.

No one was allowed to work for one day a week. I want you to imagine what our world would be like if everyone just stopped! Of course, shops used to be closed on Sundays – no one could shop, no one could shop! The UK stopped and probably had a much more relaxing day than they do now because of that. Sundays don’t work great for Christians of course because of church commitment which I am fully supportive of – don’t be taking a Sabbath on a Sunday! I’m not saying that.

Comer’s great description is this: Sabbath is meant to be a day when you stop and rest. Switch your phone off and do something for 24 hours that is either rest or worship and that fills your joy shelf up! (My paraphrase) If you’re not sure what the difference is between a day off and a Sabbath, let me give you an example that happened to us recently that convinced me of the difference!

We went out in the car to a shopping centre to look for something we needed to buy. On our way there, John was on hold to HMRC – do I need to comment any more on the ‘stress’ that was causing – can you hear the tune they play for 3 hours before they answer the call? You have to work your self up to be ready to make that phone call. As we pulled into the car park, our car decided to break down! Thankfully it was there and not on the roads we’d been driving along. So, that meant another call to the RAC and a 6 hour wait all while sorting out an issue with the tax people! John and I rarely get stressed and we weren’t really stressed during this time because we’ve learned to be a peace, whatever is going on, BUT, this was definitely a day off and NOT a Sabbath.

If we’d taken a proper Sabbath as I’m beginning to learn, we wouldn’t have gone shopping or had the phone on. We’d have stopped for 24 hours and none of the above stress would have happened. Can you see the difference?

A day off is where you go shopping either on line or physically, you deal with the bank, the tax man, amazon, etc…On a Sabbath, you rest or worship. And a Sabbath will look differently for everyone.

Remember,

“Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” Mark 2:27

So, we’re not going to all do the same like the Israelites did, although Jewish communities today still practice the Sabbath in all the traditional ways and something about that is very attractive in the sense that they are all doing it together as a community, but the flip side is, it can turn into religion rather than relationship with Jesus and something that is done because you have to rather than you want to.

I’m skimming the surface of this great subject but it does seem to be raising its head in a number of different sources, so maybe God is wanting to get our attention. Apparently, something like, the difference between working for 55 hours and 65 hours a week is nothing as far as productivity is concerned, they wield the same results. That’s kind of like the difference between working 6 days a week compared to 7. Maybe God was right? Shocker!

I don’t know what your week looks like, and you might be saying, ‘I don’t have time for a Sabbath’. If that’s true, and I would question it because of God, then take half a Sabbath. Get your kids involved, our daughter and son-in-law are months ahead of us on practicing the Sabbath and they have a 5 and 3 year old and a 5 month old – it’s doable or God wouldn’t have said or done it. Don’t know where to start? switch your phone off for half a day (when was the last time you switched your phone off?) and don’t buy anything! It will set you free. John and I have only done one full Sabbath in the last few weeks but I know we want and need to make it a regular part of our week. I know we will function better because of it.

If you want to understand more I can’t recommend John Mark Comer’s book enough – ‘The Ruthless elimination of Hurry’

Until next time,

D x

It’s Thursday the 8th June, 7.00am. We are waking up to the story that 100 people have now come forward to say that Mike Pilavachi abused them. When John told me this, I said, ‘I have no words’

I sat down with a heavy heart and began my quiet time (another discipline that is being quashed by some – but that’s another blog!) but I couldn’t fully concentrate as I knew I had to write. I prayed for Mike, despite the allegations, and other things, did my Bible readings which I love to do and now I am at my Ipad to say this….

If we dismiss the Billy Graham rule which basically says, don’t be alone with a person of the opposite sex who isn’t your partner, (maybe we should add the same sex in today’s society? The Billy Graham rule plus!), I believe we will do so at our peril.

I can almost feel the eye rolls of some, but hear me out.

It doesn’t really matter much now whether all the stories about Mike Pilavachi are true or not. I’m pretty sure some will be but others won’t. If he’d have had strong boundaries in place – however silly they may have looked, and a team who weren’t afraid to call him out, he might not be in the predicament he finds himself in today.

John & I have been in ministry for over 30 years and I’m not even sure why we made the decisions we made, but make them we did and we’ve almost never been in those situations and if we ever were, it was an emergency situation. We never counsel the opposite sex on our own and we don’t get in cars on our own with members of the opposite sex.

If you make it a principle, you’re covered. It’s not personal to the people around you, it’s a protection. Boundaries are there to protect us. Let’s take a scenario. You regularly get in cars or offices with people of the opposite sex, no problem, everything’s great. One day, one or two of these people fall out with you, all they have to say is, ‘they touched me inappropriately’, ‘they bullied me’, ‘they spoke inappropriately to me’ and we don’t have a leg to stand on.

Or what about these scenarios, ‘I wish my partner laughed at my jokes like you do’ ‘I wish my partner got the vision of the church like you’ ‘you look good today pastor’ – ‘my partner never tells me that’ seems innocent? The devil is writing it all down, making a list, checking it twice until an appropriate time to let it out.

At this point, we’ve handed over the pencil of our story to the enemy who doesn’t care one bit if it’s not true. It just takes one.

Whereas if policy is in place, the devil can’t write this story because he has nowhere to go. The enemy has accused John and myself of other things, but he can’t get us on this, why? Because we’ve never given him the pencil.

99 times out of a hundred could be just fine. You feel safe, they feel safe – then, wham. We underestimate the schemes of the devil. He is the accuser and he hates us.

The Chinese Bamboo plant is a great teacher. You plant this in the ground and for 5 years you see no progress whatsoever. No shoot coming through at all. You water it, nothing, you feed it, nothing. Then in year six it sprouts 90 ft in just 6 weeks.

Don’t think for one minute that you’ll get away with it.

The enemy of our souls is very patient. He is also the father of lies.

Genesis 4:7 says this, ‘If you do what is right, will you not be accepted, if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door, it desires to have you, but you must master it.’

The abolishing of the Billy Graham Rule (plus) is creeping in, not sure why, maybe for equality, human rights, it’s old fashioned. Whatever the reason, I end how I started, if we do this, we do so at our peril. And ‘the white envelopes’ which are now emails, informing us a colleague has fallen, will increase.

Let’s wise up and not give the devil a foothold in this area.

Until next time,

D x