I was pondering a question the other day. You’ll have to read to the bottom if you want to know what that question is.

So many people get angry with God when their marriage ends, or someone close to them dies, or there is a tragedy. One day they are walking with God, then they are not. It saddens me that God gets the blame – don’t get me wrong, He doesn’t need me to defend Him, He has broad shoulders, but nevertheless, it still saddens me. ‘I used to go to church, but I stopped going when God let that happen’

I read of a member of the Rolling Stones who grew up in the church but left because he couldn’t believe in a God who would limit sex to one man and one woman for life.

(What an incredibly ignorant comment – just imagine our world IF we’d have stuck with that mandate) Italics mine.

And what shocked the author who quoted this (John Mark Comer) wasn’t the sex bit but the “I couldn’t believe in a God who..”

As if what we think and feel about God is an accurate barometer for what He is actually like! (God has a name, JMC,  pg 28) I recommend this book by the way.

Way back in the beginning, God gave Adam and Eve a whole new world to explore and expand, He gave them all authority to rule and reign over every living thing, He gave earth to them on a plate. They CHOSE the dark side, they CHOSE to believe the devil and they handed authority of the earth over to the him.  (Read the first few chapters in the the Bible for the full story)

In another part of the Bible, it says this, ‘We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. (1 John 5:19)

Man did that, we gave the power to the evil one. If you ‘work’ for him, eventually he will destroy you. If you are a true follower of Jesus, not just a Christian (that’s a whole other blog!) he can’t destroy you except if you give him authority to do so, i.e, continue to make bad choices, sin without remorse etc….

While ever a human being stays outside of the dwelling place of God (Psalm 91) you put yourself in the dwelling place of evil.

Of course, tragedies, death, marriage breakdown (not sure this one should, but, again, another blog!) and accidents happen to God’s children too, the difference for those who are truly God’s disciples, is they get peace that passes understanding (if they give up the right to understand – Bill Johnson) They zoom out, eventually, and see a much bigger picture. This earthly life is but a nano second in the grand scheme of eternity. In a trillion years from now, we will be living with those who have gone on ahead for us and that will NEVER end. If you’re a follower of Jesus and someone close to you has gone on ahead, just ponder that for a moment – it is staggering!!

So, if the earth is under the control of the devil, that means this earth is fallen, there are germs, there are accidents, there is deceit, there are lies, there is corruption, so what do we expect?   

Here is the question then:

If what has happened to you, happened to me, would you still believe in God?

God could have given up on us after Adam and Eve gave up on God. Thankfully, He didn’t. He sent His son, Jesus to the earth. He came to establish a Kingdom that is open to everyone, you must believe in Him, recognise your need for a Saviour, ask Him to come into your life and then just as the kids who walked through the wardrobe into Narnia, a whole new world opens up to you, you can choose to ‘stay in the wardrobe’ (after you’ve given your life to Christ) and, I believe in His mercy, you will go to heaven. OR you can ‘pick up your sword’ and go on the adventure of your life which will go on forever – I chose to go through the wardrobe and my life has been amazing, oh, don’t get me wrong, I’ve been through some tumultuous storms, BUT through it all God has been incredibly faithful and it is my deepest joy to serve Him.

At the start of 2025, re-dedicate your life to God – it is not His fault. If you’ve never dedicated your life to God, say this prayer and then contact me, nothing would give me greater joy than that.

“Lord Jesus, I believe that you died for me, I recognise that I am a sinner, and I need a Saviour, I ask you to forgive me and to come into my life, I am up for an adventure.” Amen.

If you’re angry at God, stop it. Repent. Get closer to Him.

He loves you more than you will ever know.

Until next time, D xx

 

The Kingdom of God ‘rules’ v. Church

The Kingdom of God

I know my mission – I say mine, because I am the one writing this blog, but I speak for my husband John, too!  It’s our mission to train God’s people to be Kingdom Citizens, not just people who go to church. This blog is addressed to anyone in Church, whether you are a leader or sheep and in particular, sheep that just don’t want to grow and are, quite frankly, hard work.

 Before I get into it, it’s important for me to add that EVERY church has a core of people who are committed fully to the life of our churches. Without them, our churches wouldn’t function. They are so consistent, to the point that when they are NOT there, you know something is wrong or they are away. They are amazing and we are SO grateful to all of you. You can read the following in complete peace of mind.

Two scriptures that I have been thinking about lately. Read them slowly, digest them and then ask if your church is anything remotely like this:

⁹ No widow is to be enrolled on the list for support unless she is at least sixty years old, has been the wife of one husband, ¹⁰ and is well known for good works—that is, if she has brought up children, shown hospitality, washed the saints’ feet, helped the afflicted, and devoted herself to every good work. 2 Timothy 5:9-12

 No widow is to be enrolled on the list for support!! – Can you even imagine telling people in our churches that we’re not going to support them because they haven’t fulfilled what’s required? How many people do you know that give absolutely nothing to their church family, (not even talking financially, although that is hugely important), they don’t smile, pray or even EVER say thank you – yet they suck the life out of anyone who will listen and whatever is done for them, it is never enough? And then, when they’ve sucked one church dry, they simply move on to another one, usually with a story to tell about how bad their last church was because it wasn’t loving. Deep sigh.

 Yes, the church needs to show kindness, but it should never be just one way. We are creating a world, inside and outside of the church that says, if you play your cards right, you won’t have to contribute anything to society or church. We will give you everything, food, clothes, school uniforms, free school dinners, and even period products – yes, there is now a thing called ‘period poverty’. Can’t we see that what is perceived as kindness is creating an entitlement society? The church – again generally speaking – is in danger of mirroring this culture.  In the early church, no one had any needs, because they helped each other, BUT they devoted themselves as we’ll see. The 21^st Century church is seeking to help their communities, but we’ve chucked out the ‘requirements’. Why? one word – numbers.

 Most denominations have a requirement that churches send their numbers in every week.  Sunday is the main one. Church leaders, if you need a bubble bursting, here it is. Your Sunday numbers are not it. That is a false picture. Your true numbers are those who you see in your home groups and prayer meetings, those who serve regularly in a practical or spiritual way – cleaning, hosting, kids, youth, etc… who are regularly digging in to advance the kingdom. That’s our church and that’s your church.

 

 ⁴² They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer. Acts 2:42

 

They devoted themselves to….

1. The apostle’s teaching, 2. to the fellowship, 3. to the breaking of bread, and 4. to prayer. This is the kingdom stance

 

They devoted themselves to….

 

1. Rocking up to church whenever they feel like it, 2. not praying, 3. being late every week, 4. being critical, 5. zero giving either in time, financially or encouragement.  This is the church stance (generally speaking)

 A church whose culture is one of rocking up to church whenever, not praying, being late every week, being critical, zero giving either in time, financially or encouragement is completely unworkable. Many church leaders either just quit, sin or burn out. It’s unworkable.

 A church who won’t challenge the above is destined to never advance the Kingdom of God, a church who gives and gives to people only on a social level is destined to never advance the Kingdom of God.

 Why don’t some pastors challenge wrong behaviour? One word – numbers. The last thing any pastor wants to do is lose people, so rather than challenging that person who just isn’t nice, we put up with them so we can say we have 50 instead of 49.  Pathetic, isn’t it?

 Our significance is in our numbers, and it needs to change.

 Here’s another reason why some pastors struggle to challenge – they were never meant to lead church on their own. And God gave some to be, Apostles, teachers, pastors, evangelists and prophets. We’ve ditched the 4 and given everything to the pastor. Why? It was never meant to be that way.

Maybe you would really like to be a full-on disciple of Jesus, but you just struggle with making the necessary changes. Devote yourself, be kind, keep going, keep listening, you will break through.

 Some questions for you to mull over with your friends or maybe in your home group:-

 What if God wants to shrink the church so that He can grow the Kingdom? Y’all ready for this? (queue the music!)

 Or is it too late? Is it going to take a whole new pioneering movement to ‘re-birth’ the church as God intended?

 Do you think God thinks it’s OK to be inconsistent, rude, late, non-contributary?  

 

In my humble opinion, we have moved a long way from 2 Timothy 5 and Acts 2. John and I are a way off it too but, what I can say is we care less about what people think today than we once did, and, where it matters, we will challenge and have lost people because of that. The truth is, we all only have an audience of One and if we choose to listen to Him even if it may mean our churches get pruned, that’s what we’re going to do; we will be all the stronger for it, I genuinely believe that.

 It’s time that the real church stood up and I believe that that is a church who are devoted to solid Word of God teaching, fellowship, communion and prayer.

 Let’s get serious about taking hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of us.

Until next time

D x

 

 

It’s been a while since I’ve written a blog that will potentially offend or split the camp, but it’s been brewing for a while and so I’m going to write it. For some, you will cheer, others may just shrug their shoulders and carry on, but I’m hoping that maybe a few will be convicted and change their ways.

I watched a great video the other day on tithing and the final line was ‘Tithing is not an act of generosity, it is an act of obedience’ great line! You can see the whole video in the link below.

Tithing

The first place we read about tithing in the Bible is in Genesis 14:20 ‘And praise be to God most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand’ Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything’

Before the law, Abram tithed to the Priest, Melchizedek.

In the New Testament Jesus rebukes the scribes and Pharisees for tithing yet neglecting matters of the law – justice, mercy, and faith.

Some see this as Jesus letting them off, but he ends the lesson by saying, you ought to have done the matters of the law without neglecting the tithe. Sorry, not a let off.

If you’ve been a Christian for any length of time, the starkest verses on this subject are in Malachi. ‘Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing me!’ ‘How do we rob you?’ You ask. ‘By not making the payments of the tenth and the contributions.’ (3:8)

Usually if anyone argues against the tithe, they never argue that it should be more? Funny that.

So, for me, the tithe is a non-negotiable requirement for Christians.

Where should the tithe go? In Malachi, it clearly says that the tithe should be brought into the storehouse, i.e. the local church.

‘Bring the FULL tenth into the storehouse so that there may be food in my house.’

Clear cut.

Some spread out their tithe here, there and everywhere, and I understand some of the pressures there may be to send it back home, overseas, but the tithe belongs to God and should come into the church and your contributions go everywhere else.

And then look at the promise on the back of it.

‘Test me in this way’ says the lord of Armies. ‘See if I will not open the floodgates of heaven and pour out a blessing for you without measure. I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not ruin the produce of your land and your vine in your field will not fail to produce fruit’ says the Lord of Armies!

Wow, What a promise.

If God hasn’t said anything different than the first time He said it, it must be taken that He hasn’t changed His mind.

Moving on…..

Here we go. What about those who don’t give anything into the storehouse? Not a bean, not a penny? This really makes me want to type fast!

I cannot for the life in me understand it.

How do you think the church functions? Pastors, staff, lights, musical instruments, equipment for the youth and kids, refurbishments, heating, photocopying, coffee, tea, refreshments, toilet rolls? Yes, it boils down to that.

All you need to do is say, if everyone were like me, there would not be a church to go to! That is the reality.

My conclusion:

If you give nothing, then your complaint to your pastor or leadership counts for nothing. You have no say.

If you don’t tithe, you need to take that up with God and hope He is merciful and doesn’t ask for back pay.

If you give nothing, then the next time you sit in your warm, comfortable church, drink coffee and, I may as well say it, go to the toilet, make sure you say thank you to the ones who are paying for you to do all those things.

Until next time,

D x

 

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.