After our early morning wake-up call, Tony and I started praying through the book of Haggai. The context of Haggai is that the first wave of Jews have returned from captivity in Babylon, but, apart from an initial spurt of activity in which the foundations of the temple were laid, nothing more has been done… Read More
Category: Church planting
We need to go away more often. It’s amazing what happens when we leave the country. We currently have a simple/organic church that meets in our home. It’s actually run by our daughter and son-in-law. We turn up from time to time. For most of September and part of October, Tony and I were in Russia… Read More
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A 3 am wake up call–from God
Let me set the scene. We live in a rambling old house, part of it built before 1946 (the part that local legend has it was a casino and "house of ill-repute") but mostly additions from the 1980s. Because of its age,we expect to have major repairs from time to time, probably averaging one a… Read More
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Unlikely candidates?
Jesus chose the most unlikely candidates to promote his message. Photo credit: More Good Foundation (Creative Commons) Think of the woman at the well in John 4. She is certainly a person of reputation–five husbands, and now living with yet another man–worthy of a modern soap opera. She has other factors working against her too.… Read More
In Luke 10, Jesus tells his disciples to find a person of peace (verse 5) and to bless their oikos (home, or circle of influence). What is a person of peace? A person of peace is someone who has reputation (good or bad), influence, and is open to receive us. We can recognize them because… Read More
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The power of blessing
Photo credit:Donald Mcleod (Creative Commons) I recently read a fascinating story in a book called The Grace Outpouring by Roy Godwin and Dave Roberts. (Thank you, Chris!) The book is the story of a retreat center in Wales called Ffald-y-Brenin. The Lord led the people there to bless, not just the people who lived around… Read More
We learned many lessons from Rosa's story. The whole experience demonstrated very clearly the importance of church being missional, (Luke 10:3) rather than attractional. Here are some of the reasons: Jesus said, "As the Father sent me, so send I you." If I had failed to obey the impression I had to walk along a certain street,… Read More
Why do we believers so often do the opposite of what Jesus tells us? Jesus told his disciples to go; we ask people to come. Jesus instructed his disciples to make disciples of all nations; we ask people for decisions. Jesus said he will build his church; we try to do it for him. Jesus… Read More
According to Dave Barrett and Todd Johnson in World Christian Trends, the average cost per new baptism in the United States tops $1.5 million! This figure reflects the cost of church buildings, seminary training etc. What has happened to Jesus' instructions to the disciples in Luke 10. "Don't take any money with you…"? There is… Read More
Photo credit: Christophe Pasqual (Creative Commons) There's a dangerous virus going around the world. Like other viruses, it's identified with letters and numbers. Unlike other viruses, I hope you catch it. The 10:2b virus started when a couple of friends of ours, John White and Kenny Moore, were discussing one morning over breakfast how to… Read More