But He might use you … Turn on your television and look at the new channel. Wars rumble across continents, the skies seem heavier with each passing headline, and somewhere between the chaos of collapsing economies and another broken promise from another broken system, people are growing weary. It’s not just the world that feels like it’s groaning… Read More »
Philip’s four unmarried daughters, who prophesied As we follow Paul’s journey to Jerusalem and his stay at Philip the evangelist’s house in Caesarea, it’s easy to skim over a brief line – just seven words in Acts 21:9: “He had four unmarried daughters, who prophesied.” Nestled between the movements of Paul’s mission, it’s a short verse that holds… Read More »
The uncomfortable path of truth when grace breaks expectations. My friend Mark, a much-loved worship leader, has a compelling grip on conscious and unconscious bias. Talking with him in a distant conversation stirred something in me, prompting a deeper dive into the subject. So let’s give it a bash together. Luke 4:16–30 speaks volumes on it, and it’s… Read More »
Prophesy or words of knowledge? I might be a little pedantic here – but stay with me, there’s a familiar moment in many Spirit-filled gatherings; someone stands, voice steady, heart stirred, and says, “I feel the Lord is saying…” Mobile phones are lowered, eyes open and heads lift… Expectation rises. Prophecy, we assume. And often, what follows is… Read More »
Miracles, signs and wonders? Have you ever dropped the baton? Were you going too fast, staggered, slipped, dropped? Usain Bolt never dropped the baton. Not once in a major competition. When Jamaica shattered the world record in the 4x100m relay at the 2012 London Olympics, Bolt snatched the baton at the finish line like a man grabbing history.… Read More »
Before you leave home … By the side of a pool in Croatia I mused about Luke 9:23, and what follows next flowed from that! I’m a bit of a routine person. Each morning begins the same; sandwiches, keys, phone accompanied by one or two coffees, depending on the night before or how distracted I am by the… Read More »
But Jesus can. And does. I like Superman. When it comes to those Marvel superpowers, if you had a superpower, what would it be, and more importantly, what ‘righteous’ thing would you use it for? Most imagine themselves wielding it for good – to rescue the weak, confront injustice, bring peace. Some would use it to be invisible… Read More »
Don’t. “And do you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not, for behold, I am bringing disaster upon all flesh, declares the Lord. But I will give you your life as a prize of war in all places to which you may go.” (Jeremiah 45:5, ESV) This will be a short one, so let’s get straight to… Read More »
The defining word for the early Church. And us? Seeing the young fledgling Church in action in the book of Acts leaves you amazed; the pace of the story makes you wonder if it is actually Mark writing! But it’s Dr Luke, and in Acts 1:14, he’s at odds from all his in-depth research to inform us that… Read More »
but it doesn’t always make sense. There’s a story in Genesis that feels a lot like waiting on a cold winter’s morning in a bitter wind. You see your breath, try not to look like a dragon, and clutch your coat tighter, hoping for some sign of movement in the distance. You’ve waited what feels like an eternity… Read More »
Get ready, connect, engage. I love the raw drama of the book of Acts. It’s our benchmark, our context; it’s a gauntlet thrown down, and hand in hand with it, Corinthians. It’s a church that came behind in none of the gifts – they excelled, a bit like your church. No doubt, you just said or thought, “Hmm?”… Read More »
A call to pray for peace “Behold, a people! As a lioness it rises up,and as a lion it lifts itself;it does not lie down until it has devoured the preyand drunk the blood of the slain.” — Numbers 23:24 ESV There’s often a bit of chatter about whether Balaam was a false prophet or true but the… Read More »
Looking at the bigger picture – from a distance. You’ve probably never heard of them, but have you ever stood on the Bolehills in Sheffield on a clear night? You look up, and it’s lights, twinkles, and shiny things by the bucket load – stars wherever you look, when the weather is playing nicely, that is. Here’s what… Read More »
When you expected dreams, visions and prophecy … It’s Pentecost Sunday this week! Pentecost didn’t begin in Acts 2. It wasn’t a sudden gust of divine spontaneity, as if God woke up one morning and thought, “Now seems like a good time to pour out My Spirit.” No, Pentecost was etched into the divine script from the beginning.… Read More »
All things are possible In my home group, we’ve been going through Wendy Mann’s excellent Naturally Supernatural course. This week, we found ourselves right in the thick of Isaiah 61 and the Kingdom of God. We were talking about how, in Christ, we’ve been pulled into this astonishing adventure – not just as spectators, but as participants. It’s… Read More »
Nice cave – nice view … The midday heat of the desert sapped his strength. Elijah stood at last on Mount Horeb, the mountain of God. He hadn’t come here for the view. He’d come because he was done. Spiritually drained. Emotionally unravelled. Terrified by a woman’s threat. That’s the part we don’t like to talk about. That… Read More »
A new day dawns for you… It’s holiday time again and I’m thinking about the best holiday I ever had. The sun was slipping low in the sky, casting shadows long and golden across the desert plains of Dahab, Egypt.. There’s something about that light—how it turns everything it touches into gold. The rocks, the sand, even the… Read More »
Omnipresence means anything is possible. Anywhere. As a young Christian, as soon as I got my head around the ‘omnis’ of God, I mused on them often, even getting excited to discover that not only was God omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent with all that means, He is also immutable; unchanging. It’s a shame there isn’t an ‘omni’ that… Read More »
When prophets were Prophets … Snuggled between the prophecies of Habakkuk and Haggai — the two formidable H’s of the Old Testament prophets — you will find Mr Zephaniah. This is no quiet, forgettable figure. No, he strides onto history’s stage like a military thunder flash: one sharp detonation, and suddenly, every head snaps round in alarm. His… Read More »
I tremble with fear. Unusually for me, here’s a short one — my friend Justin, who can sit and read chapters of Harry Potter at a time, found it hard to concentrate on anything more than 500 words, which on average is what the posts are here. So I am reining it in with this post… we’ll see!… Read More »