Towards the beginning of most of the gospels we find accounts of Jesus inviting a variety of people to “follow him.” They literally followed Him on all sorts of experiences for approximately 3 years. Of course we know of many of these experiences because of accounts in the gospels. Matthew records some of the disciples…
Category: Christianity
Thursday Thoughts (Jan 31 2019)
Recently I read “Scattered Servants” the brand new book from Alan Scott who was the senior at Causeway Coast Vineyard where we were part of the team before moving stateside (along with his wife Katherine, Alan is now the senior pastor at Anaheim Vineyard in California). It was a privilege to be part of the…
Thursday Thoughts (Nov 8 2018)
On Thursdays I usually take a little while in the morning to research and read to help me develop our training for our teams. Earlier today I actually retreated to the local Starbucks to get a little peace and quite from the office and get a chance to read a little of the book, Scattered…
Thursday Thoughts (Sept 27 2018)
In the past I have found the next month can sometimes be a difficult month for some of our apprentices who join our teams in August. The excitement of the new adventure can begin to fade and the desire for depth of relationship increase. Homesickness, readjusting expectations, culture shock, translation and social fatigue can all…
Thursday Thoughts (Sept 20 2018)
Last week we studied Acts 28 together in the office. The chapter picks up with Paul washing up on shore after being shipwrecked off the coast of Malta. The situation goes from bad to worse as he helps build a fire to warm up and dry out and he is bitten by a snake. When…
Thursday Thought (Sept 13 2018)
Recently as Pais USA we explored the story of Samuel anointing Saul to be King. (1 Samuel 10) Over the past few days as I have reflected and teams have been starting placements with church partners all over the world I have felt God bring back what happened just after Saul’s anointing to my attention….
A Christmas Story – Making Room For More
Recently I kicked off the Christmas series for advent at our new Church plant, Saints Church Viridian. Sometimes when I speak I notice a hint of confusion cross peoples faces, surprised for a moment as if they just switched on Britbox by accident instead of ABC or HBO. I find myself constantly explaining “I am…
Because You’re Loved: Hospitality
At the risk of embarrassing them recently we celebrated the receipt of our visas with two of our closest friends. Over the years we have known them we have created many memories together, but one of them particularly, we often laugh about. It was one of the first occasions we had the pleasure of really…
Numbers
When conversations come around to numbers some of us get a little uncomfortable. I’m not especially a fan of stats, as a recovering pessimist I’m naturally a little suspicious & its seems all to common & all to easy to manipulate numbers to create an illusion or spin. But there are some numbers I am…
Legacy – Successful Succession
Recently I read again the story of Joseph at the end of Genesis and the following account of Israel’s misery in Egypt at the beginning of Exodus. They are stories I have read many times before but something caught my attention that I’d never really paid attention to before. The massive gap of information between…