I was struggling this morning for inspiration, I wasn't sure what I should be sharing in this latest blog. The others have just flowed naturally and haven't involved a lot of thought and preparation, I've just had something on my heart that I felt that I wanted to share. So I sat down and started thumbing through a journal I keep of things that God has revealed to me. I started writing this a number of years ago, while at ngm, when we were initially encouraged to meditate on some specific verses in Isaiah 43 that God had given ngm and to share what we felt that God was saying through them. It developed into a wider series of revelations from scripture, eventually evolving into my blogging. I came across something that I'd written in December 2016, which as I reread, it stirred this post:
Church Leadership Is A Lonely Place For Many Of Our Leaders
4 October 2019
For those who follow any Christian media news sites, you are likely to have seen in recent weeks stories of a couple of high profile church leaders who are either questioning their faith or have given up on it completely. This was then followed by the sad news of the suicide of the American pastor and mental health charity founder, Jarrid Wilson. Even if you don't follow Christian media, you may well have seen the story of Jarrid's death reported in many UK national newspapers and on the BBC.
How often do you use the phrase take care when ending a conversation, either in person or on the phone (or even in emails)? It's a nice cosy ending, giving the impression that we are wanting the best for the other person, but what are we actually saying to them? Are we saying that we want a safe future for them, because it's going to be easier for them (and more importantly, easier for us)?
I confess, I had to use Google to find the song "I get knocked down, but I get up again" (Tubthumping) to check on who recorded it and when. I was a little surprised, am I that old? (No comments thank you!) It was a hit in 1997 for the band Chumbawamba.
Are you like me and rely on your feelings and circumstances too much, instead of the promises that God has given us? When things are going well in life, then we are obviously making the right decision and God is blessing us! But when either things are not going well or we don't seem to be hearing any clear direction from God, it's easy to feel that we must have done something wrong or that we have made a wrong decision!
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