.  On the news yesterday I heard that the surprise most popular game for Christmas in a time of Covid is likely to be chess, following the success of the Netflix mini-series The Queen’s Gambit. More and more people are learning and playing, especially girls.  I was never very good at chess growing up because my older brother was really good at it, so in my head it was the game I always lose, so I didn’t learn or practice enough to get better.  Earlier this year in conversation with my friend Alan Hirsch (you can hear more on this in my podcast where I picked him up on it) he said that he’d learned something from the world of chess that might be applicable for the situation the Church has found herself in this year. He said, ‘If you want to get better, remove your Queen.’ I’ve thought about that a lot since.  The idea is you take away your strongest piece, the one you rely on most, and that will help you learn what to do with all […]

I could not be more excited about the future as we head toward LAUNCH 2020:REFRAME on 17th and 18th November. Five years ago we started LAUNCH based on the premise that it’s not the direction of the wind but the set of your sail that determines your direction and destination. That message and mentality matters more this year than ever – which is why joining us for those two days could change everything for you and your team now and for 2021.  We live in uncertain times. The uncertainty invites fear – showing up as stress and suffering, and leading to scarcity thinking. Even something as benign as checking the news or scrolling through social media raises the heart beat when we’re constantly assailed by everything that is (or could be) wrong with the world.  But God has not given us a Spirit of fear. And you can’t be fruitful and fearful at the same time.  That’s why it’s vital, before this year is out – that you REFRAME.  When you step back and consider the nature of fear, you’re looking […]

There are too many naked Christians.  I was reading through Ephesians 6 today – very familiar passage to most of us who connect regularly with the Bible and that phrase popped into my head!   It struck me how often we just view this as metaphorical, rather than vital. We don’t wear what we’ve been told to wear. Put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. So here’s why we fall. Why we don’t keep standing. We go out into a battlefield without the armour on. I have this picture sometimes of something like the D Day landings – Saving Private Ryan– bombs, bullets, blood sweat and tears. Then through the middle of it all is a guy walking across the beach with his Labrador. Totally oblivious! That’s the church. Wondering why we get so many wounded. Leaders too – supposedly, taken out so easily, so often, so soon.  When I was in the police, I spent a lot of […]

Wednesday is my day off. I love Wednesday. This week I dropped my wife at work at the hospital and then thought I’d call in at one of my favourite local places to eat a socially distant but healthy breakfast, drink a coffee, and read a novel. I was especially keen because the Chancellor has told us to ‘help out by eating out’ which is my kind of patriotic act. He incentivised this by effectively making my breakfast and coffee half price through August. Win/win. I won’t name the place but I am regular and know the guy who runs it so I said Hi and then said with a smile, ‘Can’t wait for the half price deal!’ His response? “I’VE NOT GOT ROUND TO IT YET.” Those are seven words that will put you out of business, right there. Now this is of course your classic first world problem. I can make breakfast myself. I am actually very good at breakfast. Their coffee is okay, not great to be honest but it’s the being out and about that makes […]