An Adventure in Ministry

I am in the middle of an interesting week of training at The Salvation Army's William Booth training college. I have been surrounded by some amazing colleagues who serve, like us, as Territorial Envoys, running Salvation Army churches up and down the country. This is our third year at our annual seminar and this year I have been shocked to see some gifted pastors, who in previous year had been full of passion and zeal, looking exhausted. In conversation they have admitted that amongst other things, they aren't finding time to take  their day off.  I'm am passionate about keeping the sabbath, and seeing my friends and colleagues so tired prompted me once again to consider its importance to us in a society and job that never seems to stop. We know that God created the world in 6 days and on the 7th day he rested. Yesterday one of  our soeakers very briefly posed the question "did God really need to rest on the 7th day?" The answer of course is no, but h...

As some of you know, recently I embarked on a pilgrimage to Israel. Whilst there I kept a journal and thought I would share some of my thoughts here. 10th May 2017 Today I began my pilgrimage to Israel. Paul and I decided to book this trip in memory of his mother Jean. For me, this is a trip I have wanted to make for many years and I have been preparing for this for months. However, as I sit in my hotel room at Heathrow, I wonder if I have really prepared spiritually as well as I should have? You see, my life as a minister means long days, an endlessly busy mind and a servant’s heart which gives an awful lot. I love my full time ministry in The Salvation Army. I have found the sweet place of sitting in God’s will, but always being pushed forward and closer to him. After a pretty tiring and difficult drive from Wale, I am now feeling pretty exhausted and overwhelmed. These verses are resounding in my head as I seek rest. “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? C...