My View

Been listening to a series of talks by a guy called Paul Maconochie, a pastor from Sheffield. Paul is a friend of mine, and a person I admire a lot. Simply because he’s not opted for the easy life, but been pressing himself to pursue the Kingdom of God in his own life. Paul is an incredibly humble man, and he’s taught me a lot, although he might not know it.

Just a nugget for all you leaders out there: Every breakthrough in every organization, be it a church, a company or a school, comes through a breakthrough in the leader’s own life. So if you want an “external” breakthrough, deal with your own internal barriers first, and get a breakthrough there. Paul, being a gifted teacher, could probably explain it a lot better…

Anyway, the talks I’ve been listening to are a part of a series on blessing held in St Thomas’ Church, Sheffield. These talks have truly been inspiring to me. Paul talks about living a life of blessing, having everything you need, at all times. Now this isn’t a “prosperity gospel”, teaching that if you follow God (or give 100 $ to Paul), you’ll get a Mercedes. But it means looking at the biblical topics of “look at the birds” etc. Does Jesus really mean that? Roughly 50 % of Jesus’ parables and talks were about money. How come we talk so little about money in our churches?

I thought I had engaged with the issue of God’s provision; after all, he’s given us a house to stay in, taken care of our needs, etc. But listening to this I realised how much I have missed out on by struggling to take care of things myself. I would really encourage you to get those talks. They are worth it. Will keep sharing some nuggets, I suspect, every now and then.