jonnydaviesadventures

The prayer you stopped praying

We all want to belong. As we read in Luke 1: 5-17, Zechariah and Elizabeth had spent their whole lives feeling like they didn’t fit in with the other families. Unable to have children, they faced their disappointment with a passion and focus on God. Zechariah’s name means ‘God remembers’ and here we discover howContinue reading “The prayer you stopped praying”

Jesus, the joyful announcement

In times of crisis like this, the world is waiting. Every eye is watching. Each day this year we’ve hoped for the newsreader to announce: “a vaccine has been developed!” Now we hope it will be quickly effective. We all want to know when the story will get better; when we can all (literally) breatheContinue reading “Jesus, the joyful announcement”

Advent

Unsurprisingly, the words ‘advent’ and ‘adventure’ both have the same roots in the concept of arrival, of something to come, of something about to happen. During this season of advent (probably my favourite time of the year, even more so now I’m somewhere where I can go out in December without a coat on!) IContinue reading “Advent”

A supernatural journey

I have some good news to share: as I write, I’m moving to the United States for a while! As I wrote in my last post, during this strange season I’ve been learning to live in the grace of a day. Over the summer, I journeyed with God through some things from my past andContinue reading “A supernatural journey”

The grace of a day

During lockdown, I’ve periodically taken a ‘break’ from the regular structure I’ve put in place for each week to have a ‘retreat week’. Retreat has been a practice that I felt God challenge me with many years ago, and around 4 years ago (prompted by the Arrow Leadership Programme that I was participating in) IContinue reading “The grace of a day”

Reality

I realise it’d be easy to read this blog and maybe think that somehow I have dealt with the disappointment of my plans being shattered by coronavirus by simply reading Scriptures and writing positive blog posts. So here’s a little piece that’s simply a ‘reality check’ to let you into a bit of what happensContinue reading “Reality”

Kindness (part 2)

Kindness is a surprise, and kindness also has a direction. Kindness leads somewhere. The Bible puts it this way: “God’s kindness is intended to lead us to repentance” (Which means changing our minds about God.) [Romans 2:4 NIVUK] Here’s the way another translation puts it: “God is kind, but he’s not soft. In kindness heContinue reading “Kindness (part 2)”

Kindness (part 1)

David had had a tough ride. He was living an amazing life now he was king, but it hadn’t always been that way. He was holding onto a promise that one day he would be king, but in the meantime he had spent years being chased down by the current king Saul, hungry for blood,Continue reading “Kindness (part 1)”

The Power of Surprise

For a number of years when asked what God has called me to, I’ve tended to sum it up like this: that the church would be radiant. I believe the church should be the most life-giving, love-oriented, creative, inspiring collective on the face of the earth! It’s where culture should emanate from, where the nextContinue reading “The Power of Surprise”

Repurposed

There are few people who faced more disappointments than Joseph in the Old Testament of the Bible. Although better known for his technicolour dream coat, he actually journeyed through situations where to be honest, I think I would have given up. Sure, he starts off pretty arrogant, declaring to his brothers and his parents hisContinue reading “Repurposed”