King's Daughters

Dear Church, My heart is breaking because I am hearing regular reports of how much you Christians dislike church.  Did you know that Jesus died for His church.  Jesus' love for the church is made abundantly clear in Ephesians 5:25-32.  You cannot love Jesus and not love His church - to love Jesus is to love His church.  Jesus is the head of the church and we are the body of the church.  To not love the body is like saying to me that you only love my face and not the rest of me.  It's totally ridiculous, my face is me and my body is me, it is all me. A common debate that I hear is that the church is not the gathering of believers but it is simply individuals that love Jesus.  People say that they can serve God at home on their own and don't need to meet with other believers.  Once again I cannot stress how ridiculous this theory is.  Is my physical body merely the individual pieces of my body or is it the individual pieces of my body living together and depending up

Enjoying life together is an essential part of any friendship.  There are times when it’s necessary to be serious but there is also nothing quite like a good laugh together.  The Bible says in Proverbs 17:22 that, “A merry heart does good, like medicine” and it has actually been scientifically proven that laughter can heal your body. ABC news reported that if you “laugh on a regular basis, and you can even boost your immune system, according to some research. A study of 20 men and women conducted at the University of Maryland School of Medicine found that 95 percent of the volunteers experienced increased blood flow while watching a funny movie, such as "There's Something About Mary," while 74 percent had decreased blood flow during a heavier picture, such as "Saving Private Ryan." The benefits lasted about 12 to 24 hours. The results, presented at a March meeting of the American College of Cardiology, point to a strong connection between laughter a

Small Talk   All relationships have a starting point and usually friendships start with small talk. You meet a new person and then you get chatting about the weather or if you have children you chat about the latest cute thing that your child is doing. From there you might delve deeper onto more personal small talk or you might stay in a safe zone and talk about the weather for as long as possible. Small talk is great for gathering information about another person so you can begin to get to know them. That first chat is often when we learn the other person’s name, find out about their job, interests, where they live and whether or not she is married or has any children. It’s is important to strike a balance between expressing an interest in their life and not seeming plain nosey. People are usually more than happy to talk about themselves. Staying in the small talk stage means that this person is someone that you know in passing. You interact with them occasionally or even regula

Love stronger than anything imaginable Imagine Catherine Cookson writing a story set in the year 2012. This would best describe Christian and Arabella. They were from two different worlds. Christian would do anything to win Arabella's heart but most of his attempts were intercepted by the cruel Randy and life itself. Arabella seemed on a downward spiral and life for her was filled with one heart ache after another. Christian never lost hope and never stopped loving her to the point that it would cost him everything. If ever there was a tale of true romance and the power of one man's love, this is it. Astonishing and enchanting, Christian and Arabella kept intact all the details of a modern tale of passion. Sumptuously captivating, Christian and Arabella are the most unlikely match. He devotes his life to protecting her. She devotes her time to throwing her life away. He will not rest until he wins her heart and helps to re

Today’s women seem to underestimate the value of a good friend. Social networking sites, Internet, email and mobile phones have devalued good old fashioned friendships in many ways. Technology is great to speed up the pace of our already fast paced life but why not slow down and take some time to get to know someone. To really know someone. Get some real friends that don’t only like your Facebook status but actually know you enough to like who you are. I challenge you to join me on this journey to discover God's design and purpose for friendship. Friendships are powerful and highly valuable. Friendships are God’s idea and a necessary part of His plan for planet earth. Friendships are good and they are worth the effort.  The Cambridge dictionary’s definition of friend is “ a person who you know well and who you like a lot, but who is usually not a member of your family ” or “ someone who is not an enemy and who you can trust ”. The Bible however, goes much deepe

Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice with the wife of your youth. As a loving deer and a graceful doe, let her breasts satisfy you at all times; and always be enraptured with her love.       This beautiful selection of words is from the Bible in Proverbs 5:18-19 which speaks of how a man should delight in his wife sexually. Sex was made for our pleasure. We are to delight in each other and to experience great pleasure. If your sex life is not achieving this then you need to take action. Don’t settle for less. Don’t believe that sex is simply one of your matrimonial duties, your wifely chores. God designed sex so that we can enjoy each other intimately. Sex is marriage. In my opinion your marriage certificate doesn’t make you married but the first time you have sex you become married. There is nothing else that makes a man and a woman married. Sex is the most important part of a marriage.  Have you ever heard of a couple getting divorced but saying that the sex was great

I find the ' women being submissive to men ' thing very odd.  It seems a very human thing to try to put limits on what God can do and who He can do things through. Are we really saying that the presence of ovaries means that God won't use a particular person to do his bidding? God doesn't limit us, it seems wrong that we should seek to do it to one another. Am I wrong?” This was the opening statement in a conversation I had with a woman who was expressing her opinions about submission.  She had read my previous blog post about this subject and was troubled by it.  Our conversation progressed into what I perceive to be a conversation that most women would have these days.  “This is a common question and a concept that is often abused by men who don't understand it!” I said. She replied with valid points, “It's an interesting one, I agree. I was worried after writing that I'd appeared rude - I hope not! Anyway, I've discussed this at length with my

Lorah-Kelly brought a word to our pastors meeting one morning, a simple word but one that would change our perspective as a church. She started by reading a verse from the book of Isaiah. “...the least of you will become a thousand, the smallest a mighty nation. I am the Lord, in its time I will do this swiftly.” - Isaiah 60:22 The Least of You This could be talking about a small amount of people and could also mean the least of you as in Matthew 25:40 ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ At the time we were least in every possible way. Our attendance numbers were very low and at the same time we were reaching out intensively to homeless people and welcoming them into our church. The Smallest This could be talking about a small amount of people or literally the smallest or youngest children. Again, we were smallest in both senses of the word as we were small in numbers and the kids team were doing an excel

Eve had it all, the looks, the security and the man! She lacked nothing at all in this world – life was truly perfect for her – literally! Yet she wasn’t satisfied. She had to have more. She needed to taste the forbidden fruit. As you know, she took that bite and left us in the state we are in today. Don’t be too harsh on Eve, we are no different, the more we have the more we want. We are never satisfied. We spend ages begging God for a husband and when we get married we spend most of the time complaining about our husband – we want more than he can give. We beg God for children but when things get tough we complain to God about the children He gave us. It’s the human condition – we are never satisfied, the more we have the more we want and it’s a never ending cycle. Philippians 4:11-13 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned

It was the early spring of 2006. Lorah-Kelly, my eldest daughter, was fourteen years old. She had just started attending a new secondary school and her life was very unsettled.  Driving Lorah-Kelly and Jordan, my eleven-year-old daughter, to school each day, was really special as the Cotswolds were in full bloom and so very beautiful this time of year. Cheltenham, by comparison to London, from where we had moved, was breathtaking.  We were enjoying our new home and our new life out in the country.  Eric and I, along with our two daughters, had moved to Cheltenham to build a new life for ourselves.  Although everything seemed to be going according to plan, we did have a slight issue in that the Cheltenham schools were oversubscribed and the nearest school with a vacancy was in the next city, Gloucester.  Lorah-Kelly had no option but to go to a Gloucester school, which didn’t seem too bad at first and it wasn’t very far to travel at all, especially after the lengthily travel ti

  The ups, downs, frustrations, joys and everything in-between on the roller coaster ride of church planting. I can honestly say that no recipe or formula for church building exists - God does not work in this way! D7 Church is proof of this. Not because we didn’t try, we did try just about everything. Our bookshelf is lined with books that tell you what works and what doesn’t work. Our computer is filled with files of blog posts from mega-church pastors, documents with strategy from other churches. We have attended conferences and visited other churches to try and learn about building a church.  It was only when we gave up and said so to God that we began to have breakthrough. This is our story. Cover Photo by Lorah Kelly   Available at: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Kindle Contents: Introduction In the Beginning Never Cancel Do Not Grow Weary A Wolf and Abandonment The Least and the Small Pitch Up and Press On Build a Great Team Why Me? It’s Not About You

Passion & Purity Study Guide, based on Passion & Purity ,  is a practical, interactive workbook that will take you from a place of desperately needing to feel loved to a place of complete bliss.     Sound to good to be true?  It is possible, we all need to be loved most desperately and many of us have looked for love in all the wrong places. This study guide covers practical steps from my search for love, all the mistakes I made and finally the truth that I found that set me free.     Passion and purity can be yours too, it's not too late.  No matter where you have been, who you have been with or what you have done, there is still hope.  You can be pure again, you can find true love. Written as a fully interactive  workbook format, this study guide can be used for self study or small group study.  Buy your copy now from Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk

Sarah Jessica Parker stars in a sparkling comedy about a mum juggling marriage, children and a high-powered job.  It's a really lovely movie that leaves you feeling warm and squishy inside rather than grossed out because you've seen things you really didn't want to see - which is the response I have had to most movies I have seen lately. I highly recommend this movie if you want to laugh and cry and leave the cinema feeling good about your life - whether you are a working mum or not!  You can watch the trailer here . I have also found a fantastic website that you can use to check out a movie before watching it - it really helps me not waste time watching rubbish movies.  See for yourself at www.movieguide.org

Every human needs the gift of "the blessing"—the unconditional love and approval that comes from a healthy relationship with one's parents. So many of us don't even realise that we have missed out on one of God's greatest gifts to us.  The blessing is a life changing book that will help you deal with the lack of blessing in your past, help you gain a new perspective on how God views you which will help you to give the blessing to your loved ones.   I have found this book tremendously practical both in how it communicates the blessing and also in giving ideas for how we can apply the blessing to our life.  If everything that is suggested in this book is applied then I am sure that your life will be dramatically changed, especially in families where words are used without any thought or purpose.  I found myself looking back over my childhood and considered both the positive and negatives that were spoken over me, I was greatly encouraged by what I saw and have fo

Hollywood has done a great job of sensationalising EVERYTHING!  They have managed to make adultery look romantic and caused us to believe that everyone has sex on their first date and that it's good!  It is for this reason that we think that our own, everyday, ordinary life is dull and boring and we are left wanting the MAGIC that the movies portray. Well my friends, let me tell you a little secret!  Life IS magical.  The power lies not in Hollywood's camera lenses or their great musical soundtracks.  It lies in our own mind - that's where the magic starts.  If you want a life as thrilling as the movies then start to believe that your life is way more fun than you realise. Here is a little simple example.  Today I made a huge tent in my children's bedroom with sheets and blankets.  We lay there playing and giggling.  It was a very special moment, one that could easily have been dismissed as ordinary.  Suddenly it dawned upon me that with an added soundtrack, loads