Church rocks!

Anyone who thinks that church is irrelevant, boring, unnecessary, or ……………… (you fill in the negative blank!) has clearly never had the privilege of walking through the darkest, bleakest valleys of life in the context of belonging to a Christ-centred, grace-giving church community.

By God’s grace – I have – and I’m now more buzzin’ about church than ever.

1. The Universal Church

There’s only one church and it’s made up of all true believers of all time and of all nations, languages, cultures and skin tones. That’s a massive concept to get your head around. It’s easy for a South Wales Valley boy, living on a small council estate in the Valleys to forget that through Christ, He belongs to the biggest and best family in the history of the world. However, the last few months have certainly kicked that mindset into touch.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, my family and I have never felt so ‘prayed for’ as we have done over recent days. I know it sounds a bit nuts, but I feel like I’ve somehow floated through the toughest season of my life to date on a magic carpet of other people’s prayers. So many saints have got in touch to offer their loving support and assure me of their prayers. I genuinely don’t think I would have got through recent events without losing it, had I not been sustained by the prayers of brothers and sisters, many of whom I barely know, or don’t know at all. My family has been prayed for by people from all over the UK and even all around the world! At mam’s funeral I met a fantastic elderly Welsh couple who introduced themselves and asked if I was the “roller-skating priest” for whom they had been praying for years (I used to be a skateboarder, and I am a pastor – so they were kind of on the right track!!) I had never met them before – but they are my church family and had been prayerfully watching my back for years! I guess I’ve come to realise that when one part of the body suffers – we all suffer, but we all pray, we all hope and ultimately we all rejoice together too!

Church rocks!

2. Local Church

When we started our current preaching series at Hill City Church, the plan was that I would preach through the entire book of Ephesians over 12 week period, as well as doing all the other pastoral stuff that I’m regularly involved in. However, as mam’s health started to deteriorate it became clear that things weren’t going to work out that way as demands on my time, emotion and spiritual energy increased greatly. Hill City is an awesome church to belong to, but it’s also very new and very young. Could it cope without its pastor for a while?

DUH!!! Course it could!

Jesus has kept His promise and has been faithfully building His church up here on the hill. James and Pete both stepped up to the plate and covered the preaching (3 fantastic sermons), but even more encouraging for me was how EVERYONE seemed to get stuck in to keep the ship afloat. Nothing ground to a halt, no one went nuts, the gospel was still preached and Christ was still glorified! What’s more, so many members of the Hill City family were just itching to bless, help, support, love and encourage my family through it all – it was so incredibly humbling! For me, however, it was the significant Hill City contingent that came to mam’s funeral that really blew me away. Hardly any of them knew my mam personally, but such is the love in Hill City – they weren’t content to just  celebrate with us on the mountain top each Sunday, they also wanted to walk through the valley and grieve with us too!

That’s church.

Church rocks!

Thank you Hill City – I love you more than you know!!

I love my family.

My wife, my kids, my dad, my sister (my dog?)…I just love them to bits. I don’t deserve them – but then I guess that’s what grace is all about – God’s unmerited blessing. Before mam got seriously ill I could have given you a thousand reasons why I love my family. I can probably give you a million now!! These last few months have been dark and difficult for all of us, though amazingly, I’ve learned that this is when the grace of a Christ-centred family shines the brightest!

1. God’s Grace To Me Through My Wife

It’s no mystery that I married way out of my league. Every day I’m reminded that the beautiful woman who I share my life with is more than I had  ever dreamed or deserved. She’s been my soul mate for so long now that I can’t really remember a time when she wasn’t. I certainly can’t imagine life without her! She’s stuck by my side through so much as we’ve shared laughter, tears and everything in between. She’s a passionate worshipper and as such inspires me to worship too. She’s also a missionary and is just as buzzin’ about the Hill City Church adventure as I am.

Michelle is also incredibly generous and will always give more of herself than she has to give (if that even makes sense!) That’s never been more the case than over the last few months. As mam got more and more unwell, I felt compelled to spend as much time as possible with her at the hospice. Michelle did literally everything to make that possible: She took care of all the washing up (my job!) and all the cleaning (my punishment). She let me lie in when I was emotionally exhausted, gave me space when I needed it, gave me hugs when I needed them, made no demands on my time, prayed for me, prayed with me and expertly navigated my mood swings. She basically blessed me with the love of Jesus.

She gave me grace.

“He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the LORD.” (Proverbs 18v22)

Amen!

Thanks sweets – I love you heaps!!!

2. God’s Grace To Me Through My Kids

I cried a lot during mam’s final days. I wasn’t an emotional wreck, but I was coming home from the hospice each day feeling pretty emotionally battered. Which is why having a gorgeous 3 year old daughter and a nutty 18 month old son waiting for me at home was yet another channel of God’s grace. It’s hard to remain sullen when your daughter wants to read crazy books about ridiculous animals and your son is learning to climb, wrestle, dance and laugh like a velociraptor!

“Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward.” (Psalm 127v3)

Kingdom Skanking with my “heritage” on a daily basis – that was God’s grace to me!

3. God’s Grace To Me Through My Sister

Me and my sister were always pretty close as we grew up, though after she emigrated to England many moons ago, it’s probably fair to say that we haven’t been able to spend as much time together as we would have liked since.

However, since her husband is a major dude and her boss in Manchester is an absolute legend she was able to come back to the Promised Land for the best part of 3 weeks, to be with mam and support my dad. I was therefore able to hang out with her again which was ace! I was so grateful to have her around during these tough times. We got to eat (incredibly tasty) hospice food and drink dangerous amounts of coffee together, we also got to chat honestly about how we were doing, how mam and dad were doing, travel together, pray together and basically be brother and sister. There were moments, especially at the hospice when Michelle wasn’t round and I didn’t want to budren my dad that I was able to share my heart with my sister and receive grace from her. Furthermore, she was an awesome comfort and encouragement to my dad too, which was also a ministry of timely grace.

She’s back up north now, but I think this last month has reminded us both how blessed we are to have each other.

Thanks sis – you’re brill!!

4. God’s Grace To Me Through My Dad

My dad is my new hero!

It’s probably fair to say that we weren’t particularly close as I was growing up (largely cos I was an obnoxious valley boy!) Though in the last 10 years or so we have grown really close. That said – we’ve never been ‘huggy!’ We were always much more ‘hearty handshakes’ than ‘hugs and kisses.’ However, there was a moment 2 days before mam died when I couldn’t cope with it any more and I left the room in tears. My dad came out and hugged me (the first hug I can ever remember receiving from him) and it was exactly what I needed. It hasn’t turned us into huggers, but it did minister grace to me in a very traumatic moment.

But that’s not why he’s my hero!

He’s my hero because he kept his vows to my mam right to the very end. In 2 months he didn’t miss a single visiting slot. He was at her bed side holding her hand, helping her eat and drink, praying with her, singing to her and reading scripture to her as her health and her mind deteriorated. Furthermore, his faith didn’t falter, but rather it sustained him.

I found it really hard to watch her deteriorate in the final days, sometimes choosing to stay outside the room. But my dad stayed the whole time. It was true love. It was sacred. It was what marriage is meant to be all about. Husbands are commanded in Scripture to love their wives as Christ loved the church, and I saw gospel love at work in my dad. I know that my mam felt loved right to the end and I will always love him for that. I know that God is proud of the way that my dad looked after His daughter, and I’m proud of him too. I want to be able to love my wife in that kind of way. Not just in the fair weather, but right the way through the storm too.

God’s grace to me through my dad is a timely hug and an inspiring example of true, Christ-like, sacrificial love to follow.

Like I said at the start of this marathon post – I love my family!

I count myself a blessed man because I have many good friends. Some I have known for a very short time. Others I have known for many years. Some I haven’t seen for ages. Others I see several times a week. However, if my mam’s illness has taught me anything about my friends – it’s that they are a gift of grace. While I don’t think I’ve ever consciously taken any friendship for granted, I think it’s fair to say for all of us that we do sometimes forget just how blessed we are to have true friends.

In these recent dark days God’s beautiful grace has shone brighter than ever through my friends. I couldn’t possibly name all of those who have drawn near to support me and my family recently, but the truth is that if everyone whose sincere offer of care and practical help were to give just one brick – we could have built a mansion!! Me, my sister and my dad have been overwhelmed by all those who have stepped up to the plate and offered strong friendship in such varied and wonderful ways.

Friends like the bloke who poured my dad a much-needed pint one night when he came back from the hospital, and my sister’s boss who basically gave her several weeks of compassionate leave to come down and be with mam and dad in her final days. Friends like my dad’s neighbours who are looking after his chickens “until further notice” and those who babysat for us while we went to the funeral. Friends like my best mate Hodgey who came up from Cardiff to treat me to a Jalfrezi on my birthday, and my New Breed compadre Peyton who travelled all the way up from Swansea with his family, just to support me at the funeral. And don’t even get me started on the 100+ sympathy cards, the 200+ people at the funeral, the emails, the blog comments, the text messages, the tweets, the phone calls, the prayers, even the hugs…

Suffice to say that my family and I are well loved. We know it. We feel it. We appreciate it deeply. Proverbs 17v17 says:

“A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.”

I know what that verse really means now! So to all my true friends – thanks so much for being channels of God’s amazing grace to me during my toughest time. I love you and I thank God for putting you in my life.

As I reflect on the wonder of God’s grace to me through my friends I can’t help but be challenged by the following thought – what sort of friend am I? Am I a faithful friend? A grateful friend? A generous friend. A true friend?

I hope so because I want to be like Jesus – the friend who sticks closer than a brother!

So mam’s epic battle with cancer has finally come to an end. The ultimate result: Mam+Jesus defeat satan+death by knock-out (the crucial blows landing 2000 year ago as Jesus unleashed the devastating cross and resurrection combination!) By faith I am totally persuaded that mam is now in heaven, revelling in the victory of the Saviour who she loved and served right to the end.

I love this gospel!

Anyway, mam’s funeral yesterday was both beautiful and inspiring, and while the grief was (and still is) very real, there was such a sense of thankfulness and glory to God for a woman who, by God’s grace, touched so many lives throughout her life. To be quite honest the last 2 or 3 weeks have been a bit of an emotional fog and so getting my head straight and returning to ‘normality’ is hard. However, one thing that me and my family are all completely agreed upon is the incredible evidences of God’s grace that we have been acutely aware of over recent days – arguably the toughest days I’ve ever gone through. Therefore, for my own benefit, for your encouragement and for God’s glory I intend to spend the next few days writing a series of posts called Grace That Shines In The Dark, drawing directly from my own personal journey with mam (and Jesus) through the valley of the shadow of death.

I hope they help you (now or in the future) and that God is honoured by them.

Just a very quick post to let you all know that at 10pm last night my mam breathed her last breath and left this cold world to go and be with her Saviour, Jesus, in the beauty of heaven. She died peacefully and with the same Christian dignity that she has displayed throughout her life and especially in her final days. As you’d probably expect these last few weeks have been incredibly draining and emotional, yet we as a family have known so much of God’s comfort and sustaining grace during this time! I have never felt so ‘prayed for’ in my life and my dad and sister probably feel exactly the same. We have been blown away by the daily evidences of God’s grace to us all, even in the smallest of things, and I will be posting up a whole load of personal reflections in the coming weeks. In the meantime, however, please just keep my family in your prayers and rejoice with us in the ultimate victory of the gospel!!

Diolch Iddo!!!

Dai

Sorry that I haven’t posted anything up in the last few days. Basically the doctors have told us that my mam is in the last days/hours of her life now and so me,  my dad and my sister are spending most of our time with her in the hospice until she goes to be with Jesus. Incredibly her faith remains as resolute as ever and yesterday as I sang a hymn to her as she slept she joined in as best she could despite her frailty. It was inspiring! To say that it’s been emotionally, physically and spiritually draining would be a huge understatement, though we as a family have been sustained by the grace and power of God and this I believe, is a direct answer to the faithful prayers of so many – so thank you all!!

For obvious reasons I haven’t been posting much up during this time but once it’s all over there have been so many lessons, blessings and truths that I will be writing about. In the meantime please do continue to pray for us all.

God bless you

Dai

“Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful creator” (1Peter 4v19)

Hill City Church is pleased to introduce We Win – the first episode of Bitesize Truth – a brand-new series of short films that seek to unpack big, Biblical truths in a simple, accessible way. The series will feature myself, James Richards, Pete Evans and others and will be updated as regularly as creativity and circumstances allow.

Let us know what you think:

For my birthday today my precious wife bought me a book that I was really keen to get my hands on. Wall and Piece is a collection of art from the provocative genius of street art – the enigma that is Banksy. While not all of his stuff is exactly wholesome, I don’t know of any other artist quite like Banksy – a street artist for sure, but not your classic graffiti painter. Banksy has an ability to create works of sheer brilliance that will always provoke a repsonse – sometimes anger, sometimes laughter, sometimes empathy, sometimes conviction and sometimes awe! As if that wasn’t enough, the fact that no one actually knows who he is makes him even more intriguing.

Anyway, I’ve decided that from now on (at least for a little while) I’m going to showcase a different piece of Banksy art each week. Hope you enjoy it. Feel free to comment should you feel fit.

Because it’s my birthday, let’s start with a light-hearted one…

One of the most significant things that happened to me while I was away in Sheffield last week was my introduction to the music of Shai Linne – a Christ-exalting rapper from Philapdelphia. Basically I just can’t believe that I never came across this guy before – he’s a flippin’ legend!

He’s pretty much a hybrid of Snoop Dogg and John Calvin!

Without any shadow of a doubt his album The Atonement (that I downloaded immediately) contains the most profound lyrics that I have ever heard by any Christian artist. Just rock solid theology that revolves around the person and work of Jesus, coupled with sick beats and slick rhymes. The two stand-out tracks for me are firstly, Atonement Q&A in which Shai Linne explains all the big Bible words that most preachers wouldn’t touch with a barge pole (expiation, propitiation etc). Secondly, Mission Accomplished – the only track I have ever heard that unpacks Limited Atonement (in a clearer and more helpful way than I’ve ever heard it presented by anyone else ever!)

In short, if you like Hip Hop and reformed theology – YOU HAVE TO BUY SHAI LINNE’S MUSIC!!! You can visit his Myspace page here. I’ve also embedded a YouTube video of WOTM Radio’s response to Atonement Q&A – it’s hilarious!

Thank you Lord for blessing this man with grace and skills that give such glory to Your Name!

As part of Hill City’s current teaching series on Ephesians, I recently preached a sermon called Grace-Fuelled Prayer, based on Ephesians 1v15-23. It’s a fantastic message to both meditate on and to preach, but there was one truth in the passage that stood out so profoundly that it has radically altered the way that I understand and apply the gospel to myself, and will almost certainly affect the way that I preach from now on! In fact it’s made such an impact on me that I thought I should blog about it.

It’s all to do with the subtle tendency that we all have to get selfish with the gospel. Not so much in the sense of keeping it to ourselves, but more in both our understanding and our application of the gospel. I think what I’m trying to say is that when I think of the gospel – it’s always in terms of what I get out of it. Stuff like (in no particular order): Forgiveness, love, hope, peace, joy, grace, mercy, heaven, life abundant, life eternal, Jesus…

And it’s all true and it’s all awesome and it’s all good stuff and it all needs to be preached! But here’s the thing that’s gripping me right now – what’s in it for Jesus? Sure when we have received all these immense blessings that come from receiving the gospel, our hearts can only really respond in one way – passionate worship!  But is our worship all He wants? Is it even all He deserves? Check out these verses:

“…having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe…” (Ephesians 1v18-19)

This is Paul’s prayer for the church – that God would literally open the eyes of our hearts to see not only the reality of our own hope in the gospel (that’s what’s in it for us), but also the riches of His own glorious inheritance in the saints – in us!

What’s in the gospel for Jesus?

We are!

I am!!!

That just sounds insane to me, but the Bible doesn’t lie – Jesus isn’t just after our praise – His reward in the gospel is the people He died to save. We were redeemed to give glory to Jesus purely through being His people. His inheritance! Even typing this I can’t help but feel overwhelmed, humbled and awe-struck by that truth. We get Jesus. He gets us – it just feels like He gets the rough end of the deal – but He doesn’t! This was the promise and plan of the Triune God from before eternity – that the Son would die and rise to gain a beautiful bride – promised to Him by the Father and quickened by the Holy Spirit.

“The LORD said to me, ”You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.” (Psalm 2v7-8)

It’s actually all over the Old and New Testaments!

Eternity will not be all about us walking around heaven, wide-eyed, ecstatic, buzzin that we only got to be there by the grace of Jesus and falling face-down in worship every few seconds (although that will be cool!) Eternity will primarily be all about the Triune God rejoicing and delighting in the glorious inheritance won by the Son through the finished work of His own beautiful gospel.

After all it is HIS gospel.

May we never make it about anything or anyone else!