Author Archives: Tree of Life Church

I had the joy of hearing Kenneth Hagin Jr about twenty years ago, and he told about how he was discouraged as a young Bible College student because all the churches he went to preach in complained he sounded like his father. His dad laughed and pointed out that you should absolutely should sound likeContinue reading “Spiritual Fathers 01: The Same As”

  It’s a known rule of thumb that old golfers never win. And it’s borne out over time with statistics and so on. It’s not a rule that can never be broken, but it is amazing how often it is the young golfer that wins. Now that doesn’t make sense does it? Surely the winnerContinue reading “Old Golfers Never Win!”

DO SAY “This church is lovely, I enjoyed the worship and the choir, your pastor is a great guy, thanks for inviting me” DON’T SAY “My youth choir is bigger than your entire church! What are you doing?” DO SAY “You have a great pastor in this church, you should commit to this church” DON’TContinue reading “DOs and DON’Ts for travelling speakers!”

  Bring Your Bible!  Then you can read what is being read from and ensure it is in your Bible.  It helps you learn and grow. Say “amen” and encourage your preacher – in appropriate moments! Participate in the worship, don’t spectate!  Lift your hands, clap and shout.  Dance! Arrive on time! Leave late.  HaveContinue reading “7 Ways to Enjoy Church More!”

One of the most powerful lessons in David’s history is when he was face to face with King Saul discussing David going to fight Goliath. Saul wants David to go fight in his armour, and David refuses saying: I cannot go with these, I haven’t tested them – 1 Sam. 17.38 This is a greatContinue reading “Leadership Lessons from David 04: Stick With What You Know!”

No matter what you do in life – if you are successful certain people will hate you. In fact, the more you lead people into life, into wisdom, the more your ministry and life sets captives free the more people will hate you and the more obvious their hate will be. David is starting toContinue reading “Leadership Lessons from David 03: Leave the Haters Alone”

Before David became King of the nation of Israel, he had a very remarkable CV. He was a shepherd, a musician for the king, a servant, an errand boy, the sandwich deliverer, and armour carrier. Notice – he was never a politician or soldier. God trained him to be king through exceptionally menial, boring jobs!Continue reading “Leadership Lessons from David 02: Boring is Building”

In my general blog for church life, I am currently doing a series on Samson, a man who is strong and weak. As I was flicking through the Old Testament looking at his life, I flicked to a passage on David which says “And he died in a good old age, full of days, richesContinue reading “Leadership Lessons from David 01: It Doesn’t Matter Where You Start!”

I love guest speakers. It’s a chance for me to rest and enjoy a faith-building message from another ministry, it’s a chance for our people to hear the gospel of the kingdom framed in a different way, it’s a chance for our people to hear a specialist with a specific message or gift, and finally,Continue reading “Dos and Don’ts When Inviting A Guest Speaker”

Amazing how many people think they can just run rough-shod over the wills of other people. Someone once said about our church that their first surprise was that I don’t use fear and guilt to control the church, but their second surprise was that I was impossible to control with fear and guilt. A lotContinue reading “You Are Not Smarter than Jesus 06: You Can’t Force People to Do What You Want”