1 Samuel 16:14–17:1 (ESV) Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and a harmful spirit from the Lord tormented him. 15 And Saul’s servants said to him, “Behold now, a harmful spirit from God is tormenting you. 16 Let our lord now command your servants who are before you to seek out a man who is skillful in playing the lyre, and ...

1 Samuel 15:10–12 (ESV) 10 The word of the Lord came to Samuel: 11 “I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and has not performed my commandments.” And Samuel was angry, and he cried to the Lord all night. 12 And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning. And it was told Samuel, “Saul came to C...

To follow on from yesterday, this incorrect thinking about who’s kingdom Saul was ruling didn’t just hurt Saul, it hurt the kingdom he was given to steward. 1 Samuel 14:24 ESV And the men of Israel had been hard pressed that day, so Saul had laid an oath on the people, saying, “Cursed be the man who eats food until it is evening and I ...

1 Samuel 13:8–14 (ESV) He waited seven days, the time appointed by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattering from him. 9 So Saul said, “Bring the burnt offering here to me, and the peace offerings.” And he offered the burnt offering. 10 As soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samu...

1 Samuel 10:9–12 (ESV) When he turned his back to leave Samuel, God gave him another heart. And all these signs came to pass that day. 10When they came to Gibeah, behold, a group of prophets met him, and the Spirit of God rushed upon him, and he prophesied among them. 11And when all who knew him previously saw how he prophesied with th...

1 Samuel 9:1-2 ESV There was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, son of Zeror, son of Becorath, son of Aphiah, a Benjaminite, a man of wealth. 2 And he had a son whose name was Saul, a handsome young man. There was not a man among the people of Israel more handsome than he. From his shoulders upward he was taller t...

The next post is from a 5 part devotional series I shared with our Kingdom Builder's team at church (before we transitioned it more to a community). It's pulling and tracing the thread found in the story of Israel and the exodus. While I've been posting these, I've been pulling at a thread that kept coming up as I've been reading the b...

The next few posts are from a 5 part devotional series I shared with our Kingdom Builder's team at church (before we transitioned it more to a community). It's pulling and tracing the thread found in the story of Israel and the exodus. While I'm posting these, I'm pulling at a thread that kept coming up as I've been reading the bible t...

The next few posts are from a 5 part devotional series I shared with our Kingdom Builder's team at church (before we transitioned it more to a community). It's pulling and tracing the thread found in the story of Israel and the exodus. While I'm posting these, I'm pulling at a thread that kept coming up as I've been reading the bible t...

The next few posts are from a 5 part devotional series I shared with our Kingdom Builder's team at church (before we transitioned it more to a community). It's pulling and tracing the thread found in the story of Israel and the exodus. While I'm posting these, I'm pulling at a thread that kept coming up as I've been reading the bible t...

The next few posts are from a 5 part devotional series I shared with our Kingdom Builder's team at church (before we transitioned it more to a community). It's pulling and tracing the thread found in the story of Israel and the exodus. While I'm posting these, I'm pulling at a thread that kept coming up as I've been reading the bible t...

This part year as I've been reading the Bible, a thread that kept standing out with the kings, especially Saul, is that when the king was concerned about themselves, their kingdom, their reputation, their legacy, they were a terrible king. That's the great juxtaposition I kept seeing over and over again between Saul and David. Saul alw...

It's Valentine's Day. It's actually the 10th year of sharing gifts to my wife for Valentine's/White Day. (In Japan Valentine's Day girls give gifts to guys, and then 1 month later is 'White Day' where guys give gifts to girls...don't ask me why). I remember sending her a package from Australia for White Day back in 2016, barely 3 month...

I caught up with a young guy who recently moved here and joined our church. He was part of our church in Yokohama, learning a lot in leadership there, and wants to continue in that path here. Great young guy, Japanese, bilingual, self-motivated and self-learning. We're really blessed to have him here. We talked about opportunities for ...

I was listening to a podcast yesterday...or the day before, they can all blend together sometimes...and a line really struck me from the guest. (I would link the podcast but I actually don't remember which one it was from that I was listening to and want to get this written quickly in the time I have. Maybe I'll find it later and edit....

I'm going to continue talking about stories today to make sure that I don't get misunderstood when talking about "our stories". Yesterday I made my case for why I believe we need to prioritise the Bible's stories over our own when preaching. But don't think that I value "our stories" too little. Like I said yesterday, what makes our st...

Sunday is my biggest day. Church day. A day to honour God, to equip believers, and to share the good news of Jesus to people who've never heard it and to people who just need to keep hearing it because we need to be reminded how good it is. I usually preach live twice a month, and today was one of those times. Before the service one of...

I had a comment said to me the other day that made me ask, "do people think I use AI to write?". Now this comment wasn't directly insinuating that I do, but more of directing me not to write with AI for an idea. To give the context, I had presented an idea to my senior pastor about making some training materials for our campus pastors ...

I've started this (hopefully) daily writing habit, and like I mentioned before the big realisation that got me here is that I actually do enjoy writing. And it was some thinking and reminiscing the other night that really helped pushed me over the edge to take action. I was thinking back to a grade 12 English essay I wrote. I think it ...

I've had Hey and a HEY World for a year and a half now, but am only just starting to write in it. Why? Not because I hadn't tried to start before, but because I was getting just enough creative outlet through other sources that with my limited time as a father of 2 very young boys, husband, bi-vocational pastor and English teacher...it...