Lighthouse Keeper

Keeping the lights on to guide you home

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  • The Christmas Dayspring

    Through the tender mercy of our God,

    With which the Dayspring from on high has visited us; (Luke 1:78 NKJV)

    I thought I knew what ‘dayspring” meant –like a fountain of water or a spring from the ground. Upon further investigation, it turns out I was totally wrong. 

    Meanings of “Dayspring”

    Biblical/Archaic: Means “dawn” or “rising sun” (Greek: anatole).

    Job 38:12 (KJV): “Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days; and caused the dayspring to know his place? Luke 1:78 (KJV): “The dayspring from on high hath visited us,” referring to Jesus as the Messiah.

    So it’s a “light” thing and not a “water” thing as I thought. A new day or new dawn is a really nice thing to think about around Christmas time and echoes the prophetic text of Isaiah 9 which of course refers to the birth of Jesus:

    3 The people who walked in darkness
    have seen a great light;
    those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
    on them has light shone. (Isaiah 9:2 ESV)

    There’s a lot of “light” imagery and metaphor used around Jesus and I could be here forever giving examples but I read a lovely psalm this morning: Psalm 36:9 NKJV

    For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we see light.

    I just went to the supermarket at 8am to get my last supplies for Christmas Day. We are having a small one at home this year but I forgot to buy treats for Gracie (bad cat mother) and I needed a fresh sponge cake for the trifle. There were queues down the checkout aisles already, the carpark was full and we were all grabbing at stuff on the shelves; jostling past the other shoppers. 

    When I worked in head office communications for a supermarket chain, the national operations manager used to come and give us a pep talk around the busiest trading days of the year (Christmas Eve being number one). 

    “Santa comes at the same time every year so we shouldn’t be caught off guard. December 25. It’s the same date every year.”

    He’s right. And it’s the same in the Bible. We know the day is coming. We can read the hundreds of prophecies of Messiah and his birth and still we get caught napping. It’s a new day. The Dayspring and the history of the world and what it means to be human, all these things have changed because of what happened at Christmas. The Light became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14) It’s extraordinary. The Dawn arrived and now in His light we know how to live and how to follow the narrow path Home. 

    I hope you can take some time this Christmas to read some of the Christmas accounts for yourself (Matthew 1-2, Luke 1-2) and maybe some beautiful prophecies like the one in Isaiah 9. The Day Spring has come, and it can be a new day for you too if you choose to follow Jesus. 

    Merry Christmas, enjoy whatever your day looks like and reach for a Bible in the chaos and sit with Him who we are celebrating. 

  • We share in His suffering

    Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand (Isaiah 53:10)

    That I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, Philippians 3:10 ESV

    There’s a lot I love about Pastor Bill Johnson but his theology on suffering is not one of those things. 

    The problem with deliverance ministry (name the bad spirit, cast it out) is that it places a lot of emphasis on the humans and not much on God. People in the church start saying woo woo stuff like “I wonder if that person has unconfessed sin” or “that person is under a generational curse”. This type of thinking absolves the other people in the church from making casseroles and walking alongside someone with addiction, mental health issues, or a busted human body part. 

    So what’s my theology on suffering? Let me share a little testimony:

    This day 11 years ago on 11 December 2014, my whole life changed. 

    I was in Sydney interviewing for jobs so had time to go to the Hillsong women’s ministry (Sisterhood) in Danks Street. I got there early and sat in the cafe across the road reading the last chapters of the Book of Job. When nobody much turned up I went to the office and they told me the meeting was wound down for the Christmas season. I had time to spare so, even though it was drizzling rain, I walked back along Bourke Street towards Sydney Central train station. 

    Twenty minutes later I was struck by a crashing taxi on the footpath and forced through a brick wall as my trapped left leg took the full force of the car bonnet.  I lay squashed on the busy pavement in the rain as a crowd gathered to take photos of me (it was two minutes walk from the NewsCorp head offices so all the journalists came out) and reassure me that the ambulance was on the way. The paramedics arrived and started singing Miley Cyrus “Wrecking Ball” to me as I’d just been put through a brick wall.

    The more serious lead paramedic said “We didn’t expect to see you alive let alone conscious…. I always put a body bag on board when I hear it’s a car versus pedestrian”.  I knew my leg and ankle were broken and my great fear was a broken back. They put me on a Pat-slide with a plastic collar and ran spinal checks before lifting me into the ambulance. My toes could wiggle. A good sign.  The attendants cut off my jeans and the serious lead man said he was going to run a line of morphine into my arm. A Christian (assuming Catholic) crucifix hung around his neck and dangled in my face. I asked him if he was Christian. He said “yes I am”. 

    The ambulance took me to St Vincent’s hospital in King’s Cross. Famous in Australia for its emergency department I was blessed to only be 10 minutes from care. 

    As I lay in the ED waiting to go in for an X-ray I could feel my mind collapsing. I had my whole life planned out with spread sheets and budgets and five year goals and apartments to live in. Going on a Book of Job journey down the path of suffering was not on my “To-Do” list. 

    I’ll fast forward through the details but years of recovery followed. A knee to ankle titanium tibial nail was put in my leg and screws in my ankle. The impact of the taxi had caused a huge hematoma on the front of my leg and so all the skin had to be cut off because it was dead. Weeks of skin grafts, orthopaedics, physio, nurse visits for bandages. And then I had to learn to walk on-and eventually off-crutches. I had five surgeries on my leg in total. 

    St Vincent’s hospital was founded by Catholic nuns and crucifixes hung all around the walls of the wards. 

    So back to my theology on suffering. Job suffered. God is sovereign and good and Job still suffered. Paul suffered. The saints all suffered. Joseph suffered. Elijah suffered. But most importantly…

    Jesus suffered. 

    To swerve suffering is to swerve the path of Christ. Many do and I can almost tell within five minutes whether someone has looked their mortality in the face and realised how fragile and vulnerable we are as human beings. What is my theology on suffering? The crucifix.

    Today, I just went for a one hour walk around the river to celebrate my still-attached (there was a 50% chance of amputation) leg and give thanks to God for all the people who were the hands and feet of Jesus to me when I needed it. Most importantly, I had my NIV Bible with me when I was hit and managed to keep it with me through all the surgeries and ward changes. Reading those Scriptures strengthened me and kept me centred as I knew that Jesus was there with me in my suffering. I have huge scars and chunks of leg missing but no limp and I can get around pretty good. I was reluctant to write about this on the anniversary but if you are suffering today, know that He is with you. It’s not your fault. You’re not a bad Christian or cursed or “not right with God”. 

    He loves you and will be with you to the end of the age. His power is made perfect in weakness. (2 Corinthians 12:7-10). 

  • He hears from heaven

    If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14

    Today, I took delivery of my long awaited “Prayer Chair”. Ok it’s just a LA-Z BOY recliner but it’s for my little prayer room and I’m very excited about it. 

    The delivery driver texted me last night to say he’d arrive at 7am off the Desert Road from Wellington. Last night, the Lord put it on my heart to pray for the delivery driver as he travelled north up state highway one. So I put up a quick prayer and thought nothing more of it. 

    The truck arrived on time this morning and the driver was shaken. He told me he had just avoided a head-on collision with a backpacker van overtaking a huge truck. His 10 tonne truck locked up as he came around the corner and saw the van on his side of the road. 

    The driver showed me the dash -cam footage on his tablet. He wasn’t exaggerating. It was a terrifying video of the backpacker van sandwiched between two trucks as it overtook on a blind corner. Seconds later, and all three vehicles would have been annihilated. 

    As he stood in my living room assembling the “Prayer Chair” it occurred to me that maybe my little 20 second prayer last night made a difference. Glory to God. I shouldn’t say “maybe” and have certainty that it did. Prayer always makes a difference. And I need to remind myself that my prayer life matters and that God hears and sees from heaven. 

    I hope this little testimony encourages you in your prayer life. Pray, pray,pray. 

    I’d better break in my prayer chair now. There are prayers that need to rise like incense before the throne of God (psalm 141:2).

  • Serving God or money

    “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and (Mammon) money. Matthew 6:24 ESV

    I don’t come from a wealthy family and money was always a struggle. The power bill, the phone bill, groceries and petrol… these were the evening discussions in my household from a young age. Money dominated the agenda in my family. We were scared off it, had limited control of it and were always hoping for a winning Lotto ticket or some crazy windfall. I was always determined that I wasn’t going to live on struggle street.

    But live on ‘struggle street’ I did. With no financial literacy I always found I was yoyo-ing between austerity and excess.

    I had well paying jobs but never any savings and large credit card and student loan debts. Something had to change and I am very grateful to Pastor Joel A’Bell (formerly of Hillsong) who preached a wonderful offering message on our discomfort around money. My heart was burning. I knew that was me and that my finances weren’t before the Lord. I had tried everything else and decided it was time to start following Biblical principles.

    I was a slave to money and it controlled me more than God. I started declaring. Yes, all that Joel Osteen stuff head and not the tail (Deut 28:13) lend and not borrow (Deut 15:6, Prov 22:7) I put the Lord first as my provider and sustainer and not my job or my bank account. I went head-to-head with Mammon in the prayer room to push it down and into the proper place in my life. Money is a tool, God is a God of abundance. I will not lack. I would like to tell you things instantly got better, but they didn’t. Like the widow’s oil, (2 Kings 4:1-7) God requires an empty vessel and the spiritual renovation and renewing of the mind to get the slavery of money off a person is scary(and I believe that’s why most people don’t get there). Money is a spiritual issue first and the battle must be done in prayer and Worship first before there is any tangible result.

    You cannot serve God and (Mammon) money

    I see a lot of Christians taking pride in the fact that they are poor. Poverty and financial stress is awful and it is not of God. It does not make you more humble or less showy or more spiritual to have a lean bank account. I find Christians living in lack talk about money non-stop. It is their God and they are afraid of Mammon. This scarcity mindset is not of God. It dominates your lives and your conversations and keeps you distracted. It’s important to help people get off struggle street but as the Lord once explained to me “sitting on struggle street with other people doesn’t fix the problem-now I just have two people struggling”.

    Make it your ambition to get upwardly mobile and provide for yourself, your family, and your church. Stand on the promises of God in the Bible and declare it over your households. That’s how you loose the grip of money off your lives and put God back at the head where He belongs. And if your heart is burning reading this like mine was, it’s time. Put your letters before the Lord (2 Kings 19:14) and see what He can do for you because He’s just that good.

  • The narrow gate

    13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. (Matthew 7: 13-14)

    This morning, I’ve been thanking God for the narrow gate. He knows the beginning from the end and sometimes, He’ll take you around a seemingly perilous route to save you from yourself.

    Eight years ago I was working in Sydney. I had my dream job at Ogilvy, as director of the social media team on Microsoft. Until one morning when I went into work and saw an innocuous meeting request in my calendar “WIP” (work in progress). It was in five minutes so I went in with the Digital Director and he promptly delivered the news that Microsoft were going to a small startup agency under their new manager and we had lost the account. Anyone who has worked in agency side knows what that means…. I was being let go. I was the highest paid person on the account so I was the first one to be thrown overboard. The juniors could be allocated to other accounts.

    I was told how to turn in my Surface Pro (ugh horrible tablet but it was Microsoft!) and to please leave via the fire escape to not frighten the horses. I had read enough blog posts of let-go executives to know this was all standard procedure. I took my medicine and within 20 minutes I was off down the fire escape stairs. Dream job over.

    I went and sat in Starbucks at Darling Harbour to decompress and knew it was time to come home to New Zealand. The narrow gate. God was leading and showing me how the life I had chosen to build, was built on sand. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad I did it, but banking your future and self-worth on something that can so easily be taken away is not wisdom.

    Fast forward to today and many of my media friends are out of work. Companies are cutting budgets and AI is rapidly taking over much of the work I did in content and digital. People are stressed over mortgages and lack of job security coming into Christmas. This time around, it’s not me on the job heap and boy am I grateful for it.

    Thank God for the narrow gate – the fire escape that leads to life.

  • Rejoice! It’s God’s will for you

    Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

    I was very excited to see an announcement on Instagram for the Bethel Sydney launch and guest speakers including Bill Johnson.

    Straight away, I emailed the church plant to confirm that yes, he is coming in person (and not on a video link) around Valentine’s Day 2026. So I’ve booked my flight because it will be nice to see him minister in the flesh. Don’t worry, it’s not pastor worship just honouring someone who has made a real contribution to the global Body of Christ and my own personal life. 

    There are many teachings of his that I love but I’ve pulled out the “will of God” one which always comes in useful and certainly gives me a regular wake up. As Christians we can spend A LOT OF TIME trying to figure out the will of God for our lives. 1 Thessalonians 5 keeps it nice and simple: 

    16 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

    Paul uses the Greek word chairó (χαίρω) to be cheerful, glad or delighted. It goes a bit deeper into a sense of deep gratitude for God’s grace. So if you don’t know what to do with your short days on earth, get cheerful! Get grateful and delighted and give thanks in all circumstances. A quick journey through the wilderness with Moses should have taught us by now that grumbling little Israelites don’t get to enter the Promised Land (Numbers 14). Gratitude displays our trust and awareness of God’s divine leading, care, and love in our lives. 

    Many times I have asked God what to do with my life and he has simply replied “sing me a new song” (Psalm 96). Rejoice. Give thanks.  We make it extremely complicated and are always brewing away at little God projects to try and earn God’s love. Warming our hearts up to receive the love of God is far more important than any offering we could possibly bring. Check out Bill Johnson’s teaching on YouTube, it will delight you in the Lord. And send up a prayer or two for the Bethel Sydney church plant +

  • You, follow me

    Jesus said, “If I want him to live until I come again, what’s that to you? You—follow me.” That is how the rumor got out among the brothers that this disciple wouldn’t die. But that is not what Jesus said. He simply said, “If I want him to live until I come again, what’s that to you?” John 21:22 MSG

    Most of the grumblings I hear from people are “other sheep” complaints. People accusing other people of being goats (Matthew: 25 31-46) and not real Christians. Accusing other Christians of being gossips and judgemental. Not interpreting the Bible correctly (I get this one all the time), only turning up to the church for the Christmas dinner or the BBQ. We moan and judge and niggle at the other sheep and the community Jesus has put us in because we want the “other sheep” (and maybe the Shepherd or the pasture) to be different. 

    It’s natural for people rubbing up against each other in community to get frustrated with each other and it’s natural that at times, there will be friction. But where is Jesus in this picture? What sheep has He chosen to place you with? Maybe He’s doing something in you that can’t or won’t be done in another environment. 

    I’ve been to big megachurches like Hillsong Australia and small community gatherings with ten people. It’s always the same: 

    “They weren’t friendly” 

    “They seem a bit weird”

    “They do the hands in the air thing”

    “There was too much Old Testament”

    All of these are sheep and flock issues and not Jesus issues. Jesus calls us to follow him even when we don’t understand the bigger picture and to trust Him to lead us to green pastures and still waters (Psalm 23).

    Sometimes (most of the time) there are valleys and places where things seem desolate and confusing. That’s the trust part. If we are fixed on what the “other sheep” are up to all the time, we start comparing our walk with others when we have no idea what the True Potter is making in His studio. We are all unique creations and you’ll often find the “weird sheep” end up being the most devout and Christ-like in your storm. The “cool sheep” -that everyone wants to be friends with- fade away and often you won’t see them anywhere near a church in the decades ahead.  Cut the other sheep some slack and remember: the call is to follow Jesus not the flock. We are all “weird sheep”.

  • You are living

    As for other matters, brothers and sisters, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. (1 Thessalonians 4:1). 

    There seems to be an epidemic in the modern church of Christians who think God is displeased with them. He’s not. He loves you and is the Good Shepherd (John 10)  and the Skilled Potter (Jeremiah 18:5) leading and guiding you into all He has for you. 

    In Thessalonians, the Apostle Paul offers encouragement to the church and declares that they are doing well and should just do what they are doing more and more. “We ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more”. (1Thessalonians 4:1). 

    What is the “this” that Paul is talking about? Basically abstain from sexual immorality, work hard, and love one another (He outlines these points in verses 1Thessalonians 4:3-13). 

    Perhaps this is what God is saying to you today: You got this. You are running a good race and God is proud of you. There’s no need for a big Damascus Road encounter, flashes of lights and anything radical to change in your walk. Just keep doing what you’re doing. 

    To add seasoning to the meal, Paul’s letters always include an encouragement to “love each other” (1 Thessalonians 4:9) and that’s about it. He is always building up and encouraging and not tearing down. This is the way of Christ. 

    If you walk away from church on a Sunday morning feeling boxed around the ears and that you aren’t doing enough for God (whatever that means) then shake it off and get back to basics. You may even want to find a new community of believers who build up and encourage as the Bible exhorts us to do (1 Thessalonians 5:11). 

    The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him (Psalm 147:11). God is pleased with you +

  • Washed by Jesus

    3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him (John 13: 3-5)

    To abide with Jesus and let him wash us.

    Our little Martha brains (Luke 10) want to run around and fix everything. We dive into other people’s problems and offer complex, divine solutions for others that we are not able to offer for ourselves. We run God projects and save-the-world projects at the expense of letting Jesus wash our feet first.I was in Glebe, Sydney one Maundy Thursday before Easter (it’s an Anglican thing mainly the day before Good Friday).

    I was fascinated by a little stone church and the people meeting inside surrounded by candles. As I poked my head in to be a tourist and look at the church building, I noticed they were setting up for washing feet. A group of young people, no older than 30, were filling up white basins and gathering towels. They asked me to join so I instantly sat down and thought “Who’s feet should I wash first?”

    A young brown-haired woman asked me to take my sneakers off and bent down to start washing my feet. Like Simon Peter, I protested (John 13:6), embarrassed of my stinky Nikes. I wanted to be the one doing the foot washing. But (just like Jesus) the young woman persisted and put my smelly feet in the basin and soaped them up before drying my feet gently with a towel. I was completely humbled by the experience as the Scripture came to mind:

    “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me” (John 13:8).

    I talked to the young woman later and she had just been ordained as an Anglican Reverend. This was her first Parish in Glebe and she invited me back to the Easter services over the weekend (which I did attend–even though I’m Pentecostal not Anglican). It’s vital to always sit with Jesus and allow Him to wash our feet first before we have any part with the world. If we are unable to look simply at our own shortcomings and need for the mercy and grace of Jesus; we are unable to offer it to others. Abide and be washed…washed regularly by the love of Jesus +

  • Babylon or Promised Land?

    The Promised Land- Colin McCahon 1948

    For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.(2 Corinthians 1:20)

    There’s no better way to learn the Word of God than to simply sit and read an entire book from start to finish. I sat down and read the Book of Jeremiah this afternoon and found myself in a faith crisis as I started to ponder “so am I in Babylon or am I in the Promised Land?”

    We all want to be in the Promised Land (Genesis 12:1)  or at the very least gearing up for a Jordan crossing (Joshua 3:14-17)  but I started to wonder if I was kidding myself and needed to brace myself for 70 years (Jeremiah 25) under King Nebuchadnezzar? 

    “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” (Jeremiah 29:5-7)

    Jeremiah 29:5-7 gives instructions to the exiles from Jerusalem to build and to plant and pray for the prosperity of the Babylon kingdom. It’s going to be a while before you go back to your land. 

    If you turn on the news, it’s easy to think we are living in a modern Babylon (and many denominations teach that’s exactly where we are until the Second Coming in Revelation).

    As a Pentecostal, I take a more hopeful view, keeping in mind that we are this side of the Resurrection. Jesus has atoned for our sin and rebellion at the Cross and if you receive Jesus and are filled with the Holy Spirit, you can now claim Kingdom Come and the promises of the Bible. These promises include rest and peace and healing and freedom and no longer being separated from God. Yes there is warfare and battle for the Promised Land (as with the Israelites in Joshua) but please don’t lose sight of what Jesus has purchased for you and me at Calvary. 

    Wilderness is where you are not living the abundant life of John 10. You can still be a saved, believing Christian and have a wilderness or two as God repositions and centres you back into the Yes and Amen promises of the New Testament. 

    Smith Wigglesworth teaches that faith is not passive, but an active pursuit of God’s Word and commands and obedience to His will. Promised Land is achieved by claiming and standing on the promises of the Bible. Living in a state of victory and purpose in the present age is Promised Land. Yes- it can be here too even if there is darkness and Babylon around us.  Taking a deep dive into the Old Testament is always a wild ride but don’t forget, the tomb is empty or you might get tricked into thinking you, too, are in Babylon.