A little Perspective

Isaiah 40: 30 - 31

"Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."

Why would be able to soar on wings like eagles? Whats that about? 

It's about perspective, seeing things differently. An eagle sees the world differently than I do, it soars it gains a heavenly perspective.

I can sometimes be guilty of a little loss of perspective, if we are honest we all can. I love the stories of the prophet Elijah in the book of Kings, he was often guilty of losing perspective. There is moment in 1 kings 19 were he says "I am the only one left" and then God tells him there actually 7000 left! thats a big difference, he had lost perspective!

Loss of perspective sounds like this "I am the only one left" "This always happens to me" " this is only happening to me" "Why does this not happen to someone else?" "I am on my own in this!"

All those kind of phrases can indicate a loss of perspective.

God comes to restore perspective, to give us a heavenly outlook.

We need men, further info!

We normally only take guys who have been on a two week team to serve for longer but because we are down on men we will be a little more flexible with how this works.

There is quite a rigorous application process and we can send you the application forms, we will also need 2 references, good references, not just from some friend in church who ticks all the 5’s and doesn’t really know you!

With regards to cost there is a monthly rental cost plus whatever it takes for you to live, we normally take the rental costs in advance, because if someone rocks up and they don’t have the cash we end up living by faith instead of them!!!!! 350 euros a month is the rough rental cost! 


You’ll probably share a room and you will be in an apartment without a mother!

People need to come for a minimum of 8 weeks, any shorter and you don’t really build good relationships. 3 months would be great, 6 months if you can do it, but definitely minimum 8 weeks.

You will be expected to spend 3 nights on the streets, 2 days in the centre, help out with some short term team activities, be at all our community prayer and teaching times, and generally live as part of a tight knit little missional unit. You won’t be able to be invisible and you’ll need to have a good attitude to leadership.

What type of person are we looking for? Over 21, Spiritual, mature, emotionally stable, non-flirtatious, able to cope with tiredness and messy situations!

We don’t need men who have lust issues or drink issues coming to Ibiza to test if they have beaten it! This is not a place to test yourself, you will fail here.

Do you love God? Do you love people? Are you passionate about prayer? Can you pray out loud? Will you be able to pray with someone on the streets? Are you non-judgmental! Then you could be the one.

Why not get in touch email me a mail@24-7ibiza.com I will send you an application and we’ll see if it works out.

We need men

Theres a lot of buzz going around about a guy called Mark Driscoll, he preaches a masculine spirituality. He's fashioned a God in the model of Tyler Durden, a kind of beer drinking, cigar smoking god who doesn't mind a fight, a mans man kind of god. A similar god to the one created by John Eldridge a man who lives in a cave, climbs mountains, and wins his princesses, a sort of american John Wayne type god.

Now I have nothing against either of these guys, the church is in desperate need of men.

And we are also in desperate need of men to come and serve out here for the summer! As usual we have plenty of female volunteers this summer, but only one man!!!

He can only stay until August but if we could get another one, two or three guys to help for the whole summer it would be fantastic.

You don't have to be a hero to do what we do, you don't need to be a mans man, you just need a servant heart and a willingness to be Jesus (not John Wayne) to others.

If you would like to come spend 5 - 6 months in Ibiza helping us do what we do, get in touch with me, we really need you.

Whats next???

For the first time in ages I have had a proper illness, I got some sort of strange flu virus back in the UK which has necessitated antibiotics and bed rest, coughing my lungs up and general weakness and tiredness, thankfully this has all now passed leaving me a little weak but fine.

At last I am also able to furnish you with an update as to what I will be doing upon my return to the UK.

After much prayer the suggestion was that I take on the role of leading 24-7 prayer in Great Britain I have agreed to this and am very excited about the possibilities.

I will start on 1st September as GB Director and team leader.  Although we will live in Diss, I will spend some time in the 24-7 Prayer Guildford office each week working closely with the GB team - GB being England, Scotland and Wales.

I will also lead Just 24-7 - a team seeking tangible ways in which we can make a difference in the lives of the poor and disadvantaged.

In addition I will continue to be the point person for 24-7 Prayer in Ibiza, Ireland and Burgos (Spain) – which I have been doing for a while.

I will also be part of the 24-7 Prayer European communities team.   This means supporting and strengthening 24-7 Prayer communities in Europe, including the UK.

Apart from that, I am hoping to help my friends Steve and Andi on their farm project in Diss, feeding animals, cleaning pens etc, which might sound messy, but actually excites me!

So as you can see I will be a busy little bunny, I am excited and challenged by the year ahead.

What about this Blog? Well obviously for now I will keep it going, but I may start a curious in England blog or something like that!

Happy New Year

Another year draws to an end and I feel it has been a good one. I am very excited about the next year, excited for new beginnings, excited to be handing this work in Ibiza on, excited about returning to the UK.

We have been in England for 2 weeks now and are looking at it with a view to living here.

One thing for certain that we will miss about Ibiza is the light, it's not so much the temperature that we will miss more the very bright clear days. There is a lot of grey in the UK!

Really want to say thank you for following this blog, it will continue throughout 2012 and hopefully you will follow our journey back to the UK and stand with us as we see what is next!

Peace, love and a happy 2012 to you all.

Gently Whisper hope

Gabriel and the Vagabond by Foy Vance


There's a man in the corner and his clothes are worn
And he's holding out his hand
You could see in his eyes as the people walk by
He knows they don't understand

Ya see they just think he's gonna take their money
And go and spend it all on dope
Then a man stopped by and I saw a smile inside him
As he gently whispered hope

Well the tramp started to cry, just kept saying,
"Why? why? why?
Could you see I'm a dying tonight
Well I'm 32 and I've got this one pair of shoes
And a bad taste in my mouth
I think it's clear to see that even God don't love me
Or else why would He leave me this way."

Then Gabriel just smiled and said be peaced my child
Salvation is here today

He got up to his feet and he sang Hallelujah
People were turning around in the street
He looked them in the eyes and he sang, 
"Hallelujah
There's someone here that you gotta meet
Someone you just gotta meet."

When the vagabond turned around well without a sign
Gabriel just smiled and disappeared
Then he looked to the crowd and they were laughing out loud
But he could not see them fore tears
When his vision came round
There was a young girl on the ground
I knew she was fine and hard to cope
She never was a fighter until he laid beside her
And gently whispered hope

They got up to their feet and they sang Hallelujah
People in the street were turning around
They looked them in the eyes and they sang, 
"Hallelujah
There's someone here we have found"
They sang,
"Hallelujah, Hallelujah
We are the voices crying in the wilderness
Hallelujah, Hallelujah."
The people in the street started their sins to confess
And a chorus of,
"Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Every knee will bow and every tongue confess
and the voice of one crying in the wilderness
crying 
Hallelujah, Hallelujah"

Seized by the power of a great affection

In the last chapter of the  Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning he talks of a phrase used to describe being “born again” it was this “I was seized by the power of a great affection”. 

That is why I am who I am, that i why people decide to be christians. They have been seized by the power of a great affection, they feel His passion, the passion that the son sacrificing God has for them. His passion that our lives should not be mediocre, His passion to see us become all that we can be, His passion that allows us to be our raw unadulterated redeemed selves. His passion should grip us it should drive us. 


Personally it is His passion that is my crutch when I am weak, His passion that allows me to speak to Him and tell Him all that I am. His passion that sees all my weaknesses yet somehow still considers me worthy of his love.
An Old Russian proverb “Those who have the disease called Jesus will never be cured” Please no one try and cure me I am happy being infected by Christ. 

Lets never be to cool to be passionate about His passion for us and His love for the world.

I am seized by the power of a great affection.


Forsaking what is behind lets us press on to take hold of that for which Christ took hold of us, don’t settle for less.

Be seized by the power of a great affection.


Originally posted in a slightly longer and more self referenced style on this blog in November 2006

Book writing

I have just got back from a very hectic week out and and about in the Uk and Ireland.

Getting ready to return to the UK for Christmas on Saturday which should be fun, I am speaking at our old church DC3 on Sunday and then we are at the carol service in the evening. It's hard to feel Christmassy here it's cold but not icy, sort of jeans and jumpers weather.

One of the reasons for lack of blogging is that Tracy and I are writing a book about our last 7 years here in Ibiza. I know it is something I have talked about from time to time but now seems like the right time. It feels like a giant debrief from. This blog has proved very helpful in gathering coherent chronological information from our time here.

Sometimes I want to preach from the chapters but I think the best way is to let the story speak for itself and allow people to take what they want from it.

Some potential chapter titles:

Gay Man Dancing
Vomit Van
Prostitutes and Roses
Can Strippers Use this Place?
Sorry to interrupt your meeting!

I am struggling to think of an actual title? Maybe we should just call it Curious in Ibiza?