I was interviewing someone earlier in 2025 and, as we were speaking, God spoke to me. In His own voice. For the third time in my lifetime in this rather direct way:

“And this is why I want you to talk about what it is to live by faith.”

I’ve only met three other sets of people who live by faith as we do. They generally don’t talk about the details of their lifestyle with others. And they’d never met anybody else who lives as we do. Living by faith is like working for God directly, rather than indirectly: your salary works quite a bit differently!

If you’re in a paid job, life looks very differently. I’ve had paid jobs, I’ve worked in full-time church ministry, I’ve been a full-time stay-at-home dad and I now live by faith.

I can attest that they are all very different lifestyles.

All Change

In November 2024 we were growing worn by government benefits that we were due, suddenly not appearing when they were supposed to, due to no fault of our own. After an extended period of prayer – as a whole family – we concluded that God was asking us to rely upon Him, alone, for our needs. So we stopped receiving those benefits.

Just a few months later, following an even greater time of extended prayer – as a whole family – Jo had fully resigned from a career of nearly three decades. Her job had become such a distraction and God, as only He can, heard our prayers, seeking His input, for our life and miracles flowed. As we’d asked. Actually, far more than we’d asked. I think God is a fan of the exclamation mark! And that confirmed that it really was God leading us and calling us to surrender those usual human pursuits. Namely having a job that pays the bills!

Those two decisions left us £3,500 worse off financially every month and, nearly a year on – since Jo’s last salary entered our bank account – we’re very much living by faith, which we agreed as whole family to do (super important!). We are employed directly by God and we are thriving as a family.

Eggs and Baskets

When we’ve told people how God called us to live I’ve been often told that we’ve put all our eggs in one basket. We’ve said and felt this ourselves enough times too. And dong that is, usually, most unwise. But it does rather depend on who is holding the basket.

I like business. I ran one very successfully – profit is a good thing as it enables you to pay wages and other rather useful things. Our business grew really well, through a recession, until the banks took away the overdrafts of smaller businesses like us. Likewise, charities are a good way of linking supporters with a cause. They raise funds in a certain way – ‘profit’ is what enables the work being done.

But the Radio Station and Magazine are neither of these – we all work full-time, but none of us get paid. We never set out to do this for a better financial future. We did this because God asked us and we simply obeyed that call.

Don’t jump if God didn’t ask you

This “living by faith” thing, however, is quite a bit more extreme than a paid job. While you may struggle to make ends meet – something we’ve done plenty while in paid employment too – you can make plans based on what you know will be coming in.

When living by faith, you never know what will be coming, or when, so making plans takes on a very different meaning. All you have left is turning to Jesus to ask Him what He desires of you at any given moment.

Actually, I’d describe this lifestyle as more akin to jumping off a cliff, without a parachute, while trusting to the [invisible to the naked eye] thermals to keep you from falling. Unless you’re an eagle, that’s a pretty risky thing to do. Unless you’ve been called to do it.

Unless you can absolutely state that God has called you to surrender income from paid jobs, please don’t jump and expect God to be waiting to catch you.. You – and I – only ever should be obedient to God’s call on our lives, whether that’s making money from a job or business, or relying exclusively on God for the funds we need.

So, why do it?

This lifestyle of ours may seem like some sort of extreme sport. But it has one enormous advantage, in removing distractions from our life. When Jo left her job, it had become such a distraction that we were led to seek God’s voice for a better way. For us, that meant what seems like an extreme course of action. It actually wasn’t that extreme for us though. Life, with God, is mostly just many shuffles. Jo resigning was, actually, just one more shuffle towards God for us.

As a family we put in about 250 hours each week to Pure247Radio.org and PureMediatheMagazine.com, leading and managing a team of more than thirty gifted people writing or recording or presenting, from many countries around the world. In order to increase our income by getting normal jobs – a very sensible suggestion that we’ve considered many times ourselves – we would need to stop the very work we would be trying to get more money for. Common sense just doesn’t help much with the lifestyle God called us to live. And giving up on what God asked us to do just isn’t an option.

Every month we need a minimum of £3,500, just to keep the lights on. We regularly see less than half of that coming in each month. And God seems to do some pretty miraculous stuff with the rest with extra gifts from people, bills that disappear and other miracles.

If you feel led to support us by financially supporting this amazing work God called us to do, great. There are details further below. But, if God is saying something else, great – do that instead. Obeying God, prayerfully, really is the best approach to life!

Following the peace is the only thing that can ever help us truly navigate life well. And that only comes from an ongoing relationship with God. The important part is seeking God and following His voice wherever He leads you and me.

Because peace is like a warm blanket on a chilly winter’s morning. It wraps around you and reminds you that you’re going to be ok. The weather can rage around you and terrify you but, much like Jesus, you can still sleep peacefully on the boat if you know and trust the maker of the waves.

Most recently, as those waves got louder around my family, with financial strain biting more than usual, we found ourselves joyful and peaceful. Laughter filled a home which ‘should’ have been filled with panic and anxiety. It wasn’t, because we surrendered our own futures and desires to God. He only ever gives us something better! It’s absolutely true!!

We don’t always manage the laugher part…but it’s certainly our goal and it’s beautiful when we submit to God enough to feel that sort of joy.

Let’s get down to the nitty gritty!

While my lifestyle is probably not the same as your lifestyle, choosing to follow God’s peace is the best thing you or I can ever do. Common sense, logic, rationality, fear, distraction – they can all gang up to limit our ability and desire to follow God’s voice and call. But, peace and joy trump all of those negatives. By a mile!

Some of our life is pretty scary. Some of it features the sort of miracles that feel like they rival the parting of the red sea! Both are exciting, for very different reasons.

Our life is a multitude of tiny steps, not giant leaps. And I think that’s pretty much how it is supposed to be because, that way, we don’t get the glory, God does.

If God’s calling you to do something, then do that with all you have and, as a wise man once told me, “don’t worry about the details!”. God doesn’t expect perfection from us. Actually, He knows we won’t get it all right and He values our heart more than our hands. I for one, am very grateful for that.

And, if you want to financially support the amazing work God asked us to begin, you can do it in a few ways:

• Via my Stewardship account – I get an extra 25% if you’re a UK taxpayer.
• Buy a magazine or two, or a subscription, from PureMediatheMagazine.com.
• Donate to Pure247Radio.org to help us keep delivering bad language free radio all around the world.
• Tell people about what we’re doing – people who pick up a magazine really do not want to put it down. It’s most excellent and is making a difference already.
• Invite us to your church to share what we’re doing with your church family.

Whatever you do, in your life or how you help others, do it by seeking God and following His peace. It really is the best way to live.

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