10: God Get Me Out Of This And I'll Do Anything

What's the Story

26 Oct

Today’s Guest: Dave Connolly

Dave Connolly is the co-founding pastor of Frontline Church in Liverpool. Until recently, he was the pastor of Toxteth Tabernacle. Now he spends most of his time supporting church leaders, pastoring the pastors, as well as hanging out with his amazing and beautiful wife and family!

Here’s a summary of this week’s story:

Dave grew up in Toxteth, Liverpool in the 60s. In a street of 150 houses, 20 of them were Dave's relatives. He had a lot of behavioral issues growing up. He lacked aspiration and inspiration and grew up quite a broken kid. The first time he heard the word hope was when he ended up in Sunday School by accident one day. Later in life, the seed bore fruit when he tried to rob his brother but ended up becoming a Christian!
Despite of his hopeless circumstances, God made ways for him to encounter the love of God and live a life of hope and purpose. There were challenges along the way that he had to face such as his nephew being murdered. But through it all, God revealed himself more and more to him.
“Walking with God is an adventure. You'll see things and do things that you could only read about in a book if you go for it, with God.” says Dave.

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Matt Edmundson: Welcome to What the story, a podcast, uh, where I get to chat to everyday people about their stories of faith and courage. And today I'm chatting with my very good friend Dave Connolly, about growing up in the sixties in Toxteth Liverpool, how robbing his brother led him to becoming a Christian, how he dealt with his nephew being murdered and what it's like to lead a church.
So much to get into, uh, in this conversation with Dave. But before we do that, one of the things I love to do is just to give you a few more episodes to sort of have a listen to just in case you've not got enough from today. So why not check out? Uh, learning how to forgive totally changed my life, uh, by my wife Sharon Edmundson.
She did that talk that's on the Crowd Church website. Um, and also how do I resist Evil, which you did Dave actually part of the Alpha series, which was also great. You can find both of these episodes and our entire archive of episodes and live streams on our website for free at www dot Crowd Church. And whilst you're there, be sure to sign up for our newsletter and each week we will email you.
These links along with the notes and links from today's conversation with Dave, it comes direct to your inbox, totally free. Totally amazing. Now this episode is brought to you by Crowd Online Church, Dave. You know as well as I do that not everybody wants to go to church and not everybody can even get into a church building, and that's where online Church works super well.
It's a safe space to explore the Christian faith. And the thing that I love about Crowd Church is that you get to join in and shape the conversation as they don't just talk at you. Oh, no. So if you've never been to church before, or if you're looking for a new church, do check out Crowd Church. The website is www dot Crowd Church.
Or you can email me directly at Matt Crowd Church with any questions. I would love to answer them for you. Now, Dave Connolly is one of my longest standing friends. He is the co-founding pastor of Frontline Church in Liverpool. Until recently, he was a pastor of Toxteth Tabernacle, and now he spends most of his time supporting church leaders, pastoring the pastors, as well as hanging out with his amazing and beautiful wife and family.
You've got Julie, You've got copious amounts of grandkids. Dave, welcome to What's the story. It's great to finally have this conversation. ,
Dave Connolly: absolutely. Great to be with you Matt.
Matt Edmundson: There we go. Sorry, I just had you on mute there for a second. . Yeah, no, you're back. You're back now. You're fine. . That's what we call professionalism, ladies and gentlemen.
Uh, forgetting to unmute the muted. So, uh, it's great to have you. So you have been, uh, in Liverpool all your life, right? Born and bred Liverpool.
Dave Connolly: Yeah. Born and bred in Toxteth.
Matt Edmundson: So for those outside of Liverpool, uh, and maybe outside of people who knew what happened in the eighties, tell, tell the world what is, what is, what's it like growing up in toxteth?
Dave Connolly: I think growing up in Toxteth is probably like grown up in the center of any inner city and culture, especially being a seaport and there's great, um, Copious amounts of money in different areas and great poverty at the same time. Great music culture, great creativity. Today it's just called different things than where it was.
I was born in 1957, so I don't remember anything of the fifties really. Um, all the seventies of the eighties, but that's a different story, . Yeah. Well I grew up in the sixties and for me life was like most of the people in toxteth, It was tough. Yeah. It wasn't a cool place to live. It was just our place to live.
And, um, yeah, I grew up in a row of terraced houses, um, a little bit like what you see on Coronation Street, but not as nice. Um, I had a mom and dad and three siblings. I was the youngest by seven years in. In the row of houses where we lived in the streets, I should say there's probably about 148 houses, but many of those houses, maybe just under 20 of those households, we are related to us.
Wow. And then you have those aunties and uncles. Who aren't really aunties and uncles. Yeah. Yeah. They just drink or rob something with your dad and, you know, did it like extended family? Yeah. Yeah. Um, yeah. So that was the type of, of growing up in that environment.
Matt Edmundson: And was it common then that you had, um, you had your family living on the same street?
Cause I mean, I, you know, my family in some respects are miles away, you know, But, but I always remember like TV shows like Bread, you know, growing up and it's, and it's like there was always sort of family members and everyone was inside each other's houses. Was that what it was actually like?
Dave Connolly: I think so.
Um, that was my experience. Um, I mean, you know, things on TV are supposed to be entertaining or in Brett's case, funny, and I know a lot of Liverpool people don't like Bread. They say it's exaggeration, but it is exaggeration. But that's entertainment is, and I humor when you exaggerate something, um, I thought it captured my Liverpool that I, you know, even though I grew up a little bit earlier than that.
Matt Edmundson: Yeah. That's interesting. So you grew up in this street then where you, Sorry
Dave Connolly: Dave, go ahead. Like a lot of hate mail now for saying
But it was, so I was
Matt Edmundson: there, the Anti Bread brigade. It was so, yeah, that was fair enough. Uh, so you grew up, um, you've got this street where 20 of the houses as your family, I mean, that's a big old family, uh, in the sixties growing up in the street. Um, what was that like? Were you in everyone's house or did you all kind of just ignore each other?
Dave Connolly: Um, well, people seemed to, everybody seemed to work, you know, so everybody seemed to be out and, you know, you'd get up and you lit. For me, I would go out on the street until I was called in for bed and Okay. I think, you know, we have labels for everything today. Um, I'd dread to think what labels I would've carried.
Um, but our family was as dysfunctional as the next, it was as broken and dam as damaged as the next, Um, but. I, I, as I got older, I found more grace for my mom and dad. I think they did the best as broken people. What little they had.
Matt Edmundson: Yeah. They, um, So you, you say you found more grace for them because you, It's interesting, isn't it?
I, I think about this and I think as I've got older and as I've had my own kids and as they've got older, I think I've become more aware of, of my parents and actually more appreciative of them, if that makes sense. Because you, you, you see it from the, you see it from their side a little bit more, don't you?
Dave Connolly: Yeah. I mean, I used, they call it sofa surfing. Now, what he did there a few years ago, a lot of my time was spent sleeping on the sofa, the floors of relatives houses. It was a two of two down. I've got two older brothers and a sister and a mom and dad. , you know, where, where do they sleep, you know, um, brightness to think.
And, um, so I would end up on the sofa. Um, my mom was, my mom, dad were quite, we we're very rough, but my mom was quite poorly at times and I was a handful, you know, I had behavior problems. And Julie says, I still do .
Matt Edmundson: Dunno what she means. I dunno what she means.
Dave Connolly: No. So I was just out there doing my own thing, you know, and I got well and truly damaged over the years.
I got exposed things, uh, kids, um, should never be exposed to. And I would remally wanna protect my own children and my own grandchildren as much as I can from being exposed to those things, you know. .
Matt Edmundson: Yeah. And did they, those, that sort of exposure obviously shaped you then quite dramatically as a kid,
Dave Connolly: it damaged me and broke me.
Mm-hmm. , Um, I was dysfunctional. I mean, occasionally went to school. You know, it sounds funny as you get older, it sounds funny when you tell 'em the story, you know, school was two, two streets away. Both my primary school, my secondary school. And, um, you know, I'd go in and get my mark and come home, you know, from a very early age, you know, And it wasn't their fault, you know, it was me.
I, I just, I was so hit. It was really difficult to let anybody into my brokenness. And I was so as well. Wow. Because Peter damaged me, were relatives, and there were people who I would've thought would've cared for me. And it's not until you get older. Don't you realize some of the stuff that you've been exposed to and the damage that's caused you?
Mm-hmm. Yeah. But that's not you. I would say that would be of most of the people who I grew up with. Mm-hmm.
Matt Edmundson: Yeah. And it's heart. It's heartbreaking, isn't it? Especially when you watch it, um, and, and see it from the side. So here you are, you're a young, broken kid growing up in the streets of, toxteth, in the 1960s.
You've got two brothers, a sister, a mom, and a dad. And you live in a two, what we call a two up, two down. In other words, there was two bedrooms, uh, upstairs and two rooms downstairs, um, for those outside of the uk. So you've got a house, which is way too small for the family. Mm-hmm. Um, you sofa surfing and the 20 houses belonging to your family up and down the street.
Um,
what, what started you on your faith journey? What kind of led you to start going down that road? How did that all come about? .
Dave Connolly: Yeah. Quite bizarre because, um, I'm not aware of mom and dad having any faith. I mean, um, we were really bad Catholics and exceptionally bad Protestants, . Um, Okay. You know? Yeah. I don't remember.
The only time I heard God was when it was, you know, in some form of swear where, um, but I remember clearly, you know, being at eight years old and having pain in my heart. Yeah. You know, I mean, I was at eight years old, I was desperate, you know, it wasn't, I'm not putting a finger at anybody here. You know, broken people, break other people.
Mm. It's just way life is, you know? And, um, I remember one Sunday afternoon, um, walking down a road called Princess um, Avenue. In Liverpool or Princess Drive, and depending on which side of it you're on, and it was raining and I seen all these kids queuing up, I thought, to get outta the rain. I thought they were all trying to get into this old building, um, on the corner.
And I got in the queue and it moved in quickly. And I didn't realize it was Sunday school, , you know? And this colossus of a man put his hand on me to it got a reaction from me. Okay? And so my, a good one. And he said, You're not. And a gentleman called Richard Woods, um, I didn't know him. He said, I'll let him in.
And basically he just, he said he turned to this man and he said, And if the guy was called Ronnie, he said, Ronnie, what color is your Bible? And he said, This guy looks at him and he goes, Black. And, and Richard said, Well, your bible should be red. All bibles should be read as in R-E-A-D. not red. Yeah. Yeah.
And as he, Ronnie was just looking at him as if this guy's crazy. He just shook me through the door,
And Richard said, Why don't you wanna let a sneaking in? Richard said to this guy, Why won't you let him in? He said, Well, he was trying to set fire to the building the other day. Oh. Which was true. You know, it was true, you know. Um, and anyway, I went down into the basements of this old, old church and Richard was speaking, and I would have to say at the age of eight, this guy preached on Gideon.
And for the very first time in my life that I am aware of, I heard. Of hope and a future. And, um, you know, a lot of people in my peers, even at a very young age, had been written off girls written off by society. You know, the only thing I think most people would say would be guaranteed is that we'd end up either in, in, in jail, in prison, or some other crazy place.
And, um, I went for three weeks. Matt and Richard spoke on Gideon for three weeks, and I can remember clearly each of those messages. Wow. I'm 65. Just That's a good preacher when you can remember. Yeah, Yeah, totally. And I still see this guy, in fact, he, he walked into the tab just before I had my last preach there.
And um, every time we see each other, we just cry. and, um, he was telling somebody after the service on the other Sunday, he was saying, um, I am the only person who's ever cried at his preaching. And, and I did weep, you know? Mm-hmm. and to the only time I would normally cry as a child would be when I was angry.
Yeah. And, and I just heard something that never, it just forms something. It steered something inside of me. It steered that life doesn't have to go a certain way, that I'm not a mistake, which is something I'd hear a lot in my life, you know, that I was an afterthought, a mistake, labor lab, blah, blah, blah.
You know, the story unravels not pleasant, but I did not think miraculous happened to me. Mm-hmm. Besides having seeds sown into my life. Mm-hmm. and I would see Richard, um, through the years. I would see him and it would always be affirming. And he's just a lovely guy, you know? And, um, and he'd say, I'm praying for you.
I'm not giving up on you. But it wasn't until I got to my late teens, you know, and as the years had carried on, I'd got even more broken. Really? Mm-hmm. thought I helped break people to my shame. And my brother Mick, my younger brother, Mick, sorry, he's my next brother up, I should say. Um, I didn't really know my family that well, if I'm honest.
Cause of all the, sofa surfing, and he was a nice guy. I mean, I actually thought, can't be my blood relative really. But he'd, he'd become a Christian. And, um, and I didn't know too much about that. And, um, he got married to this lady who was like an angel, who she was amazing. and they at some time passed by and they had a baby and they said to me, Oh, do you wanna come and babysit?
Well, I would have to say I'm probably in my very late teens then. And I wasn't in a good place, you know, had a bit of, weed, bit of lsd, not been in a fantastic place. And I'm like, they've invited me some babysit and said, Yeah, I'll do that. and I by I got there. Cause I don't even, I don't remember them ever telling me where they lived.
Yeah. But I got, and they were going out, they left at six o'clock. They didn't have a tv, they only had Christian music, which like sounded the same playing it forwards and backwards, . And I remember getting this, I think it was like a cot sheet and putting it on the floor and I started to empty the drawers, but they didn't have a whole lot worth robbing?
Anyway, if I'm honest.
Matt Edmundson: Oh, so you were emptying stuff into the cut sheet to steal it.
Dave Connolly: Oh, I need to sort it out. You only wanna take the good stuff. Yeah. Play. I thought you were taking notes then. . Um, it's there only way stealing what you can sell , Your Honor. And um, and it was bizarre because I came across this book and you know, you're talking about, it's in the seventies, mid, early, mid seventies, and there was a book there and it draw my attention to it because there's like, what I thought was a semi naked lady.
I thought You Dirty Rascal. Anyway, I opened this book and here's this book called Turned Onto Jesus by Arthur Blessed. Now I can categorically say to you Matt, I had never read a book in all the time I was at school. Wow. And I started to read this book. No, I think we would call it a God moment. Mm. I was desperately bored, so I started to read this book.
Yeah. Yeah. And the book was based in, um, Sunset Strip in America. Yeah. And God bless, it was like a missionary to, um, this inner city group of people. And it was bizarre. There was people in the, and it was like he was writing about my friends on the street here. Wow. Did you Different names, you know, And, and I wasn't a star by, by the way.
I was just like sort of in the ensemble somewhere, you know? Okay. But I could write people, ordinary people going through very similar things and broken like myself.
And I think, you know, some people say they found Jesus. Nah, they didn't. Jesus found them. Yeah. It is clear, you know, and they heard. A scripture calls it, you know, the gospel and their lives, complex lives started a new direction. Yeah. With the hope and purpose that I heard when I was eight. Mm-hmm. for a decade it took, for that seed to get anywhere.
But these people got this hope and this purpose that I heard about when I was eight. Mm-hmm. Um, just pull this bit to an end. And that was my brother came home with his wife. I said, What are you doing? You robbing me, You know what I'm saying? You've got nothing worth robbing. And his wife, it was gorgeous lady.
She said, What are you doing reading that book? And I'm like, I'm not reading. And she goes, It's okay. I'm like, Why would I wanna read a book about Jesus? I'm like,
brilliant. You know? I was, I was done. Done. And you know the amazing thing, Matt, you know, some people call it coincidence. Some of us just call it God. The guy he wrote that book was gonna be in Liverpool the following Wednesday. No way. In the in, in what was the boxing arena. And I went to that meeting and shall I tell you a bit about that meeting?
God,
Matt Edmundson: do you want Yeah, No, go for it. Go for it.
Dave Connolly: And you know, I did go matt. Cause I was interested to see what this guy was like. Yeah. And I got walked in and we had, it was a boxing arena. We had seats front and center, three rows from the front. These two dudes hippies playing the guitar. And am I. I was looked around and I could see people in there and I thought, this is gonna kick off big style.
And then all of a sudden there's a guy in in the boxing ring and I'm like, He stars and go guy. You know? So I think I may have shouted something cause I thought he was starting to fight. It was Arthur Blessed, it was the preacher man. Wow. And he starts to tell a little bit of the story of what God had called him to do in reaching these people.
And I just have to say, I, I'd so much hatred for this man. Every time he opened his mouth, I thought, I wanna stab you. I wanna hurt you. And wow,
Matt Edmundson: why did you have so much hatred for him?
Dave Connolly: I think he was just kept saying how much God and how much. And because God loved these people who were like me that God had sent him to bring hope. And, and you know, I think my brokenness was making me angry. And then, I don't know how long he spoke for, but I, I was definitely at tipping points of jumping in the ring, honestly, you know, not because I'm some big bad guy. I was just angry. I wanted to hurt him. Yeah. And he said, Okay, that's enough for me.
I've told you about Jesus. I've told you that he loves you and you are never gonna be good enough to receive his love and forgiveness. None of us are. He says, Well, I'm gonna give you opportunity to receive Jesus into your life. And I thought, Oh, this is just one of those big, freaky religious things. He says, I'm gonna, I'm gonna, as I'm talking, I'm gonna count backwards from three to one, and when I get to one, you need to be here and I'm going to introduce you to Jesus.
He went three and I thought, No way is anybody so stupid. Support . People are moving no way. And I'm like, What? I'm looking around. I can see people, you know, um, from gangs who I was involved moving forward. I'm like, God, Its going to kick off , he went two, and I can still see people moving before he said one Matt. I was stood there.
Wow. Wow. And I just thought, if this is real, this is maybe my only chance of finding some hope and purpose in life. And he talked about new beginnings. And if anybody ever needed a new beginning, I needed one. I knew my brokenness, you know, I knew my lostness and um, And I went forward and uh, people came to talk to you.
And this little Mr. Ben honestly had the black suit and tie kid next to me and he introduced himself as Pastor Angel. Oh wow. And I went, What? I said, Are you for real? He goes, Yes. Wow, That's amazing. And he started talking to me. I can't tell you anything he said, Okay. And he said, We're gonna pray now.
We're gonna invite Jesus into your life. And he, and he was really a fairman. He did annoy me cuz he kept calling me son. And I had no concept of that. Right. And he said, you know, pray your Prayer. I said, I don't know any. He says, You must know a Prayer. I said, I don't know any, you really annoy me now matey.
And um, he says, Well just have a go. And I said to, I only know one Prayer. He said, That's the one , okay. I said, God, if you can get me outta this, I'll do anything
And I mean, that's probably the sum total of my Prayer. I think he was expecting the Lords prayer or something. And I remember him just looking at me very graciously and saying, No, that's won't do. Maybe just pray this Prayer after me. And I did. And um, you know, my, I, I think I was expecting a flash of lightning. Um, but it, I didn't hear one, you know, I didn't hear any thunder .
And, and I remember this little man saying to me, he said, What do you think you've done tonight? And I said to him, I said, What I think I've done, I've said to God, If you are really interested in someone like me, if you. Really that did die with somebody like me. I want to give you my life. Mm. And, and, and no, they, those words mean something now.
Yeah. But even as I'm saying you, I mean the impact of them, you know, I am fully aware of. And, um, I went home and that's the hard thing, isn't it? Going back to the situation, you know, you've come out of, and I remember laying on my bed and I remember saying, God, you know, really, really, really, if you are interested in somebody like me, I wanna have, a go, Hmm.
And, um, it's amazing how God brings people into your life, you know? And within days, um, I, I was, I'd met Christians and they invited me into their, into their lives. And I started to grow and. Know I was still broken. Yeah. My yearly rollercoaster, you know, those are downs. Um, but they stayed with me and they taught me, we talk about discipleship and the folks listening, you know, they've listened to any Crowd, Church, we'd talk about discipleship a lot, you know, and another phrase for that is journeying together.
And we stopped the journey and I watched how they lived. And, um, yeah, it, it was, I was so thankful that God put great people around me. Life was still tough. I'm thankful that any addictions that I had that God miraculously broke straight away, you know? But I definitely had enough other baggage to be dealing with.
Yeah.
Matt Edmundson: Yeah. Well, I've heard you say that before, that actually when you became a Christian, God set you free from addictions with medication and alcohol. and you stopped pretty much straight away, which is not everyone's story. Um, but it was is definitely your story, right?
Dave Connolly: Well, yeah, because I don't, the, the, the other end of that sentence is, you know, I really admire people who go through rehab.
They learn things that I didn't learn. And I think for me, God set me free without anything was because I'm such flake . Okay. You know, um, I was such a flake and I was just so broken and damaged and whatever. I don't think I could have done a rehab. You know, I think people, I have total respect for people who do rehab because in that you journey again with people and you learn so much, but for me, my learning was more as you go, you know, more on the job.
Yeah. Yeah. But, you know, it was great. You know, I didn't have, I just was able to stop drinking and. And doing stuff that I shouldn't have been putting into my body. You know? I mean, I wasn't some super heroin addict or whatever, you know? Um, it just wasn't good. Yeah.
Matt Edmundson: So, but I mean, it's in, So right at that, so you're in your late teens, you know, you're, you're at this Arthur Blessed sort of, uh, event with Pastor Angel, which I think is one of the coolest names ever.
Oh, phenomenal. Yeah. And you've, you've obviously encountered God, and so God starts to work in your life by putting you around other Christians, by setting you free from a whole bunch of stuff. Um, so does it all become sunshine and rainbows at this point?
Dave Connolly: I would have to say totally. Not. Okay. Totally. It, it, it's this, you, you start this adventure.
I mean, it's great. Now you have all, you know, when you've been walking the journey for a while, you have all these words, but you know, at the time it's a bit like, hello, what? What's happening here? You know, cause I start to go home to toxteth, you know, there's parts of toxteth that you can't walk through. If you're white, there's parts of toxic you can't walk through if you are, you know, black, you know, it was very difficult.
Yeah. Yeah. And there's big racial problems going on. I mean, it, it was, it was difficult. Um, and, you know, you have to try and do life. And, um, for me, I became really just aware of the Bible. You know, I'd never read really, you know, And, and I started to read the Bible and I started to read these great stories of ordinary people about God's plan for your life.
And he has a purpose. So I remember Matt being sat in the back of a bus. I didn't leave school with a swimming certificate. Okay. . And I remember saying, I'm sat in the back of a bus. And I, I'm like, um, do only, do you only like religious things going on? I'm going to a Prayer meeting. I'm going to, and I'm like, God, I, I've never worked up to this stage by the way.
Hmm. God give you my life. I'll do whatever you want. And matt as clearly as I'm sat on the back of that bus, I felt, I didn't hear, but I thought, I want you to be a nurse. Wow. I probably know a nurse, one nurse. And she was a fairly new friend. Mm-hmm. well friend, might be a bit of an exaggeration. She probably walked past me once or twice in church, , no idea what nurses do really.
Mm-hmm. So I, um, I go to this prayer meeting and listen, girl was there and I, and I tell her what happened on the bus and she looked at me and said, um, you might wanna think again. I don't think you're gonna cut it. So I just said, Well, what would I do? So I said, Well, you need to contact a school of nurse and, but you know, there's a big waiting list, blah, blah, blah.
And this is the entry what you need educationally. Um, Okay. I don't even know what that means. Never mind, have it. Um, so the next day I went, you know, I rang the school of nursing and as I'm talking, um, from a phone box by the way. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Matt Edmundson: Pre-mobile. Yeah, yeah.
Dave Connolly: Phone box. And, um, I got through to the school of nursing and I said, I don't know what to do here, but, um, I, I, I'd like to be a nurse, please.
And thinking she was gonna say yes there and then, by the way. And she said, um, well, there's a nine month waiting list for the school of nursing and you know, you have to have an entrance again and blah, blah, blah. So I'm like, Yeah. So. When do I start? And she goes, No, I don't think you understand. Well, the conversation did end quite abruptly on her part, but I forgive now.
days later I got a letter inviting me for an interview.
Wow. How many days later?
Two. Two. Okay. Wow.
Two days. And I'm thinking I've got nothing. All I own is a couple of t-shirts, literally two T-shirts, white t-shirts, and a couple a pair of jeans. I don't, I'm not sure if you're allowed to wear that. for an interview ito be a nurse doesn't get quite the right impression.
And anyway, I got some clothes and I went and, um, they said, Well, you need these qualifications. And I'm like, I wanna be honest with you. I was, well, I was gonna lie, but I didn't , I haven't got a swimming certificate, I haven't got a cycle, you know, a cycling proficiency certificate. And he said, Well, what happened with school?
So I said, Well, we left by mutual agreements, . They didn't want me and I didn't wanna go . Okay. They said, Oh, right, okay. And, um, there was no positive discrimination then at all, by the way. Well, somehow she must have took pity on me. And she said, Well, you could sit this multiple choice exam and then have your interview.
Well, apparently I scorched this multiple choice thing. I got it a hundred percent. I didn't even know what most of those words meant, . Wow. But I obviously did something right in the interview, but, Remember in the interview, um, one of the interviews was as choose, and he said, Dave, could I ask you a personal question?
Do you have special needs ? Wow. And I, I've never heard this phrase. I'm like, I do. Thinking it was a great thing. And he goes, Well, I would be a choose. I'm sure. Well, we might be able to get round, you know, And I, Cause I honestly didn't know what it was. And a couple of days later, there's a nine month waiting list.
I was told I was starting in the next school, which was four weeks later. Oh wow. And I have to say, God blessed me with accelerated learning and gimme this great tutor. who just happened to be a Christian. Wow. You know? Um, so you know, sometimes when God asks you to do things or you feel God asked you to do things and you feel totally inadequate.
I have to say, if you read the Bible, he specializes
in that. Yeah. Yeah. He's he's definitely on your side, right? That's his specialty. Yeah. Yeah.
Matt Edmundson: Yeah. I like that. Well, that's amazing. So you start nursing, um, so you have this encounter with God, you start nursing despite not having any qualifications, not a swimming certificate, which, uh, or a cycling proficiency.
It still comes from me. It's good . Um, so, and you were a nurse, weren't you? For about what, 18, 19 years? Somewhere around there? Yeah. Yeah. I was And you specialized in children's nursing?
Yeah. Last, in the last maybe decade,
Dave Connolly: I, um, moved to a children's hospital and was involved in children's nursing. Yeah.
Which was amazing. Wow.
Matt Edmundson: Yeah. So when God called you to nurse and he, I mean, he called you right? I mean, there for 19 odd years.
Dave Connolly: Absolutely. It was a real vocation. And, um, God gave me, I mean, I, I, I have say during those times, in the early, in the early days, I did have some struggles, you know, um, with my faith.
Not that I didn't believe in God, it was just a lifestyles, there was a lifestyle clash again. Yeah. And I made some wrong decisions in those very early days. And for about 12 or 14 months, maybe a bit longer, I just was making bad decisions. And then I realized I just needed to go for God or not go for God.
Mm. You know? And I decided to focus and quit messing around, as my wife would say, Quit
messing around. So she wasn't my wife.
Matt Edmundson: Yeah. I was gonna say, at what point in this story did you meet Julie?
Dave Connolly: Um, I'd, I'd qualified nursing. Um, we were going to a. Church in an area called Everton. And um, they used to have a great youth group and that youth group used to do like lots of sports activities.
Julie used to play netball and hockey and, um, the guys used to play football, used to play in different leagues and, um, not least tournaments. And, and that was great. That was a great way, um, for, you know, late teens, early twenties to, to mesh together and learn. And, um, so that was, that, that was the early days.
That was good to find some solid peers.
Matt Edmundson: Yeah. So you met her at, um, you met her at youth group for, into about youth groups, the wrong phrase. Yeah.
Dave Connolly: Yeah. Um, and um, we found, um, well, I think we'd actually, I think we'd met before I'd fallen away from God or, or was struggling. I think we'd met and Julie like was sort of.
We're not gonna date if you're gonna mess around type of thing. You know? Um, well, you know, she's like, it's, let's get sorted. Oh, yes. and, Yeah. And so we, we, we got married, um, early twenties, you know, still nursing. Um, but even then I'd really felt a conviction that God was using my time while I was nursing to really lead a church, to be a pastor, to care for people.
And there's no finding the nursing, I would've to say you're with people the best moments and certainly in the worst moments. Yeah. You know? Yeah. And I, um, loved nursing, even though it was difficult, had great opportunities to share faith and to see God do some amazing things. But there came a time when I just knew this is the time now to plan to go, We call it full time.
Yeah, I'd done lots of studying, extended external studying in preparation.
Matt Edmundson: So that must have been quite a, a seismic shift. Right. I mean, just to sort of fast forward a little bit, so you obviously, um, you quit nursing, You, you, you start a church. You meet Nick Harding along the way. You join forces, um, what is now called Frontline comes out of that.
Um, I, I meet you for the first time in 1992, Right? So 30 years ago, that's how long I, it was, I came as a fresh face student to Liverpool and you were helping along with Chris and Graham on the alive and kicking mission. Do you remember this at the CU University? Remember? Yeah, we had Eric Delve there and I'd just become a Christian at this point.
And, um, and so I then stopped coming along to what was then called Bethany before it changed its name to Frontline, Um, and got involved and I've never looked back since. And, uh, it's been, it's been an epic journey. And so I know a little bit of your story, um, but throughout the, the, the, the time, right.
What have been some of the key challenges that you sort of faced in life that you, uh, that God sort of helped you through this, you know, some of the, the big, the big things you've sort of had to face on that journey?
Dave Connolly: I think for, for, for me, I love the idea of being on a journey, you know, as we read the Bible, you know, Jesus is walking here, or you got the disciples under Themus Road and you know, The walking between places and the stories, what they're walking from or walking to may be different, but they're experiencing life together.
Yeah. They're experiencing eyes and the lows and, um, I think some people feel that Christianity is for the weak and you know what? They're probably right. I, I had to come to the end of myself, you know, and, um, you know, or do you might think Christianity's for losers, count me in. Um, but you know, it is real.
You know, you're not removed from all that is going on around you. Um, I believe that God walks with us on this journey through the day to day stuff of life. To the great blessings, you know, through birth, through to deaths, through to illnesses. You know, as a pastor, you know, you talk about meeting you guys for the first time, you know, your generation of guy.
It's been great to see coming through. Sorry, I'm laughing, , that's no, not going. I'm gonna behave. And, uh, you know, just to see you grow, you know, from these young guys and to real men, you know, and, and, and, and finding amazing wives and, and vice versa, you know? And then seeing you with your own kids, you know?
And, and I know like when we were in small group together, you know, even as a small group of many used to meet weekly, we walked through some real difficult times together. Oh. . Um, we remember praying for girlfriend and them wives and, and then for children and you know, even to see, you know, the loss of children in that group and you know, and to see people Yeah.
Bereft. Um, it's a real journey. And, um, and God is, I would've to say is faithful. And you know, even when we don't think he's there, he's there cuz not because necessarily we feel and, but because he said he'd be there and he is the comforter. And, um, so for me, highs and lows, I learn more. I'm, I'm wired. I learn more than a low than what I do in a high.
Yeah. I take the high, you know, but I know that I, I see who I really am, um, in those low times. I see being a Christian, being a journey of, Yeah. Walking with each other. I also like the word adventure. There's certainly nothing Bo, if you've got a medial, Christian life, if any, you know, the folks watching this other, a medial, Christian life, you're missing out cuz there's supposed to be an adventure.
Yeah, yeah, totally. You know, and, um, walking with God is an adventure. You'll see things and do things that you could only read about in a book if you go for it with God. We've seen the miraculous. We're seeing God's provide, um, very practical things. We're seeing amazing healings, you know, with a lady and up the weekend, and we prayed with her 20 years ago when she had hiv and she's.
Completely healed. Wow. You know, um, we've just seen so many amazing healings. Yeah. And yet we'll walk through the valley of the shadow of death with people. It's part of life. So, um, yeah. I am thankful. I, I am, you know, I'm probably most blessed person on this planet, um, that when we've gone through our eyes, our highs, we're able to say Thank you, Jesus.
Yeah. And when those times like, um, have happened, like, um, you know, to ourselves or to people around us, like you mentioned, my nephew being murdered, somehow God reveals himself even in that pain. Um, you know, it's, there's with God, there's no, just get over it. , God has something for the moments. Mm-hmm. and, um, and he's forever speaking and he's forever caring.
And, um, yeah. And I'm just thankful Matt. Mm-hmm. .
Matt Edmundson: That's really powerful. Yeah. Super powerful. I mean, you know, I mentioned this at the start and you, you mentioned it about, about Paul, um, for those watching and listening, and I'm assuming it's gonna be most of them, what actually happened there? Because it wasn't just a case of sort of gang warfare or anything.
Dave Connolly: Was it that this was, this was, this
was awful. This is a, He was working as a carer at the time. He was raising a Christian family in his early twenties, was struggling with his walk with God. He's probably struggling more with the church, the church, you know, as the, the establishment. And he, he went off and he was doing his own thing.
And then a few months before this incident, he, he came back to God and he was really seeking God and loving God and reconnecting. And, um, he had gone to visit a friend. I could just be the broad details. He'd gone to visit a friend. Um, he was off the next day, if I remember rightly. And he'd gone to visit a friend's, play some video games and it was nearly midnight.
Or whatever. And the, sorry. So I get a visit from my dog, , and, and you know, he was off the next day. So we went to visit a friend, play some video games and there'd been some shenanigans going on in the area with some guys causing trouble earlier. And, um, He was going to his friends in a taxi and he just said, Taxi driver, just drop me here.
I can cross over the road and walk down the street. He got out of the taxi, crossed the road, and my understanding is that two guys ran past him and stabbed him and they, I think they were craft knives and they stabbed him and broke them off inside of him. And basically he bled to death within minutes.
Wow.
Matt Edmundson: Wow. And this is, this is actually the son of Mick who's your brother's house where you had the co sheet on the floor and reading the author Blessed about Ryan.
Yeah. His mom and Paul's mom and dad, Mick and Lynn. They wrote a book, um, that I think you can get it on, on Amazon, called Son of a Preacher Man, which tells this story.
And, um, it was quite amazing
this story. It's a, it's a remark and the stuff that's come out of it, I mean, we've, we've featured some of that story actually on Crowd before, but the stuff that's come out of it has been extraordinary. But in the, and, and as with all, I mean, it's easy to sit here in some respects and say, Well, you know, God can bring good out of both situations, but when you are living in that, that's, that's a very different scenario.
Right. So how did you, how did you deal with that at the time?
Dave Connolly: Well, I literally flew home. It happened when I was in America and I flew home from America. Um, my daughter Catherine had stood in and she's a great resource, you know, just fantastic, you know, And, um, she was just loving them and making space to be with them.
And they, and I came home and just said, You know,
what can I do? And really it was just to be with them. And we talked and we cried. And we cried and we laughed. And then we, we planned a funeral. And, um, that, that was, that was quite helpful in the grieving process, I think generally speaking. But some stories came out and that was, um, literally the night before Paul's death.
Um, he'd been at a bar playing Snook Pool with some friends and there was a young lady there who they, who they knew really well. Paul was engaged, his wife was away on mission, Sorry, his fiance was away on mission. And um, there was a young lady there who they just knew as a friend and she was having a bad time.
And basically she left that bar saying, I'm going home to commit suicide. And Paul followed her because he was that concerned. A number of people were concerned, but Paul followed her. And um, he was knocking on her door saying, Look, let's talk. And she's like, No, I'm just gonna kill myself. And he said, Well, I'm gonna sit here all night talking to you, which is what he did.
Wow. And this young lady told that story at his fu at his funeral. Oh. Paula just stayed up all night to talk to her because he was concerned that she was gonna take her own life. And, um, that was probably one of the last things he did.
Matt Edmundson: Wow. That's an incredible story.
Dave Connolly: It is. Um, you know, so. You know, our time here on this planet, it's very short and it's very fragile. It makes you, not necessarily fearful, but it does make you realize, you know, life is fragile and we need to live it. Well, recently we've heard a lot said about the queen, rightly about life lived Well, yeah.
And I would just say, you know, life is, is shorter. It's shorter than any of us would want it to be. Mm-hmm. and or fragile. And we need to live it to the full and not waste it.
Matt Edmundson: And how do you do that? How would you live it to the full? I mean, I appreciate that's a bit of a leading question, but, um, I'll ask it anyway.
Yeah. And
Dave Connolly: I, I, I think my honest answer, Mark, would be
to go, go for God wholeheartedly.
You know, if you wanna achieve something, amazing, if, and I mean, I've never done anything amazing in my life. You know, I've never run a marathon, Julie, has you know, you don't just decide to do it one day. There's lots of training involved, lots of sacrifice, lots of being focused on what you're doing. And, and I think being a Christians like that, we need to be focused.
We need to be determined. We need to be sold out on God and his plans and his his purposes, and, um, and go for it. Start trying to have one force in the world and one foot in, you know, in, in the kingdom. Must be like to say, you know, let's, let's be, let's be honest, let's be real. People out there in the world, they've had enough.
They know all the flaky stuff. They're looking for something that is authentic. And I would say this, Jesus walk is so authentic. At times it just hurts, but you'll never be alone. Yeah. Purely because he said that, Yeah, the only thing you counts on is what God says in his word. And you know, for me, from my early days of being a Christian, there's two places in the Bible that says this.
God says, I will never leave you or abandon you. Mm-hmm. , that is flipping good news for me. Yeah. And I have to tell myself that over and over again. And, um, you know, I, I'm not afraid to say, there are times I have to tell myself that because I don't feel God with me. Like in that time. There's been other times in my life I've not felt lovely feelings of, Not everyone wants to be around other Christians at sometimes, but I have known of not been alone because God says in his word, I will never abandon you.
Yeah. No forsake you and I'm like, God can't lie. Mm-hmm. . And that's what I, that's what I put, That's what I sold my life on Matt.
Matt Edmundson: Yeah. Yeah. No powerful stuff, man. And I would, I agree with everything that you said other than the sentence, I've not done anything amazing. I feel like actually you have, um, in some major ways.
Um, of course, I, I, there's very few people on the planet that have had the impact on my life that you have had. Um, and you know, I'm God's favorite, so it's gotta be amazing. Right. ,
Dave Connolly: that's obviously after me.
Matt Edmundson: I'm just gonna explain for those listening to the podcast before I close it out. Um, we used to have this, uh, do you remember we used to have this thing about who was God's favorite? And we'd argue about it all the time. I'm God's favorite. No, I'm God. And, um, I went and bought the domain name God's favorite.com and just put a picture of me on it.
So when you Googled God's favorite, it just came up with a photo of me and I remember saying to you, one day, Dave, see that Google says it's me. So it's gotta be right ,
Dave Connolly: obviously it came through Wikipedia,
Matt Edmundson: Oh, it's funny, the banter and before anybody writes, says yes, we know God has no favorites. Uh, but that's okay. Um,
Say that again,
Dave Connolly: sorry. Bible tells us we are friends of God.
Matt Edmundson: Yeah, it does. It does. His best friend. Yeah.
There are some friends that you have and then there's your real friends and I'm one of them. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Uh, love it. Absolutely love it. So, Dave, listen, thank I'm aware of time and um, I feel like we're just starting to scratch the surface a little bit, really. Um, if people wanna reach out to you, if people wanna get ahold of you, connect with you, what's the best way to do that
Dave Connolly: yet?
There's a number of ways, Matt. Um, you can track me down on Facebook and you'll go to Dave Connelly, and when you open that up, you'll see, um, it says God seekers uk or you can email me at god seekers UK gmail.com or you can go to a really new, exciting website, which tells you a little bit about some of the things that I'm doing at Revive Masey side dot.
Matt Edmundson: Revive me side.org. That's fantastic. And we will of course link to, uh, all those links for Dave in the show notes, uh, which you can get for free along with the transcript and notes at Crowd Church, www dot Crowd Church, or direct in your inbox if you signed up for a newsletter. Dave, listen, thank you so much for coming on to the podcast, man.
Thanks for sharing your story. Love your loads. Think you're awesome, and it's just been absolutely brilliant. Thank
Dave Connolly: you. Yeah, bless you man. Lovely to see you.
Matt Edmundson: So there you have it. Another fantastic conversation. Huge. Thanks again today for joining me today. Remember to check out Crowd online church at www dot Crowd Church.
Uh, you'll get here Dave speak in a few weeks, and there's some of his talks already on there, which you can also check out, uh, and just check it out even if you might not see the point of church. Uh, Crowd Church is a digital church on a quest to discover how Jesus helps us live a more meaningful life.
We are a community, a space to explore the Christian faith and a place where you can contribute and grow. And you are welcome at Crowd Church. Be sure to subscribe to what's the story wherever you get your podcast from, because we've got some great stories lined up and I don't want you to miss any of them.
And in case no one has told you yet today, uh, let me do this. , you are awesome. Yes you are. It's just a burden. You have to bear, I have to bear it. Dave has to bear it. We're fearfully and wonderfully made and that is good news now, what the story is produced by Crowd Online Church. You can find our entire archive of episodes on your favorite podcast app.
The team, the wonderful team that makes this show possible is Sadaf Beynon, George McCague, Josh Catchpole, Estella Robin, and the Mighty Tim Johnson. Our theme song has been written by Josh Edmundson and if you would like to read the transcript, all show notes, as I said, head over to the website, www dot Crowd Church, where you can also sign up for our newsletter and get all of this good stuff direct to your inbox, totally free.
Totally amazing. So that's it from me. That's it from Dave. Thank you so much for joining me. Uh, have a fantastic week. Uh, I will see you next time. Bye for now.