Where I focus, I will go. What would happen if I chose to sit in God’s joy of me? Perhaps some of the old would be washed away. It was a deep approval. The smile, the welcome, the love. The banner was stretched out wide, saying, ‘This is home’. […]
Faith & Mental Health
Life can have many traumatic events, but is God concerned about your happiness? Yes, and there is a quest happening. I’ve been doing a sailing course over the last month. Learning how a sailboat worked. I knew the physics, but I wanted to feel what it was like to be […]
You would think that going to church should be anxiety free wouldn’t you? An email from someone came to me this week. ‘I was told [by a christian counsellor] that God’s antidote for anxiety was pray right, think right, do right. I went to church today and was filled with […]
They wanted me to try harder. But when you’re in a dark hole of depression, or you don’t have the skills, energy, or even understanding, it can feel like yet another stone of struggle to carry. Confusion reigns, and the self-loathing chatter begins. It cycles around and around in the […]
Perhaps it’s the little ones where we should give our focus. What would a church for the ‘little ones’ look like? There is a church that I drive past most weeks, and as I do, my heart sinks. Years ago, I went into this church building several times and […]
It was a curious piece of tapestry. What happened there? Why did the artist weave this in? Perhaps for our Providence. When I was pastoring in a church community, one of the roles I had was to officiate at funerals. Often, I would know very little about the deceased. […]
I want to know. How are you? Where are you? Then I can be with you where you are. God can not help a pretending or hiding heart. They were the words that I listened for over the radio in the mid-90’s. ‘How are you? Where are you?’ These […]
Hidden away? Longing to be sought after? In the parable of the pearl merchant, we find a lover with a quest. Imagine yourself as a child and you’re at a friend’s birthday party. A game is played. Hide and seek. Your friend, the one who is celebrating the birthday, is […]
The Pearl of Great Price It drew me in It held my gaze Its beauty was a magnet It held me all my days This delight This incredible joy This pearl of beauty Became my all in all I sold everything I had It captured and stole my heart Everything […]
A parasite can enter your soul from a very young age, but with a smothering of truth, it can become the building block of a pearl. It wasn’t many words, but they were enough for a parasite to enter the soul and take up space. There it sat and fed. […]