I keep trying to get things right, but there’s no more penance to pay. It’s all been taken care of. I woke up the other morning with this phrase running through my head. ‘No more penance to pay’ What does this word ‘penance’ mean? Penance comes from the Latin […]
Spiritual Formation
A judgment has been made, and you’ve been put in a box. Possibly you have built this box yourself? That box needs exploding from the inside out. It felt like they had been judged. A rulebook had been passed over them. Measurements had been taken. From the very few questions […]
We have desires, longings, thirsts, but can God meet these? What does the Bible say about desire and delight? I have a desire. Actually, I have multiple desires. Desires that I might not even be consciously aware of can be drivers of my behaviour. Often when I listen to people […]
It’s a place of desperation. I need God’s help, but where are you, God? I’m tired, in pain, broken, alone and lost. I want the struggle to be over. Right here and now. I’ve been judged, and the stones are being thrown. I’ve judged myself, and I’m drowning in guilt […]
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 […]
We need a place. A church, a nest, a fire of warm burning coals. A place for the growth of mental health. Is it possible? Trigger alert: This post contains the word ‘Church’ in it. 😊 Please push through. The story goes that there was once a man who had […]
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 […]
I have a slippery memory. Memories of the good can slip away, but having a habit of recording the good can change our thinking in wonderful ways. My mother kept a red ledger book in one of the kitchen drawers, and it kept her. It kept her grounded in the […]
I want relief from tension. But where from? Maybe in Jehovah – Jireh. The God who sees and provides in the cognitive dissonance of struggle. I want answers. Easy to find answers. But maybe what I really want is for the tension I am in to be seen and […]