There are some people that I struggle to like, let alone love. They are those that preen. Those who seem so full of their self-importance, strut around like peacocks, and who want everyone to notice them. You can see it so obviously with some, while with others, it’s more like […]
Spiritual Formation
227 posts
It always happened. After a relapse, he would always say ‘I’ll never do that again, I’m trusting in Jesus to help me’. Charged up by some sort of white-knuckled determination and singing a few Jesus songs off he would go. Sure enough, though his grit would grind out and he […]
The change was barely noticeable unless you knew them well enough to know that this was significant. It was a small change in their behaviour, a problem that had plagued them for most of their life, but now it was gone. They wanted a miracle, like the over night delivery of […]
When do you feel most fully alive? That moment where you feel right on target, in the zone, on the peak of the wave. That time and place, even for the briefest of moments, where you know fully without any doubt that this is what you were meant for. I […]
I didn’t realise life would be such a fight. I thought life was meant to be like a gentle stroll along a flower strewn pathway, chatting with best friends. Well that’s what I was designed for wasn’t I? In reality though I am in a fight, and you are too. […]
I don’t think I could ever be a politician. I look at what politicians have to put up with and know I couldn’t handle it. Adulation one day, then a knife in the back the next. All those negative voices. People wanting to tear you down, and being ready to […]
I want to do it my way. I don’t need others help. I can rebuild my life and recover in my own strength. To admit that I need help is a sign of weakness. That I am just like them. No, I am better than that. I will continue to […]
He could have said it was their problem to solve. He could have told them what they should do. He could have sat back and given out ‘good’ advice. He could have done nothing and gone home. Instead he owned the problem as if it was his own, because it […]
After years of teaching high school in downtown Los Angeles, my wife accepted a job four hours away. On top of my daily stressors of dealing with students and colleagues and deadlines at the school, I now moved to a tiny studio apartment, commuted to see my wife on weekends, and […]
I recently watched some guys putting down a concrete path. Just before they laid the concrete down, a mesh of steel reinforcing was placed into the trench. The concrete was then poured around this mesh until hidden away. Now I have seen concrete work done where there was no reinforcing […]
Sometimes the knife of life drives right to the core of your being. It wrenches around till your bleeding in grief. Your speechless in shock, numb in movement and it feels like the very essence of life has been sucked out of you. You mourn because there is no other worthy […]
Do you like questions being asked of you? I don’t think any of us like that feeling of potential shame and exposure. Ever since Adam hid himself from the gentle questions of a loving God we have chosen to avoid, hide and lie to camouflage the obviousness of a problem. I […]
Christmas time can be one of those times when you can feel miserable. Often this is because in our minds we play a little comparison game. We compare our lot in life, our situation, and our ability to give, to what we perceive in others.
Recently I have been reading and practising Mindfulness. I have found it very helpful, so I thought it would be good to get some advice and guidance around Mindfulness. I tracked down Richard Johnston who has a website dedicated to Christian Mindfulness. So I sent him some questions. 1. What is […]
I was always on the lookout for black wool. I raised on a sheep farm here in New Zealand and whenever shearing time came around I was in the shearing shed working alongside those lean muscular men, shearing our sheep.
I have always marvelled at the skill of those who played the sport of Lawn Bowls. In this very English game, a small heavy ball is bowled down a perfectly flat green lawn at such a pace that it will come to rest next to a smaller white ball. Rather […]
This morning I heard this beautiful translation of Psalm 23. Enjoy The Lord is my constant companion. There is no need that He cannot fulfil.
Something happened here but it didn’t happen overnight. As a gardener I have been working on an old homestead garden for two days every week for around two years. When I first started, the garden was in bad shape. Over grown with weeds, dead trees and sick looking plants it […]
It’s his favourite resting place. I have a large comfortable chair in my office. With solid armrests and comfortable cushions sometimes it’s a tussle between myself and our two dogs who gets to sit on it. Our nervous pound pooch Tyler particularly likes it. He climbs his large body into […]
This morning I woke up and realised some thing was different. While I was sleeping somebody came in and cleaned the house, sorted the washing, and even … took out the rubbish. Well, it felt like that.