Our minds can feel like a monkey circus at times, but perhaps Psalm 121 can bring some quiet to our anxiety. Off went my thoughts. Every time I thought about this situation, my mind would take my thoughts on a meandering yet whirlwind dance. Monkeys swinging in the circus of […]
Spiritual Practices
40 posts
The singing of Bible verses into our everyday life and can make them stay with us a lifetime. That’s why we need the simplicity of Scripture in Song. They were simple songs. Easy to sing. Easy to play. Back in the 1970s and 80s here in New Zealand, and in […]
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 […]
Some people believe in luck; I don’t. I believe in wisdom and work, empowered with faith to build a boat that catches providential wind. I remember the first time I bought a lottery ticket. I’ve only ever done this twice. I remember all the thoughts that raged around in me. […]