When I was on a 6-hour road trip back to university I picked up a hitchhiker. It was cold and wintery as I turned a corner on the Desert road and I saw a young man with his thumb stuck out. Thin, short hair and poorly clothed for the winter, […]
spiritual formation
114 posts
When God has left the building, turning up the volume won’t help. At the school where I grow vegetables, it can be very noisy. I have a group of children that love to help and to get my attention they will often speak louder, and wave hands like windmills. It can […]
Life has a tragic way of repeating itself. It seems at times that we just go round an endless loop of repeating the same mistakes over and over again. Then someone says ‘forget what lies behind.’ One of my favorite classic movies is Groundhog day with a very young Bill […]
It’s always dangerous when we subconsciously create a ‘saviour’ out of a sinner. If you stand too close to the pedestal, of a venerated statue, you’ll get damaged by the cracks. I always cringed when someone would call me ‘Pastor Barry’. If possible I would always ask them to never do […]
We are all like druggies, wanting that quick fix to kill the pain. Be it a drug, some porn, a sale, a comfort food, an altar call, a dose of the ghost (Holy Spirit), or a faith formula to get what we want. Anything, just anything to avoid going deep, […]
You think you have forgiven, but now and then anger bubbles up. You try and stuff it back in its box, but you know that its whisper is still fuming around your heart. Perhaps you need to discover compassion. A step that is unusual and not what you naturally want […]
Meeting with others on a regular basis builds strength and resilience in our Mental Health. Friends build each other up to be strong. I wasn’t expecting any great life-changing moments happening in this small group of three people. As they talked, I could see that they were increasingly feeling comfortable […]
That little phrase ‘Cleanliness is next to Godliness’ is not actually in the Bible. In fact, Jesus had a rant about those who equated having the body externally clean with being close to God. In Jesus words they were like ‘manicured grave plots, grass clipped and the flowers bright, but […]
It was my routine that I had built up over the years that got me through the dark morning. Do you have a routine? Ever had one of those mornings where you just don’t want to face the day. You’re sort of glued to the bed. It’s a safe, warm […]
Spiritual Formation that changes our Mental Health is found through ‘Little by little’ dance steps with God. ‘Superficiality is the curse of our age. The doctrine of instant satisfaction is a primary spiritual problem.’ With these words, Richard foster begins chapter one of his classic best-selling book ‘Celebration of Discipline’. […]