Refresh: Adam Raised a Cain – When our Children Break our Heart.
Today’s Refresh post will touch a raw nerve for some. Nothing impacts us like our family and children. When things go wrong, it is more than heart breaking. I hope that this post from February 2016 is of some small help. Refresh: Adam Raised a Cain – When our Children Break our Heart Don’t know if you are familiar with the Bruce Springsteen classic, Adam Raised a Cain, with its haunting closing lines, ‘Lost but not forgotten, from the dark heart of a dream, Adam raised a Cain.’ For those less familiar with the biblical story behind these lyrics, the song...
Read MoreOn proceeding as the way opens…
You might know the lovely Quaker saying, “Proceed as the way opens.” In a risk averse era, one where we want absolute clarity and know that we are liable if we forget to read the small print, this is a gentle prompt to accept the ambiguity of life, and to remember that everything isn’t known in advance, but that we must trust the process, or better still, trust the steady hand of God, and proceed as the way opens. Trouble is, this often requires patience. The way doesn’t always open as quickly or as obviously as we would like. The dilemma is not new. Ask Gideon, who...
Read MoreRefresh: About Church Buildings…
Todays Refresh post originally appeared in November 2015 after a holiday Rosemary and I had just completed in Europe. I think it is well worth a re-read. Refresh: About Church Buildings… A common question of tourists is ‘So what did you see today?’ If they are touring Europe (as Rosemary and I have just done), you are likely to hear the reply, ‘abc’. Lest you have not heard the quip, abc stands for ‘another bloody church’. It is a little ironic that the worlds most secular continent is filled with church buildings – and not just...
Read MoreOn Bringing Little Bits of Happiness: The Value of Micro-Encounters
I was listening to a podcast to pass the 15 minutes that lay ahead on the elliptical trainer. The sentiment expressed was simple, but I thought it worth developing. Whoever the podcaster was (being on the trainer is my excuse for not knowing) said we often think that we only make a difference when we do profound and life changing things. She went on to cite research suggesting that pleasant micro encounters can make a major difference to the happiness of those who experience them. Perhaps that sounds just a touch too theoretical, but she was affirming an important truth. When we smile at a...
Read MoreRefresh: To Strive for Great Things. Is Ambition OK?
Ambition… It’s such a vexed question. This longish Refresh post from 9 Oct 2015 raises some important questions and outlines helpful principles to guide us. Hope you find it helpful… To Strive for Great Things. Is Ambition OK? J. Oswald Sanders starts his classic book Spiritual Leadership by contrasting 1 Tim 3:1 To aspire to leadership is an honourable ambition with Jeremiah 45:5 Are you seeking great things for yourself? Seek them not. There is a creative tension between the two sentiments. Is there a place in the life of a Christ follower for ambition? If you listen to...
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