When we are seen…
Have you ever felt invisible? If it’s especially bad, people don’t notice you at all, if a softer version, they sort of see you, but have placed you in an inaccurate and limiting box. You know there is more to you – but you struggle to get it out or for anyone to realise that there is a more significant you waiting to be discovered. It’s alienating, frustrating, and lonely. Sometimes we have landed up with a label – perhaps as a result of a major failure. We are the cheat, the unreliable one, the adulterer, the drunk, the druggie, the undisciplined dropout or...
Read MoreDoes Church Matter?
I’ve just finished teaching a week long intensive called “Denominational Distinctives.” It’s an “all things Baptist” unit – and most of the dozen students who were in the class are well on their way to becoming Baptist pastors. Pleasingly while most make it clear they think the age of denominations is long past and come to the unit a little resentfully, (it’s obligatory if you are to become a Baptist minister), by and large they land up enjoying it. In fact over the years I have taught it, many have said it turned out to be their favourite...
Read MoreThings that get in the way…
You’ve probably not spent a lot of time thinking about the troublesome little song recorded in 1 Samuel 18:7 “Saul has killed his thousands, and David his ten thousands.” To all intents and purposes it led to a civil war, which was a pretty devastating and dramatic outcome for a song simply meant to celebrate a significant change in Israel’s military fortunes. Israel knew only too well what it was to be defeated in war, but now that Saul was king and David was a significant warrior in his army – well, the taste of victory was a lot sweeter than its opposite, and...
Read MoreTruth, Goodness, Beauty: Cultivating a Christian Voice
I recently spoke at the Christian Media and Arts Australia conference on “Truth, Goodness, Beauty: With What Voice Should we Speak in Today’s Culture?” It’s a genuinely important question, and AVENIR, the Leadership Institute I now lead, was closely involved in the program design and presentations. It was a real privilege and I think it was a very significant conference. Given that the voice of Christian media is heard by several million Australians every week (and there were representatives from other countries as well) – it is obviously important that those...
Read MoreMoody Weeks, Volatile Weeks…
I don’t know if you are a “steady as she goes” kind of person, or one who is a little more stormy. By and large I fall into the calm category, but this week I have been reminded that even calm people have volatile periods – precisely because I have had one! Interesting how things go wonderfully to plan – until they don’t. Yup, it’s been that kind of week. Goodness, there was even the death of the Queen. Her passing leaves a void that is unlikely to be filled. In short, it’s hard to see how things could have been worse. Pleasingly several of my...
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