Articles, thoughts, essays, and content from Brian as well as students – our budding theologians.
Towards a Theology of Personal Development (7): Guided by Hope
Perhaps there is no word in the English language as depressing as “hopeless”. It’s the word we attach to seriously lost causes, or the resigned and despairing verdict we pronounce when a desired dream is clearly not going to eventuate – “It’s hopeless.” We might add, “So let’s give up now. Carrying on only makes it worse.” Yet hopeless is not really part of the Christian vocabulary. In Rom 15:13 Paul prays: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in...
read moreRefresh: Because Our Habits Form Us…
What are 5 habits you’d like to change? And 5 you’d like to keep? Because our habits shape so much of what we do, it’s important to check we are cultivating the right ones, as this Refresh post from Jan 2022 reminds us. Hope it’s helpful. Refresh: Because Our Habits Form Us Though I no longer remember her name, I remember the enthusiastic student teacher in my primary school teaching us about habits, and how important it is to form good ones. “A habit sticks with you,” she proclaimed. She wrote the word HABIT on the...
read moreTowards a Theology of Personal Development (6): Formed by Disappointment and Failure
I always try to discover which parts of my books most resonate with readers. I was intrigued to find that in my latest book, Stirrers and Saints, the chapter on being formed by disappointment and failure has sparked many conversations. The podcast on the topic is also popular. The idea that we are formed by winter, and that it is a season to embrace rather than flee from, is a little counter intuitive, but once accepted, it’s really rather liberating. I’ve participated in a fair number of staff selection interviews, and a question...
read moreRefresh: Conscious Incompetence – On Knowing What We Don’t Know
It’s strange to think of humility as one of the markers of future success, but it is. Without it, we don’t realise how much we still have to learn, and we miss cues which could set us on a better path. I enjoyed re-reading this post from April 2022, and hope you do as well. Refresh: Conscious Incompetence – On Knowing What We Don’t Know It was only a few sentences in a podcast I recently listened to, but it set me thinking. The speaker suggested there are four stages in the journey towards competence: Unconscious...
read moreTowards a Theology of Personal Development (5): Cultivating Awe and Wonder
It was a fairly typical conversation at the end of a busy week. “So what does your weekend hold?” a colleague asked. “Not a lot,” I said. “Dinner with some friends tomorrow, I’m preaching Sunday and then we’ve a family lunch afterwards.” “Sounds awesome,” he said. “Enjoy it.” I don’t like being pedantic, but I wondered if I should challenge him about his use of words. While the weekend promised to be enjoyable, I was not convinced that there was anything in it that...
read moreRefresh: A Cold Dark Night on the Side of Everest – How Expectations Shape Outcomes
Todays Refresh has been one of the most frequent downloads since I first published it in 2022. I imagine its reminder that when we sign up for difficult things we should expect to find them – well, difficult, is timely. Expectations matter, and when we factor a healthy dose of realism into our equation, we are more likely to persevere and ultimately succeed. Refresh – A Cold Dark Night on the Side of Everest: How Expectations Shape Outcomes I recently enjoyed listening to psychologist Alia Crum speaking on the Hidden Brain podcast...
read moreIn Praise of Rosemary – in Praise of Marriage
I thought I’d take a weeks break from the current series “Towards a Theology of Personal Development” to mark a milestone birthday for Rosemary, the love of my life, who turned 70 on Monday. Actually, it isn’t really a break, for nothing develops you in quite the same way as love and marriage – and in a few months we will have been married for 45 years. When I say that, people often congratulate me and I never really understand it. After all, we congratulate people on achieving things that are difficult, or have...
read moreRefresh: Reclaiming and Redeeming Gossip…
A couple of my recent posts have looked at words and the power of words. I thought it would be helpful to supplement these with this Refresh post from June 2022 which looked at the possibility of redeeming gossip. To find the fascinating origin of the word gossip – read on… Refresh: Reclaiming and Redeeming Gossip It was a prayer meeting I was at several decades ago. The person praying suddenly asked that God would help James and Jenni (yes, I have changed their names) in their marriage problems, especially after their last major...
read moreTowards a Theology of Personal Development (4): Because the Body is a Temple…
It’s interesting how some Bible verses get emphasised in one era, are then almost forgotten about in the next, before making a bit of a comeback. 1 Cor 6:19-20 fits into this category: “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your body.” The immediate context is a discussion on sexual immorality, but shortly before Paul was working with a wider canvas that also included theft,...
read moreRefresh: When Faith is a Quest…
I’ve met several people who have said words to the effect of: “I would really like to believe, it’s just that I don’t. And even with the best will in the world, that doesn’t seem likely to change. I have so many questions that seem to annoy those who believe. I find people of faith often lack curiosity. But that’s the catch for me. I’m very curious. And I love asking questions. And in the end it seems that I’m just irritating to believers, so I’ve backed away.” This refresh post from...
read more