Christian life Archives - Brian Harris https://brianharrisauthor.com/tag/christian-life/ Tue, 05 Aug 2025 02:17:01 +0000 en-AU hourly 1 https://i0.wp.com/brianharrisauthor.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/cropped-brianharrisauthor-favicon-1.png?fit=32%2C32&ssl=1 Christian life Archives - Brian Harris https://brianharrisauthor.com/tag/christian-life/ 32 32 93416650 A Walk in the Woods… https://brianharrisauthor.com/a-walk-in-the-woods/ https://brianharrisauthor.com/a-walk-in-the-woods/#comments Sat, 15 Jul 2023 22:00:00 +0000 https://brianharrisauthor.com/?p=4379 This week Rosemary and I managed a short escape down Margaret River way, in part to celebrate my 66th birthday. Most of the family joined us and we were amply accommodated in a cavernous home that could have coped with a party twice our size. The weather was great in a wintery way – cold […]

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]]> https://brianharrisauthor.com/a-walk-in-the-woods/feed/ 10 4379 When Leaders Fall… https://brianharrisauthor.com/when-leaders-fall/ https://brianharrisauthor.com/when-leaders-fall/#comments Sat, 01 Jul 2023 23:43:58 +0000 https://brianharrisauthor.com/?p=4359 To be clear, this post isn’t a reaction to some new scandal and I’m not making any veiled references to some unsavoury incident soon to shock and dismay the Christian community. It is true that there have been so many moral failures that we should be disturbed – but even if you immediately attach a […]

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]]> https://brianharrisauthor.com/when-leaders-fall/feed/ 2 4359 For the Applause of Nail Scarred Hands… https://brianharrisauthor.com/for-the-applause-of-nail-scarred-hands/ https://brianharrisauthor.com/for-the-applause-of-nail-scarred-hands/#respond Sat, 29 Apr 2023 22:00:00 +0000 https://brianharrisauthor.com/?p=4277 I love Mark Batterson’s counsel to “live for the applause of nail scarred hands”. It has echoes of R.T.Kendall’s instruction to live “for an audience of one”. Both remind us that it is God’s perspective of who we are and what we do that matters. That’s easy to forget in an era that places great […]

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]]> https://brianharrisauthor.com/for-the-applause-of-nail-scarred-hands/feed/ 0 4277 From Statements of Faith to Theological Architecture… https://brianharrisauthor.com/from-statements-of-faith-to-theological-architecture/ https://brianharrisauthor.com/from-statements-of-faith-to-theological-architecture/#comments Sat, 25 Mar 2023 22:00:00 +0000 https://brianharrisauthor.com/?p=4213 If you are a Christian, tell me what kind of a Christian you are? In a divisive age where faith is expressed in varied and sometimes incompatible ways, this has become a relevant question. While most of us feel a little uncomfortable asking it, it is a little naive to assume we all love Jesus, […]

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]]> https://brianharrisauthor.com/from-statements-of-faith-to-theological-architecture/feed/ 12 4213 Between Toxic Positivity and a Deus Remotus… https://brianharrisauthor.com/between-toxic-positivity-and-a-deus-remotus/ https://brianharrisauthor.com/between-toxic-positivity-and-a-deus-remotus/#respond Sat, 03 Sep 2022 22:00:00 +0000 https://brianharrisauthor.com/?p=3928 Toxic positivity is a new buzz word which rightly laments the irritating habit of attributing something positive to everything that happens, the kind of “if life serves you lemons, make lemonade” mindset which undergirds most bumper stickers and many sermon slogans. It’s an attitude that makes it near impossible to own failure, unless it is […]

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]]> https://brianharrisauthor.com/between-toxic-positivity-and-a-deus-remotus/feed/ 0 3928 On full stops and commas… https://brianharrisauthor.com/on-full-stops-and-commas/ https://brianharrisauthor.com/on-full-stops-and-commas/#comments Sat, 21 May 2022 22:00:00 +0000 https://brianharrisauthor.com/?p=3783 Let me start with a brag, and follow it with a confession. I won the English prize at school. True, that was not far off 50 years ago but I haven’t forgotten the thunderous applause as I walked up to receive my prize. Well – that’s how I remember it, though others might say they […]

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]]> https://brianharrisauthor.com/on-full-stops-and-commas/feed/ 2 3783 When Confidence is a Curse.. https://brianharrisauthor.com/when-confidence-is-a-curse/ https://brianharrisauthor.com/when-confidence-is-a-curse/#respond Thu, 27 Aug 2020 22:00:59 +0000 https://brianharrisauthor.com/?p=3339 Swamped as we are with endless courses aimed at enhancing our self esteem and confidence, it might seem passing strange to suggest that confidence can be a curse. But it can! True, lack of confidence can also be a curse, but for a while ponder the other side of the equation – for although our […]

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]]> https://brianharrisauthor.com/when-confidence-is-a-curse/feed/ 0 3339 Praying the journey… https://brianharrisauthor.com/praying-the-journey/ https://brianharrisauthor.com/praying-the-journey/#comments Tue, 05 May 2020 22:00:17 +0000 https://brianharrisauthor.com/?p=3292 My Sabbatical leave is almost over, and what an unusual season it has been. I spent part of it at Carson Newman University in Tennessee, and after seven wonderful weeks close to the Smoky Mountains, Rosemary and I had to dash back to Australia to avoid being locked out, potentially for many months. It did […]

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]]> https://brianharrisauthor.com/praying-the-journey/feed/ 6 3292 Hope’s Beautiful Daughters… https://brianharrisauthor.com/hopes-beautiful-daughters/ https://brianharrisauthor.com/hopes-beautiful-daughters/#comments Wed, 31 Jul 2019 22:00:08 +0000 https://brianharrisauthor.com/?p=3203 It is alleged that St Augustine said that hope has two beautiful daughters, anger and courage. Without these, Augustine argued, hope comes to nothing. Why these two daughters? (And although off the point, why daughters? Don’t we usually see anger and courage as male qualities? Clearly Augustine didn’t, and perhaps his 5th century wisdom should […]

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]]> https://brianharrisauthor.com/hopes-beautiful-daughters/feed/ 7 3203 Quotable: Eugene Peterson and Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places https://brianharrisauthor.com/quotable-eugene-peterson-and-christ-plays-in-ten-thousand-placese/ https://brianharrisauthor.com/quotable-eugene-peterson-and-christ-plays-in-ten-thousand-placese/#comments Sun, 09 Sep 2018 22:00:44 +0000 http://brianharrisauthor.com/?p=2995 I have always appreciated the work of Eugene Peterson, and was recently re-reading Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places, first published in 2005 and in my opinion, one of his finest works. Here are some insights from the book… Endings take precedence over beginnings. We begin a journey by first deciding on a destination. Eugene Peterson, […]

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