My wife, son and I are traveling back from his Scouts meeting. Meg – in another subtle attempt to persuade Nathan that his omega 3 consumption is deficient – comments that she feels like eating pilchards on toast when we get home. Nathan gasps in horror. “Did you swear?” There is a faint hint of... Continue Reading →
Father God: Lies We Tell Ourselves
You can either have a Father or you can have a God. You cannot have both. I used to use the phrase “Father God” in my prayers a lot. But no longer. The two are not compatible. This, I believe, is central to the teachings of Jesus. You see, both “Father” and “God” are relational... Continue Reading →
How to Disagree with People: A Christian’s Guide
I want to season this piece with grace, if possible. So I am going to ask your pardon upfront if it sounds like I am being dogmatic or bitter. That is not my intention. I don’t want to go on a crusade against certain types of Christians; that said, I do have serious reservations about... Continue Reading →
Your Destination is on the Right
I used to believe that technology hated me. I am sure many of you will be able to identify with that. If you have ever had a video or sound-clip form a critical focal point of your presentation only to have it suddenly refuse to play at the crucial moment; if autocorrect has ever embellished... Continue Reading →
For Those Who Are Standing on the Inside
I have to give credit to my son’s school. I have a suspicion that I am not going to be the most compliant parent they have ever had to deal with. The “problem” is that I do not see education as something that I pay the school to impose upon my child; I see us... Continue Reading →
Spices on a Plane
Recently it was decided to ban passengers on our flights from carrying spices in their hand luggage. Apparently, assuming you harbor intentions of conducting an assault on an aircraft, you are far more likely to consider a sachet of pepper as your weapon of choice rather than, say, a sharpened pencil. There is a flattering... Continue Reading →
Playing with Clay
When my family gets together, things get loud. I have a very – how shall I put it?... animated family. We feel things deeply. We engage with life and with other people with passion. That has its downside, of course. It means that most of us have battled with depression or anxiety at some stage... Continue Reading →
Mapping Jesus Part 3: Chosen
Like so many other important wisdoms, we have read it on the backs of sugar packets or pasted onto nauseating memes so many times that we tend to overlook the truth the statement contains: life is a journey. The important things in life are always journeys, not events. The events may mark milestones along the... Continue Reading →
Eyes Fixed on Heaven
It’s quite sad, actually: it seems to me that most Christians do not know how to relate to Jesus outside of the concepts of Heaven and Hell. For too many, God simply does not make sense unless the bulk of humanity can be consigned to eternal torment while a select lucky few, with the right... Continue Reading →
I Believe In Jesus
If I asked you what it meant to “believe” in Nelson Mandela, say, or Martin Luther King Jr, or Germaine Greer, or Ché Guevara, or Charles Darwin or Donald Trump or Margaret Atwood, how would you respond? In all likelihood, you would understand that “believing” in a public figure entails resonating with their core ideologies,... Continue Reading →