When the World Sends You Garbage, Send Back Music
Cateura is a small slum in Paraguay, South America, built on a rubbish tip. Desperately poor, its villagers eke out a living by recycling and selling whatever they can find in the garbage. But from these unpromising conditions something beautiful has emerged. And it holds an important lesson for you and me. More…
How to Stop Work From Taking Over Your Life
Checking email at all hours. Catching up on work every weekend. Feeling like you should be doing something productive when you rest. If you’ve been caught up in the modern malady of overwork you’re not alone. In this warm conversation with Mary Hynes, host of CBC Canada’s Tapestry program, you’ll hear us explore how society has come to idolise work (it’s not about money), why playfulness is next to godliness, the simple daily practice that’s helped me interrupt the hyper-productivity cycle, and more. More…
Being Heard is the First Step to Healing
‘Being heard is the first step to healing.’ These words from Patrick Regan sum up well the TV conversation you’re about to see. In this TBN UK interview Patrick and I discuss the importance of sharing your emotions, why telling someone to ‘man up’ or ‘have more faith’ doesn’t work, how to understand God’s role in suffering, and how to see beautiful things emerge from your disappointment. I hope it brings you some encouragement today. More…
What a Little Girl Named Phoebe Can Tell Us About Ourselves
A few weeks ago I spoke at a secular conference for childless couples—an audience of men and women wondering what to do with their lives now they may not become parents. After I’d spoken, a woman approached me in tears. “I’ve been wondering all day why I came,” she said, “but now I know. I needed to hear about Phoebe.” How ironic that it was a story about an unborn child that made all the difference. But what’s true of Phoebe is true of you too. More…
Bring The Making of Us to Your Small Group With This FREE Leader’s Guide and Personalised Video
Are you part of a reading group, book club or church small group? I hope so, as I believe they’re a powerful tool for personal growth. Having discovered that people are using The Making of Us in such groups, I decided to write a 7-session Leader’s Guide to help facilitate discussion. And then I thought, wouldn’t it be fun to record a personalised video for your group too? Both are FREE and available for you now. More…
A Conversation on Finding Your Deeper Identity and Purpose
When you can’t become who you want to be, you can still become who you’re meant to be. And the person you’re meant to be is so much bigger than you’ve dreamed. In the last few weeks I have done dozens of radio interviews across the US, UK and Australia sharing lessons like this from my book The Making of Us. Here is one of my favourites. In this far-reaching conversation, Susie Larson and I discuss the difference between primary and secondary callings, how fixating on our past achievements can blind us to what God is doing in and through us now, how to leave a legacy, and more. I hope you get as much out of this conversation as I did. More…
The Story of the Church is Deep and Rich, and Full of Heroes Like These
Failing politicians. Falling church leaders. We could do with some new heroes right now. Thankfully, the deep, rich story of the church is full of them. Here are four early faith heroes to know about, the simple thing they did to change the world, and how work like theirs led to the very institutions you and I take for granted today. More…
This One Question Can Help Focus Your Life on What Really Matters
Pick up a typical self-help book and it won’t be long before the author tells you to Follow your dreams. As a dreamer, I love this advice. But not everyone is a dreamer. What do you follow then? It seems to me there’s a more important quest for both dreamer and non-dreamer alike, which is to pursue what matters most. But how can we unearth what that is? In the busyness of the everyday, how can we discern what we should focus on? Here’s a question that can help. More…
Why and How to Do a Mini Pilgrimage
This year as many as 300 million people will go on a pilgrimage. What’s interesting is that this figure has been rising every year for the past decade, and it’s not only religious people who are doing it. Why are so many everyday people feeling the call to make a ‘meaningful journey to a sacred place’? In this post and video I’ll explore some answers, plus give you four steps to plan a mini pilgrimage of your own. More…
Busyness is a Bully, Comparison is a Tyrant. I Say, Enough
Busyness is a bully at the best of times, stomping around, wanting the playground to itself, chasing peace away first, then patience, kindness, joy, and self-control. But this bully becomes a tyrant when it teams up with comparison. Here’s how the two work together. Let’s say ‘enough!’ to their lies. More…
