Marry Your Trial with Your Talent to Bring Something New into the World
I made a number of discoveries while writing The Making of Us, one of the most impacting being that the trials of life can release our best gifts into the world. All it takes is some creative merging of those trials with our God-given talents. In this short video I unpack the idea with some
Four Ways to Turn Suffering into Service
Researchers into resilience say we bounce back from adversity better when we can turn our weakness into strength and our pain into power. It's a nice thought, but how can it happen? Here are four ways I've seen God do it by seeing pain as a challenge to be fulfilled, a gift to be embraced,
047 How and When to Share Your Pain with Others
By taking the risky step of sharing your pain with others, surprising community can result. That was the message of my last post and podcast. But there's a time to share your suffering with others and a time not to. Here's how to work out the difference.
046 Your Pain Can Get You Inside This Secret Tribe
There is a Tribe whose members are both hidden and everywhere around you. Initiation to this Tribe comes through suffering, inclusion comes through pain. If you’ve walked through the wilderness and born wounds from it, you’re an initiate. Take the vulnerable step of revealing your scars and you’ll soon be welcomed in.
036 The Problem with Kitsch Jesus
You’ll find him in Christian bookstores, on ‘Christian art’ sites and all over Facebook. He may hang on your friend's lounge room wall, or even on your own. He is kitsch Jesus. But while he may remind us of how sweet and gentle he is, kitsch Jesus has a problem. Here he is in pictorial
Can You See all the Broken Beauty? (30 Photos)
Merryn and I have just returned from a holiday to southern Italy. It was a trip filled with both beauty and decay. Yet even in the decay a subtle beauty was found - a 'broken beauty' which can help us see our own lives in a new way. Here are 30 photographs to show you
022 After the Wilderness, a New Beginning
Can anything good come out of painful 'wilderness' experiences like grief, unwanted singleness, infertility or failure? I believe so. In this talk I explore how God makes the wilderness a place of surprising revelation, provision and discovery.
‘I Needed this Book’ John Smith on Resurrection Year
A few weeks ago I received a phone call from John Smith, the radical Australian minister, speaker and God's Squad motorcycle club founder. He told me my book Resurrection Year had moved him deeply. I asked him to put his feelings into words.
Ten Years in the Wilderness (Resurrection Year excerpt)
Here is a second excerpt from my forthcoming book, Resurrection Year, a book about recovering from broken dreams. As the CS Lewis character in Shadowlands says, 'We read to know we're not alone.' If you've had a broken dream, you aren't alone. And a new beginning is possible for you too.
Look Beyond the Pain to the Victory
In the crumbling medieval church of North Yorkshire's Mount Grace Priory stands a striking piece of artwork – the Madonna Of The Cross. Crafted by the sculptor Malcolm Brocklesby in 1996, the piece invites us to ask some hard questions about our lives and callings.