thinking honestly about life and faith
We all try to make sense of the world. It's natural that we do. It's what makes us human: to apply some kind of rational thinking to the way we live and act. We try to make order amidst the … Read More »
At the end of this series comes 'self-control'.In the garden of the Spirit, we find the fruit of self-control. What can this mean?First, this is a huge challenge to all those who see religion as the deprecation of self: 'all … Read More »
The harvest of the Spirit includes gentleness.This is surely a greatly mis-understood idea, supported for example by the imagery of 'gentle Jesus, meek and mild'.It is this kind of thinking that associates faith, or more precisely Christian faith, with weakness, … Read More »
Recently I attended a conference from which I took a number of helpful ideas about leadership, and I to pass them on. The central focus is upon the person, not so much technique and style of leadership.Here are some of … Read More »
Every year in December our family purchases a CD called 'The Spirit of Christmas', produced by the Myer Corporation to raise funds for the Salvation Army's children and youth programs. The tracks are of varying qualities, but this year's CD … Read More »
I heard this quotation during one of the case studies we did at Harvard earlier this year: People are assets when they are born into this world and they become liabilities. I want to keep making them assets.
Today is 'Remembrance Day', when many nations recognize the signing of the Armistice which ended the 'Great War', World War 1.I have a number of personal reflections on the significance of this event.Having spent my life as a pacifist, I … Read More »
In recent weeks I have been thinking that too much of the discussion in ministry and theological circles is about forms of church, worship styles and models of mission, without the primary focus on what Jesus sent his followers to … Read More »
The Spirit nurtures the fruit of faith, to produce faithfulness, or shall we say, 'faith-full-ness'. To understand faithfulness, we need to think about what faith is. There's a lot of confusion here, but if we can get some handles on … Read More »
It's taken me a long time to get to goodness. Is that somehow significant? Maybe I just never wanted to be good! But this is not an individual thing. The Spirit grows goodness, in individuals and communities. There is a … Read More »