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Sep 25 2023 Fidelity In Friendship
Reading Time: 7 minutes“Always seek to do good to one another and to everyone.” | Thessalonians 5:15, ESV
Fidelity.
It’s a word perhaps more likely to be used in the context of its absence rather than its presence. Regrettably, it often comes to our attention through it’s lack; infidelity.
While we tend to think of fidelity as describing physical faithfulness in committed, intimate relationships, it’s not just restricted to these.
The word fidelity is also used to describe employee loyalty to a… -
Aug 29 2023 Without The Applause: Examining Celebrity Culture In The Church
Reading Time: 8 minutesI recently wrote an article which I called ‘Beneath The Skin’; a critique of sorts of modern Christianity and the Western church.
The article focused primarily on the collective Christian identity; The Church, not on any one particular denomination or way of ‘doing church’ but, rather, on the church’s influence and presence, as a whole, in the world today. I endeavored to identify both the good and the bad, historically and now, but, in particular, I was… -
Jul 28 2023 A Guide For LGBTQ+ Christian Teens
Reading Time: 8 minutesAre you a Christian teen struggling with or feeling confused by LGBTQ+ and gender identity issues? Then this is a conversation we need to have…
First of all, know this. You are loved.
The God of all the Universe, the One in whose image you’re made loves you. He knows you; your innermost fears, your deepest insecurities, and your hopes and dreams for the future. He has counted every hair on your head.
This is the same God… -
May 29 2023 The Holy Spirit | This Same Power
Reading Time: 10 minutes“If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you” | Romans 8:11, ESV
“…This is my prayer. That God, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ and the all-glorious Father, will give you spiritual wisdom and the insight to know more of Him: that you may receive…
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May 12 2023 Regeneration + The Holy Spirit
Reading Time: 9 minutes“Though outwardly we are wasting away, inwardly we are being renewed day by day.” | 2 Corinthians 4:16, NIV
There can be a tendency to reduce the work of the gospel to simply to a culture of ‘making us nice’. That is to say, that being a Christian equates to a program of basic self-improvement. Yet there are plenty of nice people who aren’t Christians; people who do good things for others without having Jesus in…
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Apr 02 2023 An Easter Tale
Reading Time: 7 minutesLet me tell you a tale.
It starts in a garden, long, long ago.
And what a garden it was – literally, a paradise on earth. A place of grandeur and beauty, filled with trees of every description and with leaves in every shade of green, soaring upwards toward a sky so blue it hurts the eyes.
The sound of a great river can be heard flowing through this garden paradise, a source of life and refreshing for… -
Feb 22 2023 Judging // Discerning
Reading Time: 9 minutesIt seems to me that it has become increasingly difficult to speak into many issues or situations that the church faces today; not because the Bible is silent, not because the church doesn’t have or hasn’t held a historical position on a matter, and not because we, as Christians, don’t know what we ought to be doing. Rather, we are feeling pressed into silence, in many instances, simply on the basis of one little verse…
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Feb 14 2023 What The Church Is (And What She Isn’t)
Reading Time: 6 minutesI really love talking about church.
Not, as in, my church or your church.
Not, as in, what flavour of church, in a denominational sort of way.
And not, as in, which kind of church; mega church, home church, missional church, or cell-group church (and, oh boy, I wish whoever had come up with that last descriptor had really given it a bit more thought…).
I love talking about church, as in, The Church. The bride of the lamb, the… -
Nov 16 2022 Loving The Church
Reading Time: 5 minutes“You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honour.” | James 3:18, MSG
It can be hard to love the church. Frankly, at times, she can seem like a big, fat disappointment.
Infighting. Divisions. The failure of leaders and the apathy of congregants. The assimilation to culture. A preoccupation with… -
Jul 16 2022 Beyond The Pale
Reading Time: 9 minutesI recently wrote about my separation from the religious community I grew up in and the overwhelming response to my article was both encouraging and thought-provoking.
Many people wrote to me, both publicly and privately, to let me know that the article had deeply resonated with them. They expressed that they, too, have had many questions over the years, wrestling with inconsistencies while attempting to find their place in a system they secretly suspected they didn’t…