A Prayer of Surrender  As a child I used to play a game called ‘Surrender’. The rules of the game were simple: two opponents grabbed the other’s arm and gave a ‘Chinese Burn’ until one person yelled “surrender!” to stop the game and accept defeat. Pretty brutish, really. I liked to play with my younger sisters but not so much with my older brother (for obvious reasons).  Surrendering to something doesn’t come naturally to us. Our natural bent is to rule over our own lives. We want to control and determine our own way and our culture screams at us ‘you do you’. But as Christians we’re called to surrender – not a surrender of defeat but one of trust. Trust in God who loves us deeply and knows

Eyes on the prize Olympic fever has taken over our screens, our news feeds and for many of us, our conversations. Maybe you are a big fan; watching the medal tally with keen interest, cheering on the Aussies every chance you get, and even becoming a bit emotional when you listen to the post race interviews. Or maybe you’re just not that interested in watching people poke each other with a fairly blunt sword, or run around and around in a big circle, or try and jump over a really high bar with a long bendy stick. But either way, how can you not admire the determination and the focus of the athletes? I can only imagine the preparation that must go into training and being ready to compete

To Judge or Not to Judge? The Bible’s teaching about judgement can seem confusing. I’m not talking about the judgement of God, which is clear. I’m talking about the way we are to, or not to, judge one another. On the one hand, there are places in the New Testament where we are clearly commanded to make judgments; to be discerning about people, their teaching, and their actions (e.g., Lk. 12:57; Jn. 7:24; Rom. 15:14; 1 Cor. 10:15; 2 Cor. 13:5; 1 Jn. 4:1). In fact, the ability to exercise appropriate judgment is even seen as a necessary sign of Christian maturity (e.g., 1 Cor. 2:15; 6:1–6; Phil. 1:9; Col. 1:9). On the other hand, there are other places where we are clearly warned about the danger of passing

Why I Need to Pray What goes through your mind when you wake up in the morning? Honestly, my mind seems programmed to go down a negative track as soon as I wake up. I don’t know if that’s a normal thing, or if it’s some kind of spiritual attack, but when I wake up generally my thoughts head (pun intended) down a negative track. My default seems to be to find some kind of flaw in myself and then to feel bad about it and start the day negatively. Not very healthy right?! I say this because it illustrates why I need prayer. I can’t live without prayer because prayer connects me to my Father in heaven who loves me. I try to practice giving God my thoughts

GTWM Have you heard of the “GRWM” trend? What about the “GTWM” trend? Maybe you’ve heard of one but not the other? Over the past 13 years, there has been a trend called “grwm” going around. This stands for “get ready with me”, and it is a trend that is quite popular on social media. People have been attaching this tag to videos they shoot, and it is effectively a video blog of the process it takes them to get ready. Maybe they are getting ready for work. Maybe they are getting ready to go out to a party. Or they could even be getting ready to go and run a marathon. Through this article, I would love to kickstart a new trend that I am abbreviating - “gtwm”.

You Are Capable - With God  If you’re like me, sometimes you think you’re a little useless or ill equipped to serve God. Or sometimes you compare yourself to others and think there is no way you can serve him in your current context… so why try? Upon reflection I see that this puts pressure on yourself that can paralyse you to serve God. I hope the three illustrations below encourage you, as they did me, to see that our context doesn’t matter, who we rely on does.  You are a Glove   Corrie Ten Boom - a woman who faithfully served God to save many Jewish people in the Netherlands during World War II, and who continued to serve him faithfully thereafter - is a woman I will always

When in doubt  Have you ever found yourself doubting the goodness of God? Or at the very least wondering what on earth God is doing? Maybe you're in a tough season. Maybe someone close to you is. And you know that God is sovereign, that He has a plan and that His plan is good. But you just can’t see it. And so, you cry out to God for an explanation, thinking that if you could only understand what God was doing, you would be satisfied.   In the OT we find the story of Job, an upright man who faces a series of hardships and wants answers from God. He's lost his livestock and servants, sons and daughters, and his health (Job 1,2). For the most part He remains

A Book Every Parent Should Read  During my time in pastoral ministry, I’ve spoken to lots of different parents at all different stages. I’ve prayed with young parents who have felt overwhelmed by the task and responsibility of raising young children. I’ve sat with older parents who have expressed regret over parts of their parenting journey. I’ve heard from other parents at a complete loss about what to do with their teenagers. And I, as a parent of young children myself, have felt all of these emotions at different stages of my own parenting journey.   My point? Parenting is tough. Yes, it is rewarding and fun and deeply worthwhile, but it is also hard, and it can be very complex. While there is no silver bullet; no one single