nz

The most fruitful summer of my life

Our calendars are clustered with our great many plans. We fantasise about futures that we hope will come to fruition. We dream up these ideal destinies, quite sure that we know what is best for us. .

  • She's not always pretty!

    I think we have been a sold a lie. Admittedly, a very charismatic, oui oui merci sort of a lie. One that captivates us, entices us and tells us in sing songy voice that life, in all of its glory, should come easy.

  • Sharing a beautiful gospel

    I was talking with a friend recently, a non-christian, who mentioned that, if he were to convert on his death-bed, it would probably be to Roman Catholicism. His stated reasoning was that they had beauty, a full and attractive aesthetic.

  • My definition of faith

    My cousin William is 10 years old and he is already cooler than me. When he was four, my aunty and I took him to church on Easter Sunday. The service was fairly traditional, with lots of old school hymns and several hearty rounds of 'Christ is risen, He is risen indeed'.

  • Will Christianity make me boring?

    I was once afraid that if I fully followed Jesus I would have to pretend to be someone I'm not. I can trace this belief right back to primary school, where one girl was regularly held up as an example to us.

  • Cheap grace

    I remember some time ago, when I was a younger lad, the church I attended was really into using a particular small black book as an evangelistic tool. You may have seen the type, small little gospel tracts...

  • Think before you buy pink

    Slapping a pink ribbon on a person or product is synonymous with waging war against breast cancer. Pink ribbon products proudly display their devotion to the cause; promising to donate funds to breast cancer research or push for improved patient services.

  • Don't be a tosser

    While enjoying the view on one of my favourite walks in Sydney I am repulsed as I look more closely alone the edge of the path: plastic bags, empty bottles and general rubbish, all gathered among the mangroves.

  • Take a sad song and make it better

    I was eight when I met him. A black furred, charming teddy bear named Dickens, he was given to me as a Christmas gift and I loved him. My sister had a matching golden haired bear named Chadsworth and together we would make and package them food out of paper as though these bears were of our own flesh and it was our job to nurture them.

  • On the door and you

    Doors are symbols, metaphors, why have we found them so potent? Why are they the symbol of our decisions and our fate? The movie 'Temple Grandin' uses doors as all the opportunities we are given in life and challenges us to enter them.

  • Owning your brokenness

    All I wanted from 2013 was a fresh start. Last year was a bit of an odd year. I have never been so aware of just how many crappy things happen in this world—not just on TV, but in my life and in the lives of those close to me.

  • Jesus, inspire me

    I am the person who clogs your Facebook news feed and Instagram account with inspirational quotes and blurbs. What can I say? I do love a good inspirational story and, while it's impossible to post an entire novel on Facebook, loading little quotes every now and then is just as therapeutic.