nz
A love like Peter's

A love like Peter's

One of my favourite characters in the Bible is Simon Peter. Of all the disciples, he captures my heart the most and stirs in me a strong empathy..

  • The land is alive!

    When you look out of your window, and see sky, land, ocean, trees - or perhaps masses of houses - have you ever thought of these things as being alive?

  • The unloving moral policeman: judgmental and indifferent

    Earlier this year, the family of a seven-year-old boy involved in a tragic quad bike incident in New South Wales was subjected to online critics for allowing the deceased, just a boy, to ride the vehicle.

  • My Christchurch

    The view was breathtaking. The bright lights shone through the Canterbury plains as I watched the city of Christchurch down below me.

  • Dynamite for a battle-torn planet

    On September 11, 2001, I was sitting on bed with my dad—as we watched the news, he attempted to explain what was going on.

  • Are we all adrift?

    One thing I have noticed increasingly frequently lately is that our culture seems to be dominated by emotive appeal in many cases and a lack of real evidence or argument presented for peoples positions.

  • Empathy

    Many people will have heard the proverb about putting yourself in someone else's shoes, but it is most often not taken very seriously. It is seen to be clichéd.

  • Catching the stars

    "How do you catch the stars?" she asked. The childish voice lisped the question. The little toes curled in the soft grass.

  • To be honest…

    I became a thief at the innocent age of eight. I was sucked into this crime, after finding a yellow smiley-faced pencil sharpener, during the daily classroom 'pack up'.

  • The new in the old

    The end of last year was quite a crazy time for me and my wife Sierra. The end of year usually is, but last year was different: it was the end of a season.

  • I want a new New Zealand.

    Often I am made aware that in many ways I am failure as a New Zealander. I grew up playing soccer rather than rugby, I don't know how to count to ten in Maori, I don't own a pair of gumboots, and to add to the blasphemy, I find the beloved Lord of the Rings movie franchise incredibly dull.

  • Cake-time Christianity

    The truth of that lesson burns. I've always loved to think that if I set my mind to something and plan and write lists and line up A with B and C then all will be well. Difficulties? Ignore them and power on. Roll out the bumps like a steam-train or sail over them with the casual calmness of a catamaran.