‘I’ll pray for your healing,’ smiled the young woman. ‘Actually,’ I smiled back, ‘I think God has told me he’s not going to heal me.’ The woman frowned. ‘That’s not the God I know. My God would never deny me healing.’ ‘OK, let me tell you my weird testimony…’ In the not-too-distant past, I was […]
Worship
Lingering with a Lime Tart
Here I am, sitting in a little café just a few hundred metres from the beach, relishing the opportunity to sit and write. The fresh salty air comes wafting past, washing the last of the autumn leaves off the trees, and I inhale the wind like it’s my last breath. There is something so cleansing […]
Prayer of a Disfigured Christian
“The servant grew up before God—a scrawny seedling, a scrubby plant in a parched field. There was nothing attractive about him, nothing to cause us to take a second look. He was looked down on and passed over, a man who suffered, who knew pain firsthand. One look at him and people turned away. We […]
Surgery for Easter
On Maundy Thursday As the world holds its breath for Good Friday I will be slowing down my breath For surgery. As we remember the Last Supper Held in memory of the Passover I will be passing out On a cold surgical table. I will awaken In time for Good Friday Lying motionless in recovery […]
Music is My IV
I’ve been listening to music during my latest illness flare. A lot. You could say music is my IV. Music has always been a lifeline for me. From childhood days when I would sing songs softly to God at bedtime, through teenaged years of alternate rock and angst-ridden folklore, to now when I sing for […]
Born to Die
In the lead up to Christmas, I’ve been thinking not about Jesus’ birth but his death. I suppose it’s because you can’t have one without the other. It’s also because Jesus’ purpose in coming to earth was to die for our sins, and the purpose of his death was to rise again. This makes Jesus […]
It’s Conference Time!
Tonight the 2023 Omega Christian Writer’s Conference begins. I’m just a tiny bit excited about this. Why? It’s not just the opportunity to think more creatively, learn about the business and art of writing, and spend time actually writing. It’s not just the inspirational talks, the information and resources, and the practical help offered by […]
The Voice of Parliament
As Australia moves on from Easter and into national debates around the Voice of Parliament, we cannot help but contemplate affliction. The affliction of our First Nations people is in our faces, confronting us with the brutal reality of their mistreatment, abuse and abandonment. Stan Grant, Q+A presenter on the ABC and Aboriginal Christian man, has felt […]
His Disfigurements
‘We looked down on him, thought he was scum. But the fact is, it was our pains he carried— our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us. We thought he brought it on himself, that God was punishing him for his own failures. But it was our sins that did that to him, that ripped and tore and crushed […]
Serving While I’m Sick
When I’m sick, I feel useless. I question my worth, and what’s worse, others question it too. I have to be a ‘contributing’ member of society, proving my value through usefulness and productivity. Even in church, there’s pressure to ‘contribute’ in some shape or form. So how do I contribute when I’m down for the […]