So next week is the annual Hillsong Worship and Creatives Conference (WCC). I’ve been waiting all year for this. I went to their inaugural WCC last year and when it was over, I immediately paid for my ticket for this years’ conference. I have many reasons for returning to the WCC, some relating to my […]
Worship
One Divine Breadcrumb
Last week I shared about how writing, and any other act of faith, is a little like following the trail of breadcrumbs through the forest in the manner of the fairytale Hansel and Gretel. Today I would like to share a recent breadcrumb experience. It was a Sunday night at church. The preacher had just […]
Start Again
Like so many of my songs, “Start Again” began with an honest moment of prayer. I had been repenting of some hidden sins suddenly thrust into the light, when the words seemed to form musical phrases in my mind. Before I knew it, I was writing down this song. There are many songs out there […]
Artists Still Live Here
Many moons ago, the city of Brooklyn NY was a run-down place. Rent was cheap. Because the cost of living was so low, a bunch of artists moved in. They started creating art in Brooklyn and making the place beautiful. Brooklyn became trendy. In fact, Brooklyn became so popular that a whole bunch of middle-class […]
The Gentleman and the Arsonist
I grew up believing that the Holy Spirit is a gentleman. Church described the Holy Spirit in this way: a loving, respectful, well-mannered person who would never push me beyond my willingness and capacity. It painted a picture of a spiritual being concerned with my consent before He did anything. When I was a teenager […]
Live Dogs and Dead Lions
“Anyone who is among the living has hope – even a live dog is better off than a dead lion!” Ecclesiastes 9:4 (NIV) This evocative image struck me a couple of weeks ago when I heard a sermon preached on this text. The illustration of a living dog standing next to a deceased lion is […]
Jump off the Treadmill
“The internal voice that tells me to hustle can find a to-do list in my living room as easily as it can in an office. . . The hustle will never make you feel the way you want to feel. In that way, it’s a drug, and I fall for the initial rush every time: […]
Lite Milk Christianity (CONTAINS SATIRE)
Let’s settle this upfront: There is no substitute for full-cream milk. It tastes better, it froths better, it keeps you feeling fuller for longer. In every way, full-cream milk is the most rewarding kind of dairy beverage to have in your life. There are those who opt for the lite version of this luscious liquid. […]
God Chaser
I first heard this song “God Chaser”, by David and Nicole Binion, as a teenager. In the mid-90s, an era of kippers, nightclubbing and emergent R&B music, this song crept onto my radar. I was an eager adolescent at the time, firey about God and passionate about worshipping him. I listened to the lyrics […]
God as a Haven
The Bible uses some lovely metaphors to describe God: God as a fountain of living water, Jesus as the bread of life, the Father as a mother. One of my favourite types of metaphors for God is the use of place. Here are a few quick examples: “I will say of the Lord, […]