Three years ago I contracted salmonella poisoning in Europe. Exotic, right? I was hounded by relentless nausea for the first three days, accompanied by chills and other joys not appropriate for public consumption. Even though I started to get better after a few days, it is fair to say that I was not myself […]
Easter Joy to the World
A friend of mine recently asked me, “How would you define the difference between joy and happiness?” I immediately thought I knew the answer. But as I opened my mouth to speak, I realised how complex the answer really was. We ended up having quite a lengthy conversation on the matter. Here’s where we […]
The Safety Myth
“There is no safe investment. To love at all is to be vulnerable.” – C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves. I was attacked by my pet cat this week. Not the nice, playful kind of attack, where she waits around the corner to leap out at me and give me mild heart failure. No, I’m […]
The Worry Bank
I’ve been really worried lately. You name it, I’ve been worried about it. Health, work, family, even sleep – which, ironically, stops me from sleeping. I’ve been worried about it all. And I’ve made an important discovery: worry gets me absolutely nowhere. It’s tricky, isn’t it? I know that God is in control. I […]
Resisting Rest
It’s heartbreaking watching people burn out. I routinely witness friends in the church burn out over and over, especially those in paid ministry. It’s almost as though someone put “Must do everything for everybody until burnout is inevitable” in their job descriptions. There are many factors that can contribute to burnout. Overwork, underwork, unrealistic job […]
Come to the Garden
Come to the Garden There was a young lady in Sydney, Who’s lifestyle was terribly busy, Til one day inside her, She heard a small whisper: “Come to the garden with Me. “My garden’s a place for refreshing, An oasis from worldly enmeshing. The air will revive you; It’s beauty inspire you; Come to […]
Deliverance from Childlessness
During my recent visit to Koorong, I began talking to people about childlessness as the subject of my next book. One of the people I spoke with happened to be a Koorong staff member, and he helpfully did a search on childlessness. His search yielded one result, Deliverance from Childlessness¹. Besides further convincing me that […]
Surviving Sequeldom
Last weeks’ visit to Koorong afforded some interesting conversations with readers. One question that kept recurring was, “What are you going to write about next?” People seemed keen to know about the sequel for Surviving Singledom. I have had a number of requests for a book about marriage: Surviving Marriagedom or something similar. Let me […]
No Nest Egg
Our culture today is preoccupied with the nest egg, the little something stashed away for retirement or in case the regular source of income meets with disaster. All of this slips under my radar, until I go and read something countercultural like Matt 25 with the story of the talents. Remember how this one goes? […]
Death to Beige
As I sit here in my local coffee house, watching the steam rise from my jumbo-sized herbal tea and listening to the sounds of 90s rock, I take a moment to observe my surroundings. It dawns on me how much of my life is coloured with beige. The walls here are beige. The furniture is […]
