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 […]
Under Pressure
Gagh. I’ve been trying to figure out what to write this week. There are many voices in my head clamouring for attention, telling me to write about this or that. I can’t see my way clear. It’s only when I go and sit on the toilet (inspirational, right?) that I realise what my problem is. […]
All to Jesus
I’ve been reflecting recently on the nature of Christianity. It seems that the more I mature in Christ, the more my life seems to be about surrender, not figuring it out or getting it right. Becoming simpler and more childlike seems to be a bigger part of living for Christ than does gaining theology or […]
Surviving Questions
This week I posted on facebook about the interrogation of singles on their relationship status. As part of the post, I reflected on how ridiculous it might be if we scrutinized marrieds in a similar fashion. To my pleasant surprise I received the most comments ever in response to this particular post. One of the […]
The Trouble with Treasures
“To obey is better than sacrifice, I don’t need your money, I want your life.” – Keith Green, To Obey is Better than Sacrifice Living in the outer suburbs of Sydney, it’s easy for me to get caught up in the preoccupation with money. I’ve never thought of myself as being particularly materialistic, but I […]