I think a lot of people view the idea of shame in terms of the Disney classic – Mulan. We loved that dragon Mushi, and we’re sure we know how shame works. I do something wrong, and I bring shame upon my whole family. Something right and; “you’ll bring honour to us all”, or so the song goes. We think it’s stuff for simpler, ...

There’s nothing like the cold cup of reality thrown upon the dreams of youth. I mean, I never said it was nice – but there really is nothing like it. And unless you’re one of the few who dodged the cold, dreamed big and made it – then you’ll be in the same boat as me. The dreamer When I was 19, ...

I remember being a very young man, passionate for God. I had a call to ministry on my life, and I served and sacrificed and tried and obeyed. I obeyed God because I wanted to please God, and I thought that if I pleased him, his plan for my life would come to pass. I’ve found this to be quite ...

One of the objections I hear about the Christian faith goes something like this; “I don’t understand how could a loving God send people to hell.” At first glance there does seem to be a contradiction here. A Loving God? Judgement and Hell? Surely not. The argument concludes that God is therefore a bully – who destroys those who don’t believe in ...

For the last 20 years of pastoral ministry my life has revolved around studying and teaching the Bible in some way or another. It is actually easy to become over familiar with Scripture to the point of almost “immunizing” yourself to the main message, you know, not been able to see the forest for the trees! I have found reading ...

One of my responsibilities as a tutor with a Christian Counselling Training organisation is to assess my students written assignments, of which “Evaluate and Provide Therapy for Psychopathological Disorders” is what I am currently marking. It is interesting how in a clinical context such as the DSM-5 (the long-awaited, controversial new edition of the bible of psychiatry), the word “disorder” ...

The Kingdom road that Jesus called us to follow him down is narrow with large ditches on either side! In the world of theology, there are two equal yet opposite extremes that one can fall into to as we navigate the bibles teaching on the Kingdom of God and it’s implications for how Christians live gospel centred lives in this ...

When I was a younger man, we were told to bring people to church so that they could hear the gospel. And many people were brought to church, and many people heard the gospel message – and some responded to that message. And you sort of graduated from the gospel, to other teachings and deeper spiritual principles. But is this ...