How would you describe yourself? Not the outside appearance: the inside. YOU. What parts do you love? And what bits do you hate? Chances are, the bits you like least are the very parts that God can use most. The soft heart that’s easily crushed. The fears that turn you to prayer. The grief that helps you comfort. The weakness that looks to His strength. Sparrow hearts, fluttering in our palms. The unlikely The lesser The least presentable. These things we …Read More
Sometimes I speak to folks in recovery from different issues. They’ve made incredible progress – but there’s one question they often ask: “I’ve gotten over X” they say, “but now I have Y! Something else has taken its place! What’s wrong with me? Will this ever end?” Swapping one harmful behaviour for another. The anorexia who becomes bulimic. The bulimic who starts to self-harm. The self-harmer who turns to alcohol. The alcoholic who starts abusing painkillers. Here’s how one blog reader puts it: …Read More
Glen here. On Sunday I preached the darkest Psalm in the Bible: Psalm 88. It’s 18 verses of unrelenting anguish and confusion and yet… the Holy Spirit authored it, Jesus prayed it and the Father hears it. In fact he has continued to hear it prayed by millions around the world for the best part of three millennia. It belongs to a whole category of Psalms – laments – which are the most common forms of prayer in the Psalter. Almost …Read More
On bad days, my version of Christian discipleship is not the official one. It’s a ledger with four columns. The first one says, ‘how am I feeling?’ (scored from 1 (atrocious/shouldn’t have been born) to 10 (So good it HURTS) The second one asks, ‘what am I worth?’ (based on answer to no 1) The third one says ‘what did I do to deserve this score?’ And the fourth one says, ‘how can I make it better?’ It might sound complicated, but it’s comes very naturally. Let …Read More
When I became a Christian, I expected untrammelled blessings and a overwhelming sense of joy. This was not my experience. Meeting Jesus was like inviting in a JCB truck, not a friendly maiden aunt. He saved my life, but He turned it upside-down too. Instead of being easier and simpler, life became harder and more complicated. I knew God as my Father and I joined the church – but for the first time I was different to my family. I started reading the Bible – but it wasn’t like …Read More
