For the last month  now I’ve participated in Lisa-Jo Baker’s “Five-Minute Friday”. The concept is simply writing for 5 minutes, straight from the heart, on a given subject – and then sharing it.

No edits, no marinading or reflecting – just write and share.

If you’re a writer or blogger of any kind, I’d recommend it – it really pushes you and helps you grow as a writer.

And today I’m doing it again.

So here’s today’s “5 Minute Friday” – the theme is “Here”.

Here. A place I have never been before and never will be again. We live and work in very familiar surroundings. I will go home again. I will sit at my desk again. And physically these are the same.

But this moment in time will never exist again. I will never be precisely as I am  (more…)

I don’t normally write posts and post them on the same day. I usually take time to edit and refine them, to allow the message to marinade in my heart, before finally sharing it. As a writer who is growing in his gift, it’s a good discipline to learn.

But occasionally you need to take a risk. You need to go out of your comfort zone.

And you just have something on your heart to share which you know needs to get out.

As it is.

Raw and naked for the world to see.

I would think of it as is kind of a ’5 minute Friday’ of my own, on a Thursday, unprompted, unedited, on a theme which has come straight from the heart. It’s even in a different font, because it’s come straight from Evernote & I’m not quite technically savvy enough to change it. That’s how raw it is.

Seriously though, I’d recommend occasional spontaneous writing and sharing to anyone, especially those passionate about writing & creativity. It will unlock thoughts, feelings and questions you never knew existed.

Anyhow, here we go with mine….

 
I want to write words whose power goes beyond words.

I want to write words which open our imaginations to endless possibilties, words which point to infinity, which open our souls to the reality that nothing we can ever describe, experience or imagine can ever truly capture, contain, know, or aptly describe the wonder, love, grace, nature and awesomeness of God, or who He is.

In one way words are very limiting, but if we use them well, they can be liberating.

Words must always be the beginning, never the (more…)

I wrote in my last post about my lessons from 2012 I’ll be taking into 2013, and in the next few weeks I’ll be blogging about some of them in more detail. Beginning today  - with the importance of values over goals.

How often have you read about goal-setting?

It’s a phrase you hear more and more in today’s culture – especially during the New Year period. I’ve recently heard it several times from friends.

I’m sure ‘goal-setting’ works for some people. But for me, all it represents is another opportunity for disappointment. In the past I set goals with the best of intentions, and (more…)

I’ve been involved in leadership one way or another for a while. But only recently have I actually felt like a leader. I don’t say this flippantly either.

On my journey in leadership I’ve been at both ends of the spectrum. In years past I’ve been the cocky, immature leader who thinks he has all the answers. I’ve been the leader who appears to be mature but underneath has delusions of grandeur.

More recently I’ve gone the complete opposite way. I’ve had my heart, immaturity and weaknesses laid bare before me.

The way God already sees them.

I’ve been stripped naked by God and exposed for who (more…)

Ever heard the phrase ‘God-shaped hole’? You ever been told you have a ‘God shaped hole’ in your life which only God can fill, and which you fill with other things?

Of course that sounds great doesn’t it? It sounds comforting and logical.

But it’s a lie.

We don’t have a God-shaped hole.(Tweet that here)

First off, the term implies there are other parts of us that either are already complete in God – or worse, don’t need God.

How much of what we believe is simply about lacking something and trying to fill that lack? (more…)

The eagle-eyed of you may have noticed a distinct lack of new material here in the last month or so. I decided to take a bit of what is commonly called a ‘sabbatical’ from posting new material here (though some guest posts have appeared elsewhere).

I’d love to give you all nice Christian jargon to explain this, like I ‘felt God leading me to’ or ‘it was a time/season of resting’ (come on, you’ve all heard this language before).

But that’s not really me, I’d rather just be myself and be honest. So here’s the deal.

I lost all motivation and energy for posting, and realised my motives were getting distorted.

Writing  – more specifically posting  – was getting me down. It had become a burden.

I posted out of fear of failure and anonymity, to be popular and successful. This fear had also subtly impacted my writing itself, in subtle ways. I had begun writing for everyone else.

What I felt I should write, what would be popular.

Writing and posting had become an idol. (more…)

Hello all! Today is the third and most likely final in my ‘Best of the Blog (So Far)’ series. (You can find the other parts here and here).

Before we get to the topic of today’s posts, (which as you can probably tell, are more personal in nature), I’d like to put in another quick mention of my upcoming newsletter.

One value that’s really important to me is to connect with my readers – you. So in the very near future I plan to be sending out a monthly newsletter. This will not only keep you up to date with what I’m doing and what’s happening here in a much more simple and accessible way, but will have the bonus of containing some exclusive content for you.

I’d really love to connect more with you all and have some exciting, exclusive material I really want to share with you – so I’d love to invite you to subscribe here (it’s free by the way!).

A man owned a beautiful, rare piece of artwork, worth millions. But he was afraid of it being stolen. He decided “I want to keep this safe, where no one can get to it, where it can never be stolen”.

So he puts the painting in a safe in the most secure bank vault in the world. His wife noticed the painting is gone and asked

“Where did the painting go?”. He replies “Oh, I locked it away so it was safe. Now no one can steal it. I know it’s safe now.”

She replied  “Yes, but now no one can marvel at it’s beauty, reflect on it’s meaning and admire the creativity and talent behind it. It might be more safe  but no one can fully appreciate it’s magnificence.”

Many of us are like this with our faith. We want it safe and controlled. We like a nice, secure faith where we know the boundaries and where we stand. It’s much easier to have a relationship with that kind of God.

But it’s not real faith at all.

A faith that’s safe, can’t be faith. (Tweet that here)

If our faith doesn’t allow for questioning, if we cannot explore the mystery of the divine, we are going to miss out on God completely.

We will have a concept of God which we understand, which allows us to practice our faith more easily. But we will not have true intimacy (more…)

Do you feel like you’re alone in the world? Behind the front of social self we put on for the world?

I think many of us feel this way, deep down in our soul.

We ignore it, we cover it up, we hide behind status, achievement, success and even relationships.

But ultimately there is something within us crying out to feel we belong.

I know I can be standing in a roomful of people but feel completely alone, and not belonging at all. I am certain I’m not alone in this.

We were all created with this need.

With the desire to belong, to be complete.

All of us find ways of fulfilling that need. Relationships, drinking, drugs, success, sex, power  – and even church. But none of these completely satisfy.

The truth is we all live in a broken, mucked up world and are all broken, mucked up people.

It’s not as simple as saying the moment we become a Christian suddenly we belong, suddenly we are complete. That’s a lie that many churches and Christians perpetuate. That if we believe in God suddenly everything will be okay.

‘Hollywood Jesus’.

But it’s a lie. Truth is we can go to church, have an incredible experience and feel great.

Then we come home. Then we live life. (more…)

Today’s post is one of the most honest I have ever written. I wrote it as a stream of consciousness, straight from my heart.

I let out what I was really thinking without the fear and boundaries I so often put up, or are afraid to go beyond.

Which is really what the post is all about.

As part of developing my gift of writing, I was challenged today to share something dangerous with you.

So here I am.

Being honest.

The Honest Truth

I want to be free.

Free to explore God and my relationship with Jesus without being bounded by theological rules or boundaries.

Free to think dangerously.

Free from the box of faith.

I’m tired of religious and legalistic boundaries, (more…)