We all desire freedom. We seek and pursue it. We cheer for individuals, groups or nations fighting for their freedom, and rightly so.

All of us want to be free.

We want to be able to make our own choices about how we live and what we do, where we live and who governs us.

The opposite of this is total control and domination. No choice. Everything decided for us, everything done for us. Imposed on us from outside.

This, we know, is not good.

There is something inside of us which understands this instinctively.

We fight against regimes like this.

They do not last. Eventually, they all fall.

Because to be human is to desire freedom – and eventually freedom wins out.

However, although there are many benefits and blessings from freedom, there is also a risk which comes with it. (more…)

I recently went to the birthday party of a good friend. I only knew one person at the party – the person who’d invited me.

By the end of the evening I’d chatted to at least 5 or 6 new people in depth – and made two new Facebook friends. I’d also managed to grow my own self-confidence into the bargain.

Somehow, being around people, physically interacting with them, made a difference to me. I have new friendships in the digital realm now, but there was a connection made in physically interacting that couldn’t have been made otherwise.

It works in reverse too.

For example, the day before the party above, I met and had dinner with someone in London. A friend who I had chatted to on both Twitter, Facebook and Skype. Someone who I had built up a good friendship with and talked to about some important issues only in the digital realm.

A person I considered a good friend, but who I’d never met in the flesh before that day. (more…)

I’ve lost count of the number of discussions I’ve now had online about the reality of social media. (Anyone else see the irony of that statement?  Yes, me too). I’ve also now had a fair few requests for more posts on the subject.

Funnily enough this was all perfect timing, given I’d just written a few posts on the subject. I’m also working on an e-book on the subject, which hopefully will be published toward the end of the year.

Social media is going to become one of the ongoing discussions on this site, and I hope to be blogging on it a bit more from now on.

I want to discuss issues around this subject as wide-ranging as like today – the reality of this realm – to how we can live without it, and cannot replace physical interaction.

So let’s begin with the absolute basics. The difference between digital and virtual.

On one level it would seem simple enough to discuss the reality our interactions on social media and the honesty or otherwise of the comments we post in those domains.

The problem is the same one that you often find in a lot of big discussions.

It misses the point. (more…)

As many of you know this is not the only place where you will find my writing. I also guest post for various sites on a fairly regular basis.

This week, however, there’s not just one but two guest posts written by myself which have gone live.

The first of these is on a site called ‘Goins, Writer’ and it’s run by Jeff Goins – who some of you may remember I interviewed a couple of months ago. It’s a site about writing, creativity and how to become more effective and mature in those areas of our live. It has been a big inspiration to me in my own writing and creativity, and for anyone with a creative spirit I would heartedly recommend it. (more…)

For so much of my life I’ve tried to control everything. Relationships, work, creativity, circumstances.

Even my faith.

Yes, I’ve tried to control God.

Sounds ridiculous doesn’t it? On the face of it it sounds patently absurd, no matter what your view of God is like, when you hear the term ‘God’ you don’t think of a being you can control. The whole idea is impossible.

But I’ve tried to do it nevertheless. There are several cunning ways my soul comes up with to do this, many of which I do without even making a conscious decision to do so.

First, I can get angry with God and make demands and accusations of Him, which are patently ridiculous and make assumptions about His character which in reality I know aren’t true.

Second, I don’t give Him a chance to respond. I don’t spend enough time listening to Him to hear what He has to say in response.

Third, I restrict God to human boundaries – I treat Him like He’s human and sees things from my limited perspective. This above all is something that it’s so easy to do that I often don’t realise I’m doing it. (more…)

Regular readers will have seen part 1 of my interview with writer and blogger Jeff Goins earlier in the week, where we discussed his journey so far, his new book and the difference between writing a book and writing a blog. Today we move on to discuss the creative process overall and how Jeff experiences that. So here goes.

James Prescott:Jeff, what have been your biggest struggles overall when it comes to creativity – not just on your book, but overall, and how have you dealt with them?

Jeff Goins: Yeah, I definitely appreciate what that struggle is. The biggest struggle I feel and experience as a creative person is finding my harmony in the tension of what Seth Godin calls ‘shipping’, getting your art out there to the world, and getting it to good enough.

I tend to have these two opposing extremes when it comes to my emotions. One side is perfectionism, like nothing feels good enough, and that’s what keeps me working on something for months and months and years and never sharing it with a soul, because I’m afraid – of failure and what people would think, and there is something holding me back from sharing this with the world.   (more…)

After writing a lot on relationships and the role of women in the last few months, I felt it appropriate to share a little on the issue of masculinity. So in the next few weeks we’re going to be having a series here on this issue – including a guest post next week, with the female perspective on masculinity.

When writing on masculinity there’s always a danger that you can be accused of being under-qualified. In the church even more so – as a single man in his 30’s it can be easy, both culturally and in a church context, to be seen as not a ‘real’ man because I’m not married.

This kind of sums up the point I want to discuss – that a lot of what we have been reliably informed is what makes a man a ‘real man’ is not actually Biblical, but just cultural traditions which have come through misinterpretations and misunderstandings of scripture.

This post covers both singleness and masculinity – partially because so often the subjects are linked, especially in a church context and partially because that’s largely my experience – often I’ve felt that because of my singleness, that somehow I’m not a real man, not as masculine as married men – that is partly my perception, but also partly down to the attitudes and language of some people I have met or heard speak on the subject. (more…)

I have spoken a lot this past 12 months of the process of death and resurrection. Usually, what comes out in my writing is a reflection of my own journey, and this past year, 2011, has been one where this reality of this truth has been manifest in my own life.

Now you may think, entering into a new year, that death isn’t exactly the best place to start, especially after we’ve just celebrated the birth of Jesus. But paradoxically, I believe death is actually the very best place to begin if we’re to experience a year of transformation and growth.

I have experienced death – and of course grief, something I will speak of in a future post – first hand. I lost my mother when I was 23.

It wasn’t actually my first experience of grief, as I’d lost grandparents before. But it was the first time a person in my direct family or network, who I had a very close relationship to, had passed away. It wasn’t even the biggest shock. My mum had suffered from asthma for years and we had all come to accept that the asthma would eventually claim her life – but none of us had really expected it so soon.

But death is something that wakes us up to who we are – and by death I don’t merely mean facing our own, or others, or going through grief. I mean experiencing the emotion, the power and ultimately, the process, of death in our own lives.

You see death is the engine room of life. (more…)

I’ve been overwhelmed in the last couple of weeks by the response to my both the first and second posts in this series on abstinence. What often happens when you write is God takes an issue you’re passionate about and care deeply for, and inspires you to write something. But what you’re not prepared for is how others will respond. I have to confess a feeling of risk when first posting the initial blog post, and wasn’t too sure how people would react, given the nature of the topic.

However, the response to both was amazing.

I received questions, heard some great points made on either side, from all sorts of sources too. Posted to me on Facebook, via Twitter, as well of course some great comments in direct response to the posts themselves. That’s been brilliant because one thing I love is a good discussion.

I genuinely feel that healthy discussion, showing love, respect and grace, whatever your opinion, is actually a very positive and constructive thing, whether you ultimately agree or disagree.

So thank you to all those who’ve contributed.

This third part of the series is really about drawing it all together and possibly answering some of the questions people who’ve either commented directly or replied to the post on social networking have put forward.

The first thing I want to say is to be totally honest. I am tempted in this area. (more…)

I’ve been loving talking about the theme of Advent the last few weeks in my blog series. Many of you will also know that last year I did a guest post for Christine Sine’s blog, ‘Godspace’, which was then more recently published in a book of Advent reflections.

Well this year, I’ve been at it again.

I’ve written another guest post for her site for this Advent – this time it’s on the theme of ‘Jesus is coming, what do we expect?’, which all the posters on her blog throughout Advent have been posting on.

I have guest-posted a blog in relation to this theme entitled ‘Have we lost Jesus at Christmas?’ which has gone live today! You can find this post here, so feel free to go have a look and leave a comment! (more…)