Why Being a Friend takes more than a Click (Five Minute Friday)
For the last five weeks 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 definitely…
Why Real Church allows us to be Naked without Fear
Rob Bell tells a story in his new book about how when he first became a pastor, a member of his church came up to him after a service said to him ‘If you want to see real church, go to an AA meeting’. So he went, and when it came to his turn, just…
What Rob Bell taught me about sharing my heart
On Monday I was at Union Chapel in London, to hear Rob Bell (left) talk about his new book “What we talk about when we talk about God” (which, by the way, is awesome), and do a question and answer session. As ever, Bell was top class, proving himself again as an exceptional speaker…
Building Up (Guest Post by Tanya Marlow)
Today I’m delighted to welcome Tanya Marlow as guest poster on the blog. Tanya writes at Thorns and Gold, and I’ve gotten to know her through twitter as well as her blog. Tanya always writes with such honesty and grace about her faith and struggle living with a chronic illness. It’s an honour to have Tanya posting here today and…
The Liberation of Knowing Nothing
Source: pinwords.com via James on Pinterest Last weekend I blogged about how we need to feel the absence of God in order to have intimacy with God. It’s a major part of my journey right now – and today I want to take this discussion further. I’ve been going through a season of doubt in…
Why Words are only a Beginning
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…
Why my Mum is a Spiritual Hero & Patron Saint
I’ve written about my late Mum here before. She has an amazing story to tell. But today it’s National Woman’s Day and this coming Sunday it’s Mothers Day – so today I want to tell you why my Mum is one of my heroes – as a woman and as a Christian. Was she a…
Why I’m Giving an Oscar speech
At the Oscars this week – all the winners, including Daniel Day-Lewis (pictured) – made speeches thanking the often unheralded people who helped them achieve their success. The winners could easily have forgotten these people, and most of us would never have known. But they chose to acknowledge them. They made a choice to give…
The Difference Encouragement Makes (Guest Post by Wendy van Eyck)
Today I’m delighted to welcome back my good friend and great writer Wendy van Eyck as a guest poster, sharing a personal story on a theme close to my heart, encouragement. Wendy is a writer and communicator from South Africa, and also guest posted for me last year. I have written for her blog ilovedevotionals.com, which I…
Why you should have One Word for 2013 (and what mine is)
In the last month I became aware of the #OneWord initiative – a community of people from all over the world who commit to making one word their ‘word for their year’. Several bloggers I know have adopted this idea. The concept is to have a word which sums up your values, desires and aspirations…