At the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics I was an Entertainment team leader. It was great! I spent two months on the Olympic Park in my fluorescent purple uniform, radio in hand organising everything from marching bands to three Mexican Mariachis. I found myself in a position of leadership which traditionally society would have said I was too young for. … Read More
"Keep Fit" in New Wine
“More than anything you guard, protect your mind, for life flows from it” Proverbs 4:23 CEB Reading the title of this article, you probably immediately thought about the things you do to keep physically fit. But when we think about our fitness we tend to focus on one aspect of our body and forget another which the Bible tells us is … Read More
"The Dreaded Question" in New Wine
The dreaded question: How is your work/life balance? A question that I’m not sure I really ever took seriously. Of course, looking after yourself seems like a good idea… But… There is always a but. “But the to do list is just too long.” “But I want my boss to respect me.” “But I’m just so passionate about the work I’m doing.” “But God has … Read More
"The privilege of total surrender" in New Wine
“Our notion of sacrifice is the wringing out of us something we don’t want to give up, full of pain and agony and distress. The Bible idea of sacrifice is that I give as a love-gift the very best thing I have.” (Oswald Chambers) The promises of Scripture are so breathtakingly liberating that total surrender becomes the most obvious step … Read More
"The pain of total surrender" in New Wine
“Breezy, self-confident Christians tell us how wonderful it is to accept Christ and then have a good time all the rest of your life; the Lord won’t demand anything of you. Yes, he will, my friend! The Lord will demand everything of you. And when you give it all up to him, he may bless it and hand it back, … Read More
"The purpose of surrender" in New Wine
We continue our series on total surrender and today we explore the purpose of surrender. The reason we must relinquish control of our lives is so that we can not only honour God but also point others to him. That entails bringing us to a position of such weakness that we are malleable and available to God to accomplish his … Read More
"Total surrender" in New Wine
“There are plenty of Christians to follow the Lord halfway, but not the other half. They will give up possessions, friends, and honours, but it touches them too closely to disown themselves.” (Eckhart, 15th century mystic) When you surrender, you recognise that you’ve been defeated. It’s a position of weakness, requiring humility. It means that you acknowledge that your rights and … Read More
"Loving your neighbour as you love yourself" in New Wine
Much has been written on this theme by many far wiser, but God has graciously blessed me with a vocation that I love and is teaching me lots about how to live out this command to love others as we love ourselves, both in my professional life (in a secular state school) and in my personal life. State schools are often … Read More
"Sugar coated prayer" in New Wine
I think that ‘sugar coating’ our prayers, specifically when we are praying out loud with others, is an issue all Christians can face, consciously or subconsciously. What I mean by that is adding words and phrases to our prayers which, if we are honest, are unnecessary ‘Christian lingo’ and chosen for the ears those around us, not solely for God. … Read More
"Supernatural People" in New Wine
A big part of our job on earth is to be noticeably weird. To be true, we’re only supposed to be weird in certain ways, but definitely weird nonetheless. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus shocks his rag-tag audience by saying to them, “You are the salt of the earth… If salt loses its saltiness, it’s good for nothing except … Read More