Sure, kids don’t belong everywhere. They’re not a symphony orchestra’s target audience (except when they are). The tense whispers of snooker commentators suggest that toddlers wouldn’t be welcome at tournament finals. But babies and children are legally entitled to be all sorts of places that aren’t always built with them in mind, including, say, courthouses […]
This is a reworking of an earlier post that was part of the Generous Lent series, just to make it more widely applicable. Feel free to share it around if you think it’s helpful. A good listener is never short of friends. Some people are naturals at this popular skill, and you might be lucky […]
Do you care about self-care? If you had the marvellous good fortune to host a goose who laid a golden egg for you daily, would you lovingly feed her the best worms in the garden, massage her little wings, make sure her bed was comfy (though not plumped with goose-down…) and generally cherish her? Or […]
38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to […]
Sadly, I’m not at the Service of the Shadows at West Baptist tonight. Sitting in a dark church, lit by seven candles sitting on a rough wooden cross, every Maundy Thursday, people at West listen to the dark story of what Jesus experienced in his last hours, in seven parts. My contribution to the ever-growing tradition at […]
A good listener is never short of friends. Some people are naturals at this popular skill, and you might be lucky enough to know one or two. Plenty of us have to learn the skill of being a good listener, though the kind intention does go a long way, too. The headline ‘act’ for the Do […]
Home, home, home. On returning to New Zealand, the hospitality we received from friends and former-acquaintances-now-friends made us quite reflective. Hospitality as a spiritual practice is something that has been on my mind for a few years, and at the forefront of my church leadership. This is the last of a three-part series on some […]
My congregation got smaller last year. I began 2011 working fulltime as the pastor of West Baptist Church in New Plymouth, a place of shelter, faith and laughter, where I was responsible for a lovely, diverse community of people aiming to make a difference in a challenging part of town. It was my job to […]