au
The cheerful giver

The cheerful giver

\"You can\'t have a perfect day without doing something for someone who\'ll never be able to repay you.\" - John Wooden .

  • Church shopping: choosing desire over growth

    Over the past year and a half I moved to a new church with my wife to start our life together in a new Christian community, creating a new place to establish our marriage. This has been very important for the both of us, but through it I have become aware of many people who have come and gone through.

  • Fright for life

    The sun was streaming through the branches of the surrounding willows as I took my place at the start-line. My bare feet gripped the gravel, ready to launch forward at the sound of the starter\'s gun.

  • Are you catfishing God??

    There were 13 women, six beds and many, many newborn babies. There would have been crying and nuzzling and suckling in the midst of the type of utter chaos and delight that almost always inhabits hospitals. And this is where she sat, this small, fragile girl; very much alone in an overcrowded and unjust ward.

  • Missing a piece of the puzzle?

    I'm not much for jigsaw puzzles, but I know that you need all the pieces to enjoy a satisfying outcome. In many ways, life is like a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle. We spend our days putting it together, hoping to create something meaningful out of all the scattered pieces.

  • The Real XX

    To anyone else watching that Saturday night, we were just two women, obviously friends, walking along a bridge - talking furiously, taking photos for tourists and watching the world go by.

  • Are sermons making a difference or should we try another way?

    Just this week we had an excellent guest speaker come to our church, a sermon on evangelism from Luke 5. We were prompted to stop letting friendship get in the way of us sharing the most important message in the world. It was an inspiring, thought-provoking and convicting sermon but I guarantee 80% of the congregation had forgotten what they'd heard by Monday morning.

  • Is there any sin too terrible for God to forgive?

    Recently, I attended a Shine Women's Conference hosted by my local church, Sonlife Church. There were about 80 of us women all gathered under one roof to be renewed in our faith in Christ and learn more about being Godly women for Christ. I personally was very excited to go as we had a guest speaker, Jade Lewis (jadelewis.com).

  • Church saved my faith

    There are two occasions when it's better not to mention the words "I grew up in church". The first is when you're trying to assert your philosophical authority in a Facebook argument, and the second is when you're beginning your testimony – a Christianese word for "abbreviated life story" with lots of euphemisms for your naughty moments.

  • The unwritten law of the land of Victoria

    When our family first moved to Victoria last year we discovered an unwritten law that you must abide by to become the holder of a Victorian Drivers Licence and hence be seen as a true Victorian.

  • For the Love of Stuff

    Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has just been named America's richest man by the Forbes 400 list – a ranking he has easily held for all but one of the past 20 years. Gates has a net worth of $72 billion (that's around NZ$87 billion) thanks to some very hard work and good business sense.

  • 3 MORE Mind Blowing Things about the End

    It's been a while since my last article on the nature of the end times. I feel as if our minds have had a long rest after that first session of mind blowing. But wait, here comes some more mind blowing action as we continue our little adventure on the end times. Three more mind blowing things about the end!