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Joel Madden, Aristotle & Jesus. On Being Free

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I like Joel Madden. Lead singer for the band Good Charlotte, Joel was a mentor on the Australian version of The Voice TV program. His cheeky style and enthusiastic yet easygoing persona won him a lot of fans. I like Joel’s smash hit Last Night. It’s upbeat, cheeky, funny and infectious. But I’m not sure I like the lyric. The song tells the story of meeting a stranger with whom...

Twelve Months of Blogging. The Top Ten Posts

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Twelve months ago I decided to try my hand at blogging. And 101 posts later the experiment continues. As I look back on the first 12 months of my blog, these are the highlights. The ten most read posts Belief Blockers. What Turns Australians Off the Church To Love and Submit? Paul Was No Feminist But His Gospel Is On Healing Possibly the Worst Sermon Ever The Hardest Letter I’ve Ever Has to...

The Top 10 New Year Resolutions & Why They Matter

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I have made just one new year resolution this year  – to give up junk food. In 2012 I ate way too much Maccas, chocolate bars and the like, and it showed on my waistline. It seems I’m not alone. Research published in the Journal of Clinical Psychology showed for Americans the top 10 New Year resolutions for 2012 were Lose Weight Getting Organized Spend Less, Save More Enjoy Life to...

Where’s Baby Jesus? A Christmas Lights Experience

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When my daughters were young, one of our favourite Christmas activities was driving around the streets looking at the Christmas lights. For our kids  the burning of those Christmas lights was the first sign that Christmas Day is approaching. Our favourite spot was a pocket of houses down the road where every house has made a special effort to create a Christmas lights spectacular. As we turned...

Learning to Cry

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On the flight home from Perth yesterday I found myself choking up while watching the movie The Sapphires. The part that really got to me was the removal of one of the characters, an aboriginal with light skin colour, from her family. I’d like to say it was my finely tuned empathy for victims of injustice that was at play, but I also found tears forming when another of the lead characters...

Men, Boys and Boats. On the Importance of Man-Time

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At 4.00am the surface of Jervis Bay is flat like glass, bounded by a thick blanket of stars, a rocky shoreline and a darkness just beginning to be punctured by the emerging dawn. Everything is quiet, accentuating the voices of my fishing companions and the click-clack of trailers reversing down a boat ramp. My ten year old son Lachlan and I are on a fishing trip with eight men and two boys from...

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