A Happy Mother’s Day?

All the advertising and hype that surrounds Mother’s Day – well, it’s about soft fluffy slippers, pink dressing gowns, happy, well-adjusted children bouncing in on Mum’s bed on Sunday morning, with the very present that she’s been wanting. And that’s all great. But what if … your relationship with your mother ain’t all that the advertising industry tells you it should be?

Meet the Agnostic on Our Worship Team

Yah – I bet that got your attention! And it’s true. For several years, our church has had a “born again agnostic” – Vanessa – on our worship team. How does that make you feel? To tell you the truth, I was uncomfortable about it for a long time.

What to do When Things Don’t Go to Plan

Don’t know if you’ve noticed, but things don’t always go to plan. We wish they did. We think they should. But sometimes, they don’t.

So, what should you do, when things don’t go to plan?

The 4 Steps to Overcoming Ugly Duckling Syndrome

We’ve all felt like the Ugly Duckling at some point in our lives. We look around at everyone else, and we conclude that we’re worthless. Absolutely worthless.

But God didn’t create you or me, to feel like that. He didn’t create you and me to be the Ugly Duckling. No. He has a much better plan for our lives than that.

Much better.

Resurrections Can Be Confusing

I want you to imagine that you go to a dear friend’s funeral. He died suddenly, violently a few days ago. You, his other friends and family are sitting in the pews – shell shocked – waiting for the service begin. But before it does, the guy who’s supposed to have died walks in and sits down next to you.

How would you respond?

Good Friday – Easter Art Evokes Anger

Art has an amazing ability to evoke all sorts of emotions – happiness, sadness, awe, anger, excitement, wonder, pain … the full gamut.

As I was walking down Oxford Street Paddington (Sydney) in the week leading up to Easter 2013, this window display in a gay, fetish erotica store caught my eye.

No – ‘caught my eye’ is too soft! It confronted me. That’s much better.

When I saw it, my blood boiled, but …

The Missional Power of Not-So-Random Acts of Kindness

We’ve all heard that phrase random acts of kindness. It makes us feel all warm and fuzzy inside. But today, I want to share something much, much more powerful with you.

Not-so-random acts of kindness. Deliberate acts of kindness.

I recently spent 3 days with a man for whom kindness is a way of life. And what I saw, blew me away.

You Can’t Juggle Chainsaws

Let’s face it – you and I, we can’t juggle chainsaws can we? Don’t believe me, then watch the video in this post.

We wouldn’t dream of firing up three chainsaws and juggling them. So – here’s the bit that I find intriguing – why do we try such a crazy stunt with the “chainsaws” in our lives?

You may be wondering – “What the blazes is Berni on about this time?”

We’ll get to that, but first I dare you to watch this video!