How good is God?

Sunday was Father's Day. The day when we gave thanks for our fathers. The men who bring us up and show us what's what, how to shave and how to look after money. All important things, but crucially not everything. Father's do other things. They let us know they love us. They make us feel safe. They take time to listen to us when we have a problem. They let us be free to mess up and still be there when we return knowing what we did. They try to stop us messing up and are still there when we return knowing what we did. They know what we need even when we don’t. They are there. Unfortunately though for many of us they aren’t. Perhaps they have left your family, maybe they have died, maybe they just don’t care. If you are in this situation it may be pretty easy to understand why so many people...

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Love is...not comparing yourself

Most of us might not like to admit it but we are constantly comparing ourselves to each other. We might not like to admit it because ultimately when we do compare ourselves we’re effectively revealing that we don’t like who we are. If everyone does it then we’re all just wasting time trying to be each other and eventually none of us will be anyone. And that’s just stupid. Why do we do it then? Why then in a culture like ours (and I’m specifically speaking of a Northern Irish Church culture) where we are told often enough that we are sinners and need saved, do we not embrace our faults? Our weaknesses. Our insecurities. Isn’t that what...

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To filter or not to filter

Porn is everywhere. At least that is what we are told. Even though much of our media has been influenced by porn I think that the reality is closer to the fact that it is much easier to access than ever before. The internet has brought that world right into our homes, our offices and our Pastor’s offices. No longer do you need to go to the seedy end of town, late at night, to get your fix. But this isn’t new.   We’ve known that this is how it works for a long time. It’s only now that internet providers have been sitting up and taking notice, trying to decide how best to protect our children from porn online. The debate recently has focused on how ISP’s (companies like Sky, BT Broadband, Talk Talk etc.) are going to deal with it. Companies such as Talk Talk have introduced network...

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Follow the leader

We spend a lot of time reading book on how to become a better leader. Or spending money on conferences for leaders. But there is a question that I think is so important in answering this but is often neglected. Who leads the leaders? What does the leader do when they need help? When they are struggling personally? When they get burnt out? I asked this question once in a group discussion about leadership and I received blank stares. It never occurred to the group that perhaps leaders can be vulnerable too. Sure we needs leaders who are strong. Who make tough decisions. Who swim the opposite direction sometimes. Who the people can trust and feel secure under. But sooner or later it will catch up on them. Then what? We're told leaders need to be strong and perfect. That she needs to have...

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Killing boredom

Reading an article on boredom is actually very interesting. Boredom is the new interesting. Which is why this article at Relevant got me thinking. What was life like before smart phones, heck even before dial up connections to the internet? When to make plans with friends you would call them and if they didn’t turn up you were screwed. When I knew 3-4 of my best friend’s home phone numbers from memory. Have I changed? Do I think differently? I don’t ever have to be bored. But in reality I am. I’ve been finding the internet increasingly boring. Facebook bores me. Even twitter has lost some of its appeal. Sure I need these things sometimes. They are useful tools to communicate and spread ideas and learn and be conscious of the world around me. But what happens when those things...

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