Ascend Church Rotorua had a fabulous opportunity to be a part of Calvary Auckland’s service on April 7, 2019. (The actual beginning is around the 7:00 min mark so fast forward a little bit!) This is an amazing song in Te Reo Maori and English that our worship team sang: Tuhia ki te rangi […]
I’ve been discussing the difficulty of change lately. Challenges, barriers, complexities. Today, I want to take a moment and remind us all of the simple elements of change, the power of consistency, and how small things become big things. So the question is, can a cup of coffee change your life? Some of you know…
I joined Facebook in January 2009. Since I was living overseas, it seemed like an ideal way to keep up with events back in the States. I could follow everyone I loved best: see pictures of the first day of school of my nieces and nephews, reconnect with people from high school and college (and […]
Underneath, we are the same. We all have beating hearts counting our moments on this planet. We all experience intense joy, debilitating despair, paralyzing fear. We are all eternal souls clothed in frail flesh. Can we see that in one another? Can we look at the person–known or unknown–next to us and see they are […]
It’s hard to believe the year is halfway over. We’re in the depths of winter here in the Southern Hemisphere, and is it cold! It may be hard for some of you to imagine as you may be experiencing record-breaking heat where you are and wishing for a glimpse of frost or snow. But, trust […]
One of the things I’ve learned in my life is that perseverance is key. Whether it’s pushing ahead a career or committing to a relationship or raising kids or pursuing our walk with the Lord, anything worth doing is also worth doing well. And all of the above take a great deal of perseverance. It’s […]
A friend came over for coffee. Before she came, I ran around a little bit getting my house tidy, not because I was worried about what she thought, but because I’ve been writing. A lot. And my home tends to get neglected when I’m writing. Neglected as in the groceries from the other day are still […]
I’ve been enjoying a creative flow recently. It’s been wonderful to sit down at my computer and have scenes and conversations come out of my fingertips effortlessly. I’ve had a long, dry season of over a year for me where I found it hard to be inspired. Everything I wrote felt flat and forced. I […]
A single moment of doubt. A single ear heeding the voice of deception. A single instant savouring the sickly-sweet juice of defiance. And sin with all its consequences entered the world. Fellowship between God and His image-bearers. Severed. Bond between husband and wife. Parent and child. Strained. Every human relationship. Ruined. For thousands of years, […]
Like many writers, I love to read. Even as a child there was nothing I enjoyed more than curling up with a good book and a snack to tune out the real world for an hour or two. And yet, the stories I read way back then taught me so much about how to cope […]
For Such a Time as This 