30 articles
For most of the last sixteen centuries, Christian leaders could assume something that no longer holds. They could assume that the surrounding culture shared their basic convictions. That the church sat near the center of public life, its voice respected, its buildings prominent, its leaders granted a seat at the table. To lead in the […]
There’s a particular loneliness that comes from sitting in a room full of people who love you and still feeling like you don’t quite belong. Many single Christians know it well. You arrive at church, and the sermon illustration is about marriage again. The small groups are organised around couples and young families. The well-meaning […]
We have learned to expect everything quickly. Two-day shipping. Same-day delivery. The meal that arrives before the hunger fully registers. The answer that surfaces the instant the question forms is retrieved from a glowing rectangle in our palm. We have built a civilization on the elimination of waiting, and we have come to experience delay […]
Why spirituality won’t carry what religion and discipleship to Jesus carry There’s a moment in Faith, Hope and Carnage where Nick Cave describes a candle in a church. He’s been wrecked by the deaths of his sons Arthur and Jethro. The act is simple. He lights a candle, kneels, sits among strangers who’ve done this for two […]
A Contemplative’s Map Through Polarization There’s a particular pain that has settled into the bones of many believers. It’s the sorrow of standing at the edge of every political tribe and finding that none of them have room for the whole of who you are. You read one platform and find compassion for the poor […]
Or Raising Kids with Less Noise and More Grace Somewhere in the half-light before dawn, a parent sits at the kitchen table with a cooling cup of coffee and a list that already feels like a verdict. Permission slips. Snack rotations. The pediatrician’s portal. Three texts from the group chat. A reminder that the science […]
A Personal Reckoning with the Algorithm On 25 April 2026, I deleted my accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, BlueSky, X/Twitter, TikTok, and LinkedIn. Not deactivated. Deleted. The data, the followers, the years of curated digital existence: gone. I kept Substack for long-form writing and YouTube for my podcast and teaching videos. Everything else I let […]
Recently I was on spiritual retreat at the Hermitage in Mittagong at the moment, reflecting on what 45 years of following Jesus and his Way have taught me about faith and discipleship. Here’s some of what those years have taught me. Maybe it’ll encourage others on the Way. 1. Prayer gets quieter with the years, […]
Why the United States Has Slipped into Authoritarianism and May Soon Be a Dictatorship, and What Americans and the International Community Can Do About It A View from the Outside I’m an Australian. I wrote this essay from the other side of the Pacific, watching events in the United States with the same mixture of […]
A Life of Radical Love in a World of Self-Interest People of the Way In the book of Acts, before the early Christians were ever called “Christians,” they were known by a simpler, more potent name: people of the Way. This designation, appearing in Acts 9:1–4 as Saul breathes murderous threats against the disciples, reveals something […]
The Sacralization of Self in a Supposedly Secular Age In 2015, a Nobel Prize-winning biochemist named Tim Hunt attended a conference in South Korea. During a toast at a luncheon, he made an ill-judged attempt at self-deprecating humor about women in laboratories. Within hours, his remarks had been tweeted, condemned, and amplified worldwide. Within days, […]
Philip Yancey shaped my faith. His books on grace, pain, and the mysteries of God met me in seasons when I needed language for experiences I couldn’t articulate. When I learned about his eight-year affair and its recent exposure, something in me collapsed. I suspect I’m not alone. I’ve been sitting with this news, asking […]
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