A Different Perspective Official Podcast

The seven deadly sins – lust, gluttony, greed, laziness, wrath, envy and pride – are tearing this world apart.  Each one of us deals with at least one in our makeup.  But God has graciously given us the power to break free from their clutches. Berni: I'm joined again today by my good friend, Keith Henry. Keith, you've been great over these last couple of weeks. Time has flown; we're in our last da...

You've probably heard of the Seven Deadly Sins.  Sounds old fashioned, but actually those same seven are tearing people's lives apart. Which one are you most prone to, and how can you break free from its clutches? Over this last week and a half on the program, we've been spending some time looking at what are called the "seven deadly sins" . Not because we want to do a guilt trip, not because we w...

Pride is an ugly thing – but these days, it's almost a virtue. I mean on the one hand should we be delighted when we succeed at something? Sure, but pride takes that delight to a different level.  That's why it's one of the seven deadly sins. And let me tell you, it's still deadly. Interestingly, the other week I was being interviewed by an editor of a magazine, sharing what God was doing through...

Envy is probably one of the most destructive of all emotions.  We see something someone else has and we want it.  Wars have been fought over envy. That's why it numbers amongst the seven deadly sins.  And it's still deadly. I imagine that envy, envy is one of those emotions, no, lets not call it an emotion, lets call it what it really is. Envy is one of those sins that we experience from our earli...

You don't have to look very far to figure out that anger is something that's hitting society in plague proportions. Everybody seems to be angry. Anger is one of the seven deadly sins. And it's still deadly. Every now and then we all get angry, we just do. It's a natural human emotion, in fact, you read a bit about God in His word, the Bible, and you discover God gets angry. Jesus became so angry h...

It seems in this fast changing world, that laziness couldn't possibly be a problem anymore. But certain people are truly prone to this sin. But they are and that's why it is one of the seven deadly sins.  And it's still deadly today. We all have patches in life where we need to take our foot off the pedal, just a bit. That's natural, we can't keep running at a million miles an hour, otherwise we'd...

Greed these days, at least in some circles, is almost a virtue, not a sin.  And yet greed is such a destructive force in this world.  That's why greed is one of the seven deadly sins.  And it's still deadly. One of the most fascinating creatures alive on this earth is the stock market because it's a place where people trade shares in companies and it behaves so irrationally. During the so called "...

We rarely think of overeating – gluttony – as being one of the seven deadly sins. But it is. People are eating themselves to death.  I know – I used to be one of them.  Gluttony is one of the seven deadly sins.  And it's still deadly. There's a certain brand of chocolate biscuits that you can buy in Australia, where I live. They're called Tim Tams. Now it's two biscuit wafers with a chocolate laye...

Some people are particularly prone to the sin of lust. Not just sexual lust – but also a lust after life. And that lust can ruin relationships, marriages and our lives.  That's why lust is one of the seven deadly sins. And it's still deadly. It seems that the more affluent we become and the more powerful we become, the more we think that really what matters is fulfilling our every desire. I was wa...

Funny thing, but each one of us knows we have a particular weak spot.  Maybe it's envy or anger or pride.  Whatever.  And it turns out, that each particular personality type is particularly prone to one of the seven deadly sins.  Which one is yours? Over the last couple of thousand years a whole bunch of things has changed in society. The way we look at people, women for instance, in most parts of...

Every now and then we go head first – splat on our faces.  Two options.  Just lie there and give up.  Or get up, wipe the tears from your eyes and the dirt from your wound and keep going. One of the sports that always amazes me is the hurdles in the athletics. I remember trying to run and clear those hurdles in high school but I'm afraid these little short legs of mine, well I could never quite ma...

Giving up smoking is a tough choice – really tough.  But it's worth it.  And in the same way – giving up some of the other rubbish wreaking havoc in our lives –well that can involve tough choices too.  But then – what's the alternative? I wonder if you've ever heard a news story about someone convicted of a crime and in sentencing the judge makes comment as to whether or not the criminal has expre...

For so many people – they have stuff in their hearts that's ruining their lives. And yet, somehow, we don't think about it too much.  Except when the consequence of that stuff – hurts like hell. How do we get on the front foot? Many people, in fact, let me be so bold as to say most people live life, day by day, without thinking too much about where it's headed. We might be focused on finishing a c...

Sometimes the most obvious and simple truths are the most powerful – like this one.  When I spend time alone with Jesus in the morning, sin has far less power over me on those days.  So why do we miss that? Sometimes, when I'm thinking about what to share with you each day on this program, well, I get a bit embarrassed. The things I come up with, sometimes, they seem too simple, too straight forwa...

Sometimes we get so caught up in our own "self-improvement program" that we forget completely that following Jesus isn't about self-improvement.  It's about…well, following Jesus. The chameleon is a pretty amazing animal that changes its skin colour to suit its surroundings. Pretty clever little fellow when you think about it. And in a sense, it's something that we all have a tendency of doing as...

When we finally wake up to ourselves and admit that the way we're living our lives just isn't working, the next thing we need is something that does work. Because like it or not, what we discover is that by and large, we ourselves our powerless to change.  We need power to change. I don't know, you turn on the evening news on the radio or the TV and there never seems to be much good news, it's all...

It's funny but when we finally come to the realisation that the way we're living our lives – well, it's not working that well – the first thing we do, is we invent a bunch of rules to make our lives better.  And then we discover – they don't work either. By large the law is a good thing. I mean, sometimes it's an ass, sometimes you read of a judgement handed down by a judge and you think, "Wow, th...

So many people on this planet are living so deeply in the debt of their – well, their sin – that they've forgotten that all along, God has a plan 'A' for their lives.  A glorious, wonderful, Plan 'A.' Most of us would be familiar with the term  "downward spiral" . The sense that things are heading inexorably downwards. And whilst we have quite a few  "up"  times in our lives, one of the things you...

We live in a world of cause and effect. You spend more than you earn, you end up in debt. Cause and effect. So how come, well why is it that you and I are such masters of self-deception when it comes to the consequences of our…sin. We live in a world of cause and effect. We know that; you work, you earn, your bank balance goes up. You buy, you spend, your bank balance goes down. Cause and effect....

There's a great swindle, a great con going on in our society – and in part, we're all being conned.  It goes like this – if you look after numero uno – everything else will be fine.  We know it doesn't work, but somehow we still want to believe it. Today … today we're starting a new series that, I have to warn you, the devil does not want you to hear. In fact he'll do anything he can to keep you a...

The vow people make when they get married is to be with their soul mate until the end. And yet almost half of all marriages fail. So, given those human frailties, sometimes we expect God to desert us too – but it just doesn't work that way. I'm someone who, by and large, enjoys their own company; I don't need a lot of people around me. That doesn't mean I don't enjoy being with people but I don't...

It's great that God is God. But is He willing to step in and help? Is He able to step in and help?  I mean – when it really counts.  Well, let's meet some people who can answer those questions firsthand. Do you recognise these words? Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, look up in the sky, it's a bird, it's a plane, it's Sup...

Trustworthy people – people who stick by you through thick and thin can be few and far between. God on the other hand – He has an abundance – an abundance of steadfast love and faithfulness. Yesterday on the program we started talking about trust, people we can trust. And God, can we actually trust Him? It's a big question, let's say God's all powerful, let's say He can actually do anything He wan...

All too often these days, people fly off the handle. We're under pressure, all this stuff happening – so we just react.  But there's a promise of God that runs in completely the opposite direction to that. It's amazing these days how quick people are to fly off the handle. Just recently on the evening news I was listening to reports of a man in his fifties who murdered his wife and his two grandch...

When we hit the odd bump in the road, it's great to know that there's someone that we can call on. Someone that we can depend on. And that's why it's so important to understand exactly who God is. There are times in life when we need to know that we're safe; times of turmoil, times of uncertainty, times when we're down or alone, times when we need help and advice. That's not to say that you or I a...