A Different Perspective Official Podcast

I passionately believe that God has the most amazing plan for your life and mine.  In His heart He conceived us and with His hands – He made us who we are. And He wants us to be the person He made us to be. Over these last couple of weeks on the program we've just been spending some time discovering your destiny. Survey after survey tells us that 75% of people don't enjoy their work. I wonder how...

So many people compare themselves with others and come to the conclusion – Well, I'm not much good for anything.  But each one of us has a gift.  An ability.  Something that's just ….well, us! Now I don't know if you've ever lived in a house where someone's learning the violin but those first few years were diabolical – the screeching and the out of tune, and its all so loud. It was just awful. No...

So many people aren't happy with who they are.  But – well, what if God is?  What if God looks at you and is the most delighted Dad in the universe?  And what if we saw ourselves the way He does? As I look around at people, big, small, black, white, young, old … what I see is an awful lot of people who aren't happy with their lot in life. And as you talk to them, what it often comes down to is not...

Everyone and everything seems to want to tell us who we should be and how we should live.  It's like the world is trying to squeeze us into its mould.  The problem is – we don't fit. It never ceases to amaze me how the rest of the world wants to kind of squeeze us into its own mould. It tells us that we'll only be happy if we buy this particular product. We're only really right if we agree with th...

Truth: We can't change the past. We may well want to, but we can't and yet, it's amazing how many people are gripped by the hurts and failures from their past.  Jesus came to set us free – maybe it's time for you to break with the power of the past. The bad things that happened to us in the past have an incredible ability to destroy our lives.  As I just said – it's a two-part destruction, because...

I remember how hard it was for me to give up smoking all those years ago.  And in the same way, giving up other bad things in our lives can be hard.  Do I or don't I? And if I do – how do I give them up? I remember how hard it was for me to give up smoking. I was sharing with a couple of builders who were smoking outside my house the other day. I used to smoke three packets a day, that's seventy f...

Let's say that God has a plan for each one of us.  For our lives.  Now – is that a good thing or a bad thing?  Maybe He has a good plan.  But – what if we don't like that plan?  Does it become a straitjacket? Over the years something I've thought a lot about is whether the idea of that this God I happen to believe in has a plan for my life is a good thing or a bad thing. I mean on the one hand the...

Have you noticed how just living life produces waste products.  We breathe out Carbon dioxide.  We perspire.  We create rubbish.  The same is true in life – and if we don't take out that rubbish, it can kill us. I don't know if you've ever noticed but living an average normal everyday life creates dirt. I mean just eating and drinking and living, the most basic things, create waste products. Carbo...

Most of us have a sense of destiny – something that we're supposed to fulfil in our lives.  But if I'm going to be the me I was meant to be, if you're going to be the you that you were meant to be, then we have to know who we were meant to be in the first place. If you want to ask yourself the question, am I being the "me" I was meant to be, am I really fulfilling the destiny for my life, how woul...

Have you ever sat down and wondered – who am I?  Where's my life headed? Am I being the me that I was meant to be?  Well, you're not alone.  We all ask those questions at some point. I remember once a few years back being in the airport in Christchurch, New Zealand. My international flight from Australia was late in getting in and I had to race to make the last domestic connection that night to my...

God wants to unleash power, power unlimited in your life. And one of the ways that He does that is when you hear His Word preached and take it into your heart. There's power, real power, power unlimited right there in God's Word. If you spend anytime with me here on the program one of the things you will know is that I'm really passionate about God and what He has to say. Not in a religious sort o...

So many people, when they open their Bibles, run into a significant problem. They don't quite understand what's going on – that's certainly the problem I used to run into. It's not that I'm stupid, it's just that a lot of it didn't make all that much sense to me. So if you find yourself in that boat from time to time, stick with me, because today, we're going to make your Bible a whole bunch more...

God's Word is packed full of power … power unlimited … to transform your life. But one of the biggest problems people have with the Bible is understanding it. Making sense of it. Knowing where it comes from, and where what they're reading today fits into the big picture. Well, I think it's time we did something about that. We've all heard of those word association tests that psychologists use. You...

So, we've been chatting on the program recently about laying hold of the unlimited power that God wants to give those who love Him. Great … but come on, how do you actually lay hold of that power? Well … the answer may not be what you think. A few years ago now, I had the opportunity to speak with a group of high school students at the opening of their college and senior campus. The subject of my...

They say that following Jesus isn't easy. And not just "they". In fact Jesus said that following Jesus wouldn't be easy. Because following Jesus means swimming against the tide of popular opinion. Following Jesus means, all too often … in fact most of the time … going in the opposite direction. That's why we need power … power unlimited … to follow Jesus. Last week on the program, we were chatting...

One of the most perplexing questions that each of us faces in life at some point, is: Who am I? What was I made to do? All too often we go looking for the answers in all the wrong places, and the image that we build of ourselves, the understanding that we have of who we are, becomes twisted and distorted. That one thing has ruined … is ruining … many a life. One of the things that many people pond...

Many people, many Christians even, let me say, live directionless, rudderless lives. Their lives don't seem to be heading anywhere in particular. And at some point, as we realise that life is slipping by ever so quickly, that shocks us into realising that before long, this life will be over … and for what? You know one of the most common things that we all experience at some point or other in our...

God is so profoundly different to anyone or anything that this world has to offer. His ways are so different to our ways, and unless and until we have a personal encounter with the risen Christ, unless and until we encounter Jesus in our own, personal experience, our lives simply cannot be transformed. Who or what is God? Well you go out and ask different people and what you discover is that they...

The Bible tells us (Ephesians Chapter 1) That God has already made His incredible great power, His resurrection power, available to each and every person who believes in Jesus. So today, were going to take a look at what happens, when we lay hold of that power. As you can imagine, I speak with a lot of people. People who respond to this radio program, people I meet in my travels, people who've hea...

Too many Christians, in fact, way too many Christians, are living lives that fall so far short of the life that Jesus promised. When Jesus promised power, they instead end up living a powerless life. I wonder if you know anyone like that. I wonder if this scenario sounds at all familiar to you. At some stage, way back when, you decided to believe in Jesus. Perhaps you, like me, can remember the da...

We race through Easter. A long weekend, chance for a break. Maybe a trip to church … but then again, perhaps not. And to do that, we have to shield our eyes. We have to avoid looking at the cross. Because when you do, when you turn your eyes to Calvary, let me tell you, it's something you just can't ignore. Then Pilate took Jesus and had Him flogged and the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put...

Judas Iscariot would have to be one of the most infamous men in all of history. The friend of Jesus who betrayed Him. The man who betrayed the Son of God. Have you ever wondered – what made him do it? What if I told you that the trigger, the straw that broke the camel's back, was a love of money?! All of us have experienced some time in our lives the betrayal of a friend. It's a terrible thing and...

You discover a lot about someone when you see how they react under pressure. That's when you see the real man or the real woman. And one of the things that Jesus does just before He's to be crucified is that He prays. Question is – who or what does He pray for? Now that's an interesting question, because the answer tells us an awful lot about Jesus. Prayer is something that most of us, well we don...

Back in those few days leading up to that very first Easter, the Disciples were afraid. Petrified in fact. There was a plot afoot to assassinate Jesus. That was bad enough. But were they in the firing line too? Were they going to die too? And into that little mess, Jesus spoke to them about joy and peace. The days leading up to that first Good Friday, which incidentally at the time must have felt...

Just before He was betrayed, Jesus got down and washed the dirty, smelly feet of His disciples. Have you ever wondered how you'd react if He knocked on your front door tonight and offered to wash your feet? I'm not sure I'd be that keen to let Him do that … but as it turns out, that's exactly what He came to do! An amazing week coming up this week. Not just here on the program but in life generall...