CONNECTED Adventist

Does your friends lists look just like the Pharisee's or like Jesus'? Sabbath keepers: check. Vegetarian: check. Non-drug user: check. Use appropriate language: check. But what if we spent time with people who lived their lives completely different to the SDA norm? Could you call them your friend? Would you sit a have dinner with them? Jesus did.

Parenting as a Christian seems to have an additional layer of complexity- modelling the character of our Heavenly Father! Yikes that's an epic responsibility! With a 13 and 12 yr old, my parenting seems to be forever evolving and so is my perception of God.

Everyone loves a wedding! But no one loves a DIVORCE! Well, not like a wedding at least- unless your marriage was real bad, then you might have a big divorce party. But what happens to marriages to go from all loved-up to "I never want a share a bed with you AGAIN"! To be honest, I wish I knew....I wish I knew.

The stadium is PACKED! Sold out game! Every seat is filled and the noise of the cheering crowd is a spectacle on its own. Everyone has come to see who will win. Who will progress to the next round. The crowd is completely invested in their team. The game is between the kingdoms of God and Satan- and your life- is match the crowd has come to watch. The crowd, is the heavenly host. Who will win?

Can you believe it!! 4 years of the CONNECTED PODCAST- Thank you JESUS! Although I do feel this year was a bit of a write-off...but let's not talk about that now. Today I wanted to acknowledge and appreciate all those peeps who think they're only a little toe or a pinkie in the work of the church. I see you, I value you and I'm SO thankful for you!

Given that 90% of my life seems to be spent writing research assessments and reading hundreds of pages of academic journals and literature....the reality of failing or passing my assessments puts a lot of pressure on my day-to-day functioning. So to add a spiritual dimension to "failing and passing" can make life a mental and emotional pressure cooker! I miss you!!

Not every righteous decisions is easy to make. Following God's will isn't the 'flashiest' either. The path that God sets our for us may not be the one with the 'pretty lights'. Sometimes, the will of God, the narrow path, doesn't cater for our wants, but we can definitely trust, that it will cater for all our needs and most importantly- all our spiritual needs. Lets be honest- many times, the narr...

Don't get upset, there's a reason I'm telling you to go to church...well honesty, I had to tell myself to go to church last sabbath. Church felt like a lifeline to me this last week. In the last two weeks life became so disorderly, that I needed my constant. I needed my unmoving weekly point of stability and grounding... I needed church!

Lets talk about BBLs... yes, BBLs! It's important, your identity, beauty and worth shouldn't be based on the size of your butt!

Better quality audio than the first Jesus + Therapy episode.... slightly different stuff though...cause I can't remember exactly what I said in the first episode...but don't stress- because y'all know God showed up and got me to say what needed to be said AND that's what matters! "I know, there's a ton of you who don't "believe" in therapy. Don't worry I get you, but I also think there's tremendou...

I know, there's a ton of you who don't "believe" in therapy. Don't worry I get you, but I also think there's tremendous benefits to therapy. I even think it can help us to spread the Gospel more effectively... for real! As Jackie Hill-Perry's merch would say- Jesus + Therapy!

I know ya'll heard enough about "The Slap"... so I'm not going there. But I am going to chat about stuff that's related and discuss what would happen if David had done the same thing? Would you still read the Psalms?

Fam! This is a mighty long episode for a mighty good reason! So pumped I don't have nothing to write... I kind of talked about it for an hour lol

"Fake it till you make it" they say. But what if you lived your life emphasising the authentic, genuine experiences of your true story? There is so much richness and power in hearing the truth of someone's journey.  Interestingly enough, I find that the confidence we carry with our story, is what makes it powerful, not the events, severity or details.  How your life experiences have impacted and t...

In groups discussions, I'm usually the one that contributes to the discussion or remains silent. The only times I remain silent are when; I'm tired, it's not worth investing my energy into the discussion or when I don't know anything about what they're talking about. I was recently with a group of people, who all cooperating were super knowledgable about something i wasn't. I found myself seeking...

The unfortunate truth is that disaster is inevitable, it's not a matter of "if", but "when"? I know, it kind of sucks, hey. But I actually spoke with two people who think the impact of a flood, was actually a relief for them in one specific area of their life. It would appear that for some people, all the challenges of living through a natural disaster actually helped them in some areas of their l...

Culture is so important. Culture isn't always positive, it simply is whatever has been reinforced and embraced by a group of people. The reality is that culture can be just as strong in negative elements, as another organisation can strive to make sure their culture is a positive one. Additionally, the desired culture of a group, isn't necessarily the reality of the group. Culture is created from...

Having a black-eye for two weeks taught me a lot about shame. Not any old shame, but the shame we choose to place on ourselves, with no need for help from anyone placing extra shame on us! We’ve all messed up, made mistakes, and as the Bible says, ‘we’ve all sinned’. But not all wrong choices carry the same negative consequences. Choosing the wrong flavoured drink doesn’t normally carry shame with...

Whether we like to admit it or not, we all seem to look like or act like our parents, or other adults who have had an impact in our upbringing. Sometimes our mannerisms, our character and our appearance can be unintentionally a reflection of what was modelled to us during influential stages of our life. Often, not only do we take on the good from these influential people, but somehow, the bad seem...

Relocating to a new town, school or workplace after years in an area can make leaving an emotional experience. Packing up and leave the familiar can be unsettling and exciting. Saying your final goodbyes to people you've grown with can also be sad and a relief; depending on how much you got along with the people. What I did learn from leaving our home town of 13 years, was that goodbyes should be...

Pack only the essentials. When we move, so many of us tend to pack things up that we know we don't need or use. Why? There's a degree of regret, loss and even attachment that we have with purchasing and having so many 'things', so we pack them and move them to the next location, simply because we may not want to do the 'hard work' of culling and admitting our defeat or loss. But storing hurt witho...

Adults are often telling kids to 'grow up'. But growing up can be overrated. Adulting isn't always glamours. Most importantly- Jesus told us to not grow up. There's something about children that Jesus highlighted in the way children relate to salvation and faith. Child-like faith; trusts, is humble, is loving and is forgiving. Those who will be the greatest- will be like children!

Psychology is so POWERFUL. The ability to understand the way the human mind functions can be the most useful skill we can have to help bring people to a place of healing from their past. I degree of psychological knowledge can also help you to protect yourself from harmful people. But with any superpower, we can use it for good and for evil! Watch out for those 'psychological' people!

I've been a vegetarian for almost 15 years but I still think the aroma of beef cooking in a fry pan or BBQ is pleasurable. When we read about our sacrifices and refinement being a 'pleasing fragrance on to the Lord' it may not sit that well with our soul. For the participants of refinement, the Refiner's fire isn't typically identify as 'sweet' or 'pleasant'- its usually super painful and uncomfor...