CONNECTED Adventist

Everyone has been given a label. Most probably, everyone has been stereotyped or profiled, and I can guarantee, that everyone had had assumptions made about them. Most of us tend to base our opinion on experience. So what experiences are you creating from Adventism when you engage with people in your community? What labels are been placed on our denomination through your testimony? Can it be said...

Baptism is supposed to be the most precious celebrations in the Christian life. But it is for everyone? And have we as a denomination go it all wrong? Like marriage, commitment is intended to be more than I one day event. It's a commitment to show up and build hope on what 'will be'.

The end is so so near! Before you know it I'll be near the QLD/ NSW boarder and be leaving 12 years of ministry and friends behind me. So what thoughts have these final days prompted? Regrets, mistakes and highlights. But it has also made me aware that we must live everyday for our Divine purpose. When the end arrives- there's no wishing for more time or opportunity for second chances. The end, is...

In Australia, Adventism is getting split down the middle. The church has two camps, those choosing to follow through with national vaccine mandates and those choosing to be the minority and not be vaccinated. The impact that this decision has had on our church is more divisive than women's ordination; and I thought nothing could seperate us more than that! So what can we do to repair the split on...

Pathfinders can teach children lots of valuable and life changing skills; how to tie knots, how to build a rafts, how to nurture your faith AND HOW TO COOK DAMPER BREAD ON A BRANCH! At our club's last pathfinder camp, my 'camp bread making' life was revolutionised! But I also learnt that memorable experiences can't be exchanged without making an investment. A dedication of time, energy and resourc...

Joining a basketball team a month ago has taught me how important it is to have a COACH! Specially when you have no idea what you're doing! Often, coaches can see what most players can't and a good coach, can change the entire direction of a game from losing to winning or from losing to- learning.

Three years of podcasting has taught me more about myself than podcasting. Three years of CONNECTEDNESS is bound to reveal a lot about anyone. In these last 3 years, I've invited you all to journeyed through some of the most vulnerable stages of my life, But with that vulnerability, you've also witnessed God strengthen me- beyond measure.

We've all read or heard that illustrative Bible verse, 'if your arm causes you to offend cut it off, or if your eye causes you to sin pull it out'. It sounds kind of severe and an pretty graphic illustration but experience, heartache and regrets, have taught me that this verse is filled with wisdom. The reality is that some things, some habits and some people just need to be cut off! This week, af...

Sometimes we seek comfort over grow. But comfort can limit our potential. Staying within the constraints of predictability can make life stagnant and hold us back from making dreams are reality. Within Christianity, comfort doesn't just limit just our dreams, it can potentially limits God's dreams for us too. Train to grow, train with the people that make you the most UNCOMFORTABLE!

Stop saving people! Wait up, I'll explain. Often, the natural response of many people is to save others before ourselves, and although that is honourable, I have seen too many people, marriages, families and churches crash and burn (symbolically) because they neglected to invest time in saving themselves first. Taking time to invest in our walk with God can strengthen us to do an even greater job...

We're starting to Google EVERYTHING. Symptoms, people, factchecking, science and everything else that we need to get answers about! But that scares me! What if Google gets it wrong? We seem to be blindly making Google the Canon- for life and faith. So what's the alternative? I know what's worked for me, and I'm very confident it will be helpful to you. But to be honest, I'm still googling a lot of...

The second coming can be super abstract to some, and even a little fictional to others. As Christians, we live our lives holding on to this day, when everything will come together and finally, we'll go to heaven and live in a perfect world. All our hopes will be fulfilled. And all our struggles will disappear and it will 'all be worth it'. But one thing that was made very clear to me this morning,...

Spiders shed their exoskeleton in oder to grow! I know, some fo you didn't know that, neither did I until last night. An encounter with a spider last night gave me some solemn thoughts about growth. Its hard work, its painful (I didn't ask the spider but it looked like it was in pain lol), its draining and it makes us extremely vulnerable to predators. Personal growth is the same. It's not an easy...

Our physical appearance can impact much of what we believe about ourselves. The hard thing is though, that what others think about us can become what we believe about ourselves. Society, media and our peer groups can determine whether we value and accept our appearance or whether we criticise our appearance and live life trying to change how we look. Some of us carry the scars of childhood teasing...

Everyone knows what a fairytale ending is like, the main characters run away and get married, the evil villain dies or goes to prison for the rest of their life, the sick person gets better and those who were lost are found and reunited with their loved ones. Why does humanity long for happy endings? And more importantly, is that the only reason that Christianity is so popular? Do Christians base...

STOP telling people to be vegetarian! Ok, I prayed for gentleness and tactfulness with this episode lol The health message is so much more than eliminating meat from the diet. Yet, it seems that's all most non-SDA people associate with Adventism- second to the sabbath. What if people thought 'Oh, Adventist, they're so fit!' or 'Adventists, have such a great work-life balance' or even better 'Adven...

There's two kind of the drivers, the ones that overtake a slow vehicles on the highway and those that patiently follow the slow drivers. Within Christianity we also see a distinction between those who 'make' God's will happen and those who patiently wait for God's will to come to fruition. Now, I'm not saying we should all sit at home on the couch waiting for things to 'happen' in our lives, but r...

Competition is one of those aspects of life I don't like. I don't like seeing people lose and let's be honest, I don't think anyone likes or enjoys being the 'loser'. But competition can sometimes bring out the best in some people. Competition can give other competitors a much clearer awareness of the 'winner's' capabilities and as a result, competition can push people to their potential in a way...

Gratitude is one of those habits we try and instil in our children at an early age. But as adults, life and unfilled expectations seems to make gratitude a habit that is harder to cultivate and maintain in our daily life. But I want to challenge the mainstream philosophy of "being thankful", by asking you to not just be thankful for things, situations and outcomes but rather, be thankful in spite...

Walking away isn't easy, whether it's walking away from a friendship, a family member, a relationship or your local church. Depending on our personal opinion, walking away can be seen a 'weakness' or avoidance. But making a choice to 'walk away' can often comes with high risks and great loss. Other people regard 'Sticking around' as a'weak' response to avoid offending or creating disruption. So, w...

The term 'Influencer' seems to be thrown around a lot. But you know why? Because we're ALL influencers! Maybe not a YouTube, 500k subscriber, kind of influencer but don't under estimate how much your life is impacting people's lives.

For someone who doesn't like to pay much for anything... joining the gym was a BIG decision but to be honest, I had to make it. There was no way I'd reach my goals without having some accountability behind me. My own will power wasn't going to be enough to get me where I was, and where I wanted to be. A healthy Church, can do the same thing for us!

We all either know someone who 'burnt out' or, maybe we were the one who 'burnt out'. But burnout often gets a lot of bad publicity, but burnout doesn't mean you failed- you were just running a different race to the rest of the pack.

I know, who does a podcast on this?!?!?! Me! But I'm going to talk about all kinds of dreams, not just the wet ones. What are some of the ways we can navigate our feelings and convictions with any type of dream that leaves us feeling 'some kind of way'?

When I watch people loose I feel sorry for them. I've never liked the competitive nature of sports because to be honest, I've lost WAY more than I've ever won. But as Christians, we should never have a "loser's mindset". Loosing- is not supposed to be part of our faith experience.