FRESH Official Podcast

We each, inevitably, arrive at a point where all hope appears lost; where we can't see how we'll survive; where any faith we may have had in God seems so fragile in light of the terrible circumstances that confront us. Perhaps you've been there, perhaps it's yet to come. Vilhjalmur Stefansson was an Arctic explorer of Icelandic descent. In 1913, his ship was trapped and destroyed by pack ice, leav...

I've always loved technology … each new thing seems to offer so much potential to the human race. And yet, I wonder, have we gone too far? Have we allowed it to rob us of living life to the full? A man buys the latest virtual reality headset, boasting the most vivid worlds imaginable. He spends hours each day in its glow, wandering neon streets, conquering digital empires. But in his obsession, he...

A pilot trying to land her plane in a terrible storm has a choice to make. Amidst the violent turbulence, the zero visibility and the unquestionable danger, she can either trust her instruments to guide her to the landing strip, or panic and lose direction. The best choice? Pretty obvious, isn't it?! Perhaps you, like me, profess a faith in Jesus, believing (as the Bible says) that the glory of Go...

Obedience is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, societies depend on it for good order, well-being, and basic safety. On the other, as we saw yesterday in discussing the 1994 Rwandan genocide, blind obedience can have devastating consequences. Mitsuo Fuchida was the commander of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour, killing thousands and drawing the Americans into WWII. After the war, bitter an...

It's difficult, these days, to know what to believe anymore, isn't it? Much of what used to be trusted journalism has descended into spin and propaganda - for the left, for the right, for people peddling their pet perspectives. On top of which, social media algorithms feed us more and more of what we consume, drawing many inexorably into the vortex of conspiracy theories. Back during the Rwandan G...

Have you ever felt like a fraud? It's rather disquieting, knowing that who people think you are isn't who you really are; that they'd be horrified to know the doubts, the dark thoughts, swilling around inside you. Twentieth-century American Ferdinand Waldo Demara became known as the "Great Impostor", posing as a monk, psychologist, prison warden, and even a naval surgeon — all without qualificatio...

It's a fact of life that the true nature of prominent people's character is frequently misrepresented in the media. There's their public persona –  who the media spins them to be for good or bad – and then there's who they really are. And in a world where disinformation has become de rigueur , who really knows? That's not, by any means, a new problem. When Jesus landed on the scene back in the 1 s...

According to surveys, somewhere between half and three-quarters of all people pray in times of personal crisis - be they believers or not. What does that tell you? Personally, I've seen too many powerful answers to prayer to leave things until I hit a crisis - not to mention the peace and joy that come from praying. But from time to time we all face crises that have us shaking in our boots, that b...

Is it just me, or is the world becoming more cut-throat? How often do you see large lending institutions portray themselves with warm, fluffy, family-oriented images in their advertising in order to attract new customers? But then, the first time someone's struggling to make their repayments, they sell their house from underneath them. And hey, it's not just the banks. Okay, a hypothetical … let's...

As the storms of division rage ever more violently across society, do you ever feel that everyone's talking but no one's listening? And, let's be honest, have you ever found yourself doing the very same thing? Sometimes, the only reason we shut up is to think of what to say next, not to listen, not to try to understand what the other person's saying. Guilty as charged, eh? Jane Addams was a pionee...

So, let me ask you, what's your definition of wisdom? Someone you meet could be incredibly smart and successful, yet you take one look at them and in about three seconds you conclude that "wise" is the last label you'd ascribe to them. Why? In the 1950's and early 60's, Swede Dag Hammarskjöld served as the second Secretary-General of the United Nations. In a world riddled with Cold War tensions, j...

Whenever we get to the point of believing that we know it all, there's one thing for certain: we really have no idea what's going on. We're so blinded by our own puffed-up sense of knowing, that we're blinded to the fact that we know little to nothing. And let's face it, we've all been there. Most of us have that one thing that we're really good at; that one thing that we're better at than most of...

These days, the whole self-discovery thing seems to have become all the rage. I need to know myself and not be ashamed of who I really am. Yeah, right. Look around. How well is all that introspection serving us in this increasingly self-obsessed, narcissistic world in which we live? Back in the day, Greek philosopher Aristotle posited that knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom. Indeed, t...

In times of extreme adversity, we each have to decide: Will I keep trusting God … or will I give up? And, let's be clear, it's one of the toughest decisions we'll ever face. Author, John White, writes of putting his family on a flight in a snowstorm. Though he'd had a strong premonition that they'd be killed in a plane crash, he didn't discuss it with his wife. After they took off, he felt fear, s...

Doing what I do, I spend rather a lot of time flying in aeroplanes. And as those huge passenger jets trundle down the runway, it always amazes me how they get them into the air. So, you can imagine that I find this statistic somewhat troubling: commercial jets are struck by lightning, on average, once a year. Yikes! Yep, that's a troubling thought when you and several hundred others are hurtling t...

I wonder whether we ever truly realise how many of the things we take for granted are actually miracles, happening every minute of every day. Things that, if we took a moment to think about, would change the way we see not only the world, but ourselves. So, let's look at you. Did you know that you are 99.999% empty space? Absolutely! All matter, including human cells, is made up of atoms and if th...

Do you know what I love about you? I love the fact that you're so different to me. You have different motivations and abilities hardwired into your DNA. You've been through different experiences that've shaped who you are. Although, sadly, many people see their gifts, their abilities, as being quite insignificant compared to others. But that's a big mistake! During the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962...

I wonder, what are your thoughts about the supernatural dimension to life. Is there such a thing? Or is it just a bunch of old hocus-pocus, an unwelcome relic of medieval times? What do you think? As we each consider the realities of our lives, they all seem pretty ordinary. We're born, grow up, go to school, do what we're doing now, and one day … our lives on this earth will come to an end. That'...

It's amazing how powerful relationships can be in shaping who we become. The best relationships help us discover the foundational truths of life "on the job" so to speak, amidst the realities, the pressures, the trials of life. Sophie Scholl was initially swept up in the nationalistic fervour of Nazi Germany. But her worldview began to change through heartfelt conversations with her brother, Hans,...

It's all too easy to become so immersed in our social and economic systems, in the culture in which we live, that we end up believing that things have always been this way, and what's more, they always will be. Yet down through history, empires – indeed, whole civilizations – have come and gone. The most advanced, the most powerful … have disappeared leaving little more than ruins in their wake. I...

Have you ever had that experience of discovering something amazing in a place you'd never have expected to find it? A jewel amidst the dross of life that changes everything? As the story goes, back in the 9 th century AD an Ethiopian goat herder noticed that his goats became energetic after eating red berries from a particular shrub. Curious, he tried them himself and felt invigorated. Monks later...

Have you ever noticed how when the person next to you yawns, you too break out in an involuntary yawn? Why is that? It's called social mirroring — our brains instinctively mimic the behaviours of others, especially those we're emotionally connected to. When you see someone yawn, mirror neurons in your brain fire as if you were yawning too. So, when your friend yawns, your brain says,  "Me too!"  —...

Life has a rather annoying habit of taking unexpected turns. Just when you least expect it, whoompa! You find yourself in a hole; a place where, in a million years, you'd never have expected to find yourself. What if I told you that that could be the biggest opportunity God will ever hand you? Jacques Lusseyran was blinded at age seven in an accident. His world shifted overnight. But rather than r...

Some things are black and white. Thou shalt not murder – obvious, right? Though shalt not commit adultery – obvious, yes, although these days you have to wonder. Other things … well, not so obvious. And those not-so-obvious things cause a lot of conflict. Question: Is euthanasia a compassionate choice to end suffering or a violation of the sanctity of life? Is artificial intelligence a wondrous in...

Do you like change? No? Well, you're not alone. The truth is, very few people do. Picture this. Moses is preparing to die. Joshua's about to take over the leadership of Israel. They stand on the threshold of the Promised Land, with Moses giving his final instructions. They're facing powerful enemies, fortified cities, the uncertainty of a critical leadership transition. And in that moment, Moses e...