FRESH Official Podcast

So, twenty years ago, would you have guessed where your life would be at today? For most of us, the answer's a clear no, because things take unexpected turns, don't they? Life's brought us to a place now that we could never have anticipated. And with all the ups and downs you've experienced, doubtless there have been times when things just didn't make sense. Why did that happen? How can that be ri...

When all is said and done, what we hope for is to get through to the other side of our struggles, perhaps with a few bumps and bruises, but basically intact so that we can breathe that deep sigh of relief, "I made it!" Am I right? When you're in the middle of those struggles, though, it often feels like you're not going to make it. And what in the blazes is God up to, anyhow? Why isn't He stepping...

Have you ever felt completely alone in this busy world? Perhaps you have people around you, things you're involved in, but that sense of detachment, of isolation, nevertheless eats away at you. So, you think to yourself, Why am I going through this? Why do I feel this way? It's not an uncommon feeling. Stuff just seems to be happening to you without rhyme or reason; as though you've been dropped i...

Without doubt, gratitude is one of the most transformative forces in the universe. The problem is, when our spirits are down, it seems virtually impossible to come by. As a young Dutch Jewish woman during World War II, Etty Hillesum wrestled with deep regret over her past relationships and a gnawing fear of the Nazi terror tightening around her. But while imprisoned at Westerbork transit camp, she...

It's stating the obvious to say that suffering is universally part of the human condition. It's impossible to imagine our lives without it, even though that's what we'd hope for. But life just ain't like that. So, why does God allow it? More to the point, why does He let you and me suffer? That's what we really want to know! Back in the 1 st Century AD, Jesus' brother, James, wrote this to persecu...

Irrespective of our different personalities, we've all been in a place where, with everything weighing us down, with the pressures of life coming at us from every angle, we've reached breaking point. It's all up to me, but I just can't handle it! Now what? You likely heard the common theory of Type A and Type B personality types. Type A people are highly driven, competitive, and constantly racing...

There's a question that rather a lot of people are asking: If God is indeed God, if He loves me like He says He does, why doesn't He show up the moment I'm in trouble? After all, that's what any good parent would do for their kids, right? During World War II, André Trocmé was a Protestant pastor in the French village of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon. When Nazi forces began deporting Jews, Trocmé and his c...

Alexander Solzhenitsyn was imprisoned in 1945 for criticising Joseph Stalin, enduring eight years in Soviet gulags — starvation, freezing cold, forced labour, and relentless dehumanisation. At his lowest point, he contemplated suicide. But in the midst of that darkness Solzhenitsyn experienced a profound spiritual awakening, placing his hope in God. After his release in 1953 (shortly after Stalin'...

There are times when we're confronted by circumstances so dire, so complex that, try as we might, we can't figure them out. And, let's be honest here, "figuring them out" means finding a way to get through them safely and successfully to the other side. In our book, yours and mine, "figuring it out" means winning. But we don't always get to win in this life. Jane Haining, a Scottish missionary in...

From a very young age we've relied on the feedback of others, positive and negative, to learn the beliefs and behaviours that define us. Now that's a good thing … until that feedback does us harm. Perpetua was a young noblewoman and new Christian convert living in Carthage, North Africa, in the 2 nd century AD. During Emperor Septimius Severus' persecution of Christians, she was arrested along wit...

Let's imagine a child raised by parents who jump to its every need. Whenever it wants something, they dish it up. Whenever it throws a tantrum, they placate it by dancing to its tune. What sort of adult, do you think, will that child grow into? One of the things that turns many a person off from Christianity is the notion that having accepted God's love and forgiveness through Jesus (great!), they...

Let's face it, we like hanging out with people who agree with us; who say nice things to us; who, frankly, tell us what we want to hear. After all, who wants to be around those cantankerous individuals constantly pointing out our faults? The problem with that is that we end up creating a bubble, a mutual admiration society, where we each reinforce the things that make us feel good. That's how stre...

You and I, indeed everyone who's ever lived on planet Earth (bar one), has stuffed up. We've all made mistakes. We've all fallen short. Not a one of us has ever kept all the rules - from road rules to simple kindness and common decency. There's a cheery thought. Now, please don't take this the wrong way but I'm one of the most driven, conscientious, and hard-working people you'll ever meet. That s...

We live in a world that's not only drifting further and further from the Judeo-Christian morals that have served us so well down through the centuries, but from God Himself. And whilst, in a sense, there's nothing new in that, I think you'd agree it's gathering pace. As the world drifts ever more rapidly toward evil (go on, look around, tell me I'm wrong), there's one powerful truth that remains u...

In a world obsessed with material things, temporal things, here-and-now things, many have lost sight of the things that really matter. And as we focus on money, comfort, success, life quietly slips by … until it's gone. For years I sacrificed my family life on the altar of career, comfort and success. It ended up costing me my first marriage. Looking back on it, I've come to realise that the spoil...

A week out from Resurrection Sunday, let's turn our gaze back to that empty tomb, to the power that raised Jesus from the dead; a power that far exceeds anything made on this earth because that same power is available to you! The most powerful nuclear explosion to date occurred on October 30, 1961, when the 'Tsar Bomba' was detonated by the USSR on a remote archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. It was...

Let's get real. How often has your ego led you down a dangerous path of self-delusion and destruction? Perhaps that sounds a bit melodramatic, but that's exactly what an over-inflated ego will do. In 2003, at just 19 years of age, Elizabeth Holmes founded the health technology company Theranos in Pal Alto, California, the heart of Silicon Valley. The company promised to revolutionise blood testing...

Okay, so we're five days on from Easter Sunday. Tell me, how much is the power, the joy, the awe, the wonder of what took place at Easter still resonating in your heart? Or has it kind of faded away as you've settled back into your daily grind? That inexorable grind is, without doubt, one of the most powerfully destructive forces in our lives because it wears down our resolve to pursue the things...

Here's a tragedy that I see playing itself out time and time again: people say they believe in God, even that they believe that Jesus is who He said He is, that He died for them and rose again as we celebrated just a few days ago … and yet, there's this gnawing emptiness inside. Something's missing. Tokichi Ishii was one of Japan's most feared and brutal criminals. He was arrested over 20 times fo...

So, did Easter have an impact on you? Did engaging with the story of the risen Christ touch your heart? Because, let me tell you, it's meant to. Because in Jesus, you have a whole new life. American, Lew Wallace, was a lawyer, Civil War general and the governor of New Mexico. He was also a sceptic when it came to Christianity, setting out to write a book to disprove the divinity of Jesus. But duri...

Life can be a grind. Whether it's the repetition of putting one foot in front of the other or stresses and strains beyond your control, some days we all feel devoid of hope. Then what? I have the most blessed "job" in the world, if I can call it that, sharing the good news of Jesus with you and countless others 365 days a year. It's what I was made to do. But some days, I feel down too. Perhaps I'...

This day - the Monday after Resurrection Sunday - is, in my view, the most undercelebrated day of the year. You can just imagine the joy of the disciples yesterday when they saw Jesus raised from the dead. Absolutely! But what comes next? Imagine that during the French Revolution you'd been sentenced to death by guillotine. You're marched up onto the platform. The revolutionary crowd's shouting in...

Christ is risen - He is risen indeed! That's the joyous message of Resurrection Sunday. Death couldn't hold Him down. No, He rose from the dead. But what does that triumphant truth have to do with you and me, here and now? Good question … because for many, Easter's become so routine that it can be a struggle to get excited (yet again!) about the resurrection of Jesus Christ - if He is indeed risen...

Easter Saturday is traditionally a pretty quiet day – Good Friday's been, Resurrection Sunday's coming – so with Jesus' cold body lying on a slab in a sealed tomb, there's nothing much to do. Or is there? You can imagine, right? After yesterday's brutality, the disciples were locked away dealing with the trauma of seeing Jesus brutally nailed to a cross, now in fear for their own lives. He was dea...

Yep, we've arrived at this terrible day, Good Friday. A day soaked in sorrow. And yet, a day overflowing with a staggering love; a love unsurpassed in all of human history; God's love … for you! If you've been able to join me through Fresh this week, you'll know that we've been putting the relationship between Jesus and Barrabas under the microscope – and for good reason. Both went before Pontius...