FRESH Official Podcast

Some people constantly change their minds based on the last person they talked to or the latest thing they read. And whilst the ability to shift your position based on sound advice or more accurate information is a great strength, a consistent inability to stick with your convictions is equally a terrible weakness. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain desperately wanted peace with Germany an...

Gossip, I think you'll agree, is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, if we're honest with ourselves, we know that it can be terribly destructive. On the other hand, it's so tantalising, so juicy, so delectable, isn't it? The Salem witch trials in colonial Massachusetts in the late 1600's began as a few silly and spiteful accusations among young girls. But fuelled by fear, superstition and gossi...

Have you ever been so convinced that you're right, that your view of the world is the absolute truth, that you've blundered into a situation with your mouth wide open, espousing your opinions, your "truth" as you see it, without stopping to listen to others first? Sure, you have. Me too. It never ends well, does it?! Back in 1520, King Christian II of Denmark summoned Swedish nobles to a so-called...

None of us likes making mistakes. And when we do, the last thing we feel like doing is owning up, dealing with the withering looks of blame from others. Better just to sweep things under the carpet or blame someone else! In 1961, the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba was a disaster. US President John F. Kennedy had approved the plan to overthrow Fidel Castro but when it failed spectacularly, those arou...

Different people have different attitudes towards how they use their time. Some are highly organised, allocating almost every minute of their day to a task. Others, eh … not so much. Whatever. Let's just go with the flow. Now, to be sure, if you take either of those to the extreme, that's a bad thing. Someone who's over-organised often won't make time for relationships. They're too busy getting th...

Respect doesn't come automatically through your position or title. No, respect is something that's earned over time, through consistently trustworthy behaviour. If you think about the people you respect, without doubt, one of their enduring qualities is that you can depend on them. What you see is what you get. What they say is what they'll do. In other words, they keep their word. They follow thr...

When you're on the receiving end of someone's anger, whether it's justified or not, whether it involves retribution or not, it's simply not pleasant, is it? It robs you of any peace or joy that you may have had  So let me ask you today: Does God get angry with us? Not just with people in general, but with you, with me? This isn't merely a theoretical question. It's real. Here's what King David of...

Emotional and spiritual dryness afflicts us all from time to time. It's not pleasant – we'd dearly like to avoid it ever happening again. But provided those times don't go on for too long, they're not terminal. We will get through them. It's the same physiologically when you don't get enough water. Yes, you're thirsty, you crave a drink, but provided it doesn't go on for too long, you'll be fine....

These days, wealthy people pay a great deal to go on so-called 'ecotours' – luxury experiences of remote wildernesses, in pursuit of thrills and spills that ordinary folk could never afford. But honestly, I've spent more than enough time in wildernesses of my own over the years to last me a lifetime  Yep, wilderness journeys are de rigueur in the lives that we each lead in this imperfect world – b...

Have you ever felt dry inside? You know what I'm talking about, right? That sense that the joy, the anticipation, the zest you once had for life has completely evaporated. Poof – gone! Your spirit within you is parched, bone dry, brittle. I think we've all been there at some point. What happened? What went wrong? How am I going to survive this? The Namib is one of the driest deserts in the world,...

I think that most of us want to do good in this world, don't we? Oh, I know, so many things get in the way of that – our emotions, our innate selfishness, those tough times. And yet still, we hope to be remembered for having done good. Not everyone wants to do good, of course. Underworld crime bosses, despotic dictators, warlords and the like – they don't wake up every morning thinking, "Now, how...

Might I ask you, as you embark on this new year, what's foremost in your mind? What have you set your mind on achieving? What's the preeminent problem in your life that needs solving? What relationship needs nurturing? What's the number one thing on your mind heading into this year? Prioritisation is a good thing, unless of course we prioritise the wrong things, at which point life tends to head o...

It's funny how caught up we become in the things of this world; the stuff that seems to matter so much today … yet in five years from now will be totally irrelevant to our lives. And, can I say, that's especially true when we're suffering? We end up grasping at straws in the hope that they'll heal the pain and satisfy our needs. You know how it goes. The year's off to a new beginning, and you stil...

A good many people on planet Earth today are living sub-optimal lives –  terrible lives, many of them – not so much because of their circumstances, but because they feel worthless. I wonder if you know anyone like that. To be sure, some people live in appalling circumstances – extreme poverty, under the threat of violence, abandoned, completely alone. And in many cases, even the smallest intervent...

Look, I totally get it. Some people are entering this new year tired, exhausted, before it's even begun. And as a result, they end up living half a life instead of a full, rich, abundant one. Sure, I've gone through times of feeling burnt out, times when I just couldn't give "it" my all. Burnout's a big subject. We'll talk about that another day. But you see too many people whose zest for life elu...

Planning something new can be both exciting and daunting all at the same time. A young couple having their first child will be excited at the prospect of bringing a new life into this world, while wondering whether they have what it takes to be great parents. Anticipation and uncertainty. And it's not just when you're planning something big. Simply living life has its twists and turns. You come to...

Well, here we are. A happy and blessed new year to you. But before we can step into this new year with gusto, with that sense of anticipation of what it'll bring, we need to let go of the regrets of the past. Absolutely, we do! In early 20th-century China, Empress Dowager Longyu signed the abdication of the last emperor, ending over two thousand years of imperial rule. It was the right thing for p...

Well, here we are, about to step over the threshold into yet another new year. The old one's pretty much done and dusted, consigned into the catalogue of years gone by. The new one is about to begin. So allow me, if you will, to ask you an important question. As you step into next year, which path will you take? The high road or the low road? In 44 BC, Marcus Junius Brutus stood in the shadows of...

Admitting your own flaws, facing up to the reality that we each have chinks in our armour, taking responsibility for them, is incredibly difficult. Yet if we don't, they'll get us into a world of trouble. Piero de' Medici, son of Lorenzo the Magnificent, was the richest man in Florence. But unlike his wise father, young Piero ignored the warnings and overestimated his charm. So in 1494, he handed...

I don't know about you, but as these final days of the year tick over, I tend to become quite contemplative about the year that's been, prior to turning my mind to the year that lies ahead. It just seems to be such a natural thing to do. One of the things that can weigh so heavily on your mind is the consequences of the mistakes we've made over these last twelve months. And let's face it, we've al...

With Christmas done and dusted, the reality that another year has all but slipped by is no doubt starting to sink in. Another year, really?! Okay, they're just dates on a calendar but still … it kind of focusses the mind, does it not? Sometimes the new year brings change, other times we're just looking ahead at business as usual. Sometimes we're looking forward to change, other times we loathe the...

Whether a nation has a Judeo-Christian history or not,  most nevertheless still run post-Christmas sales. China, Japan, South Korea, even the malls in a good many Middle Eastern countries all have massive post-Christmas markdowns. Today, a pair of shoes is worth x. Tomorrow all of a sudden, they're out the door for half price. What changed? They're still the same pair of shoes. The wholesale price...

So, how was your Christmas Day yesterday? Most of us, I guess, enjoyed a meal with our loved ones. If you're a person of faith though, did you take the opportunity to share your faith over dinner, or were you left feeling a little embarrassed at your inability to speak meaningfully about the real reason for the celebration? If you believe that it's only through faith in Jesus that a person can be...

So, it's Christmas Day. But rather than wishing you a Merry Christmas, my prayer, my hope for you, is that you and your loved ones would have a truly blessed Christmas. Isn't it amazing that today we celebrate an event that took place over 2,000 years ago in an obscure corner of the world; the birth of a child in the most humble of circumstances; something that ordinarily should have gone unnotice...

When circumstances turn against you, no matter how good or noble your life or your cause happens to be, there's a great temptation, isn't there, to shut down; to walk away from the good that you're doing; to curl up in a ball and shut the world out? I don't think any of us likes facing adversity. In fact, I'm sure of it. I certainly don't. And yet, it's a fact of life. The worst kind, I think, is...