Stories of Hope

I have recently purchased an electric bike to help restore my confidence as a cyclist. It's bright pink, but none the less, I'm back out there riding and enjoying all the benefits of cycling.

When the lovely Sue and I were dating, we went on a bus trip to some very romantic places in Europe and she asked me to marry her at every one of them. I was not interested. But she persisted!

Ann Maree attends my Rotary club and is working towards becoming a mid life mentor for women. "Women in their fifties suddenly become invisible" Ann Maree participates in a number of networking groups and is always growing. She is quite delightful.

Many of our kitchen appliances are amazing, but they sometimes live in the dark cluttered corners of our low cupboards - unused and unappreciated. But if they are out in the open and have a regular use, they are terrific!

Jesus had an agenda to smash through the old religious idea that certain people were in and others were out.  His association with the dodgeyest people in town infuriated the polite and respectable religious leaders of his day.  He cast the net wide!

"Going to church" is a phrase Christians use to describe their involvement in the gathered people of God. Traditionally this has focused around what happens on a Sunday morning. Join me and my friends Matt and Sandy as we chat about how that looks today.

The lovely Sue and I attended a night of poetry last week with my Rotary club. It was not exactly Dead poets society, but it was profound, nostalgic, funny and highly relational.

A sincere cry from a place of brokenness and despair is better any day that cocky confidence from a place of superiority. We do know this, but the trickery of power, money and position can easily blind us.

20 years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, I have been watching documentaries and movies about it on the TV. I am sad, horrified and impotent all over again. But I can still love and support my immediate neighbors wholeheartedly.

Is there a big chunk of your time and energy set aside to feed something that bears no fruit? Assess it and give it another good year, but if it's still useless it might be a good idea to cut it down.

Shushannah Anderson also known as Shush, is a young, super bubbly, creative and enthusiastic Salvo. She is a fellow podcaster, recently married and spent time doing a creative arts training program in New York. It's hard not to smile listening to this.

At Caboolture Salvos the other week we potted dozens of Bromeliad plants as we had the people, the resources and the vision for a worthwhile project. We now have a front porch that resembles a tropical paradise.

We think we need ten times more money than we really do to be happy. The world can't sustain our decadent lifestyles so we will need to learn how to be happy with less. The lovely Sue found a way!

A massively high priority for me is to be a good dad, but there was no "how to be a good dad" subject in the school curriculum. I chat today with my daughters, Eliza and Georgia about the Fatherhood journey they have experienced.

I've always believed that more people die each year from falling coconuts than from shark attacks. Turns out this is just not true.

The Parable of the Good Samaritan reminds us that we can all be helpful, even if we think we are inadequate and have nothing to offer. Sometimes unlikely healers are there for us when the expected supports let us down.

Dan Casey with his co-host Shushannah are the hosts of a Salvo creative arts podcast called 7 days. Dan's story includes a fairly traditional Salvo upbringing, but his life is anything but traditional and his enthusiasm for life will boost your day.

When we trust people, everything is easier. I trusted Andy, despite his taste in running pants on a recent trail run and it was fabulous. If nations and people of influence trusted each other more, so many problems could be solved.

Our inner life needs solid rock to secure our minds and hearts in the inevitable storms of life. But they are very rarely perfect and we can be beautiful and secure people even though we might look a bit dodgy on the outside.

Selina is married to my brother Russell. She is currently a senior researcher at a feminist unit at Stellenbosch University in Cape Town, South Africa and she focuses on the complex relationships between Christian faith and patterns of violence against women, children and marginalised sexualities. She also loves Afro-Latin dancing and dressing up for her annual church Carnival. You can find out mo...

Older people love being invited into big ideas, as they like being a part of a team and have wisdom and experience to bring to the table. And if not, they like a cup of tea and have time for a chat.

Donal and Cornelia McKernan from the Bruderhof community near Inverell, came to the Salvos in 2015 and offered to serve for 6 months. They are delightful people and sharing how they live and the history of the Bruderhof makes for an interesting chat.  Check out their music at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6cs4WcM36Q

The 2021 Olympics often brought me to tears. Tears of hope and inspiration. Hope that the world can in fact get along and relief that inspirational leaders like Aussie Boomers basketball captain, Paddy Mills, are in the mix.

Janelle is a great friend Sue and I met in 1987 on a bus tour of Europe. She was your average suburban Christian housewife 5 years ago, but today is heavily involved in rescuing victims of human trafficking in Nepal. everydaughtermatters.org.au

Watching the Olympics has been good for the soul. Love, respect and a culture that values the power of community is a welcome contrast to the fear and mistrust in our world today. I think I want to be an Olympian too!!