Personal, Wellbeing

Why life is not just about being happy – by Laura Cuthill

A few weeks ago I saw this quote from Audrey Hepburn posted on social media: ‘The most important thing is to enjoy your life - to be happy - it's all that matters’. I see lots of quotes posted on social media and usually I just scroll past. But this quote jumped out at me.… Continue reading Why life is not just about being happy – by Laura Cuthill

Wellbeing, Youth work

Finding our ‘Why?’ and helping young people do the same…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyzWPiRbnl0&t=3 I first met Mike Palin thirty years ago when we were both leaders on a youth camp in Devon. Its no exaggeration to say that this youth camp changed our lives. It formed us as people by solidifying faith and helping us find purpose, meaning and a host of brilliant friendships. In the years since… Continue reading Finding our ‘Why?’ and helping young people do the same…

Personal, Wellbeing

Complicity or challenge?  Responding to self-limiting excuses – by Keith Hebden

Photo by Tyler Lastovich on Pexels.com In John’s gospel, there is a story of Jesus’ one-to-one conversation with a man lying by the ‘Pool of Bethesda’ which was famed for its healing powers (chapter 5). John’s Jesus asks the man starkly: “Do you want to get well?” The man replies with a series of excuses… Continue reading Complicity or challenge?  Responding to self-limiting excuses – by Keith Hebden

Personal, Wellbeing

How grace & truth changed my life

Photo by David Alberto Carmona Coto on Pexels.com This post consists solely of an emailed letter I received yesterday. As ever, personal stories speak more authentically than any theory and I think its one of the clearest articulations of the core thinking behind this blog.  I am deeply encouraged to receive letters like this. Hi… Continue reading How grace & truth changed my life

Ethics & Christian living, Wellbeing

The opposite of toxic masculinity

Carl Beech is the founder of Christian Vision for Men and Edge Ministries which builds Christian communities in areas of deprivation. I have been deeply struck by how Carl has shared news of his recent diagnosis of Early Onset Parkinson's disease.  I have found his insights an inspirational example of how God's power is often… Continue reading The opposite of toxic masculinity

Ethics & Christian living, Wellbeing

Inspiration v integrity

Photo by Suvan Chowdhury on Pexels.com The emerging allegations relating to the behaviour of Mike Pilavachi, church leader and founder of the Soul Survivor festival, have sent seismic shocks through the church. The accusations of coerced massages of young interns, along with bullying and an intense favouring-then-freezing-out of colleagues, sound similar to the behaviour of… Continue reading Inspiration v integrity

Personal, Wellbeing

Confessions of a recovering perfectionist – by Paul Jordan

This article almost wasn’t written because I’m a perfectionist. Well, a recovering perfectionist actually. Most of my adult life I’ve been nurturing, embracing and wielding perfectionism. Courting it under the misapprehension that it was a positive character trait. Who wouldn’t want to be perfect, right? Come on admit it. You’ve probably dabbled in a little… Continue reading Confessions of a recovering perfectionist – by Paul Jordan

Personal, Wellbeing

The lies we swallow about alcohol – by Jo Bega

I’m just back from a winter-sun holiday in Lanzarote. I swam in the sea, visited the volcanic vineyards, whooshed around the island on the back of a motorbike and ate some great tapas. It was fantastic – everything a holiday should be. And I did it all stone cold sober. A few years ago, a… Continue reading The lies we swallow about alcohol – by Jo Bega

Personal, Wellbeing

Confronting beauty & bulls**t on the road to Santiago – by Simon Dwight

Sweating and tired, I slipped off my backpack and slumped on the wooden pew. I sat looking at the stained-glass window in Bilbao Cathedral for an hour…maybe longer. Though I was physically still, my emotions continued the journey that had started the moment I began the Camino del Norte a couple hundred miles away. Wonder… Continue reading Confronting beauty & bulls**t on the road to Santiago – by Simon Dwight

Personal, Wellbeing

Finding hope amid devastating grief – by Andrew Ryland

The 19 November 2020 is indelibly etched on my mind as the darkest day in my life. It’s the day that my brother Stuart died by suicide at the age of 51.  Having just gone through another Christmas season without Stu (pictured on right), I would say that this has without doubt been the most… Continue reading Finding hope amid devastating grief – by Andrew Ryland