Making room is hard work. Kinda makes you want to pull a face like this cool cat below! Talking about making room is easy - that just requires us to think for ourselves or dialogue with others. Making plans to make room - it's a bit more effort, but there's no mess yet. Just some cool design ideas or calendar suggestions. But when it comes to actually making room...well that gets messy: We make room for God and people in our calendar, and then life throws all sorts of spanner

"Remember me with Favor, my God." (Nehemiah 13:31) Think of a time when you were most motivated to change. What was your driving force? The encouragement of someone else? Fear of missing out? Passion that stirred you up? Another person inspiring you? We've been exploring as a series of blog posts how we grow and develop and change through merging insights from Intentional Change Theory (ICT) with insights from studying the biblical book of Nehemiah. ICT would suggest that the

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will." (Romans 12:1-2) It's just the way I am! Ever said or thought that? I certainly have. The truth in this statem

"...From that day on, half of my men did the work, while the other half were equipped with spears, shields, bows and armor." (Nehemiah 4:16) How good is this! You've made plans for an efficient route from your home to your desired destination, and then...traffic! I don't know about you, but I am a sucker for making plans for a most efficient route to wherever I am going, only to 9 times out of 10 be thrown by the inevitable trouble of traffic. Life is allot like this. We make

"...Run in such a way as to get the prize..." [1 Corinthians 9:24] When You're Not Winning, You're Learning Ever heard that phrase? I’ve heard it, and I like it. We live in a time that loves winning, and finds losing increasingly hard - and some people don't know how to lose well. The bible calls us to run the race to win: "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games

"I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s family, have committed  against you." [Nehemiah 1:6] That glaring breach Broken down walls are a powerful visual metaphor for guilt. How so? Mirriam-Webster's dictionary defines guilt in two core ways: "the fact of committing a breach of conduct especially violating law and involving a penalty" AND "feelings of culpability especially for imagined offenses or from a sense of inadequacy." In these two definitio

"The God of heaven will give us success" (Ne 2:20) Coming "Crashing" Back Down We're working through how we grow as individuals and as a church through this blog series. We're working through a Theory of Intentional Change (ICT), and finding how Nehemiah's God-led change initiative - rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem - seems to dovetail really well with this theory. It makes sense - God's wisdom for personal change is unparalleled, and we're always finding modern insights tha

Do you think much about your imagination? What it is, and how it works? I think, if you're anything like me, you simply take it for granted. Therefore, giving some definition will help us all get on the same page. A really helpful book on the imagination and it's need for redemption, titled "Imagination Redeemed", clearly states that the imagination: "...is simply the power of the mind to form a mental image, that is, to think in pictures or other sensory representations." [p

"...Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man." [Nehemiah 1:11] I've been fascinated with how people grow all my life. It's why I studied psychology, and it's been why I've loved being involved in church - to the point of planting a church. I've been reading recently researching a psychologists work modelling how people and groups intentionally change. And I've found it both fascinating, and deeply connected to how God works. The model

"The LORD is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him. The LORD is a warrior; the LORD is his name." [Exodus 15:2-3] I love both this song and scene in the Prince of Egypt. The acknowledgement of the difficulty, the focus on hope and the rejoicing after the challenge has ended is, for me, so powerful. And, in our current circumstances - so vitally important. When times get challenging, o

"Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress." [1 Timothy 4:15] Do you want to progress this year? Do you want come to the end of the year and, looking back on all that has happened, see that you have grown? I don't know many people who would answer no to these questions. We want to make progress and grow in life. It's natural and healthy. But how often, when asked the question about how we are progressing in our personal