"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

"...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

Would you go into this bathroom? Imagine being where the photographer is positioned in this physical space - how are you feeling? "Icky" is probably a really good description, right? What does anxiety feel like to you? Is it butterflies in the stomach? A pain in your chest? A sensation that something terrible is coming? For me its jitters in my body and this sense of hyper-vigilance that creates a rather intense desire to run. Its a really unpleasant feeling - a feeling that,

I don't know about you, but something feels different about this recent resurgence of COVID cases in Melbourne. Maybe it is because the first time I was consumed with a newborn baby and sleep deprivation; maybe it was because the state was going into lock-down rather than relaxing restrictions or maybe it is because I now have a greater understanding of the possible consequences of an uncontrolled community transmission; but my anxiety is surprisingly high. Even though there

Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me..." (Mt 28:18) You're not as a big a fan of change as you think you are. I used to think I was a lover of change. The truth is, I now realize I love change that I can control - which when you think about a typical week, is not as much as you might assume. In a year of major world events - including our bushfires closer to home, and then the global pandemic - change has been thrust upon us,