CONNECTED Adventist

Church hurt is a things. But I think we need to use better vocabulary to label what we experienced and what we're trying to define.

As church members how do we show up for our local Pastor when they "fall from grace"? The heartbreaking reality is that if the way we support "fallen" church members is any gauge- then pick up your stone of preference and hold back on the grace. The Lentz's family story was a two edged sword for me. The betrayal and forgiveness this family has experienced and embraced, is much deeper than Carl's infidelity. The scars they'll carry are from more than cheating- it's also from rejection and abandonment from those they called family.

I'm not a fan of either Adele or Taylor. So this isn't a bias opinion on who is better. It's all more about making the Gospel simple, attainable and relatable. Let's keep offering milk until God grows people's faith so they can digest the solids.

I'm talking about the Olympic Opening ceremony but not the way you think I will.

The deer in Psalm 41:1 is out here panting and thirsty. What does that even mean and what practical lesson are we supposed to get from this deer?

I saw a worm on my walk this morning. It kind of explains why I haven't uploaded in so long...

Who's the "+ 1" in your marriage? YOUR NEW BABY! The next statement will SHOCK YOU! There's some scary parallels between your baby and infidelity! New parents, or parents to be, please listen to this episode, it may save your marriage and your family.

Grief and Loss isn't often associated with "parenting", unless its in relation to the death of a child. But just as much as there is to gain when becoming a first time parent, there is also lot of loss with the birth of a first child. But these conversations aren't always had among Christians. The dark clouds of parenting aren't always talked about and this leaves many new parents to weather the storms of change and the unknown on their own.

I hope this episode gives you a sense of community in your suffering and in your loss.

I hope that you realise that trying your best- is the best you can do.

They lost. But there's way more to sport than winning. A mistake that's often made in team sport is putting a lot of pressure on one or a handful of players to get the win. Experts, commentators and fans can fall into the trap of highlighting key players in a team. But this FIFA World Cup Australia learned that we to cheer on our entire team when we lost our star Striker, Sam Kerr to injury. Through the Matildas' journey this WC, I was reminded of similar mistakes we make in our churches.

@pennyprojectsrs