For most of my life (50 out of my 60+ years) I struggled with my weight. Up and down like a yoyo. I starved myself, walked 20 kms a day, fought against my appetite, lost the weight … and then, ultimately, each time, I’d put it all back on again.

I hated looking at myself in the mirror or seeing myself in a photo (the one on this page is one of the very few I have of the Old Berni). Sound familiar?

Ultimately I gave up. I’d lost the battle. I was pre-diabetic … and heading down that slippery slope.

I know my story is not unique. Look around. There’s a bunch of us who are getting fatter and fatter … and it’s killing us. For those of you “skinny-minnies” out there, God bless you but we’re not like you. There’s something wrong. Seriously wrong.

But then I discovered the science … it was the carbohydrates that were driving my hunger (I always wanted to eat more) my insulin, my weight gain to the point of morbid obesity … and slowly killing me. Processed food is full of refined carbs, especially sugar which also happens to be incredibly addictive.

These days I eat like a king, I just don’t eat refined carbohydrates. I’m just not that hungry anymore because the change brought my appetite back under control.

I never feel deprived because I eat the way my grandparents used to – relatively low carb, but high fat (you know, back before everyone got fat). And yet I’m a heathy weight. My doctor’s over the moon with my blood works. I don’t count calories and don’t even need to weigh myself to maintain a constant weight.

And that’s all due to courageous scientists like Professor Tim Noakes, who had the guts to stand up against Big Food and Big Pharma, not to mentioned entrenched, outdated and downright harmful dietary and medical advice.

I had the good fortune to meet Tim in Cape Town South Africa and managed to get him into a TV studio to record this interview.

I won’t say anymore. If you’re like me, do yourself a favour, just watch the video. It’s a complete game changer.

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The Best WEBSITE by Far

People often ask me:

How did you do it? What did you eat? Do you have any meal plans?

Hey, I’m not a doctor and I’m not a chef. But I ain’t stupid either.

The best  – THE BEST – website I’ve come across in this area is DietDoctor.com. Much of the educational content and recipes are free. Or you can, as I’ve done, subscribe for a few dollars a month to get all the movies, recipes and videos. It’s the best investment I’ve ever made. Check it out!

A Free Booklet Download for you

A little while back, I wrote a short eBooklet – My Top 3 Secrets for Losing 25Kgs. It talks about many of the things I learned through Prof Noakes and others.

I’d love for you to have a copy.

Click Here to Download It >>

The post This is Your Game Changer appeared first on Berni's Blog.

I spent this past Mothers’ Day just outside a township in Western Cape, South Africa. I was asked to speak at a church and give “a Mothers’ Day message”. All good, not a problem … until the pastor told me that there were three mothers in the congregation who’d lost their sons – killed in gang violence – since last Mothers’ Day.

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Shaken to the Core

This year, I found myself on the road (again) … and missed spending Mothers’ Day with my mother and my wife. It’s the price you pay I guess. But it does leave you with a heavy heart.

So I arrived at this church early on Mothers’ Day morning, feeling, I must confess, sad that my 88-year-old mother was spending her Mothers’ Day alone. Yes I’d managed to spend a day with her (in lieu) before I left for South Africa, but it’s not the same is it. Her heart was heavy too … I could tell, when I called and spoke to her on the phone.

As is often the case when I’m asked to speak at a church, I had no idea what I was walking into. Yes, I had my message prepared. Yes, I met the pastor – a great guy – before the service. But it’s what he said to me over a cup of tea as the people were arriving downstairs, that shook me to the core.

On average I get called to one gang killing a month. I stand next to the body of a young man with multiple bullet holes, holding his weeping mother. I take the funeral and bury her son … and then, life goes on. So today, we will have several mothers in the congregation who have lost their sons since last Mothers’ Day.

He was right. He asked for a show of hands of mothers who had lost their sons in the last twelve months, and three hands went up.

It shook me to the core, as did the number of motherless children and teenagers at the service. Some of these kids were orphaned. Others, well, mum was in prison … or she just didn’t bother to show up.

Most of us, I’m guessing, live in very different circumstances to these. But for this pastor, for these people, this is life. This is how it is.

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A Lonely Boy

It put a whole different slant on the Mothers’ Day message I shared. This wasn’t one of those soft pink fluffy slippers and dressing gowns type of Mothers’ Day experiences that you see in the TV ads. This was a gritty and for many, a deeply painful Mothers’ Day … mothers remembering children they could never hold in their arms again; children yearning for mothers that just weren’t there.

Before the service a young boy – he was ten or eleven years old I’m guessing, completely alone in the world – remarked to the pastor that I looked a lot like his dad. I have no idea where his dad was, but the boy was living with the youth pastor and his wife. He was a great kid, full of beans.

During the service, he left his friends, and came and sat in the empty seat next to me and held onto my arm. It was hard for me to hold it together at that point!

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Palpable Love

With all this going on, I was struck by the palpable love in this community. At the end of the service, the pastor invited all the people whose mothers were in the congregation come to forward, he handed out a framed poem about mothers for each to give to their mums … which they did, young and old.

Then, he invited all the children without mothers (and there were a lot of them) to come forward, to take a framed poem and give it to the mothers who had lost a child.

Finally, he invited all the mothers forward, prayed for them and encouraged them, with their mothers’ hearts, to reach out over the coming year, to all these kids who had no mothers.

At that point, I’m pretty safe in saying, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.

I’m just telling it to you the way it happened.

I’ve deliberately not told you the place, the name of the church or the name of the pastor. I just don’t think that that’s what these people would want me to do.

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So …

… what do we take away from all that? What do those of us who are blessed with families that are largely together, by and large functional and loving, do with all of that?

I’d like to leave you with three things to reflect on, if I may:

Be Grateful. If your mother is still around, go and give her a big hug. You’re truly blessed. Truly.

Be Mindful. Those of us who have loving families are by no means the norm. Many, many families have been torn apart. Many are dysfunctional. Many mothers and children are alone. It’s just the way it is. Okay, perhaps your family ain’t perfect. But you have a family. You’re not that little boy who clung to my arm. Don’t forget those who don’t have all that you do.

Be Compassionate. The smallest act of kindness, the smallest act of love, can change lives. Compassion isn’t just what we feel in our hearts. It’s what we do with our lives.

Learn to do good. Seek justice.
Help the oppressed.
Defend the cause of orphans.
Fight for the rights of widows.
(Isaiah 1:17)

The post A Very Different Mothers’ Day appeared first on Berni's Blog.

I recently received a tragic email from a listener about his experience with several churches. Sadly, what he wrote is not an isolated occurrence. In my experience, it’s all too common. Here’s what he said …

I’m not a Christian, I try to avoid Christians. I lost my wife and children a while back – they were killed in a car by a drunk driver. I tried to commit suicide, but the police stopped me and I ended up in a mental health unit for a while. I decided to go to church one Sunday. They asked me where I lived – so I told them. Church after church the same thing – they treated me like a criminal. It was like a kick in the teeth.

I wonder about Christians some days. They read their bibles, go to their bible study groups, go to their conferences, raise their hands in the air thanking Jesus … Are they being taught rubbish, or is it going through one ear and out the other?

It makes you think.
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The Church Where Nobody Said Hello

I was travelling overseas recently and found myself at a loose end for a church service on a Sunday evening. So I asked a friend who lived in that city and he pointed me to a “well-regarded” church not far from my hotel.

When I arrived, the two “greeters” outside the front door were drinking coffee. I received a perfunctory “hello” and “welcome” before walking through the doors, where the second-line greeter offered me the bulletin. “Where are you from?” she asked. I explained I was travelling from overseas, at which point, she made it clear that, as a transient, I was of little interest.

So, I went and sat down in a pew – snazzy building by the way! A traditional old church with new lighting, a contemporary setup and, of course, great audio-visual. The band was practicing and then going into their pre-service prayer huddle. The pastors were running around, busy, doing what pastors do before a service. And church members were steadily accumulating around me as we approached the designated start time.

All good … and yet, not one person said hello to me. Not one person came up and asked me why I was there. Not one person made me feel welcome.

I was in the midst of a church, and yet, I felt completely alone. 

I couldn’t help but wonder … what if I were in desperate need today (as I had been over 2o years ago when I first entered a church building)? What if I were close to taking my own life out of sheer desperation, hurting so deeply that I’d come along to church for help (as I had been the case all those years before)?

Well?!
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Don’t get me wrong …

I’m not saying every church is bad. But as a society, we’re steadily losing (some would argue, have lost) the art of doing community; of relying on one another; of looking out for each other. It’s only natural, the more affluent and independent we become.

And that social trend, sadly, is spreading like cancer in churches around the globe. There are some great church concerts happening out there of a Sunday. Great music, powerful sermons … a slick package over all.

But we’ve forgotten, by and large, how to welcome strangers. How to by kind and open and caring. How to be a family. Because in this 21st century world, we’re pretty much self-sufficient, and even if we aren’t, that smartphone screen beckons.

How many likes have I got on Facebook/Instagram/ … ??
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Some awkward questions

Here are some unsettling questions to help you reflect on how friendly (or not) your church is:

(1) When was the last time you heard a message from the pulpit on how to treat new people who come to your church?

(2) Has your church identified the pastorally gifted members of the congregation, and trained them, empowered them, to organically (without a roster! without prompting) sidle up next to and embrace newcomers?

(3) What happens when a new single woman (or man) wanders in on a Sunday? Or a young family with kids? Or an older person, alone? Does someone of a roughly comparable age/family demographic just naturally sidle up to them and make them feel welcome? Does anybody ask them “What brought you here today?”

(4) How common is it for someone new to your church to be invited out for lunch (or coffee, or anything for that matter) after that first service? (My wife and I attended one church where we weren’t invited out for 9 months!)

Well?
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Think about it

We sing the songs, we listen to the sermons. Praise the Lord, hallelujah! We have a cup of coffee and a chat with the same old people after the service (none of which, in and of themselves, are bad things).

But what about that new person who just wandered in? You’ve never seen them before. Will you pull up next to them and ask them how they’re going and why they’re here? Well, will you?

And when they share their tragic, difficult, messy, inconvenient story with you, will you be the one to wrap the arms of Jesus around them? Well, will you, or not?
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A final word …

So these three things continue: faith, hope, and love. And the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:13)

Share your thoughts by leaving a comment below …

The post How Friendly is Your Church? appeared first on Berni's Blog.

There are always going to be some things that we’re not going to be able to agree upon. Ever! And that makes the skill of disagreeing with dignity, a very important skill indeed. Otherwise it’d be bedlam. In fact, it already is! Question: At what point did we forget how to disagree with dignity? It seems to me that somewhere along the line, we’ve forgotten that one of the most important tenets of democracy, is the right for someone not only to hold an opinion, but to express it freely, no matter how disagreeable it may be. Of course there are limits at law. Libel and slander are wrong. Inciting violence or hatred are wrong. But those things aside, why is it that we want to silence minority views, as though somehow the majority is always right (which history quite clearly proves, it is not).

Here are Some Examples

As a Christian, I hold some incredibly unpopular views. Not because I’m an idiot. Not because I’m a narrow-minded bigot. Not because I’m homophobic or misogynistic or any other label that some would care to throw at me. Not even because I am against a woman’s choice, but because with all my heart, I feel that someone needs to stand up for the voiceless, unborn child in the abortion debate. And that’s the key. These unpopular, marginalised views that I hold (views that, by the way, were, until relatively recently, mainstream) are views that I hold with deep conviction, and with all of my heart. Until the day I breathe my final breath, I will hold dear in my heart the right of the unborn child to be given the chance that you and were given, to live his or her life. Why? Because I’m a Christian and because I believe that the Bible is, in the most part, meant to be taken literally. You might think that I’m a blithering idiot for thinking that. You might not understand how I can possibly believe that, or how I account for some of the things in the Old Testament that quite clearly do not and cannot apply to our lives today. And whilst I would be happy to explain those things to you, bottom line is, that that’s your right. But it’s not your right to silence me, any more than it is my right, to silence you. Because at the other end of the social spectrum from me, there are people who, with all their hearts, believe in same-sex marriage as a matter of equality, believe in a woman’s right to choose, believe in … a whole bunch of things that I will never, ever, ever believe in. Not as long as I live. Do they believe those things because they’re idiots? Because they’re really, really bad people? Because they’re … No, they believe those things sincerely, with all their hearts. And that … that is why we need to learn to disagree with dignity.

A Case Study – QANTAS vs Margaret Court

If you’re an Aussie, you’ll know all about this stoush.  But there are many who read this blog from across the world, so here it is in a nutshell. Margaret Court is the greatest tennis player in all history. She’s won more grand slams (singles + doubles) than any other person who has ever walked the planet. Recently the CEO of QANTAS decided to paint a number of its planes in rainbow colours, to promote the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras in Sydney, together with same-sex marriage. The CEO of QANTAS, Alan Joyce, is gay. So Margaret Court, now a pastor of a large church in Perth, announced that she would stop flying QANTAS as her response to his decision. Is she entitled? Sure she is. It’s a democracy. Is QANTAS entitled to paint its planes whatever colour it wants? Sure. It’s a private company and if it considers it to be in the interests of its shareholders, hey, they can paint their planes pink with purple spots if they want. Right? since her announcement, the vitriol that has been hurled at Margaret Court is beyond belief. But … it’s by no means a one-sided deal. Joyce had a pie thrown in his face by a protester. You can read about it here. What to one person is sin plain and simple (I use that word “sin” deliberately, because that’s what it is to God, to Margaret Court, to me, and to the vast majority of others who have a relationship with Jesus Christ) is, to the next person, “marriage equality”. And emotions on this one issue, by way of example, run very high indeed. The purpose of this blog, by the way,  is not to promote one view over the other, but rather to put under the microscope the way we’re handling it.

Blind Tribalism

In a democracy, politicians disagree with one another all the time. It’s their job. That’s how democracies function – with a government and an opposition to put the contrary view, and to hold the government accountable. You can argue about how well that works, but as Churchill is alleged to have put it: Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others.  But from where I sit, democracies are fracturing and descending into a state of all out social war, because of the blindness induced by tribalism. What do I mean by that? It seems that we are less and less interested in achieving the best outcome for society, and more and more interested in making sure that our team wins. The present-day situation over Donald Trump is a case in point. History clearly demonstrates that he is a bully, a liar and a womaniser. You can’t deny that, and yet the religious right (in large part) thinks of him as a political messiah. Does President Trump have the potential to do some good things? Sure he does. He’s no idiot. And many are enamoured of his policies. I for one, were I an American, would absolutely support his stance on sexuality and on abortion. But, is he perfect? Clearly not. The man is complex beast, with significant strengths and significant weaknesses. Now, flip over to the left side of politics, and for them, he is nothing short of the anti-christ (if the left believed in such a thing). Nothing that he does can possibly be right. He needs to be impeached and gotten rid of … despite the fact that he was elected in an open, democratic process. Should he be given a fair go? Absolutely not!! according to the left. Do you see what’s going on here? It’s blind tribalism.

I want my side to win at all costs, irrespective of the facts.

Instead of comprehending and dealing with the nuance and complexity of Trump as President, both sides of politics (Christian and non-christian, left and right, conservative and liberal … however you want to characterise the spectrum of beliefs and ideologies) are determined to win, no matter what the truth around a particular issue may be; no matter what may be best for the people, for the nation, for the poor, for the marginalised, for the economy, for the … Oh, and please don’t think I’m just picking on the Americans. Go to the United Kingdom (ain’t that proving to be an oxymoron!) – for and agin Brexit. Come to Australia, where in recent history, we’ve had five prime ministers in six years. It’s happening right across the globe. So let me ask you this: how well do you think this blind tribalism is serving our democracies? Does it look to be a sensible path to pursue, or do we need to rethink what democracy is all about?

Disagreement Need Not Be Vitriolic

Now throw into this mix political correctness, and you have a breeding ground for vitriol and injury. I’m offended, I’m hurt, I’m devastated that you think that of my choices. How dare you tell me that I’m wrong?! So out of this combination of genuine and mock offence, political correctness is born. Should we go out of our way to offend people? No, of course not. But offence, I’m sorry, is in the eye of the beholder. (I know that many people will disagree with my take on the social implications of following Jesus, but I can guarantee you, I’m not offended … because I choose not to be.) Anyhow, through blind tribalism, people being offended and political correctness (which is, incidentally, a tool for silencing someone from expressing their views) the trenches get deeper, the grenades being hurled to and fro get bigger, and so societies and communities disintegrate. At what point did everyone get so touchy, hmm?! Why can’t we just agree to disagree? In fact, let me put it another way. How can we learn, once more, to agree to disagree; to respect those who oppose us rather than taking offense? Well, call me crazy, but here are a few – just a few mind you – ideas:

1.  Seek first to understand and then be understood

That’s a principle straight out of Stephen Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. I live in the gay district of Sydney. Many of the people I deal with, day to day, are gay. In fact, one or two gay people are very close and dear to me. I would defy you to find one such person, to whom I have ever been rude, dismissive, or belittling. One gay person whom I have ever treated badly because they are gay. And that’s not because I’m such a good guy. It’s because it has never made sense to me to be horrid toward people with whom I disagree. With all my heart I believe that they hold their beliefs genuinely. I try to put myself in their shoes. If I didn’t believe in God, if I didn’t have a biblical worldview, I could see myself coming to the same conclusions that they have. It seems to me, that a fundamental prerequisite to the repair of western democracy, is Covey’s principle of seeking first to understand. Or, as Jesus put it a couple of thousand years earlier, do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Respect. Simple respect from both sides of an issue. Is that really too much to ask?

2.  Accepting the right of someone to hold and express an alternate view

As I said earlier, the moment we silence someone because we don’t agree with them, we have given up our democracy. The moment you tell me that I can’t, albeit with dignity and respect, speak up for the things in which I believe, that I can’t argue the case for them and against the things in which I don’t believe, you have released a cancer into our society that will drain the life out of democracy. Here’s what I think democracy is all about: the free and open expression of beliefs, views and opinions and then, decisions taken by the majority, whether that be in electing a government, voting for or agin a referendum or however else the democratic process works out her decisions. Democratic process thrives on the free and open expression of views. And … here’s the kicker … everybody’s entitled. QANTAS is entitled to paint their jets in whatever livery they choose – the only people they’re accountable to is their board, their shareholders and, of course, to the rule of law. And Margaret Court is entitled to use her fame and public persona (in the same way that QANTAS uses its brand) to express her contrary review. We’re all entitled. I’m not more entitled than you are, and you’re no more entitled than I am. And then, when all is said and done, let democracy take her course, so long as she robs no one of their right to hold and express their views.

3. Based on understanding and respect, consider the nuance and the complexity

In other words, ditch the tribal blindness that’s destroying our democracies. There are pros and cons to every issue, be it social, economic, judicial, political, whatever it is. We’ve become very adept at uncritically consuming the news (see my post Is the News Making You Sick?). We just gulp it all down like the junk food that much of it is, without filtering out the dross, and without making up our own mind on important issues, after carefully weighing the pros and cons. Anything less than that is laziness and doesn’t deserve a hearing, I’m sorry. Shallowness and stereotyping, based on an uncritical, unthoughtful digestion of an issue, driven as it so often is by blind tribalism, is undeserving of a seat at the table.

A Final Note to the Christian Reader

God holds Christians to a much, much higher standard than everyone else. Any one who calls themselves by that name –  a Christian – has an important role to play in all this. As Christians, we’re not called to win the argument; we’re called to win souls. Frankly, when I read some of the crap (that’s a biblical word, although most modern translations whimp out and use “rubbish” instead) that some so-called Christians put on Facebook, I want to weep. If you’re a “Christian” then listen to this very carefully:

Stay away from foolish and stupid arguments. You know that these arguments grow into bigger arguments. As a servant of the Lord, you must not argue. You must be kind to everyone. You must be a good teacher, and you must be patient. You must gently teach those who don’t agree with you. Maybe God will let them change their hearts so that they can accept the truth. (2 Timothy 2:23-25)

So there you have it. That’s my perspective. That’s my opinion. I’d love to hear yours. So please leave a comment below. And as you do, remember … respect, simple respect. 

The post A Guide to Disagreeing with Dignity appeared first on Berni's Blog.

The news ain’t what it used to be. In fact, it’s changed, irrevocably. And more and more, people are simply opting out, because they’re sick of it. So what’s going on and what, if anything, can you do to get high quality news these days … to really know what’s going on in your community, your country and around the world?

Here are some scary facts about “the news”:

1. There Are Far Fewer Journalists These Days:  For years, media outlets have been cutting back on their news resources – specifically on high quality journalists, because those guys tend to be very expensive. This trend has only been exacerbated as news outlets struggle financially, to come to grips with fragmentation, competition and the incredible disruption to their business models, arising out of all things digital.

2. Sources are Getting Very Dodgy Indeed: As a result, much of your “news” is being shadow-written by spin merchants, being paid large amounts of money, by powerful commercial interests who want their interests to be furthered by surreptitiously gaining, if not your approval, then your complicity through silence, disinterest, or both. It’s a straightforward fact that an increasing proportion of the so-called news in your paper or the nightly news bulletin is being fed to journalists by PR agencies being paid huge dollars, to slip them into the news cycle. While editors, stretched for resources, are only too happy to accept these “freebies”. If you don’t believe me, read some of the articles in today’s paper and ask yourself, “I wonder where that article about the lack of evidence between sugar consumption and obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease originated.” Hmm?!

3. Acute Competition and Technological Disruption are Resulting in Increased Sensationalisation and Spin: With the competition to grab a small slice of your attention span running white-hot (let’s face it, you have so many choices these days!) journalists are constantly having to play to their commercial reality – driven by metrics about readership, listenership, viewing audience, etc to fuel advertising revenue, which in turn is being drawn from an ever shrinking pool of funds as a result of fragmentation (they didn’t have to worry about the behemoths of Facebook advertising and Google AdWords even five years ago). So, even the real journo’s have to put some serious spin on things to grab your attention. My local newspaper (the Sydney Morning Herald) has a list of the most read articles at the bottom of the main news page on its website. It’d make you weep to see what, in the face of potential nuclear war, real economic and social issues, etc. – aka “the important stuff” – people are actually reading! Here are the top two “most read articles” in today’s edition:

#1 – The game should hang its head in shame over City-Country farce (rugby league)

#2 – Jacenko seen kissing ex-lover while husband Oliver Curtis still in jail

Really??!!! And this, from an allegedly serious, well-respected paper that’s been servicing its market for over a century.

Maybe we’re getting the news that we deserve, rather than the news that we need.

4.  Fake News: No, not everything you read in social media, or even on so-called news websites, is true. Fake news is a real thing. People just make things up to suit they’re agendas, tarting it up, making it sound credible, playing to people’s fears … and other people are believing it as truth. It’s changing whole countries. It’s a real thing and it’s a real worry. When was the last time you were duped into believing “fake news”? Answer? You have no idea. In fact sometimes you have to ask yourself, exactly where is the fake news coming from.

So the question is … what are we going to do about it?

Do we simply “tune out”? Do we just scroll endlessly through Facebook and cherry-pick the stuff we choose to believe, not really caring whether its true or not?

Charles Spurgeon once said “A preacher should have a Bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other, ” meaning that we should have both the truth, and know what’s going on in the world, so that we can share the truth in a way that’s meaningful and relevant to people.

I wonder what he would say these days?

So with the world of news having changed irrevocably, here are ..

4 Tips To Help You Figure Out What’s Actually Going On … Through the News

Tip #1 – Filter out the Dross

The so-called news is made up of so much trivia and rubbish that it’s almost beyond comprehension. Really, the stuff that they’re passing off for news these days, a great deal of it just makes me want to puke!

Even if I knew who Jacenko, her ex lover and Oliver Curtis were (and, for the record, I don’t, nor do I care to) I certainly wouldn’t be interested in who is kissing whom, while whoever is in jail. Would you? The rubbish that news outlets trot out day after day, particularly the stuff that plays on our fears … who cares?!

So I have my dross-filter turned on and working in overdrive. When I read a headline and the first paragraph, or listen to the first few words, of an alleged piece of news, I ask myself “Does this deserve my attention?” If the answer is no … it doesn’t get my attention. Simple really. It’s like an unwanted, unsolicited phone call – just hang up, move on, ignore it. Or do you want this stuff, designed as it is to play on your fears, to drag you down? Really?!

You are what you eat … and for me, being discerning about the news that I consume, is incredibly important.

Tip #2 – Find Some Trusted Sources + Understand Where They’re Coming From

Even trusted sources these days can’t be trusted completely, for the very reasons outlined above. But some are more trustworthy than others. So these days, I’m searching out specific journalists, rather than just looking at the news outlet as a whole. People whom I can get to know and to trust, up to a point. The question is … where is that point?

So when I do find them, I try to understand where they’re coming from, beyond the broad-brush of “conservative” versus “left-wing”. What barrow is this journo pushing? What things matter to them? How does this colour their perspective on the news that they report?

Everyone has a perspective. You can’t help it. But it’s important for us to get to know and understand the perspective of the journo, so that we can know up to what point, and on what issues, we can trust them.

That’s why I deliberately source my news from multiple outlets – in particular, outlets that I know to have different biases and perspectives. That way I can think about the an issue from different angles, and make up my own mind.

It’s time to stop consuming the news without thinking. Those days are well and truly over and they are never, ever coming back.

Which leads me to my next point …

Tip #3 – Consume the News Critically 

No matter how driven or hard-working we are, most of us become fundamentally lazy when we plonk ourselves down in front of the box after a long day at the office, to watch the evening news. But that’s the very time that we can’t afford to let our guard down. Because the spin that I was talking about earlier, is everywhere.  Everywhere!!

And the language used by the journalists is a dead give away. Take this classic beat up:

The Prime Minister was forced today, to deny rumours of a leadership challenge.

Why was the PM forced to deny talk of a leadership challenge? Was it simply because the “journalist” who reported this alleged fact, asked the PM the question, which she duly answered? Nine times out of ten, that’s exactly why, because the journalist was trying to drum up a story to justify his or her existence, in a newsroom always looking to make cuts.

Test the language. Put it under a microscope. Is it a beat up? Is it a PR spin piece? Or is it a simple reporting of the facts (something, that in news, is all too rare these days). One could take that same alleged piece of news about a leadership challenge, and report it like this:

The Prime Minister today stared down talk of a leadership challenge amongst some back benchers, and re-exerted her influence over the party.

Spin is such a grand thing, isn’t it?!

Emotive language full of innuendo, colours our perception of the facts. Strip that rubbish away, get to the facts of the matter for yourself, and make up your own mind. Oh, and by the way, please do feel free to disagree with the journo’s spin.

Which brings me to my final point …

Tip #4 – Take Time to Digest the News and Formulate Your Opinions

The news – I mean, the important issues, post the filtering out of the dross – is something that I like to think about on an ongoing basis, because it helps me, in part, to shape my opinions, and ultimately, my world view (to the latter it is but one of several key inputs).

At the end of the day, I’m not so interested in what Donald Trump tweeted at 3 am this morning, as I am in what this piece of behaviour adds to my understanding of him as a leader and his likely impact on this world going forward.

Nor am I keen to dwell on the doom and gloom that someone is trying to drum up about the economy. (Parenthetically, I am clearly of the view that way too many people are letting too much of the spin and the dross play to their fears and poison their outlook. I believe that the news really is making these people sick.)

No, I want to stand back from the daily jumble of “news” and ask myself: So Berni, what does this all really mean? What’s it telling me? Where are things headed? What are people missing? What am I missing? To what extent is my self-interest driving my perceptions? How can I react and contribute in a way that makes things better rather than making them worse?

For instance, as I read of the to-ing and fro-ing about taxation and expenditure, over time, and as I’ve observed the blatant the pork barreling of one party over the other, I’ve come to the conclusion that, in Australia at least, we spend far too much of the public purse on middle class welfare to prop up high expectations of living standards (and hence, of course, the perceived electoral prospects of the particular party who, today, happens to be doing the pork barreling), resulting in an under-expenditure on essential public infrastructure which would serve to increase the capacity of the economic and stimulate sustained growth … not to mention a growing sense of selfishness and entitlement, rather than selflessness and sacrifice.

I’ve come to that conclusion by thinking about what I see and hear from my multiple sources over time. And I’m happy to share and debate those conclusions with people, to help formulate constructive responses to what’s going on in the world today.

But sadly, too often, our ideas about, for instance, public policy, are driven by raw self-interest, rather than what’s good for the economy as a whole, for the vulnerable and the under-privileged, for lifting the less fortunate up, and so on.

An old business colleague of mine (one of the smartest guys I’ve ever known) tells me how, many years ago, a teacher of his at school said to him: Lad, you sit and think, but mostly you just sit!

I confess, I think that’s what we do, way too often, when it comes to “the news”.

But then, those are just my ramblings. What do you think?

Leave a comment below and let me know!

The post Is “the News” Making You Sick? appeared first on Berni's Blog.

The Holocaust resulted in the deaths of over 6 million Jews and other minorities. I recently visited the German concentration camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau in Poland. Here’s a short video that I recorded for you while I was there. 

Audio documentary  – Auschwitz survivors speak

Here is a 35 minute audio documentary produced by our Polish ministry partners Voice of the Gospel – during the annual “March of the Living” from Auschwitz to Birkenau in 2007.

It was played on Polish National Radio and has won many awards for its power and poignancy.

You see, it is based on the spoken recollections of actual Auschwitz-Birkenau survivors.

Truly, this is something you shouldn’t miss. May you be deeply moved as these Auschwitz survivors speak their memories into your heart.

How to Support Voice of the Gospel in Poland:

Many people have asked how they can support the work of Voice of the Gospel, who partner with Christianityworks in proclaiming the Gospel across Poland. If you have a heart to support the amazingly powerful work that they do in this important mission, you can make a donation towards their ministry using the button below.

When you have done so, send an email to poland@christianityworks.com letting us know that your donation is specifically for Poland and we will ensure that 100% of your gift is passed on to them. 

 Support Polish Ministry

The post A Video Message from Auschwitz appeared first on Berni's Blog.

I had an interesting discussion the other day, with a man at my local cafe about what it means to be a Christian. His “Christian” perspective made me realise how much people are, en masse, missing out on, when it comes to Jesus and all that He came to bring us. So I just wanted to share a few thoughts that had their genesis in me, on the brink of suicide.

The Cafe Discussion + The Facebook Post

Paul (the man at the cafe) asked me about a Facebook post that I’d put up during a recent trip to India, referring to that land as “the land of the lost”.

I explained that as a country which is 80% Hindu, millions of people are headed to a Christless eternity. They are, in biblical terms, “lost”.

“Hang on a minute,” says Paul. “Isn’t that just a bit arrogant? I come from a Christian perspective, but claiming that your way is the right way, that your way is the only way, well, it just seems a bit arrogant to me.”

Fair enough. I get where he’s coming from.

We live in a pluralistic world that says “Your truth is your truth, my truth is my truth and so long as it works for each of us, let’s not try to shove our belief systems down each others’ throats.”

Anything that cuts across this 21st century gospel of Pluralism is seen as being offensive, or as Paul put it, arrogant.

The bottom line for Paul and indeed many other people who perhaps also “come from a Christian perspective,” is that pluralism trumps absolutism.

And indeed, the reason that Christianity is offensive to so many people, is that it claims to be, “the only way”.

Really?! In this day and age? How dare they …

So, is Jesus the Only Way?

I explained to Paul, as I have shared with many other people in the past, why I hold that position. It’s not something that I dreamed up, or which (thank God!) the church dreamed up. It’s actually something that Jesus said to His disciples just before He was led away to be crucified:

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way to the place where I am going.”

Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” (John 14:1-7)

So my belief, the Christian belief, is that the only way to receive eternal life is to believe in Jesus. To believe that He is who He said He is – the Son of God, that He died to pay for all our sins and that He rose again to give us a new life, an eternal life with Him.

So – love it or hate it, agree with it or disagree with it – that’s what Jesus said and it is that faith in Him, which is the cornerstone of Christian belief.

Of Course Rejecting Jesus is Nothing New

People have been rejecting Him since He was born. The religious leaders objected to Him so much that they had Him crucified.

Sometimes Christians become all tribalistic about “people not accepting them”. We’re meant to accept what other people say and think, but as soon as we voice an opinion, we’re shot down.

“There is only one way”  … “I am against same-sex marriage” … for instance, are incredibly unpopular positions to hold these days. We think this rejection is something new.  But just after Jesus ascended into Heaven, the Apostle Peter had this to say to the religious people who had rejected Him:

This Jesus is ‘the stone that was rejected by you, the builders; it has become the cornerstone.’ There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:11-12)

Jesus Himself said:

“If the world hates you, be aware that it hated me before it hated you. If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own. Because you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world—therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘Servants are not greater than their master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you; if they kept my word, they will keep yours also. But they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me. (John 15:18-21)

Just because the majority thinks one way, doesn’t mean that it’s the right way. There are plenty of examples of that in history.

But the truth, God’s own truth, is that there is salvation in no one else, but Jesus.

A Personal Perspective – on the Brink of Suicide 

Heady arguments have never been my thing. I’ve written what I’ve written to set out the facts as I know them, from God’s truth (yep, I know that might sound arrogant to you, I get that, but there you go).

As someone who made quite a financial success of his life as a young man, I really didn’t think I needed a crutch, or religion, or a “Saviour”. Not in a million years. And I like my friend Paul, I found the Christian “there’s only one way” dogma arrogant (and in my case, deeply offensive to boot).

But the more success, reputation and money that came my way in my jet-setting, international IT consulting career, the more I realised that something was missing. I knew that it was something really important. I yearned for it …. I just didn’t know what it was.

All I knew is that the longer I went without it, the more it hurt. The more empty, the more desperate I became. And that … that was so weird for a person that everybody else looked on as Mr Success and Mr I’ve-Got-My-Life-Together!

It’s a whole inside that became deeper and deeper, until it pushed me to the brink of suicide. I was literally standing on a ledge on the 8th floor of a building ready to jump.

But right there and then, I had a revelation of Jesus.

Man that sounds corny, doesn’t it? But … in my heart, I just felt to go back inside, kneel down and pray.

God if you’re out there, now would be a good time.

That’s all I had. That’s all it took. I still had many difficult and painful things to travel through but since the day I gave my life to Jesus (15th of October 1995) it’s been a completely new life. A life of peace, of joy and of power to overcome the human flaws that had so robbed me of life.

For me, it’s no longer an intellectual argument. But the truth is the truth.

Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” (John 8:21,23)

And knowing that truth is what has set me free.

My Prayer for You

I don’t know where you stand. Perhaps you’re a bit of a born again atheist, violently opposed to all things Christian. Or perhaps like my friend Paul, you have a bit of a bob each way – a Christian perspective based on the world’s ethos of pluralism.

Or maybe you’ve believed in Jesus, but it hasn’t been working for you.

Well wherever you are on your journey, know this.

I am praying that God will meet you out on your ledge when the time is right. I am praying that deep in your heart, He will give you a personal revelation of Jesus Christ so that you will know the joy, the peace and the life-changing power that comes from Him and Him alone. I am praying that you and I will have the rest of eternity together to rejoice in what He has done for you.

For there is no other name by which you can be saved. In Jesus’ name I pray these things for you. Amen.

The post A Revelation … on the Brink of Suicide appeared first on Berni's Blog.

The evening of Tuesday, the 9th of August 2016 was Australian Census night. For the first time, we took the census online and, as things turned out, it was an unmitigated disaster (if you believe the press, the politicians and social media).

So, what lessons are there in that for you and me, about conspicuous failure?

Every 5 years, the Australian government conducts a census of its population. There’s nothing new in that. Hey, King David conducted a census of Israel about 3,000 years ago and if you know the story that one didn’t end so well either.

In our case, there was a DDOS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack on the census site. Some moron or morons unnamed (I say that in a loving, Christian kind of a way) launched a malicious attack to bring the site down on the evening in question, stopping millions of Australians from completing their mandatory census.

Well, didn’t the knives come out.

1. The “experts” said that the Bureau of Statistics should have anticipated this and built the system to withstand such an attack.
2. The Federal Opposition called for the resignation of the Minister in charge.
3. The Prime Minister promised that “heads would roll”.
4. Social media was replete with condemnation and jokes about the fiasco (this meme is my personal favourite).

Yep, the knives were out.

Could they have done better? Should they have done better? Maybe …

But at the same time, by all accounts, the project was seriously under-funded and under-resources as IT projects often are.

As I watched the blame game unfold, and having spent 20 years of my life on the inside of large-scale technology based change projects like this one, I couldn’t help but wonder how the members of the census project team felt. The people who had slaved away behind the scenes (making personal, family and professional sacrifices that you and I will never know of) to try something new.

Something innovative. Something that will, no doubt, go down in history as a vital stepping stone towards automated voting in our country. Something that should have earned them great praise, but, thanks to said morons, brought only condemnation.

It’s so easy to to be an armchair critic with the benefit 20/20 hindsight and no skin in the game.

So, here are the 3 leadership lessons that I take away from the “failed” census:

1.  When You Try Something New, Failure Happens

It’d make a good bumper sticker wouldn’t it?  FAILURE HAPPENS

Every body’s an expert when we fail.

You should have done this.
You should have done that.
It was a crazy idea in the first place.
It was never going to work.

But where would the human race be without the adventurers? Where would the human race be without those people who dared to try something new, to risk failure on some crazy idea that “was never going to work”?

We’re not all cut out to be great entrepreneurs like Steve Jobs. We’re not all cut out to be great leaders like Nelson Mandela. But here’s the undeniable thing.

Each one of us has something that’s been written into our DNA; something we were designed for; something we were made to do. Some call it God-given gifting. Others perhaps refer to it as destiny. But we all have that sense, don’t we.

As we embark on that road, the journey is going to be littered with false starts and failures. Yet as we look back, what we see, albeit imperfect, is a rich journey that’s impacted other lives for good and brought us a deep satisfaction as we’ve lived out who we were made to be.

Today, we remember the Apostle Paul as the guy who wrote almost half of the New Testament. We build cathedrals in his name. But back then he writes this of his failures and afflictions …

But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies. (2 Cor 4:7-10)

Failure happens. Get used to it. Get over it. Move on. The naysayers will always be sitting in their lounge chairs, ready to criticise you.  And you will know them by this – they’re the ones who pretty much never achieve anything with their lives. 

2.  Confront the Hard Facts + Never Lose Faith

If you haven’t read “Good to Great” by Jim Collins … get off your backside and read it. Seriously.

In Chapter 4 he talks about the Stockdale Paradox, named after Admiral Jim Stockdale, who was the highest ranking POW in the “Hanoi Hilton” during the Vietnam war. When asked about survival in that dreadful place – who survived and who didn’t and why – he came up with a bit of wisdom forged in that horror that has, through Collins, become known as the Stockdale Paradox.

Here it is in a nutshell:

Retain faith that, in the end, you will prevail no matter how hard things get  – AND, AT THE SAME TIME – confront the most brutal facts of your current reality no matter how bad they are.

In other words, never let go of that thing in your heart that drove you to try something new, something crazy, something innovative … something that’s so far out there that it should never have worked anyway. Never, ever, ever stop believing that this is what you were made to do and that eventually, it will happen.

BUT, at the same time, don’t run a fool’s errand. Don’t live in a delusion. Seek out the mistakes, the obstacles, the problems, the failures. Understand them. Learn from them. Do what you have to do to fix them. Be brutal about that, because unless you are, you will never succeed.

Our politicians are calling for “heads to roll”.

But a real leader would go and talk to the project team members. Congratulate them on their efforts. Encourage them to root out the problems and achieve I even greater things.

That’s real leadership. That’s how teams of ordinary, every day people like you and me end up achieving extraordinary teams. I’m hoping that there’s some of that sort of leadership within the ranks of our government, our public service and our business leaders involved in the project.

Over the years, I’ve been involved in a lot of large IT projects – the biggest one was valued at around $NZ 150 million and I t succeeded precisely because of that kind of leadership, despite all the “crap” that happened along the way.

The Apostle Paul again:

So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal. (1 Cor 4:16-18)

Confront the hard facts. Deal with them unflinchingly. But never, ever lose hope that you will prevail in the end.

3.  Remember, It’s Not About You

I was quite taken by a Richard Branson (of Virgin fame) quote, on the front of this magazine that I saw in a rack in an airline lounge the other day:

How genuine the quote is, I don’t know but the point is well made. Real success isn’t about me winning, or you winning. That winning bit is simply a by-product of doing things that are going to make people’s lives better, however we choose to do that.

Two thousand years ago Jesus said, It is better to give than to receive.

I used to think He was nuts … but after a life of dissatisfaction that came through winning all the time (and I won rather a lot in my business career) it came as a huge revelation and complete shock to me, that the contentment and the satisfaction that I’d been looking for, really only comes when I use who I am and what I have, to make other people’s lives better.

You may already have known that. For me, it was a hard lesson that I had to learn.

My hope and prayer for the amazing team (both government employees and private contractors) who slaved away at making this country better through this stab at running an online census, only to have the rug of “success” pulled from under them by said DDOS morons, is that they will gain great satisfaction from knowing that they’ve taken our country a huge step forward to something better.

The bottom line is that it’s never about you or me. It’s always about what we can do for other people to make their lives better. That’s where the quiet satisfaction comes from. 

The post 3 Leadership Lessons from the “Failed” Census appeared first on Berni's Blog.

Let’s face it. You live a hectic life. Work, family, emails, SMS’, social media, television, Netflix … there’s more than enough attention-grabbing stuff out there to fill your day 24/7 and then some. So … when do you allow your imagination to roam free? When do you turn your heart and your mind to things that inspire you? When do you get the creative juices flowing and dream big dreams?
.

Sadly, the answer for most people, is never.

I was interviewed recently on Radio Rhema in New Zealand, by broadcasting legend John Peachy. The man has a passion for letting people tell their stories.

After the interview, he and I were chatting in the studio about the stories behind the stories. He was telling me about a well-known personality who he’d interviewed recently. The man is a public figure with a law degree … but in his younger years, he’d studied philosophy.

Now the moment John started heading down the philosophy rabbit hole, apparently the man’s eyes lit up. He became animated and passionate. This was something that inspired him. This was something that he truly cared about.

And yet, somehow it lay forgotten in his heart … after all, being a politician is a hard grind. It takes every ounce of the man’s time and energy. And hey, being you, being me … that’s a hard grind too.

So hard, that the humdrum that fills 95% of our lives seems to have rusted on to us; immobilised us; made us slaves to the here and now, to the stuff that just has to get done. (Are you getting this?)

And that … that’s a recipe for disaster.

Because as your imagination goes into hibernation, the passion, the excitement, the awe, the wonder, the excitement of conjuring up something new out of  your God-given creative heart and mind … all  just drain out of you.

That’s why so many people live out their lives as empty shells.

A Startling Fact About God … and About You

Imagine that you know nothing else about God, except what you can read about Him in Genesis chapter 1.

If that were the case, and you were asked, based on the evidence in that one chapter, to come up with one adjective to describe God, then the one that would probably top the list, is … creative. 

God is an immensely creative God. And in that very same chapter, we’re told that we – you and I – are made in His image.

Which, unless He’s lying, means that you are an immensely creative person.

And just like that politician with a passion for philosophy, there are things in your DNA that cause you to light up, to be inspired, to get excited and passionate again. But if you’re like most people … that thing is hidden away up in the attic somewhere, in a dusty old box … long forgotten.

It’s Time to Set Your Imagination Free

So … maybe it’s time to disconnect, switch off, get alone or with some other creative people and dream crazy dreams. Dream about the things that you’re really passionate about.

I just had someone wander past my desk (I’m visiting with this radio network in Kiwi Land as I peck away here at the keyboard – just grabbed a desk in the open plan office) and without any prompting, this radio producer told me that his life is so operational.

Today’s program, tomorrow’s program … churn them out. See?! Even the creative guys have this problem. And this guy is particularly creative and talented. It’s not that he doesn’t love what he’s doing – he absolutely does. It’s just … that there’s no time to imagine new things (his words, not mine).

Come on … it’s time to set your imagination free. It’s time to give your imagination a license to roam over hill and dale; to go to crazy places it hasn’t been to before; to think up things so outrageous, so big, so out of the box, that unless God were in them, they’d have no chance of succeeding.

One of the great joys of my job, is that I get to give young, creative people the license to do that in our ministry.

TV producers, web developers, social media experts.

A case in point. A week before I published this blog, we had just completely redeveloped our ministry website – christianityworks.com.

And as all the creative types – the designers, developers, SM experts – sat around in that first meeting, I painted them a crazy, outrageous picture of what I had in my mind. But it was their job to apply their creativity to make it happen; to turn my crazy ideas into something amazing.

What they came up with was stunning. But on top of that, they all enjoyed themselves because here was a chance to let their imaginations run wild.

And that’s what creativity is … it’s setting your imagination free.

That’s what you were made to do … as God created you in his image.

So, what are you waiting for?

The post The Importance of Setting Your Imagination Free appeared first on Berni's Blog.

With the unexpected outcome of the Brexit referendum reverberating around the globe, uncertainty seems to be reigning supreme – and not just in the United Kingdom and Europe. And the truth is that most people don’t cope well at all well with that. But therein lies an enormous opportunity. Here’s why:

Has the World Gone Mad?

When I was a lad, my father kept chickens in the backyard. It was a special treat indeed when he would kill one so that we could have roast chicken for Sunday lunch. So, not surprisingly, one of the enduring memories of my childhood is seeing a headless chicken – freshly executed by dear old dad – running around the backyard flapping its wings.

Who could forget that?

And honestly, the world’s reaction to the Brexit decision reminds me powerfully of that headless chook. Uncertainty has a way of getting us to panic irrationally, running around in ever decreasing circles.

Of course, the media thrives on this sort of stuff.  The more it can beat a story up, the more dire scenarios it can paint in our minds … the more papers it will sell; the higher the ratings will be; the more they can charge for their advertising space. News editors around the world are revelling in the present field of uncertainty as they see the pounds, the dollars, the rupees and the pesos rolling in.

And to be sure, there are a good many imponderables.

• Will the United Kingdom fall apart as Northern Ireland and Scotland reconsider their positions?
• Will the European Union itself start to disintegrate? 
• What will all that do to the value of the pound longer term? To the cost of basic household necessities? To the lives of ordinary working men and women struggling to eek out an existence?
• What will this mean for the economies of Europe? For the global economy?
• How will this all change the balance of power between East and West?  

… just to name a few of the questions unsettling people and markets around the globe.

Such fertile ground for scare-mongering, don’t you think? No wonder people are worried.

Let’s face it, which of us likes uncertainty? Generally what we tend to do, is that we imagine all the things that could possibly go wrong in answer to each of those questions … and then, somehow in our minds, we imagine that they’ll all go wrong to the maximum possible extent, at the same time.

Perhaps Chicken Little was right. Perhaps the sky is about to fall in.

So Let’s Just Get a Firm Grip on Reality

The historical truth is that alliances, countries, borders … have always changed over time. The Roman Empire is a thing of the past. So is Nazi Germany. So, by the way, is the British Empire – remembering that at one stage, England had pretty much colonised half of the globe.

Things change. They always have … they always will, until the Lord returns. We just happen to be in the middle of one of those times of change.

And, putting things into perspective, thank God that the UK isn’t going through what the former Yugoslavia had to go through, to achieve its change, amen?!

So, here’s the reality. In three years time – Scotland will be in pretty much the same place as it’s always been – whether or not it’s a part of the UK. And although possible, it’s fairly unlikely that there’ll be a modern-day Hadrian’s Wall built to separate the two.

The same with England, the two Irelands (separated or united) and Wales.

The English people will be the resilient we will fight them on the beaches people that they’ve always been. Or do we really expect the Poms (as a convict from the colonies I use that term with great affection) to stop singing “Land of Hope and Glory” and “Rule Britannia” on the last night of the Proms? Really?!!

Will things be different? Of course they will. No doubt some things will be slightly better, while other things will be slightly worse. But then there’s nothing new in any of that. As I said, historically speaking, allegiances and boundaries, kingdoms and dominions, have been in a constant state of flux for pretty much as long as human beings have walked the earth.

And right now, in the middle of the mayhem and the hysteria, I think that there exists a serious opportunity for the men and women of God to witness something of His love and His power into their community – particularly, might I say, in the UK and across Europe.

Here’s how:

The Opportunity in the Midst of the Mayhem

The one thing for certain is that God hasn’t fallen off His twig as a result of Brexit.

I know that if you’re living in one of the economically depressed parts in the North of England, or hanging onto a job for dear life in Scotland, or trying to manage on a pension in Northern Ireland, man this whole Brexit thing is something that you need like a hole in the head right now.

I get that.

But have a listen to the prayer that Daniel prayed, as God gave him the wisdom to make sense of a pagan king’s dreams. A king who, by the way, had the power of life and death over him:

Blessed be the name of God from age to age, for wisdom and power are his. He changes times and seasons, deposes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with him. To you, O God of my ancestors, I give thanks and praise, for you have given me wisdom and power, and have now revealed to me what we asked of you, for you have revealed to us what the king ordered. (Daniel 2:20-23)

Daniel went on to interpret King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and as a result of his God-given wisdom, insight and understanding was lifted up into a place of influence and power. (I wonder if there isn’t a message there in that for you and me amidst all this uncertainty.)

All too often we Christians cloister ourselves away in our holy huddles only to over-spiritualise things. Or we go out and do a bunch of good deeds, without ever using the opportunity to introduce people to the God who put His love into our hearts in the first place.

Either way, instead of being God’s meaning-makers in society, the way Daniel was in his context, we botch the opportunity to share God’s wisdom into the things that are really in people’s hearts and on their minds.

Question: whether you live in the UK or elsewhere in the world, how are you responding to Brexit? With doom and gloom? With criticism and fear? Or is your perspective predicated on the fact that come what may, your King reigns?

God changes times and seasons. He deposes one king and raises up another. He gives wisdom to the wise. He arranges times and places and the borders on the earth with a singular purpose:

From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us. (Acts 17:26,27)

In other words all of history, all the events great and small, all the ebbs and flows of kingdoms and borders, alliances and conflicts … are simply a backdrop to God’s purpose of winning souls to Himself. That’s what it’s all about.

And right now, wherever you live, there is uncertainty sweeping the globe.  In Britain and Europe, it’s Brexit. Here in Australia, as I write this blog, we’re a week away from electing a new Federal Government – with many people despairing at the state of politics. In the US it’s Donald and Hillary – indeed the whole world waits with bated breath on the outcomes of the US Presidential race.

If we believe in Jesus, we need to ask ourselves, with what perspective am I approaching all this uncertainty?

Am I just another one of the punters wallowing in all the bad things that might happen? Am I whinging and complaining, speaking into the doom and gloom, criticising and castigating? (Well, are you?!)

Or does my approach, predicated as it is on the absolute sovereignty of God, speak a quiet assurance into the lives of the people around me? Am I somehow different – not in a belligerent way, not in an over-spiritual, Loony Tunes kind of a way – but in a real practical way, in helping people to navigate these uncertain times?

Because let me tell you, your King reigns! Your God is on His throne! None of what is going on in the world at the moment is a surprise to Him and right now, He is looking for His people to make a difference, by speaking His practical love and wisdom into the uncertainty and the fear that’s reverberating around the globe.

What you and I do in these uncertain times, the things we choose to say, our demeanour, our approach to all this doom and gloom – says everything about what we believe about our God. It says everything about the extent to which we believe that God is in the business of drawing people to Himself.

After all, that’s the whole point of history – to provide a canvass for His redemptive love to take effect in the lives of the common ordinary people of this world. People like you and me.

Yep. Brexit is an enormous opportunity. The question is, how many of us will grab it with both hands in order to glorify our God.

Finishing Off On a Lighter Note

And just to finish this blog off, let me say I have an enormous confidence too, in the ability of the British people to be resilient and resourceful, buoyed as they have always been, by their courage and their splendidly unique sense of humour.

So, when it comes to the European Idea, I shall allow Sir Humphrey Appleby of Yes Minister fame to have the final say:

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