FRESH Official Podcast

So, here we are on Friday the 13th … a day considered in western culture to bring bad luck. Wherever you live, negative superstitions have swirled around for centuries – walking under a ladder, a black cat crossing your path, breaking a mirror. They’re all said to bring bad luck. When you think about it, superstition has its roots in fear. And fear, one of the most negativ

Meeting new people, making friends, simply isn’t easy these days. Life’s become either busy and transactional on the one hand or on the other, for many it’s quiet, isolated and lonely. But fear not, technology has an answer. Dating apps have only been around for a few years, but already they have close to a half a billion users worldwide with revenues in the hundreds of bi

It can seem nigh on impossible sometimes to put an old head on young shoulders; to impart the wisdom of experience to our young ones in a way that they can readily accept. I remember so many things my parents tried to teach me that I railed against. So they had to drum it into me – simple things like tidy up your room, comb your hair before you come out to breakfast, don’t a

“Purity” is a word that, by and large, we love. Pure gold, pure joy … but have you ever met a pure person – someone whose profoundly decent thoughts and motivations on the one hand are matched 100% by their words and actions on the other? They’re few and far between. If you think about the sorts of movies and television shows you like to watch, the ones you likely grav

One of the truly frustrating things about life is that when you commit to something – a marriage, a course of study, a career, whatever – you just don’t know how it’s going to turn out. You’ve had that too, right? I remember almost exactly twenty years ago committing to the ministry of Christianityworks, that brings you these daily Fresh messages. It was a crazy choice

As we mature, hopefully, we grow in wisdom. But as you do, becoming more aware of your own limitations amidst the rough and tumble of life, something else can rise up to rob you of all the benefits of that hard-earned wisdom. And that something else is pride. Have you ever found yourself sneering down your nose at the patent stupidity, the immaturity, of others? How can they be

Hope, when you think about it, is rather an odd emotion, because whatever we’re hoping for is pretty much, by definition, uncertain. And we hate uncertainty, don’t we? But what if “hope” was never meant to be that way – at least not the sort God talks about. I meet a lot of people in my line of work. Lots. Ninety-five percent of them present as well-balanced, basically

There’s one thing in this world that we can absolutely count on. No matter what storm blows in, how ferocious it might be, we can be absolutely certain of the solid ground beneath our feet … until it begins to shake. What are the things that you absolutely take for granted in your life; the solid ground beneath your feet? Your family, your home, your career … the things th

Have you ever wondered who exactly people meet when they meet you? Who or what do they encounter? Exuberance or dismay, joy or loathing, kindness or manipulation? Have you ever wondered? Sometimes when I go to bed at night, I think about the people with whom I interacted during the day. My wife – did I encourage her, did I make her feel loved, or was I a bit too short with her

Good and evil – we all know the difference … or do we? It’s like black and white obviously … or do we prefer shades of grey? What do you think? Here’s what almost always seems to happen. When it comes to judging the actions of others, we’re pretty black and white about them, about what they said or did, or failed to do. But when it comes to judging ourselves – o