iChaplain

Have you ever wondered if God is trying to tell you something? Many people imagine that God’s voice belonged mainly to biblical times through prophets, burning bushes, dramatic moments. But Scripture paints a different picture: God has always been a communicating God, and He has never stopped. The challenge is not whether God is speaking, but whether we are listening. From the very beginning, God revealed Himself through communication. In Genesis, God spoke creation into existence. Throughout the Old Testament, He spoke to Abraham, Moses, David, and the prophets. In the New Testament, He continued to communicate through angels, visions, dreams, and ultimately through Jesus Himself. Mary heard God’s invitation through the angel Gabriel. Paul encountered the risen Christ on the road to Damascus. Most importantly, God communicated His heart to humanity through Jesus Christ. Hebrews 1:1–2 reminds us: “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ...

Over the past few weeks, I've had a number of conversations around Christianity, what it means to follow Jesus, and why Christians don't always seem to look much like Him. Those conversations got me thinking, so I thought I'd put a few thoughts into writing. If Christianity is about following Jesus, then shouldn't Christians look more like Jesus?  It's a fair question. In fact, it's a question I sometimes ask myself. Jesus was known for His compassion, humility, grace, mercy, truth, and self-giving love. Yet many people looking at Christianity today wonder why it sometimes appears that some Christians are moving in the opposite direction. Sometimes Christians seem more known for arguments than kindness, more defensive than humble, and more eager to point out other people's faults than their own. The uncomfortable truth is that there is often a gap between the teachings of Jesus and the way His followers live them out. Many people carry wounds from experience...

While watching the recent eclipse, I found myself thinking about how awesome God is. Well, "watching" might not be the right word. Everyone else seemed to have the proper eclipse glasses that they'd queued all day for.  Meanwhile, my plans were less sophisticated. My pinhole projector skills turned out to be completely non-existent, so I spent most of the eclipse running between the garden and the living room.  Obviously, I wasn't looking directly at the sun. I was trying to catch glimpses of what was happening outside and then dashing back inside to watch the coverage on TV. By this point, I felt less like an amateur astronomer and more like a contestant on some bizarre fitness challenge. My step count was excellent, even if my eclipse-viewing technique wasn't. This continued for a while until someone pointed out that I could simply stream it on my phone. That certainly made life easier. But even in the middle of all that running around, I was struck by what I wa...

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash . The Takeaway Comedy isn’t just allowed in the Bible. It’s everywhere: satire, irony, playful exaggeration, and wonderfully human moments. And when you spend time organising comedy events for a church, especially when you’ve never done it before, you start to see how laughter builds connection in exactly the same way Scripture often does: by helping people breathe again. But comedy isn’t everyone’s favourite thing, and that’s important to acknowledge. Many people come along not because they adore stand‑up, but because they want to support these events held by a church, to stand with the community, or simply to encourage the people involved. That kind of quiet loyalty deserves real respect. And then there are the ones who get up to participate, offering their own humour, their own courage, their own willingness to be part of something slightly unpredictable. There are those who laugh freely, letting the room loosen and warm. And there are others who...