Archives: nicole-starling

Appreciation and approval

Life

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From as far back as I can remember, I’ve been the kind of person who feels a strong desire to please people. I want their approval and praise for the things I do. Sometimes I’ve even wondered if I have a kind of addiction to the brain chemicals that come with receiving affirmation and acclaim! Mark Twain famously said that he could “live for two months on a good compliment”; I’m not sure I could last that long, but I can certainly relate to the sentiment. (more…)

Prosperity teaching without the bling

Up front

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Reading through Beyond Greed in the lead-up to Christmas last year made me think again about ‘prosperity teaching’ and whether I’m as immune to it as I like to think I am. I can spot the Joel Osteen variety a mile off, but when it comes without those trappings, I’m not so sure that I’m as good at spotting it and guarding my heart against its temptations. Yet, if Jesus says it’s the ‘deceitfulness’ of wealth that makes it so dangerous to my perseverance and fruitfulness as a disciple (Mark 4:19), then I need to be on guard for the subtle half-truths as well as the big lie. (more…)

Consciousness-raising

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In November 1967, a group of young feminists met in an apartment in New York City. It became a regular meeting with the aim of discussing the ways in which they had been oppressed and taken advantage of by the men in their lives. The idea was that by hearing the other women complain about these issues, the participants’ ‘consciousness’ about the same issues would be raised, and they would begin to see their own lives in the same light.

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Guilt-edged pages?

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While ploughing my way through The Shack recently (and it was a matter of ploughing!), a thought occurred to me about the dynamic at work in our culture and in our sinful hearts—the dynamic that generates books like this one and makes them such big sellers. (more…)

Shutting the door

Up front

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Six months ago, my husband Dave and I changed our morning routine. Previously, we had tried various strategies for daily prayer and Bible reading, fitting them around work and children into the cracks and crevices of the day. For me, this meant doing it when the children were resting, or otherwise occupied, or asleep. Some of these strategies worked better than others. Finally, when none of these cleverer approaches delivered the consistency and quality of time that we needed, we decided to bite the bullet and go back to the old-fashioned, unoriginal approach: we would simply get up early enough to take turns to look after the kids while the other parent shut the bedroom door and spent some decent time alone in Bible reading and prayer. (more…)

Guilt-edged pages?

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While ploughing my way through The Shack1 recently (and it was a matter of ploughing my way!), a thought occurred to me about the dynamic at work in our culture and in our sinful hearts—the dynamic that generates books like this one and makes them such big sellers.

(more…)

Husband material

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In case you missed it, Mark Driscoll has been to Sydney recently. It’s created lots of healthy discussion about lots of important things. I thought I’d take a moment to reflect on one particular idea that occurred more than once in his public talks: the challenge to the ‘late-blooming’ young men of Sydney to grow up and take some responsibility. His basic formula was move out of home, get a job, buy a house, get married and plant a church—in that order. (more…)

Eating, drinking and evangelizing

Sola Panel

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Over the last year or so, my husband Dave and I have been thinking about the connection between evangelism and hospitality. We’ve become more convinced that while evangelistic events and other strategies have their place, they can’t be a substitute for real relationships with non-Christian friends. And hospitality seems to us to be a key part of creating and maintaining those relationships. (more…)

Gladly spent

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I was reading a poem recently by Gwen Harwood that went like this:

In the Park

She sits in the park. Her clothes are out of date.
Two children whine and bicker, tug her skirt.
A third draws aimless patterns in the dirt.
Someone she loved once passes by—too late

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Husband material

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As part of the extended Driscoll post-mortem (well, he’s not dead, but you know what I mean!), I thought I’d contribute a few thoughts on one of the themes that came up again and again in almost every talk he gave, and usually several times in the same talk: his challenge to the ‘late-blooming’ young men of Sydney to grow up and take some responsibility. The basic formula was move out of home, get a job, buy a house, get married and plant a church—in that order.

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‘We are poorly dressed’—Part 2

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Thanks to everyone who contributed comments in answer to the question that I raised in my previous post about Paul and his fellow apostles in 1 Corinthians 4 and the woman described in Proverbs 31. The particular, concrete detail that I zeroed in on was the contrast between how they dress (“poorly dressed” versus “fine linen and purple”), but I also had in mind the broader contrast between how they live and how they are seen by others (“held in disrepute” versus “praised in the gates”).

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