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Faith, Chocolate and the Easter Bunny
I can remember as a young 7-year-old boy going to an Easter Egg-rolling Competition in Scotland. You are probably thinking — what is an Easter egg-rolling competition? Good question! Easter egg-rolling seems to have Viking and Nordic roots. It is a custom in Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Scotland and the northern parts of England. Now US presidents even do it! Apparently, ...
When Hope is Gone
When all hope is lost and you are at the end of your rope, whom do you call? Until recently, you could call Eric Trezise (1930-2021), friend of the friendless and hope for the hopeless. Sadly, Eric passed from this life to the next recently, at 91 years of age. I first met Eric Trezise at the Dads4Kids Fatherhood Forum ...
In Honour of Ps Eric Trezise (1930-2021) – Life Spent in Service of Others
Editor’s Note: I worked closely at times over the last few decades with Ps Eric Trezise. He was the equivalent of an army chaplain in Vietnam and spent his life in service of others. More importantly, in service of his Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. The story of Eric’s life (1930 – 2021) could fill several books. He was awarded ...
Encouragement — The Gift Money Can’t Buy
Ian ‘Watto’ Watson said, “I have never seen a bloke go backwards with encouragement.” Ian Watson spoke at the very first Men’s Leadership Summit at Paluma Range, north of Townsville, in 2013. Sadly, Ian passed away in 2019. The good news is that he left a massive legacy of encouragement for men the world over. Rhonda McKenzie, Ian Watson’s ...
Celebrate Christmas
Only 5 sleeps till Christmas and I just cannot wait. I love Christmas. My fifth music album was all Christmas Carols, from Once in Royal David’s City to Christmas Day. Christmas really is one of the greatest times of the year, especially for our children. But early in my life I had a love/hate relationship with Christmas. I guess it ...
No Regrets
Byrd Bagget says, “Work hard, do your best, live the truth, trust yourself, have some fun... and you will have no regrets.” Only twelve more sleeps till Christmas. All the more reason to live life with no regrets. Warwick, why are you talking about no regrets, twelve days out from Christmas? I thought you would never ask! Recently, my wife ...
Upshot of Love
On Father’s Day Sunday 1 September 2002, we launched the very first Dads4Kids weekly newsletter for men. Sign Up Here. We have not missed a Sunday since. It is up to eight hundred and ninety-nine issues later, and no, I am not counting. Let me share the reflection from the very first newsletter. I believe the greatest thing a father ...
Grace-Based Parenting For Dads
The single hardest thing for any Dad is trying to get the balance right between love and discipline for his children. I often use the expression ‘grace and truth’. Grace is really another name for love. The challenge becomes more difficult the more children you have, and I think especially the more boys you have. Boys seem to find your ...
Loud Krazy Love
I remember when my teenage sons first played Korn’s music for me. I found it really disturbing. It just wasn’t my kind of music. I had grown up playing blues, rock and reggae on my guitar. I found the music very dark. The discordant riffs were off-putting as were Jonathan Davis growling, sometimes screaming, lyrics. The New York Times said ...
Easter Family Holidays
Henry Youngman, a comedian who was known as 'King of the One Liners' once said, "I was an atheist for a while, but I gave it up, no holy-days." Such a one liner about holy-days sums up the subject of this week's newsletter - Easter Family Holidays. Most of us celebrate Easter holidays but where did they come from and ...
A Man Called Mick
Counting Crows had a hit in 2002 with Joni Mitchell’s famous song Big Yellow Taxi. Good songs never get old. The line that stands out in the song for me is “all and all it seems to go, but you don’t know what you got till it’s gone”. Such was the case of a good friend of mine, Mick Robbins. ...
Real Men
Eric Clapton sang, “If I could change the world.” Many men dream about changing the world, but very few actually attempt it. Some succeed in bringing change, but is that change healthy, or does it create more problems than it solves? As a student radical, growing up in the late sixties, I believed it was possible to change the world. Of ...
Christmas – Special Time of The Year
To our children, Christmas is one of those special times of the year. When I was growing up it was the best time of the year and was always a long time coming. New Year was always an anticlimax, despite my Scottish heritage and the importance of Hogmanay in that country. When I was 6 years old, we lived with ...
Religious Freedom: Harassment of Christians is a blind spot for Ruddock
By JENNIFER ORIEL https://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/columnists/jennifer-oriel/harassment-of-christians-is-a-blind-spot-for-ruddock/news-story/05a151d60e067228910a442909ff8287 Editors Note: Jennfier Oriel is probably one of Australia most most eloquent and passionate defender of faith, family and freedom. This is a copy of a very good recent article in the Australian Newspaper. The government has proposed a religious discrimination act to protect the right of Australians to live in accordance with their faith. Its ...
Deadlock on religious freedom is a shambles
EDITORS NOTE: This is a very good analysis reproduced from the Australian of the current attack on religious freedom in the last week of Parliamentary sitting for 2018. Deadlock on religious freedom is a shamblesPaul Kelly Attorney-General Christian Porter during question time. Picture: Kym Smith. 11:00PM December 7, 2018 596 Comments The progressive transformation of Australia has brought the Liberal ...
Wild at Heart
Last weekend I attended a three day 'Wild at Heart' Bootcamp with John Eldridge and his team at Stanwell Tops, NSW. I was joined by over 400 other men from all over Australia and all over the world. Men came from USA, England, Canada, Europe and New Zealand. In the USA, one can only get into a Wild at Heart ...
The Challenge
We stepped into the gym office where my wife and I work out most mornings between 6AM and 7Am. The young vivacious 22 year old gym instructor was visibly shaken so we asked her what was the matter? She poured out her tale of woe. Mary (not her real name) is a fourth year trainee teacher. She was at the ...
Scott Morrison speech: I believe in a fair go for all Australians (Pray for Rain)
Scott Morrison speech: I believe in a fair go for all Australians (Pray for Rain) Prime Minister Scott Morrison delivers his Menzies Research address as Simon Birmingham, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, Kelly O'Dwyer and Mathias Cormann look on at the Mirambeena Community Centre in Albury, NSW today. Rachel Baxendale 2:54PM September 6, 2018 Scott Morrison has seized on Sir Robert Menzies’ ...
Heart of Man
Charles Chestnutt said, “The workings of the human heart are the profoundest mystery of the universe. One moment they make us despair of our kind, and the next we see in them the reflection of the divine image”. These words are probably an apt description of the new cinematic story/documentary called the ‘Heart of Man’ that can be seen in ...
Crickets Fall From Grace
Australia will never forget Easter 2018. While much of the nation was celebrating the death and resurrection of the most ethical man in all of history, the greater part of Australia was mourning the death of ‘ethics in sport’ with no sign of resurrection in sight. The good news is that the 9th Commandment is now law in Australian cricket. ...
The Mystery of a Fathers Blessing
“Sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me”, is a saying that I recited to the bullies at school when they taunted me and the other kids who were my friends. I am not so sure that is true anymore. Words come from intentions and intentions become actions. Words are powerful, and they certainly can ...
Heroes & Mentors
The great writer Ernest Hemingway said, “As you get older it is harder to have heroes, but it is sort of necessary”. I have found that to be true. Age does not diminish the need for heroes, they just become harder to find, but they are still necessary. Our children, especially when they are younger, look up to us as ...
My Hidden Secret
I don’t know about your Christmas, but our family had a very enjoyable family gathering. Our whole family gets together immediately before Christmas to allow our family members to meet with their own or extended family on Christmas Day. We started this custom some years ago and it works for us. The good news is that we get to ...
Star Wars & the Christmas Story
The cinema was packed, but we just had to see ‘The Last Jedi’ for ourselves. We were so fixated we took the last two seats in the front row. The anticipation was building as the text scrolled across the star filled universe. In a galaxy far, far away, a story was about to unfold that has captured the hearts and ...
Make a Stand
“The test of the morality of a society is what it does for its children”. These words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945), a German academic and Christian minister, still ring true today. One of the reasons his words still live on is because Dietrich stood up for what he believed, and in doing so, paid the ultimate price. Bonhoeffer’s promising academic ...
