Mother’s Day will be celebrated on Sunday 12 May and we encourage you to make it a big celebration. Motherhood and mothers need to be valued and appreciated a lot more than they do. You know the line by now, “The greatest thing a father can do for his children is to love his children’s mother.” Why is it that so many men just don’t get that? A key part of ...

Many years ago, I went to the largest single day men’s conference in Australia, the Hillsong Men’s Conference.    One of the speakers, Dr A.R. Bernard, shared the title of his message, “What do Women Want“. A holy hush descend on the 5,000 men gathered in the auditorium as they all thought “Wow! I am going to find out today the question that many of my forbears desperately wanted to know but ...

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. We had only met a half a dozen times, but he ...

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 course, when you are young, and want to change the world, ...

In a matter of days we celebrate Valentine’s Day by sending a card to the love of our life, buying flowers, chocolates, ‘candy’ or a host of other things to ‘prove’ our love for our one true love.  Some people hate the rampant commercialism whilst others among us go along for the ride.  I myself think that any custom that provokes us to keep the flame of love alive has got ...

Most weekday mornings Alison and I get up at about 5.40AM, push each other out of bed, and go for our early morning ‘Gym & Fitness Walk Session’, at least that’s what I call it. We walk down to the gym about 2-3 minutes and hold hands as we walk. We work out together and then we take a longer route back to our home all the while holding hands with ...

  The people of Australia have spoken. They don’t want to keep marriage as it is and has always been for thousands of years, through countless cultures, from time immemorial. They want to redefine marriage. How sad! The Postal Survey was mailed out to 16,006,180 Australians. Of these, 7,817,247 voted ‘Yes’. That is less than 50% (in fact it is 48.84%). So in spite of the fact that less than 50% ...

Have you received your postal ballot in your letterbox? The real question is what are you going to do with it? Fill it in and send it back to the Australian Bureau of Statistics because they want to know what you think and so do your children. The question on the ballot paper is, “Should the law be changed to allow same-sex couples to marry?” Yes or No. It is my ...

Mark Latham, The Daily Telegraph http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/mark-latham-samesex-yes-vote-will-open-a-can-of-worms/news-story/248eb22253826ed116f51eb08c353a48  EDITORS NOTE: This brillant article by Mark Latham shows the minefield that the legislation of of “any two people” getting married will unleash on the children and families of Australia. Mark Latham: Gender politics burning down the house Mark Latham: Diversity brigade kicks merit out the window THERE is a widely held expectation in Australian politics that once the result of the same-sex marriage postal ...

‘What Children Want Most is a Ban on Divorce, Says Poll’ was a headline in a major UK paper several years ago. The poll question was: “What rules would you make if you ruled the world as King or Queen?” #BanDivorce was the number one request. Nationwide research of children under 10 years of age was carried out by Luton First, sponsors and organisers of National Kids’ Day. Patricia Murchie of ...

I have heard so many men complain to me, “My wife is very high maintenance”. In most cases this statement shows a distinct lack of understanding of the fairer sex. The truth of the matter, from a man’s point of view, is all women are high maintenance. A man’s needs are very simple: food, s*x, sleep. OK, that’s a huge over-simplification, but there’s more truth in it than we care to ...

Some time ago I went on a retreat with a group of men.  One of the subjects for discussion was the place of our families in our lives.  Most of the men were professional, ‘middle management’, if there is such a thing.  Most of us felt the intense pressure of ‘trying to keep the customer satisfied’.  Many had put their careers in front of their children and their families.  Others seemed ...

We start the school year knowing that Australia’s educational standards are dropping and yet Australians, on a median basis, are the wealthiest people group in the world. Is more money spent on education the answer, or is something else the missing part of the educational puzzle? Educational experts in Australia have argued in favour of billions of dollars of extra government funding to be spent on education to help Australia return ...

We have talked before about our children leaving home and the family decreasing in size and the sadness of that moment. For a big, close family, it can be a sort-of death experience for both mum and dad, but I have some good news for you. Out of death comes life. The greatest selling book of all time say, “For this reason a man shall leave his mother and father and ...

It’s hard to hold back the tears when a man starts being really honest and speaking from his heart. This is especially the case when that same man has just finished the first Good to Great Course to be completed outside the Sydney-Wollongong region. It is even more exciting when that man tells you that his whole relationship with his wife and children has been revolutionised by completing the Dads4Kids Good ...

We recently moved house. The house we had been renting for 13 years was sold, and there was no other option. According to the USA Employee Relations Council, moving house is the third most stressful event in life, following death and divorce. Other lists put it lower, but whatever the case, it usually makes the top ten of life’s worst events. Moving house is stressful because you have to make decisions ...