Christmas draws me in because of the sheer wonder woven through the story — not sentiment, not scenery, but the astonishing way God moves through ordinary people and everyday places. Look closely, and the Nativity unfolds as a series of moments stitched with courage, humility, and revelation. Mary and Joseph — The Costly Yes You… Read more: The Wonder of Christmas: When God Took His First Breath

Bohemian Rhapsody is not a confession of murder nor an exercise in nihilism. It is a ritual execution of identity — the moment Farrokh Bulsara dies and Freddie Mercury is born. This essay reads the song as a psychological, musical, and spiritual turning point, and Mercury’s lifelong silence as an act of mercy rather than mystery.

In 1998, a front-page tragedy and a rough handwritten poem became the quiet heartcry that shaped the next twenty-seven years of my life. This Advent, I look back at how God took that cry from a 28-year-old former addict and opened doors into recovery work, ministry, and even academic study — from leaving school at 15 to pursuing a PhD. Hope fuelled then. Hope fulfilled now. Hope still needed — and still given.

You’re going about your day, minding your own business, when the universe decides to slap you. Not metaphorically — a full, open-handed wallop that leaves you blinking at reality, wondering who changed the script. I was upstairs in Costa, the one tucked inside NEXT at Braehead, perched above the menswear section with a lukewarm latte and the illusion of peace. Then I saw him — mid-twenties, navy coat, scanning the shirts with nervous hands. When the light caught the small metal object in his pocket, my chest tightened. A ring. A pin. A curved lever. The exact top of a hand grenade. Within minutes, a whisper became a rumour, the rumour became a story, and the story became a full-blown emergency rolling through the mall like a gospel nobody meant to preach. And somehow, God help me, I was the one who started it.

A Christian-shaped, community-rooted overview of what real recovery looks like today — relational, holistic, hope-filled, and centred on the transforming grace of Jesus Christ. Read online or download the one-page PDF version.