FRESH Official Podcast

So, let me ask you, what's your definition of wisdom? Someone you meet could be incredibly smart and successful, yet you take one look at them and in about three seconds you conclude that "wise" is the last label you'd ascribe to them. Why?

In the 1950's and early 60's, Swede Dag Hammarskjöld served as the second Secretary-General of the United Nations. In a world ri...

Whenever we get to the point of believing that we know it all, there's one thing for certain: we really have no idea what's going on. We're so blinded by our own puffed-up sense of knowing, that we're blinded to the fact that we know little to nothing. And let's face it, we've all been there.

Most of us have that one thing that we're really good at; that one thing th...

These days, the whole self-discovery thing seems to have become all the rage. I need to know myself and not be ashamed of who I really am. Yeah, right. Look around. How well is all that introspection serving us in this increasingly self-obsessed, narcissistic world in which we live?

Back in the day, Greek philosopher Aristotle posited that knowing yourself is the beg...

In times of extreme adversity, we each have to decide: Will I keep trusting God … or will I give up? And, let's be clear, it's one of the toughest decisions we'll ever face.

Author, John White, writes of putting his family on a flight in a snowstorm. Though he'd had a strong premonition that they'd be killed in a plane crash, he didn't discuss it with his wife...

Doing what I do, I spend rather a lot of time flying in aeroplanes. And as those huge passenger jets trundle down the runway, it always amazes me how they get them into the air. So, you can imagine that I find this statistic somewhat troubling: commercial jets are struck by lightning, on average, once a year. Yikes!

Yep, that's a troubling thought when you and severa...

I wonder whether we ever truly realise how many of the things we take for granted are actually miracles, happening every minute of every day. Things that, if we took a moment to think about, would change the way we see not only the world, but ourselves.

So, let's look at you. Did you know that you are 99.999% empty space? Absolutely! All matter, including human cells...

Do you know what I love about you? I love the fact that you're so different to me. You have different motivations and abilities hardwired into your DNA. You've been through different experiences that've shaped who you are. Although, sadly, many people see their gifts, their abilities, as being quite insignificant compared to others. But that's a big mistake!

During t...

I wonder, what are your thoughts about the supernatural dimension to life. Is there such a thing? Or is it just a bunch of old hocus-pocus, an unwelcome relic of medieval times? What do you think?

As we each consider the realities of our lives, they all seem pretty ordinary. We're born, grow up, go to school, do what we're doing now, and one day … our lives on...

It's amazing how powerful relationships can be in shaping who we become. The best relationships help us discover the foundational truths of life "on the job" so to speak, amidst the realities, the pressures, the trials of life.

Sophie Scholl was initially swept up in the nationalistic fervour of Nazi Germany. But her worldview began to change through heartfelt conver...

It's all too easy to become so immersed in our social and economic systems, in the culture in which we live, that we end up believing that things have always been this way, and what's more, they always will be. Yet down through history, empires – indeed, whole civilizations – have come and gone. The most advanced, the most powerful … have disappeared leaving little more than ruins in their w...

Have you ever had that experience of discovering something amazing in a place you'd never have expected to find it? A jewel amidst the dross of life that changes everything?

As the story goes, back in the 9^th century AD an Ethiopian goat herder noticed that his goats became energetic after eating red berries from a particular shrub. Curious, he tried them ...

Have you ever noticed how when the person next to you yawns, you too break out in an involuntary yawn? Why is that?

It's called social mirroring — our brains instinctively mimic the behaviours of others, especially those we're emotionally connected to. When you see someone yawn, mirror neurons in your brain fire as if you were yawning too. So, when yo...

Life has a rather annoying habit of taking unexpected turns. Just when you least expect it, whoompa! You find yourself in a hole; a place where, in a million years, you'd never have expected to find yourself. What if I told you that that could be the biggest opportunity God will ever hand you?

Jacques Lusseyran was blinded at age seven in an accident. His world ...

Some things are black and white. Thou shalt not murder – obvious, right? Though shalt not commit adultery – obvious, yes, although these days you have to wonder. Other things … well, not so obvious. And those not-so-obvious things cause a lot of conflict.

Question: Is euthanasia a compassionate choice to end suffering or a violation of the sanctity...