FRESH Official Podcast

There's so much bad news these days. Dictators, wars, suffering, exploitation, crime. It's ugly, right? So, we put our heads down and get on with living the best life we can in our little neck of the woods. But what if there's more? Blaise Pascal was a brilliant 17th-century French mathematician, physicist, and inventor, famous for Pascal's Triangle and foundational work in probability. But despite his academic success, he was filled with inner turmoil, illness, and a sense of spiritual emptiness. That all changed on the night of November 23, 1654 when he had a powerful encounter with Jesus. He wrote of it as a "night of fire," during which he experienced the Presence of the living God. From that moment he devoted his life to Christ, focusing on theology and writing Pensées, defending faith with reason and reflecting deeply on eternity. He died at the age of just 39 and is now spending eternity with the Jesus who turned his life here on earth upside down. Hebrews 7:25 So Christ can save those who come to God through him. Christ can do this forever, because he always lives and is ready to help people when they come before God. Have you had your night of fire? Have you come face to face with Jesus, who died and rose again for you? Perhaps not, or maybe you have but it all seems so far removed from the here and now. Friend, today I have some good news for you. In Christ, God loves you beyond words. In Christ, you can be saved. In Christ, you can be with God forever because Jesus is alive. He is ready to help you when you come before God. Do it today. Do it now. Turn to Jesus. That's God's Word. Fresh … for you … today.

No one likes not getting their own way. You don't, I don't. It began at a very young age, when we started throwing tantrums. And sometimes, let's be honest, we still want to chuck a tanty, yeah?! In the 12th century, Thomas Becket, as Archbishop of Canterbury, clashed bitterly with King Henry II over the limits of church authority. They'd been close friends but once he became Archbishop, Beckett refused to yield to the king's wishes, even in things that really didn't matter. Eventually, his insistence on getting his own way led to his assassination. Had Becket shown humility and sought peace, both his life and church-state relations would likely have fared a great deal better. Getting our own way seems so darned important in the midst of conflict that we all too easily lose sight of what really matters. Philippians 2:3-4 In whatever you do, don't let selfishness or pride be your guide. Be humble, and honour others more than yourselves. Don't be interested only in your own life, but care about the lives of others too. A funny thing happens when we choose to yield, when we lay aside our selfish pride, when we begin truly, deeply honouring others above ourselves … peace breaks out. Of course we should stand against wrongdoing, but most of the time it's our own pigheadedness that fuels conflict, is it not? What conflict are you involved in at the moment where you have the opportunity to yield? Honestly, how would it play out if you did? Don't be interested only in your own life, but care about the lives of others too. Get comfortable with not getting your own way That's God's Word. Fresh … for you … today.

It's easy to imagine that the joy, the fulfilment, the contentment we all long for lie in recognition, comfort and success. And yet, you can imagine all you like, but you'll never find them there. Twentieth-century American newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst built a massive media empire and lived in opulence on his vast estate, Hearst Castle. He influenced presidents, shaped public opinion, and lived like royalty. But Hearst's deep sense of entitlement to admiration and control eroded his joy. Obsessed with legacy and public image, he manipulated headlines, crushed competitors, and clung to a long, scandalous affair. In later years, isolated and anxious, his empire crumbled during the Great Depression. So despite outward success, his joy was hollowed out by pride and possessiveness, which, let's be honest, is always how these things end. Jesus, in His famed Sermon on the Mount, said this: Matthew 5:3 Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (ESV) To be poor in spirit is to come before God with humility, not entitlement. Lord, I'm spiritually bankrupt. I can't save myself. I need your mercy. Such a person is blessed, according to Jesus, because that blessedness begins where our self-entitlement ends. Or as someone once said, joy dies in the spirit of entitlement but thrives in an attitude of surrender. Friend, the longer we aspire to the things of this world, the more deeply we're gripped by our sense of self-entitlement, the more joy will elude us because surrender is the gateway to joy. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. That's God's Word. Fresh … for you … today.

Life is a puzzle that, all too often, seems impossible to solve. You had plans. They were good plans. I mean, very good plans. Then … boom! Things inexplicably took a dark turn. We've all been there. When you're faced with a dark, unsolvable set of circumstances so complex that you can't reason your way through, what do you do? Well, obviously, you ask God what in the blazes He's up to. Why would He let this happen … to you of all people? It's 597 BC, a time of national crisis. Jerusalem is under siege by the Babylonians. Judah's about to fall. Yet God … get this … instructs the prophet Jeremiah to do something astonishing; to buy a field in Anathoth. Really, God? It'd leave you shaking your head, wouldn't it? But this is how Jeremiah responds: Jeremiah 32:17 Lord GOD, with your great power you made the earth and the sky. There is nothing too hard for you to do. It's easy to think of yourself as a person of faith until that faith is tested; until God seems to be doing something dark and inexplicable, like allowing the Promised Land to be overrun and His chosen people, Israel, to be taken into captivity. When God does something like that, allows something like that, presides over something like that, there are two options: either He's malevolent and untrustworthy, or there's something else going on behind the scenes that you and I can't see or comprehend. So the next time you find yourself in that place, you can either panic or pray ... Lord GOD, with your great power you made the earth and the sky. There is nothing too hard for you to do. That's God's Word. Fresh … for you … today.

From a very young age, we each try to figure out our place in the world, where we fit in the scheme of things, as we should. But there's one aspect of that to which we far too readily grant supremacy, to our own peril. Have you ever met someone and thought, "Gee, they're successful. I wonder what they earn. Look at the car they drive, the house they live in. They've done a lot better than me." I even heard someone say recently, after reading of the incredible success of one of their old school friends, "The first thing I thought was, I am such a failure." In truth, we use outward measures - particularly wealth - as our gauge of success. I used to, too, and I can tell you, the undue supremacy we grant to our aspiration for wealth and the way we consequently compare ourselves to others completely ruins our life. Contrast that with this reality: Matthew 4:2-4 After fasting forty days and forty nights, [Jesus] was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread." But he answered, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" ESV So for Jesus, not even the basic necessity of food to nourish His starving body took primacy over His commitment to obey God. That casts our desire for affluence in a very different light, doesn't it? As C.S. Lewis writes in his book, The Screwtape Letters, "Prosperity knits a man to the world. He feels as though he's finding his place in it, when really, it is finding its place in him." Don't allow prosperity to lead you astray. That's God's Word. Fresh … for you … today.

Englishman George Clark was a 19th-century career criminal who ran one of London's most violent street gangs. Hardened by poverty and crime, he'd spent years in and out of prison. During one of his incarcerations, Clark was given a Bible by a prison chaplain. At first, he mocked it. But then he came across this verse: Romans 5:8 But Christ died for us while we were still sinners, and by this God showed how much he loves us. It broke through. As a gang leader and repeat offender, he'd been judged, written off, and hardened by a life of violence and rejection. He believed that love had to be earned—and that he was far beyond deserving it. But here was a truth that shattered that preconception: "While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Not after he cleaned up his act. Not if he reformed. But while he was at his worst—Christ loved him enough to die for him. That kind of grace was radical. Undeserved. Disarming. It exposed his sin, yes—but more importantly, it revealed a love that refused to abandon him. That's what pierced his heart. That's what broke the cycle of violence. That's what set him free. Clark gave his life to Christ, left the gang life behind, and went on to become a missionary to prisoners and street kids—the very people he'd once led astray. His life became living proof that no one is beyond the reach of God's love. It's not fear, not guilt, not rules that truly transform a person — it's the overwhelming love and kindness of God, shown most fully in Christ. The very same love that George Clark discovered in that prison cell is the love that God has for you. He loves you at your worst. That's His Word. Fresh … for you … today.

If there's one thing that history's demonstrated time and again, it's that just because something is accepted by the majority, just because it represents the prevailing wisdom of the day, doesn't mean that it's true or right. Majority support doesn't magically transform a lie into truth. In the mid-1800s, Hungarian doctor Ignaz Semmelweis discovered that doctors who washed their hands with antiseptics drastically reduced the number of deaths from childbed fever. But prevailing medical wisdom rejected germ theory. His peers mocked him, clung to tradition, refused to change. Even Semmelweis himself, though he'd stumbled onto the truth, didn't fully understand it. As rejection mounted, he became bitter and unstable, eventually dying in an asylum—ironically of sepsis. Had the medical world embraced even a sliver of biblical wisdom—like Numbers 19 or Leviticus 15, where cleanliness laws reflect God's care for physical hygiene—they could have spared countless lives, and Semmelweis his torment. Still today, by far the majority reject God's truth. Even Christians find some of what Jesus had to say inconvenient, unpalatable or both. And in this, the devil delights, finding his entry point to wreak havoc in our lives. Which is why Jesus said this to those who believed in Him: John 8:31-32 "If you continue to accept and obey my teaching, you are really my followers. You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." The best defence, the only defence, against the untruths of our day, the lies of the devil himself, is truth. And if you fill your mind with God's truth, you simply won't have room for Satan's lies. That's God's Word. Fresh … for you … today.

Guilt over past mistakes has a habit of clouding our judgment in moving forward. Many a life has been ruined through unredeemed guilt. Sound familiar? Ludwig Tessnow was a German carpenter convicted of murdering two young boys in 1901. Earlier, in 1898, two similar murders had occurred, but although a strong suspect, he escaped justice due to a lack of evidence. Tessnow lived under deep internal torment, becoming increasingly isolated and erratic. Haunted by guilt but too ashamed to confess the initial murders, he tried to bury his past in secrecy and denial. When forensic science caught up with him, his role in the second set of murders in 1901 was exposed. But Tessnow never sought redemption, and his regret never led to repentance—only despair. There you have it: the soul-crushing weight of unredeemed guilt. But here's what God said to His people, Israel, through the Prophet: Isaiah 1:18 I, the LORD, am the one speaking to you. Come, let's discuss this. Even if your sins are as dark as red dye, that stain can be removed and you will be as pure as wool that is as white as snow. That captures the very heart of the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus Christ: God's grace through Jesus' death on that Cross to pay the price His justice demands for our sin, redeems our past and empowers us to move forward. He doesn't ignore our sin. No, through His mercy in Christ, when we ask for God's forgiveness through Jesus, He forgives us completely, once and for all. So, will you ask? Because your next move matters way more than your last mistake. That's God's Word. Fresh … for you … today.

Have you ever felt worthless as you looked around at what all those other people were achieving and compared it with your own miserable, rotten existence? Perhaps that's overstating it a tad, but isn't that how we sometimes see ourselves, as completely worthless in the scheme of things? As worthlessness goes, I think you'll agree that nothing on planet Earth could be more useless than bird poo. But in the 19th century, bird droppings—guano—became white gold. Rich in nitrogen, it was a miracle fertiliser fuelling global agriculture. Peru's guano islands drew international attention, prompting the U.S. to pass the Guano Islands Act in 1856, allowing Americans to claim guano-rich territories. Spain seized the Chincha Islands in Peru in 1864, sparking a war. A decade later, Chile, Peru, and Bolivia clashed in the War of the Pacific, again over nitrate-rich guano territory. All this, not about oil or gold, but bird poo—the most unlikely resource that shaped empires, fuelled conflict, and fed the world. There's an even greater battle raging today, over something that perhaps you may consider to be a bit on the worthless side, too. Said Jesus of Satan and Himself … John 10:10-11 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. (ESV) As Charles Spurgeon once said, "Ponder how valuable your soul must be for Satan to pursue it tirelessly and the King of kings to lay down His own life for it." Worthless? Not on your life! That's God's Word. Fresh … for you … today.

Elon Musk is, without doubt, a polarising figure. But he's also a visionary of staggering brilliance. He's reshaped entire industries—from motor vehicles to space travel—with relentless innovation. He dreams of colonising Mars, merging minds with machines, extending human life, ultimately casting humanity as its own saviour. But in his soaring ambition, Musk sidesteps the Creator. God's become unnecessary in his gospel of progress, where ultimate hope lies in human innovation, not grace. And he's by no means alone. Let's face it, the majority of the human race has rejected the one true God, who sent Jesus His Son to be our Saviour by dying on that Cross to pay for our sins, and rising again to give us a whole new life for all eternity. Like the builders of the Tower of Babel, humanity reaches for the heavens without bowing to heaven's King. So, how will it all end? Are the Elon Musks of this world correct? Is science really the answer? Can humanity really become its own saviour? Zechariah 14:9 And the LORD will be the King of the whole world. At that time all people will worship him as the only LORD with only one name. Make no mistake. Our lives are coming to an end. This whole world is heading inexorably toward its ultimate, apocalyptic end. And on that day, all the science, all the human brilliance and endeavour in the world won't save us. On that day, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. That's God's Word. Fresh … for you … today.

Today is one of those bad news-good news days. We all face bad news in our lives but honestly, the worst news we can ever be confronted with is that there is a God in heaven, and that He judges each of us according to our deeds. Depending on where you sit, that may seem like a joke or it could absolutely terrify you. I'm in the latter camp because I believe with all my heart that there is a God in heaven and that He does judge us. Here's why I believe that: Jeremiah 17:10 I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve. (NIV) That's not just bad news, it's terrifying. Look, if there is a God, you'd want Him to be just, right? So many people get away with so much in this world. Ultimately, you want them to receive their just desserts. And that's exactly what God's saying here. He searches every heart, He examines every mind - yours, mine and everyone else's. He sees everything we do. And we both know that in the court of His justice, given the dark things that've swilled round in our hearts, the terrible things we've thought about and done, it's not going to end well for us. That's a terrifying prospect. We're all doomed. But this God of justice is also the God of love. And that's why He sent Jesus to take our place, bearing the punishment our deeds deserve. On the cross, Jesus was treated according to our deeds, so that we might be treated according to His perfect righteousness. That's the good news. Put all your trust in Jesus, and you will be saved. Because that's God's Word. Fresh … for you … today.

Some of the events this world is going through at the moment seem … well, apocalyptic. Hey, perhaps some of the things going on in your life feel apocalyptic too. And yet, in the midst of it all, we each woke up this morning to face yet another day. The concept of the apocalypse kind of speaks to the end times, the destruction of creation. And with the tectonic upheavals in the global order right now, who knows? But the original Greek word - apokalypsis - actually means a revelation, an unveiling, a disclosure of hidden truths. So, I wonder, what's God trying to tell you and me about the unsettling events taking place in our own lives? As you turn that over in your mind, here's a powerful word of encouragement from Jesus Himself, as He was answering the apocalyptic questions of His disciples back in the day: Matthew 24:35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. (ESV) Sometimes it feels as though the very ground beneath your feet is shaking; things you've taken for granted are crumbling; that which you've always held to be true suddenly seems questionable. When you're in that place, my prayer for you is this: That you would remember what Jesus said when His disciples confronted Him with the big questions they faced: Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. He loves you. He died to save you from your sins. He rose again to give you a new life. And one day, He's coming to take you home to be with Him forever. That's God's Word. Fresh … for you … today.

When all is said and done, what we hope for is to get through to the other side of our struggles, perhaps with a few bumps and bruises, but basically intact so that we can breathe that deep sigh of relief, "I made it!" Am I right? When you're in the middle of those struggles, though, it often feels like you're not going to make it. And what in the blazes is God up to, anyhow? Why isn't He stepping in? Why doesn't He just put His cosmic finger on the scales and tip them in my favour? Perhaps the answer lies in something that the Apostle Paul wrote to his protégé, Timothy, in the New Testament: 2 Timothy 2:3-6 As a good soldier of Christ Jesus, accept your share of the troubles we have. A soldier wants to please his commanding officer, so he does not spend any time on activities that are not a part of his duty. Athletes in a race must obey all the rules to win. The farmer who works hard deserves the first part of the harvest. Life with God isn't a free pass on all your struggles; it's a blessed and powerful partnership with Him on the way through. It's been said that if you ask God to win a marathon, he'll send you a pair of shoes, not a medal. Because His way is to equip us, not spoil us; to prepare us, not to bypass the process. He gives what we need to endure — not shortcuts, but strength. So … as a good soldier of Christ Jesus, accept your share of the troubles we have. That's God's Word. Fresh … for you … today.