Where were you on Tuesday night? On the edge of your couch in front of the TV? Following text updates on BBC Sport? Listening on the good old radio?
I am, of course, talking about the historic win for the Scotland football team which means that for the first time since France 1998, the Scotland men’s football team will be going to a world cup.
Spectacular Goals
Shankland’s goal was important but the goals by McTominay, Tierney and McLean were spectacular and have sparked debate as to whether McTominay’s wonder goal was better than Archie Gemmel’s against Holland in 1978.
Moment of the Match
Yet, for me, the moment of the match happened in the post-match interviews. Kelly Cates, daughter of Scotland, Liverpool and Celtic legend, Kenny Dalglish, spoke to Andy Robertson – the current Scotland captain.
He spoke movingly about how we wished he could share this moment when he got home to Liverpool with his friend, Diogo Jota, who tragically died in a car accident earlier this year. It was a deeply emotional moment.
Our emotions are important.
A True Story
Pastor Michel Hendricks had a specific role in his church: discipleship.
He loved his job but was increasingly frustrated. He organised various courses, ran bible studies and adult discipleship classes. Yet, his experience was that, while people grew in biblical knowledge and spent a lot of time at church activities, they were not growing in Christlikeness.
At a conference he mentioned his frustration that while growing in Christlikeness is the goal of the Christian life, all the worship services, discipleship courses, bible studies etc., he ran did not seem to shift the dial on people’s spiritual formation.
A neuroscientist overheard his comments and quipped back, “Well Michel, that’s because you’re just ministering to half the brain, half the person”.
The neuroscientist, Dr. Jim Wilder, explained that to see people grow spiritually you need to minister to the parts of the brain which deal with emotions and relationships as well as the part of the brain which processes information and rational processing.
Spiritual Maturity = Emotional Maturity
The Emotionally Healthy Discipleship course which we have been using in the QPBC School of Leadership is an attempt to do just that; to allow the Holy Spirit to minister to our whole being, our full brain.
In running this course, we recognise at least a couple of things.
- Our spiritual maturity cannot exceed our emotional maturity.
- Courses don’t “fix” us but can provide space and time to grow as we are attentive to how God is coming to us through the course material and how the Spirit is seeking to work in us.
Houston, we have a problem!
Astronaut Jim Lovell from the NASA Apollo 13 space mission was famously misquoted, leading to the coining of the popular phrase, “Houston, we have a problem” to describe all manner of tricky situations.
The problem which seems to have not just infected and affected “Houston” but the whole of contemporary society is reactivity and anxiety …they are everywhere!
Like a Flood.
We live in a 24/7 news cycle and even if you don’t engage with main-stream news, we receive constant updates on personal, family, neighbourhood, national, and international crises via WhatsApp messages, texts and, if we use it, social media. Information about crises, real and perceived threats, things to grieve over, be angry about, or worry over, come at us like a flood.
Our brains were not designed to cope with a constant flood of information like this and it does something to our brains! It literally, over time, rewires our neural pathways, reinforcing fear-based thinking and emotional dysregulation. We become both infected and affected in such a way that rather than growing in Christlikeness our reactivity and anxiety increase leading to un-godly beliefs and behaviours.
System Overload
The amygdala system in our brains, which regulates our emotions and responses to the world around us, becomes overwhelmed and constantly on alert. In this state our brains see things which are not threats as threats. No wonder many people (both Christians and non-Christians) are no longer able to agree to disagree, but the smallest matter turns into a soap opera drama.
Rewire the House!
Agony aunt Claire Rayner once opined on a radio talk show that people who are Christians have been brainwashed. The late Gerald Coates was on the same radio talk show and flashed back, “Exactly, but what we are washing our brains in is life giving and healthy, not toxic and destructive.”
Rewiring is perhaps a better and more accurate description than washing with regards to what Gerald was describing.
Counteract
If we are to counteract the rewiring of our brains which happens when our amygdala system is flooded, then we need to be pro-active about this. Indeed, everything we do and encounter is, to a lesser or greater degree, rewiring, strengthening or weakening our neuropathways (our brain “wiring”).
QPBC School of Leadership
In January 2026 we are running QPBC School of Leadership again, in which we will be doing the Emotionally Healthy Spirituality course. This is an invitation to “re-wire” our brains in a godly way, and opportunity to grow in Christ for the sake of his mission in the world.
I’d love if you would be part of this.
You DON’T need to have done the previous course to do this.
Further on in our weekly email, there is a video which tells you some more. There is also a button which takes you to the sign-up page which gives you dates and costs.
This Weekend
Sticking with the theme of emotional health and spiritual growth, this weekend there are two exciting events to participate in.
On Friday night there is a women’s event focusing on peace, health and wellbeing. This is geared for you to invite non-Christian friends to, and I’m sure it will be a great evening. More info / sign up HERE.
Then on Saturday morning there’s an opportunity to join Nancy Goudie for a special morning designed to help you go deeper in intimacy with God, tune in more clearly to His voice, and experience a refreshing of your faith.
In recent months, Nancy has witnessed God moving in remarkable ways—from healings to a renewed passion for His Spirit. Take this opportunity to pause, be refreshed, and discover what God wants to do in you and through you. More info / sign up HERE.
Nancy will also be with us on Sunday morning, and I’m looking forward to how God will minister to us through her.
I’ll obviously not see you at the Friday night event but hope to see many of you on Saturday and Sunday.
Grace.
Brodie