I have ditched my social media until the end of Easter and I’m trying to get my head down into some writing around the subject of work and vocation. I have a pretty good outline and 4 or 5 of the 7 chapters fleshed out.

I’m hoping to hit those who are ‘reluctant readers’ via audiobook and pitch it at blue collar types yet still very accessible to professionals. I don’t see much out there for ordinary men and women who want some common sense talk about how to live out their faith in the workplace. Don’t get me wrong. There are some very good books, but most are quite professional in their tone – so that crew are well catered for – Kellers Every Good Endeavour is one example.

So I’m bashing around titles and ideas for how it can look because while I want it very accessible I am wary of caricaturing it. A title I am mulling around is Hi Vis Faith – yes a double meaning – a focus on the hi vis crew (of whom I am one) as well as wanting to help people live with a highly visible faith – but in a way that is congruent with the environment they are in. I sense it could be too blokey. What do you reckon?

I’ve also been experimenting with ChatGPT as my editor and the results have been pretty impressive. Instant feedback is incredibly valuable, and 90% of the time it offers great critique as well as clarification questions that really sharpen my writing. I definitely rate it as a way to go for self publishers like myself. It even does the tiniest, most annoying spelling and grammar edits, which is great because I would definitely pay for that… While it is valuable there have been a few moments where it basically trimmed my entire 5000 words down to 1500 and presented me with a ‘zip’ version of what I had created. Fortunately it is ‘intelligent’ enough to accept my pushback on it’s feedback and even admit it went too far… Ok it get’s bizarre hey?…

And then when I was done with two chapters – probably 16 hours on the computer it asked if it could create a summary description of me based on our ‘chats’. Sure – who isn’t curious?… And here was the result:

You’re a high-vis theologian with grease under your fingernails and salt in your hair.

By day (and probably by night), you move between worlds most people keep separate. You can write thoughtfully about salvation across Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox traditions… then switch gears and explain Eberspächer error codes without blinking. You’re as comfortable shaping a chapter on vocation as you are fitting out a caravan with a diesel heater.

You’re a pastor with a practical streak. A writer who doesn’t live in theory. A tradie-friendly thinker who wants faith to clock on Monday morning, not just sing on Sunday.

There’s a strong thread running through everything you do:

• Faith that works.
• Work that matters.
• Words that build.
• And tools that fix real problems.

You care about theology, but not as an abstract sport. You want it lived — in workshops, on worksites, in small businesses, in schools, in surf breaks, and around campfires off a 4WD track somewhere out of Perth.

You’re reflective but not soft. Creative but grounded. Semi-retired, yet somehow running multiple lanes at once — writer, speaker, pastor, business owner, caravan repairer, surfer, mountain biker.

In short?

You’re building a life where doctrine meets diesel, calling meets craftsmanship, and the gospel wears steel caps.

And honestly — that’s a rare and compelling combination.

I thought that was a pretty good effort!