Sorted Digital June 2025: Comment, cars and culture

Seven minute read

Comment: “I am the b*stard son of a priest and nun.”

By Guest Writer Geoff Peters

I’m also a love child, but that means more than just the label. The term love child usually turns heads. It actually has two meanings. The first is the one whispered about a child born outside of marriage, surrounded by scandal or secrecy. The second one, however, is life-giving; a creation born from deep passion and dedication, something made with purpose and heart. Both of these meanings apply to me.

I’m a love child. Not just because of the messy, unconventional start I had in life, but in the way that really matters. I’m someone who was made on purpose, for a purpose, and is deeply loved by God. Whether your own story is squeaky clean or rough around the edges, the same is true for you.

I was born in Arizona in the late 70s. My mum was trying to rebuild her life after an abusive marriage. My dad? An Episcopal/Anglican priest. They met during a counselling session at church, and somewhere in the mess, I was conceived. The fallout was exactly what you’d imagine; shame, confusion and scandal. My dad confessed to his bishop and moved away. My mum faced family pressure to abort me or give me away. Thankfully, my grandfather stood his ground and told her to keep me. So, she did.

What followed was a bit of a car crash of a childhood. We lived hand to mouth, skint and always on the move. I changed schools 13 times before I turned 15. I was an angry kid, constantly in trouble, and regularly sent away to group homes, 'special' schools, or family in other states. I was a nightmare for my teachers. I once got kicked out of an entire school district. Another time, the state told my mum to ship me off.

If you’d looked at me back then, you wouldn’t have seen potential. You’d have seen a lost cause. A reject. A classic love child in the scandalous sense. But underlying it all, something else was taking root.

Despite the chaos, my mum never stopped dragging me to church. We went multiple times a week, sometimes even daily. Looking back, the liturgy, the songs and the rhythm of it all were the only consistent things in my early life. While God felt distant, church was oddly familiar, like the one house on your street where the lights are always on. Still, I wasn’t exactly what you’d call 'spiritually engaged'.

Then, at university, I met my roommate Travis. He was a surfer, a guitar guy and read his Bible every morning like it was a daily crossword. He’d often puzzle over it, annoyed by it, determined to get something out of it. He talked about God like he was in the room, like faith wasn’t about keeping score with God, but having a conversation. It got me thinking; maybe I’d missed something. Maybe God wasn’t some distant moral referee after all.

After university I landed a job at a PR firm. I loved the job and a year in was offered a promotion. But the ethics of a few company decisions weren’t sitting quite right with me, so I questioned them. To my shock, I was fired on the spot. This led me down a career path I’d never expected. From PR, I began working for Christian charities, helping them with their marketing and communications. It turns out that God can use people with messy pasts and a knack for pushing boundaries.

Photo by Thiago Barletta on Unsplash

Then, my personal life also took a twist. Years after he left, I eventually reconnected with my father. I discovered that even in his absence, he had prayed for me every single day since my birth. My conversation with him brought closure and healing but also shook me. It was a reminder that even the flawed can reflect the love of a perfect Father.

Through all my experiences, I learned one thing; no-one is a mistake. No matter what your start in life looked like, what others have called you, or what you’ve come to believe about yourself. Everyone can be called a love child - not in the way the world defines it, but in the deeper, more powerful way that God does. You’re made with intention. You’re seen. You’re valued. And you’re loved.

So, remember…

1) Your past doesn’t get the final say. I was written off more times than I can count. But God’s not interested in your highlight reel, He works with what’s real.

2) You are more loved than you realise. It’s easy to assume God’s love is performance-based, but it's unconditional and not going anywhere.

3) You were made for something that matters. Life’s not about just getting by. You’ve got gifts, experiences, and a story that can point others toward hope.

So, I can say I’m a love child, something created with love, care and passion, a walking reminder that God can redeem any story and turn it into something good. I lean into that second definition, God’s definition. You should too.

Geoff Peters is the author of Love Child: A Journey through Scandal to Sacred Mission. He works in brand and marketing in the Christian charity sector, lives with his family in Colorado, USA and enjoys nearly any excuse to travel. You can reach him at www.geoffpeters.net

Cars: “Nostalgic design and innovative technology”

By Tim Barnes-Clay

Sorted Digital’s Motoring Editor, Tim Barnes-Clay, (and his kids) put the Volkswagen ID. Buzz Life 7-seat LWB 86kWh Pro through its paces and offer a comprehensive review. Follow Tim on Instagram.

Do motors give you a buzz anymore? Did they ever? Even if anything automotive usually bores the pants off you, I bet you’ll love the VW ID. Buzz LWB seven-seater. Why? Its looks are ace. Well, my kids were embarrassed by it, saying it was: “like the Scooby-Doo Mystery Machine”. I could see where they were coming from, sort of. But nearly anyone over 20 loved it, judging by the nods of approval.

One guy in a BMW queuing in the lane beside us wound his window down and exclaimed: "Mate, that's so cool!" He wasn’t being sarcastic, either. Mind you, that compliment made my offspring slide down in their seats to avoid further embarrassment. To be fair to them, the Buzz in ‘Life’ trim we had on test was a ‘Lime Yellow’ colour. You could spot it from space.

Anyway, the ID. Buzz’s family resemblance to the legendary VW Type 2 campervan of the 1960s is unmistakable. It's not a camper inside, it just has seats, seven in the case of the long wheelbase (LWB) version tested here, but it looks so like the classic Type 2 on the outside. The most significant difference is that this 21st-century VW is electric, but we'll come to that in a minute.

Styling and Technology

As mentioned, the ID. Buzz is a homage to the unforgettable VW bus, with its retro looks combined with cutting-edge tech. Inside, the current model has a lovely graphical interface and straightforward menu navigation for the Infotainment System.

Two versions are available, the standard wheelbase and, as already stated, the extended long wheelbase (LWB), reviewed here, with a 4,962 mm length, both maintaining the old-school proportions and appearance synonymous with Volkswagen.

The ID. Buzz LWB has ‘normal’ doors at the front and sliding doors at the rear. It also has short body overhangs and a dramatic V-shaped front bonnet, complemented by LED lights.

In essence, the ID. Buzz merges nostalgic design with innovative technology. Whether you choose the standard wheelbase or LWB, this modern Volkswagen bus will get heads swivelling and your kids pretending not to know you when you turn up in it for the school run.

Oh, yes, I nearly forgot. The VW has an inductive charging tray for smartphones on the dashboard panel. It also houses eight onboard USB-C ports. Surprise, surprise, my kids loved that bit about the bus.

Handling and Performance

The ID. Buzz LWB gets a bigger 86kWh battery, compared with 79kWh for the standard versions. Its output is 286PS, and it has an electric drive motor on the driven rear axle.

The lithium-ion battery integrated into the vehicle floor lowers the VW's centre of gravity and reduces body roll to a minimum. The turning circle is small due to the large wheel housings and the compact front axle, measuring 11.8 metres for the ID. Buzz LWB. This all makes the VW a piece of cake to drive. You forget you're in a long-ish vehicle as the steering is light, and it goes where you point it.

The VW threads through town centre traffic without issue and sits steadily at motorway speeds. The only time I became aware of its size was when it came to parking. A reversing camera makes slotting it into a supermarket parking bay easy, but I steered clear of town centre multi-storey carparks. The last thing I wanted to do was scrape the side, the roof, or a wheel within the confines of such a concrete structure.

You can select from various drive modes: Eco, Comfort, Sport, and Individual. For increased brake regeneration, you shift to 'B' on the gear selector, which is on the steering column. Getting to 62mph only takes 7.9 seconds, and the top speed is 99mph, so it's easy to feel you're in a car rather than a bus-like vehicle on the open road.

Space and Practicality

The large ID. Buzz LWB can be configured as a five-seater with a three-seat bench (2/3) and a six-seater (2/2/2). But, as stated, this version is additionally available as a seven-up vehicle, as tested here, with a three-seat bench in the second row and two chairs in the third row (2/3/2). The seats in the second row can also be moved by 200mm in the LWB.

You and your front passenger are seated upright and relatively high up. Adjustable armrests on the inner sides of the front seats are factory-fitted. The flagship seven-seat version features 12-way electrical adjustment and has a massage and memory function. The ID. Buzz's high dash panel matches the elevated seat position, another characteristic feature of VW bus models.

Even if seven people are on board, the Buzz's third row of seats can still accommodate a volume of 306 litres behind it. And if you're not driving with everyone on board, you can easily fit two bikes in the seven-seater version by folding the seats. The ID. Buzz swallowed my bike in the boot, and my daughter's cycle slotted into where other passengers would otherwise sit.

Running Costs

The official range for the electric ID. Buzz LWB is 286 miles. If you drive sensibly, expect more like just over 200 miles in the real world. I stayed in Eco mode, avoiding the Comfort, Sport, and Individual drive settings.

The 86kWh battery fitted to the LWB version of the ID. Buzz can be charged at a rate of 200kW at DC quick-charging stations. If you're lucky enough to have an 11kW 3-phase charger at your workplace, a 0-100% charge will take around nine hours. A 7kW home charger will take over 12 hours.

Verdict

At £62,155, the Volkswagen ID. Buzz Life LWB 86kWh Pro 286 PS, to give it its full name, is pretty expensive to buy, but, wow, you'll love owning it. The seven seats make this a real winner for large families, and like most electric vehicles, it's quiet and quick; plus, in the UK, you can live with the 200+ mile range it offers.

The VW looks so different from what else is on the road, that's good in my view, but my kids would disagree. You can also easily spot it in the supermarket carpark, especially if you go for a bright colour. That’s assuming you find a car park that isn’t the equivalent of a concrete tomb. I really wouldn't fancy my chances of getting in and out of some tight multi-storeys unscathed if I owned this funky Dub.

Tim Barnes-Clay is a freelance journalist with more than three decades’ worth of industry experience under his belt. He test-drives the latest cars and attends new vehicle press launches around the world. The dad-of-three has a postgraduate diploma in broadcast journalism and has been a presenter and producer at ITV. He has also worked as a radio reporter and continues to present videos and record voiceovers. (Photo credits: courtesy of VW.)

Music: Kick back and enjoy a selection of summer listening

By Sue Rinaldi

John Mark McMillan: Cosmic Supreme

Platinum-selling songwriter John Mark McMillan delivers an ear-bending heart-delight of poetic lyrics and melodies in his own distinctive and dynamic style. While Cosmic Supreme is less experimental than his earlier releases, it successfully carries a deep and genuine expression, leaning more towards the contemporary worship genre.

Although known for popular worship anthems How He Loves and King Of My Heart, McMillan has more recently ventured into the alternative rock-folk arena, comfortable and masterful on his independent pathway, all the time baffling any attempt to categorise his music. Cosmic Supreme throws a glorious curve ball into the field.

McMillan freely admits in a JFH News report that there was a time when he thought he wouldn’t write conventional worship songs anymore. Evidently his creative core took over and he has since crafted a wonderful collection of new worship music that still retains his unique signature style.

Highlight tracks And It Rages, All My Life and Anyone Else provide the perfect scenery for McMillan’s commanding and emotive vocal. Title track Ancient Love, bordering on the edge of pop, talks of an increasing appetite for the everlasting time-travelling love of God. And the upbeat Heart’s Delight featuring his wife Sarah McMillan declares that joy is found through receiving grace and revelling in God. Throughout each track, a deep love for God resounds.

Two versions of Cosmic Supreme have been released; a ten-track standard album and a deluxe album that includes additional live, acoustic, and instrumental pieces. Every stylistic landscape McMillan travels on, his consistent poetic approach and melodic musical nature does indeed sound supreme!

Limoblaze: Young & Chosen

Nigerian born, UK based Samuel Onwubiko, better known as Limoblaze, will certainly put a skip in your step with an invigorating fusion of Afrobeats, Hip Hop and Gospel. Latest album Young & Chosen is a joy to listen to and reveals a fresh and creative flare for making music that will raise a smile and effortlessly transport you to a happier place.

Unsurprisingly, Limoblaze is acquiring a considerable increase in followers and has won several awards including the African Gospel Music and Media Awards twice. Collaborations with other top artists including award-winning rapper Lecrae and Billboard award-winner Travis Greene have illuminated his flightpath to success.

Infectious beats, bold chorus breaks and distinctive vocal storytelling lay a strong and stirring foundation for Limoblaze to be upfront about faith, allowing his sincere love for God to drip through. Holy Father calls for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven; Sorry asks for forgiveness, and Blesser is an anthem of gratitude to God, the source of all blessings. Happy featuring Sam Rivera will disperse those gloomy clouds and Good God 11 featuring acclaimed Gospel artist Naomi Raine is chart-worthy.

Whatever the season, Limoblaze generates audio waves of summer sunshine with his captivating array of beats and rhythms to accompany nutritious faith-coloured lyrics. Victory sums it all up! The Lord is his pillar, strength and divine Aquafina, forever and ever, hallelujah!

Benjamin William Hastings: How I’d Sing it on a Sunday

From Belfast to Sydney to Los Angeles, multi-talented artist and worship leader Benjamin William Hastings has clocked up a sizeable number of miles moving between these three magnificent cities for his career and creative pursuits. At each destination Hastings has teamed up with an impressive catalogue of churches and Christian artists including Hillsong, Brandon Lake, Cory Asbury and Phil Wickham.

It’s fair to say that Hastings is nothing short of a genius when it comes to writing songs that people want to sing! With melodies that linger long after the final chord is played, and lyrics that excavate deep spiritual themes, his songs are a touching point between heaven and earth. Gratitude, O Praise The Name and So Will I (100 Billion X) are perfect examples.

How I’d Sing It On A Sunday is dynamically excellent and delivers a remarkable flow of musical passion, skill and integrity. The heart behind this project was to record a selection of songs and contextualise them in a way that would make them useful in a church setting. Hastings more than succeeds in this.

If It Wasn’t For Jesus amplifies the hope he has found in Jesus; the deftly orchestrated That’s Who I Praise clearly walks through reasons why he has chosen to give praise to God and the up-tempo abandonment of Take You At Your Word spotlights the importance of trusting God.

How I’d Sing It On A Sunday is inspirational and delivers an enriching listening experience any day of the week!

(Photo credits: Fair usage)

Sue Rinaldi is a concert artist, worship leader, speaker, content creator and broadcaster. A self-confessed info junkie and restless pilgrim, her interest in culture, justice, technology and the future fuels her living and writing.

Editor’s Note: Full disclosure, every Sunday, between 8am-10am, Sue presents two hours of inspirational worship music on Konnect Radio and I’m a big fan! She has the most soothing voice and I could listen to her all day!

Book Review: All That Matters by Chris Hoy published by Hodder & Stoughton

By Ali Hull

Six-times Olympic champion cyclist, Sir Chris Hoy went public about having Stage Four cancer fairly recently, and this book is the story of how he has come to terms with living with that shock diagnosis. (You can throw into that mix that fact that his wife discovered she had MS around the same time). While the book also covers some of the other things he has done since his last Olympics in 2012, the book is mainly about cancer. But it is also about how to cope with any really difficult situation that you cannot control or escape. This makes it relevant to everyone, not just those who have a terminal condition.

Chris Hoy was a very impressive cyclist: indeed, he still is, but he isn’t, as he would be the first to admit, Superman. The book relates how shocked he was to discover he had Stage Four cancer, how devastated and distraught. And the thing that he struggled with the most was the mental side. He was in enough pain to go to a doctor, but it was the fear of what was going to happen, the ‘What ifs?’ that constantly came to mind, that were the real issue. And this is true for so many of us, in so many situations; not what is happening but what might happen.

So how did he cope? He has a wonderful marriage, two children he adores, and a close family, as well as good friends, and he credits all of them. But one of the most important influences was the approach he had already become familiar with, in his sporting career, approaching terminal cancer in the same way as he approached winning a medal. He turned to sports psychologist Steve Peters, and learned how to regulate his mental attitude in these circumstances. As he says, regarding the cancer, “I can’t chase it away but I can choose how I approach each day. It’s a commitment, something I continuously practise. I choose to . . . allow my attention to focus on the good and the present.”

He took this attitude into his chemotherapy treatment, and again, he is very honest about how unpleasant it was. Nothing is sugar-coated, nor does he claim that deciding to focus on the positive was easy, or a one-off decision. It is something that he has had to practise, as he says, and get better at. “The mental struggle has been the greatest shock” he writes. This book will provide hope and encouragement for anyone facing similar challenges.

Editor’s Note: Ali Hull is an accomplished journalist and professional editor of some note and I am delighted to have her on board. She has worked for the Keswick Convention, Spring Harvest, Authentic Media, Lion Hudson, and Jubilee campaign. She has edited various publications, including Ethos magazine, the Christian Democrat, Preach magazine and was Deputy Editor of Sorted Magazine from 2019-2021.

Faith: Three Chords and the Truth

By Dave Hopwood

Photo by 42 North on Unsplash

I was 13 when the first shockwaves of punk began to rattle the cages of polite society. It took me a couple of years to catch on but by 1979 I was a convert.

To this day I still listen to the likes of The Jam, Elvis Costello, Ian Dury, The Boomtown Rats and especially The Clash. I recently came across a great quote from the late lead singer of The Clash, Joe Strummer. He said this: “When I started, they told me all I needed was three chords and the truth, turns out two chords and a few vague ideas was enough.” I love that, because it captures the can-do approach of those punk days. Watch any documentary about a band from that genre and usually, sooner or later, someone will say something like: “I didn’t think I could do it because I couldn’t really play, then I saw the Sex Pistols and thought, well if they can do it . . .”

The ethos of punk, that you didn’t have to be good enough or ask for permission, you could just have a go, has stayed with me. I often liken this approach to following Jesus. It’s not about being good, or being religious enough, or about knowing all the answers or the right theology. You just make a start. Jesus’s invitation was simply, “Follow me.” And if we read what happened to those first followers we find they learned as they went, quite often by making mistakes. Which is just as well because I continue to make plenty of them. Dianne Warren is a song writer, and since 1987 she has been Oscar nominated for 16 different songs that she has penned for 16 films - eight of them in the last eight years. But she has never won. In an article I read about her she said: “I’m like the Terminator, I’ll be back!”

Perseverance is a major theme in the Bible, one that kicks against our quick fix, superfast broadband age. We are assured that faster is better. But in our following Jesus it’s another story. We learn little by little, by having a go. By making a start. One footstep at a time. One trip-up at a time. So keep going, don’t give up, we’re surrounded by a heavenly gang who have all made slip-ups and mistakes, and they are cheering us on.

Dave Hopwood loves communicating the Bible using contemporary media, humour and stories. He is author of a series of books retelling the Bible including The Shed, The Bloke’s Bible, and Raging Grace. He passionately believes that the Bible was and is aimed at ordinary people, and that it is earthy, funny and incisive in the way it tells of God's interaction with the world. These days he spends much of his time retelling the Bible using anything that seems useful, TV, movies, internet, adverts, news stories etc. He speaks at various places and regularly publishes ideas and material via his website: www.davehopwood.com

Closing thoughts

Thanks for reading this issue of Sorted Digital online magazine with a focus on comment, cars and culture. It’s a privilege and a joy to work with such experienced writers and I hope their creative contributions have stirred your own creativity, provoked new thinking and blessed you in some way.

It’s still early days for Sorted Digital but it’s been so encouraging to monitor the steady growth and see that it’s now being read across 24 countries and 14 US States. The analytics indicate that just two percent of you are reading it via the Substack App. Is anyone listening to the audio version available on the App? How are you finding it? And did you watch the motoring video? How was that? I’m curious to know!

As always I hope to see you in the comments where myself and the whole team will be able to see your messages.

God bless, Val Fraser :)