There are so many things that could be said today as we reflect on the crucifixion of Jesus, but  I thought I would give the word to one of our partners overseas. The following reflection is from Dr Kiran Martin from ASHA in India - one of the organisations we work with in that great part of the world. Dear friends, [...]

Here’s my second favourite Easter story. (If you missed the first one see Tuesday’s blog.) This one occurs on Easter Sunday, concerns Mary Magdalene and is found in John’s gospel. After the Sabbath Mary Magdalene was the first to visit Jesus tomb, before dawn, where she discovered the big stone blocking the tomb had been moved. She raced to tell [...]

Today, Wednesday of Holy Week, the focus is the anointing of Jesus for burial where Jesus talks of his crucifixion. The traditional reading is Matthew 26:1-15. This is certainly worth meditating upon today, but I thought I would also offer something that looks back to Palm Sunday and one character within that story – the Donkey. The following poem about [...]

With only two blogs to write before Easter I’d like to share with you the two Easter stories which move me most. The first is the story of the good thief and it only occurs in the Gospel of Luke. Matthew and Mark mention that Jesus was crucified alongside two criminals who both mocked him. John doesn’t mention the criminals [...]

Sorry it has taken me till near on midday to get a lent reflection for you today. The honest truth is that I was trying to find some deep way of conveying the significance of what today centers around in the lent calendar… but I haven’t been able to. The focus of today, the day after Palm Sunday, is the [...]

Today is a significant part of Lent, it is Palm Sunday and represents the beginning of Holy Week. For the context of Today, take the time to read Mark 11:1-11 and consider. Today represents the day when Jesus entered Jerusalem on a humble donkey and the people received him as a King, laying their cloaks and leafy branches they had [...]

I’m a Ben Harper fan, so today’s offering is a video of Ben singing Better Way live at Abbey Road. Listen to the lyrics and let yourself get lost in the song. There is a better way. Share this article…

I feel I should apologize for my blog last Thursday. I’m not going to apologize for all the mean things I said about my buddy Frank. He’s a great guy with a wicked sense of humor and took my comments as part of our usual, facetious banter. But I do apologize for being too rough on “ordinary Christians”. While all [...]

In her book, Joy in our Weakness – A gift of hope from the book of Revelation, Marva J. Dawn writes this: The best way we can help each other in the suffering is to acknowledge its existence as an undelible part of our being in a world that has been marred by sin and human destructiveness – to lament [...]

I’m not a theologian. I have no wish to be a theologian. It seems to me that theology has the same relationship to God that studying cook books has to eating. And if you could see me you’d know I prefer eating. So it is with considerable bravado and ignorance that I enter the hoary old debate on faith versus [...]

Appreciate your pastoral leaders who gave you the Word of God. Take a good look at the way they live, and let their faithfulness instruct you, as well as their truthfulness. There should be a consistency that runs through us all. For Jesus doesn’t change—yesterday, today, tomorrow, he’s always totally himself. Don’t be lured away from him by the latest [...]

The other day my wife and I were taking our little girl for a walk up to our local dairy. We were going there to treat her to an iceblock. She’s two and a half years old so everything is still a big deal for her. I came to a realization that is probably self apparent to most parents, but [...]

Jesus went across to Mount Olives, but he was soon back in the Temple again. Swarms of people came to him. He sat down and taught them. The religion scholars and the Pharisees led in a woman who had been caught in an act of adultery. They stood her in plain sight of everyone and said “Teacher, this woman was [...]

Within Christianity there is a sacrament that acts as an amazing unifier. The sacrament of the Lord’s Supper (Eucharist, Communion etc) works to unite us with God and with the wider body of Christ – the Church – both past, present and future. The Westminster Confession of Faith says this about the Lord’s Supper: Share this article…

A week or so back at the start of one of our Lenten articles my dear friend and colleague, Frank, announced that he is a hypocrite. Right now I’d like to put the record straight and affirm that Frank is not only a hypocrite but a compromised and flawed individual who frequently fails to live out the commands given to [...]

Yesterday I put up a post quoting a passage from the Message. That passage represented my first worthwhile introduction to Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase of the Bible. I have been reading the Bible since I was five years old. My mother didn’t start me on a children’s version of the Bible, she read the real deal to me and had me [...]