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Letter writing is increasingly a lost art.  In our modern world of phones and computers, we use texts and emails, or don’t use words at all, substituting them for pictures and emojis.  Those of us old enough to remember the days when the letter formed a major part of our communication would have learned a … Read more

To read John 17 is to stand on holy ground.  All scripture is God-breathed, of course, but when we read this chapter, we get a glimpse into the heavenly throne room, as the divine Son shares intimately with the heavenly Father.  Imagine being John, listening to Jesus offering this remarkable prayer.  No wonders he remembers … Read more

And so this special conversation between Jesus and his disciples comes full circle.  We began at the start of chapter 13, as the Passover Meal commenced: ‘Jesus knew that the hour had come…’  It is fitting that he concludes this conversation by repeating this phrase: ‘The hour is coming…’ (v25, v32)  It’s often translated time, … Read more

Lent is traditionally a season of self-denial.  Many millions of Christians every year give things up, or make extra sacrifices. Why?  Sadly, there is much misunderstanding of Lent’s true purpose.  It’s not to earn brownie points with God – as if that would ever work!  It is certainly to identify with Christ, in some very … Read more

When I first came to Christ in 1982, I didn’t know very much at all.  I wasn’t quite ten years old.  I had attended church every Sunday (not very enthusiastically, as I admitted yesterday), and all I really knew was that Jesus loved me and died for me.  As I write this reflection more than … Read more

July 25th 1982.  Just a normal Sunday.  I went to church with my family, to (what we then called) the Family Service.  My Dad was giving the talk, about Jesus meeting Nicodemus in John chapter 3.  It was the days of Overhead Projectors (OHPs – remember them?!), and he showed this acetate of a wooden … Read more

‘Crucify, torture, condemn, crush us. For the proof of our innocence is found in your injustice.  It is on this account that God suffers us to suffer this… Yet no cruelty of yours, though each were to exceed the last in its exquisite refinement, profits you in the least; but forms rather an attraction to … Read more

In January every year, the charity Open Doors publishes the World Watch List: a list of the 50 countries where persecution of Christians is most severe.  If 50 sounds like a large number, bear in mind that the Bible is restricted, banned, or heavily controlled in at least 52 countries.  An estimated 400 million Christians … Read more

‘I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.’ (v15) Just take a moment to let that sink in.  The Almighty Creator of the universe calls you his friend.  No other … Read more