asadmin Our brief pause from John continues with a second reflection from the Psalms: Some years ago we tried to buy a house in Manchester. My sister lives there and the idea was that once we’d bought it, she would have the security of long-term tenancy and (reasonably) nice landlords. However, when we had the survey … Read more
To begin our week, a reflection from the Psalms: Some years ago we took out a subscription to Amazon Prime’s ‘Music Unlimited’. Generally our family are always late to any technological party – I still mourn the demise of beacons on hillsides as the primary means of communicating news. Admittedly, many of my peers had … Read more
In 2017, the then little-known producer Dallas Jenkins released a film called ‘The Resurrection of Gavin Stone.’ It got mediocre reviews and largely flopped. Working out what to do next, Dallas started binge-watching other dramas and gradually realised there was something that had never been done before: no-one had ever filmed a multi-season series of … Read more
Having quoted this verse yesterday, we conclude our week with two further reflections from Ephesians 1:3-4: ‘It’s the hope that kills you.’ You’ll hear this phrase often on the lips of a sports fan. The great joy – and curse – of following a team is that success is only ever temporary. It makes the … Read more
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