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Talking
Anyone who makes no mistakes in speaking is perfect, able to keep the whole body in check… James 3:2. It’s now official: a Manchester University study has found women talk more than men. Why? Vocal chords more flexible? Yes. Different speechmaking factory (‘Broca’s convolution’) in the brain? Yes. One (male) researcher’s theory: ‘Women don’t worry […]
If God Is Like Jesus, Nothing Is Too Good To Be True!
Many, even of the authorities, believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they did not confess it, for fear… John 12:42,43. ‘If only Jesus would appear to me, here, right now, and do a miracle, I’d believe in him!’ Would you? If after three years of miraculous signs many of his contemporaries refused to […]
A Spiritual Check-Up
These are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is… the Son of God, and that… you may have life in his name. John 20:31. John’s Gospel is a series of stories about contrasts: belief and unbelief, light and darkness, life and death, salvation and judgment, God and Satan. Wherever Jesus went, […]
On Loving God
Theophilus [lover of God]… Acts 1:1,2. Over the next eleven days we’ll relive one of the most exciting few weeks in human history. Luke wrote his two-part story about Jesus to the ‘most excellent’ Theophilus (Luke 1:1-4, Acts 1:1-5). The tone of deference suggests that Theophilus may have been a man of significance, perhaps a […]
Filled With The Holy Spirit
It is to your advantage that I go away… If I go, I will send [the Advocate, Helper, Comforter] to you. John 16:7. A young pastor was about to begin a ministry in a church. His predecessor told him, ‘They’re fanatical charismatics they’re about to split the church with their craziness!’ A wiser, older pastor […]
‘There Is A God, John, And It’s Not You’
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. James 4:10. Someone (married presumably to a John) put the above motto on their fridge. These days, when theocentrism (God-centredness) is in danger of being replaced with anthropocentrism (where humans are the centre of everything), let us be reminded that God is very big, and […]
The Cosmic Battle
Before Abraham was, I am. John 8:58. Read: John 8:42-59. ‘Who do you think you are?’ (v.53) sums up the consternation Jesus’ antagonists felt about him. ‘Before Abraham was born, I am!’ (v.58). ‘But you belong to your father, the devil’, Jesus told his accusers. Each of us is a battle-ground where God and Satan […]
Real Blindness And Real Sight
He said, ‘Lord I believe.’ And he worshipped him. John 9:38. The story in John 9:35-41 depicts the blind man experiencing ‘progressive revelations’ about who Jesus was: from a man (v.11), to a prophet (v.17), who might have disciples (v.27), to someone ‘from God’ (v.33), even the ‘Son of man’ (= ‘Messiah’, vv. 35-6), one […]
The Good Shepherd Knows My Name!
The shepherd calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. John 10:3. A Palestinian sheep-pen had walls, but only one entrance, where the shepherd slept to protect the sheep from predators. The shepherd would lead the sheep (not drive them) and they knew his voice. They had individual names, often given as a […]
My Lord And My God
I give [my sheep] eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. John 10:28. The Jews confronted Jesus with a direct challenge: to tell them plainly if he were the Messiah. Their charge against him is blasphemy: ‘You, a mere man, claim to be God’ (John 10:33). […]
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