Last week Tracey and I were privileged to spend time visiting family and friends in Switzerland. As we took an afternoon to drive around the hair pin bends on some of the highest roads in Europe, we watched as the relentless sun reflected off the rock faces and turned the...
I am convinced that much of what is said about church unity misses the mark. That is, there are those who hold to the view that the purpose of unity is to be united. However, rather than teaching that unity is an end in itself, Scripture reveals that unity is...
It has struck me recently how foolish it is when we seek to divide the truth of God’s and the work of the Spirit. In order to illustrate the point, I share with you two separate texts. In Ephesians 5:18, Paul instructs the believers to ‘be filled with the Spirit’;...
At the prayer meeting on Wednesday evening, we read what would have been a familiar passage to very many. The challenge was to listen to Mark’s account of Jesus healing a woman who had suffered for twelve years before raising a child from the dead, with attentive spirits (Mark 5:21-43)...
Earlier this week, rather than jumping in the car, I decided to cycle to an evening meeting in Didcot. Getting there was great. I enjoyed the cool breeze and the lovely views. However, the meeting scheduled to finish at 9.00 pm, ran for a good hour extra. Cycling home along...
The believers in Corinth seemed to be ‘hung up’ on what they should and shouldn’t do as followers of Jesus. Therefore, Paul says; ‘whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God’ (1 Co 10:31). That’s a great test of each of...
On Thursday, hundreds of people gathered at Dorchester Abbey to give thanks to God for the life of the Revd John Burrell. John had served a number of parishes in both the UK and across Africa, before spending the last three years of his life and ministry at St. Helen’s...
I have recently been reading Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians as part of my own private devotions. Although I have been both challenged and encouraged by different things within the text, one thing has stood out to me more clearly than any other. On this occasion Paul writes to...
Over the years I have spent many hours with Christians who, for reasons unknown, have believed that walking with God should make them immune from struggling or suffering. How should we then respond when things in our lives, whether family, health, occupation or relationships ‘go belly up’? In my experience,...
Sometimes I find myself somewhat concerned, as to how we view the amazing outpouring of the Holy Spirit recorded in Acts Chapter 2. There are times it can be retold, simply as a historical event which has little implication for us today. On other occasions, I hear people using the...
