The Love Letter of John: 5 – How To Avoid Idolatry

Dear children, keep yourselves from idols. (1 John 5:21) The end of the love letter of John to the church is rather abrupt and can appear to come from nowhere. After all, he has been outlining the importance of faith in the Son, living in the Son, accepting the testimony about Jesus Christ being the […]

The Love Letter Of John: 4 – First Love

Faith in God is based on who God is. The phrase ‘God is love’ is so short and simple, yet so easy to misunderstand. John, who stresses this aspect of who God is, helps us to find both how that love is expressed and the consequence of that love. As God is love, we see […]

The Love Letter Of John: 3 – Love Lays Down His Life

Chapter three in this first letter of John is one of the most powerful chapters in the Bible. There. I said it. From it’s start of delightful joy in the love of the Father, through to knowing how we are God’s children like Jesus because of love and ending in affirming we can love because […]

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Manhood. Over ten years ago, before we were married, my wife and I went to a large Christian conference. One session we sat in looked at the topic of biblical manhood and womanhood. At the time I was serious about desiring Authrine to be my wife, and Authrine was content to take her time considering […]

The Love Letter of John: 2 – Who Do You Love?

The letter from John to the church is not a mushy, sentimental piece of prose. The love spoken of in this chapter is intrinsically connected with behaviour – what we do. That behaviour is connected with who we are primarily connected to – that is relational. We have two options. We can be connected to […]

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37. To be honest I never paid attention to the number. As an age it’s no big deal. It’s not 10 or 16 or 18 or 21 or 25 or 30. It’s not a milestone by any stretch of the imagination. As is my style, though, I sought a degree of importance in the number. It […]

The Word In John: 21 – You Must Follow Me

There’s nothing like a good epilogue. I enjoy watching the end of the episode of a long saga where apparently all the loose ends have been tied up. Only to see afterwards a mini-episode with something else for us to consider. Something that helps us consider the fact that the story is not yet over. […]

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Home – Part Two. There’s a song that the Beatles released back in the day called In My Life. It’s a great song to put on to get all nostalgic about the people and places that make the story of your life. It was a fitting tune to hear today as I visited Wellingborough for the first […]

The Word In John: 20 – So That You Will Believe

Christianity is not about a system of how to be good. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:31) The gospel of John evidently could have been written with other material and other stories, […]

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Home – Part One. There was a time when home was a place of familiarity for me. Then I left that home and spent the next few years appreciating the fact that home was more about key people providing the familiar in the strength of their character and the relational ties we had. Home then […]