Weekly Bible Reflection

It’s said that patience is a virtue. It’s a very old saying from the 14th C and is attributed to William Langland. It reflects a Latin proverb, patience is the greatest virtue. But is patience a virtue? Let me suggest that it is the context that helps us understand...

Words, words, words. We are constantly bombarded by them — from Social Media, email and text messages, our phones, TV and movies. And now you’re reading words from me! Have you ever wondered why words are so powerful? Words on the tongue of the comedian can make us...

Everyone loves a good story.  Millions have enjoyed J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, and millions more, J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter. The Bible has been described as ‘The Greatest Story Ever Told’. Many would agree, but rarely read it or think about it. Deep down we...

Is life a matter of the survival of the fittest? C. S. Lewis in his Reflections on the Psalms said that Psalm 19 is ‘… one of the greatest lyrics in the world’ (p.56). It begins: The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. Many...

Happy New Year! Another day. Another year. A year of more change…? In his Choruses from the Rock written in 1934, TS Eliot prophetically observed:    But it seems that something has happened that has never happened before:       though we know not just when, or why,...

2020 has been a troubling, turbulent year – one to which we could apply Her Majesty, the Queen’s apt and pithy comment in 1992: annus horribilis. While commentators and historians will analyze the events of the year for some time, in many ways it has been God’s wake...

Christmas this year stands out as a beacon of hope. Friends and family often tell us they love the lights and carols of Christmas. But this year which has been so tumultuous and troubling, Christmas holds out something extra special. How wonderful if it were really...

Catastrophic events such as we have seen this year give us pause and challenge us to see life with new eyes. This year nations have looked to their leaders to chart a course to preserve life and secure livelihoods. Leaders who worked at this won our respect....

From the earliest days of Christianity anyone who has said that Jesus Christ will return one day has been considered crazy. Certainly, the idea of Christ bursting through the skies in a blazing display of power and glory, is not an idea that is easily accepted. And...

Inscribed on a clock-case in Chester Cathedral, England, is a poem, Time’s Paces, attributed to Henry Twells. It reads:   ‘When as a child I laughed and wept, Time CREPT;    When as a youth I waxed more bold, Time STROLLED.    When I...

2020 has been so turbulent and horrible that we may be asking what’s the point of Thanksgiving this year. Well yes, with the announcement of an imminent release of a vaccine for Covid-19 – which is an answer to our prayers - there may be light at the end of the...

2020 has been a turbulent year. Many have been hurt; many are suffering. How can we pass on God’s good news of hope? Today we come to Jesus’ words, “You are the light of the world…” His words are blunt, for in speaking of his people as ‘the light of the world’ the...

People who are honorable and dependable are sometimes said to be ‘the salt of the earth’. The expression comes from Jesus’ teaching in his Sermon on the Mount, where he said to his followers: “You are the salt of the earth”. What does he mean? People in Jesus’ day, as...

In his book, Have No Fear, Dr. John Lennox, Emeritus Professor of Mathematics, Oxford University comments, ‘The pressure to silence the public witness of Christians … is very real. Indeed, in many parts of the world the secular and religious opposition has intensified...

Peace is never easy to achieve in our troubled world. Indeed, peace is increasingly in short supply in the secularized, divided democracies of the West. Angry mobs constantly make their presence felt on the city streets. So what does Jesus mean when he says in his...

In his book, The Big Ego Trip, Glynn Harrison, Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry, University of Bristol, UK, writes of the way the self-esteem ideology has led to a culture of narcissism and entitlement. Dr. Harrison observes, ‘On almost any measure you care to mention...

In his book, God is Good for You, Dr. Greg Sheridan an Australian commentator writes: ‘… Christianity has been marginalized in the popular culture in the West …’ He notes that there are ‘very few Christian celebrities, or rather celebrities whose primary fame is due...

Many people today grieve over the extremes of political divisions in a world that has turned away God. The bitter hatred and vitriol stand in stark contrast to the words and actions of Jesus Christ who came to earth to bring us to God. In his fourth Beatitude recorded...