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St. Mark records for us that Jesus was leaving (v18).  The man, no longer ‘legion’, understandably has had his life transformed by his encounter with Jesus and naturally wants to stay in Christ’s presence.  Hearing many people’s stories of their transforming encounters with Jesus over my life, this is a common thread of wanting to stay or soak in the moment and not wanting to leave God’s presence, (which is utterly amazing) and very understandable.  Read more…

Peter’s letters were written to young Christians who were exploring their new-found faith.  How should they live now?  What changes were expected of a follower of Christ?  These were critical questions for many, and not always easy to answer.  Peter’s words in this passage describe the attitude that was expected in the Christian community: unity of spirit, sympathy, love for one another etc.  But Peter also gave guidance about how to live generally.  The plea Read more…

The risen Jesus was teaching His disciples.  He wanted them to be ready for the next part of the adventure of faith.  And what an adventure it was to be!  We see in this passage Jesus instructing them about important aspects of their development as faithful disciples: verse 44 – Jesus points them to the prophetic voice of the past; the law of Moses, the prophets and psalmists. verse 45-47 – He shares how crucial Read more…

Aged about nine I would be sent by my mother the half-mile into town to shop. I would receive a clear list of instructions as to which shops to go to and what to purchase. The important part was listening to the instructions and delivering the requests to the appropriate shop-keeper. St Paul in 2 Cor 5:20 refers to himself as an ‘ambassador for Christ’. The task of ambassadors is to listen to the message Read more…

In a world that focuses so much on the I or we it can be tempting in our mission to start with I or we, today’s reading reminds us that a life of mission is not so much about ourselves or what we can do, but the truth of Christ and how we display it. In the midst of all the injustice, and despair we see in our communities reflecting the Glory of Christ may Read more…

We have a tendency, as human beings, to not like certain things and one of them is someone who boasts about being good at something. We prefer to see a person being humble and contrite, the sort of person who says, “I do it for God and for his people”. That kind of person we hold up on a pedestal. But scripture tells us that there are those who should “boast in the Lord” (1 Read more…

The calling to a specific mission is very personal, that nudge and word from God comes when least expected but requires an immediate response. A time of prayer and planning, a time to wait for the Holy Spirit to come, as to set out in your own strength has failure written all over it. I was so blessed to be called to Mission within my community, a weekly mission, meeting over seventy-two thousand people in Read more…

An Invitation to stillness   “How Precious to Me Are Your Thoughts O God” (Psalm 139: 17)   The invitation is given to every human being To enter into the stream of divine love Or at least to venture a big toe Into the river of eternal life As we let go of our false self We move into this stream of love That is always flowing And bestowing endless gifts of grace The more Read more…

“Fruit that will last”: what a strange picture. In itself fruit doesn’t last: producing more of the species involves the death in some way of the fruit itself: rotting away, eaten, dried to split open so that seeds are dispersed for new life to be brought about. But when we move the picture on from botany, talking of ‘lasting fruit’ can make sense! Fruit reveal identity; tell us what kind of plant we are looking Read more…