Author: John Rowland

Fantasy, reality and healthy relationships.   Reading:  Matthew 5:27-32   Jesus is not afraid to talk reality. Sex is a reality with which we are often confronted in public life through the TV, newspapers and other literature and yet rarely

Read Hebrews 10:32-39 v 34   You suffered along with those who were thrown into jail, and when all you owned was taken from you, you accepted it with joy. You knew there were better things waiting for you that will

Read Hebrews 11:32-40 vv 36-37  Some were jeered at, and their backs were cut open with whips. Others were chained in prisons. Some died by stoning, some were sawed in half, and others were killed with the sword. Some went about wearing

Read Acts 16:22-40. vv 25-26   When you are on the way to court with your adversary, settle your differences quickly. Otherwise, your accuser may hand you over to the judge, who will hand you over to an officer, and you

Read Acts 15:36-40 vv 23-24   So if you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that

Anger, accusation and making peace. Reading this week Matthew 5:21-26   Life is about relationships. One of the outcomes of the various stages of CoVid19 lockdowns has been a growing awareness of how important are our connections with other people.

Read Luke 10:25-37 v 20.  But I warn you—unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven! What! More righteous than the Pharisees! Better

Read Ezra 10:1-15 v 19   So if you ignore the least commandment and teach others to do the same, you will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But anyone who obeys God’s laws and teaches them will

Read Psalm 119:97-104 vv 17-18   Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose. I tell you the truth, until heaven

Read Ezekiel 2:1-10 vv 14-16  You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.  No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand,