Word on Wednesday with John Mason

'Do you want to live forever?' was the question leading into an article, 'From Here to Eternity' in the Weekend Australian Magazine (May 27-28 2023). The article took up personal stories of a small number who believe in the science of freezing their body at death and holding it in cryonic suspension until a future time when science and medicine will have addressed the issue of death. But someone h...

Christian faith is regularly considered to be 'a leap in the dark'. But daily we take countless steps of faith - faith that the food we eat and the water we drink won't harm us; the traffic will stop when we step out at a marked crosswalk and the flight we board will land safely at the destination for which we were ticketed. Today's reflection focuses on the faith of a father when Jesus healed his...

Death is the ultimate certainty we all face. It's why literature, film and philosophy so often dwell on the themes of our mortality. But it's rare that anyone claims they can do anything about it.

Jean Paul Sartre, the French existentialist anticipated the sense of aloneness people experience today. Jesus makes it clear that life is about more than bread for the body. Satisfying life calls for bread for our sou - which he alone can offer.

John continues his account of Jesus with a fourth sign - the miraculous provision of food for five thousand people.

Do we think that Jesus was the greatest teacher in history? Do we agree with the author HG Wells that 'Jesus Christ is easily the most dominant figure in all history'? Or is there more to this? John records in chapter 5 of his gospel, the moment when Jesus healed a paralyzed man. This is the 3rd sign, giving a further clue to Jesus' true identity.

God has built into the universe, laws, the regularities we observe. However, these laws don't prevent him from intervening, if he chooses to create an irregularity which we call a miracle. Jesus performed his first miracle at a wedding in the small village of Cana in Galilee, when he turned water into wine. He did this for a bigger purpose than simply resolving an embarrassed bridegroom's dilemma....

Despite the 2009 campaign by Atheism UK - There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life - people are still looking for answers to life's meaning because they are depressed, isolated and disillusioned. Many thinking people are now asking if their worldview needs to be reviewed.

Despite advertising and promotion by the atheist society in the UK, people are still disillusioned with life, depressed and alienated. Many are re-assessing their lives and philosophy of life which has resulted in an increased interest in Christianity.

In January 2009, the atheist society in the UK ran a campaign on London buses. The slogan read: There's Probably No God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life. However, people are still disappointed with life, depressed, lonely and disillusioned and many are re-thinking their philosophy of life. They are wondering if their worldview needs to be reviewed.

In 2009 the atheist society in the UK ran a campaign on London buses with the slogan: There's Probably No God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life. However people are still depressed, disappointed with life, lonely and disillusioned, so many are reassessing their philosophy of life. This podcast discusses some of these issues with reference to John's Gospel, chapter 1.

In January 2009 Atheism UK ran an advertising campaign on London buses. It read: There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life. Despite this, people are disappointed with life, depressed, lonely and disillusioned. Thinking people are now asking if their worldview needs to be reviewed.

How often do we express our gratitude to the LORD? Do we wake up in the morning and go to bed at night with thanksgiving in our heart and praise on our lips? This podcast encourages us to be thankful with the words of Psalm 95 which begins: ' O come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!'

For the first three hundred years or so after Jesus' death and resurrection, his followers were regularly persecuted under Roman rule. Yet they were called up to pray for their leaders as people whom God had provided for the good order and protection of society in a fallen world. Do we criticize our leaders? Or do we pray for them?

A criticism of Christianity that constantly arises is over the question of suffering in the world. It's one of the toughest to answer for anyone who believes that God now only exists but is also all-powerful and all-compassionate. This podcast, includes a reflection on Psalm 13.

Who Am I? Is this a question you ask? Have you found the answer? This reflection on Psalm 8 comes up with a surprising answer.

God's people are regularly mocked for their faith. Psalm 2 alerts us to the plotting of men and women against God.

Are you ever resentful of successful people who post their lavish lifestyles on social media: their achievements, perfect family and exotic vacations? Is this really the epitome of life? Or is there something more? Psalm 1 takes us to the two choices we have.

To be happy is something we long for. But how can we achieve it? Psalm 1 helps us find the key to being happy.

How can we weather the challenges of our changing and uncertain world? Find encouragement in this reflection on a profound prayer of the Apostle Paul in Ephesians chapter 3

What does Jesus expect of everyone who believes? A third part of Jesus' prayer in John chapter 17 provides the answer to this question.

To say that Jesus is the only way to God seems very narrow-minded. The story of Jesus is woven around a virgin birth and miracles. The greater part of Jesus' prayer in John chapter 17 focuses on. his disciples and their significant role in the promotion. of God's good news.

Are your prayers all about you? Are they like Christopher Robin's bedtime prayers - God bless ... God bless ... ? Listen to this week's podcast on Jesus' prayer in John chapter 17 and be encouraged in the focus of your prayer life.

How often are your prayers prompted by your meditation on God's Word? In Daniel chapter 9 we find Daniel confessing not only his own sin, but also the sins of God's people. And he then asks God to honour his promises to the people of Israel.

Do you have any regrets? You may regret words you let rip and can't take back, or a relationship you should never have started. Listen to this reflection on Psalm 51, where David expresses his guilt to God following his adultery with Bathsheba.