Word on Wednesday with John Mason

How easily we miss the thrill of hope that the birth of Jesus brings.

What is life all about? Where do we look for answers?

In his book,  The Right Questions  (2002), the late Phillip Johnson wrote that at the heart of the cultural changes today is the sharp divergence between two very different world views: the Christian view that states (as in John 1:1-4): “In the beginning was the Word…”; and scientific materialism that says, “In the beginning were the particles” (p.136). (Phillip Johnson was Professor of Law at the...

Dr John Lennox, Emeritus Professor Oxford University, observes, "To the majority of those who have reflected deeply and written about the origin and nature of the universe, it has seemed that it points beyond itself to a source which is non-physical and of great intelligence and power."

Thanksgiving has its origins in a non-sectarian expression of. 'thanks' to a loving, merciful and generous God. The podcast is asking us whether we have a heart of thanksgiving towards the God who has been kind and generous to us in so many unexpected and undeserved ways.

Paul continues his address at the Areopagus in Athens, quoting Greek poets and leading in to introducing the God of creation in whose image we are all made.

Paul addresses the Athenian intelligentsia at the Areopagus, quoting from their own poets and leading then to the God of creation, who is involved with his world. The podcast ends with a few questions arising from this approach of Paul's to help us think of ways we can move from referencing our culture to biblical thought.

Daniel has a vision in which he sees 'one like a Son of Man' to whom 'dominion, glory and a kingdom' were given. Five hundred years later, Jesus referred to himself as the Son of Man.

Daniel's rescue from the lions' den assures us that there is a sovereign God who has awesome authority over every aspect of His creation.

Belshazzar holds a feast during which the golden vessels from the Temple in Jerusalem are used as wine vessels. Suddenly a human hand appears and writes on the wall of the palace. Daniel is call upon to interpret the writing and Belshazzar learns his fate and the truth that 'the Most High God rules the kingdom of mankind and sets over it whom he will.'

Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego all refused to worship the golden statue set up by King Nebuchadnezzar. They spoke of God as 'the God whom we serve' and wanted Nebuchadnezzar to know that the Lord God is the God not only of the Jewish people but of all people. He alone is God.

Nebuchadnezzar's dream, Daniel's interpretation, what it meant for God's people then and what it means for us.

Daniel is in exile in Babylon following King Nebuchadnezzar's siege and conquest of Jerusalem. He is confronted with a situation which he felt would compromise his witness as a follower of the one true God, Yahweh. He decides to say 'No'.

Psalm 103 is a song of praise to God and an acknowledgment of God's involvement in our lives and in the world. King David, the writer, reminds himself of God's mercy, steadfast love and that he removes the sin of the repentant person completely - as far as the east is from the west. Do we praise God for his goodness?

Psalm 96 is one in which the psalmist exhorts us to sing our joyful praises to God - the creator, the loving provider and righteous judge. This is to encourage us and also to tell the world that everything that is beautiful and good comes from God, the God who will judge the world with righteousness and truth.

The Psalmist turns to God when his doubts become overwhelming after observing the success of those who ignore God and live selfish, money-grabbing lives and live in comfort and ease. Then he sees where they are heading eternally and realises that having God's wisdom, counsel and presence is an eternal blessing.

Paul describes the spiritual armour needed by a follower of Jesus Christ, in order to be able to stand against the dark spiritual powers.

Paul's guidance to parents to be loving to their children, training them up to be obedient and respectful and to know God as their loving father. This is in contrast to the autocratic rule of the Roman father who had the power to order his child to be killed or sold as a slave.

In ‘What Are People For’, an essay in his 2002 The Art of the Commonplace, Wendell Berry writes, “Marriage, in what is evidently its most popular version, is now on the one hand an intimate ‘relationship’ involving (ideally) two successful careerists in the same bed, and on the other hand a sort of private political system in which rights and interests must be asserted and defended”. In today’s cl...

Our marriage relationships are to reflect God's love for us - in the husband's sacrificial love for his wife for her mental, emotional and spiritual flourishing and his wife's godly submission as well as in relationships between God's people.

How are we to reach a world where voices in the media and social media criticizing Christianity have morphed from constructive conversation into emotive smearing? Paul’s words in Ephesians chapter 5, verses 1and 2 are key to the life God calls us to: Be imitators of God… and live a life of love just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us… Love is the model and framework for our lives. Paul...

Paul urges the Ephesian believers to live lives that reflect their new life in Christ - having been darkness and now being light. As Christians they were a small minority in their society so Paul clarifies the qualities which will mark them out as followers of Christ.

In Christians: The Urgent Case for Jesus in Our World (2021), Dr Greg Sheridan, Australian foreign affairs journalist and writer, comments: ‘In the West… religious belief has been in serious decline in recent years. The loss of faith is part of a broad movement in the culture. It is also partly, … related to a shocking loss of knowledge’. He continues, ‘The West is a culture willing itself into am...

How can we live our lives in a culture which seems to have forgotten God, so that we reflect the Lord Jesus? Paul, in Ephesians chapter 4, explains how this is possible.

Commenting on how we understand Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37), Rebecca McLaughlin writes: ‘we hear a call to care for strangers in need. But Jesus’s first audience heard more. They heard a story of love across racial, religious, and political difference, in which the moral hero was their sworn enemy’ ( The Secular Creed , 2021: p.11). To which we might add, ‘Yet how many in...