“I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty." John 6.35 Strangely perhaps, it is those who know what it is to lack physical bread who appreciate the human need for spiritual sustenance too. Their insight echoes Jesus riposte to Satan, "man cannot live on bread alone" (Matthew 4.4) when the latter tempts him to turn stones into bread. Similarly, when Peter spoke up for the other disciples saying to Jesus "

“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?" Isaiah 58.6 It is shameful that Christian respectability still often boils down to an outward show of sobriety and moral rectitude, when both the prophets and the Gospels are at pains to emphasise the superiority of right actions over empty gestures. Today Christian Aid adds its voice to the call for an ethic of mer

“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people..." Matthew 4.19 Jesus call is personal in its invitation and collective in its application. We are called as individuals into a global and eternal family. One day we shall enjoy the family inheritance in all its richness. For the moment it is a ragged and lop-sided affair, embracing all sorts of people in all sorts of situations: some have it easy, some struggle against seemingly impossible odds. Toda

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." Matthew 5.6 Today begins Christian Aid Week and because its theme - righteousness and justice - expresses the essence of prophecy, it seems appropriate to break off from focusing on individual prophets to spend some time exploring the impact of that essential theme from a contemporary perspective. Righteousness has to do with right relationships - with God, creation, fellow creatures and wit

"Because of the violence against your brother Jacob, you will be covered with shame; you will be destroyed forever." Obadiah 10 Violence and treachery are wicked however and whenever they occur. Yet they are particularly galling when perpetrated against someone close. The prophet Obadiah gives expression to that outrage in his railing against Israel's neighbour Edom, descendants of Jacob's older brother Esau. Following his rejection by God, Esau took refuge in the hill-countr

"The day of the Lord is near for all nations. As you have done, it will be done to you; your deeds will return upon your own head." Obadiah 15 Obadiah's words come across the centuries with eery percipience. Nations and individuals who misbehave towards others can only expect the same - or worse - to come upon them in due course. This was Obadiah's message to Israel's neighbour, Edom, which had been a constant thorn in the nation's flesh and lost no opportunity to capitalise

"I will plant Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land I have given them,” says the LORD your God." Amos 9.15 Nearing the end of Amos' uncompromising judgment on the corruption of Israel and Judah and the inevitability and totality of their destruction, one might despair of the future. Yet even here and against all expectation, hope has the final word. Despite their fickle faith and the waywardness of their behaviour, God's intention for his people w

The Lord was standing by a wall that had been built true to plumb, with a plumb line in his hand... “The time is ripe for my people Israel; I will spare them no longer." Amos 7.7 & 8.2 Prophets love a striking image and Amos takes recourse to two in these middle chapters of his prophecy: a plumb-line and a basket of ripe fruit. Both are interpreted as signs of God's impending judgment. Why two? Possibly for emphasis but Amos may also be drawing attention both to his people's

“I hate, I despise your religious festivals; your assemblies are a stench to me... But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!" Amos 5. 21 & 24 Following his announcement of God's judgment on their neighbours, Amos homes in on Israel and Judah. He is ruthless. God's "chosen people" have fallen to such depths that the "Day of the Lord" no longer promises Good News but threatens punishment, a day of darkness not light. What has gone so badl

"... the dead in Christ will rise first." 1 Thessalonians 4.16 Yesterday evening I was called to the bedside of a lady full of years and surrounded by her doting family. She was, and maybe still is, close to glory and well aware of it, anxious to make her final preparations yet serene in her demeanour and ready to meet her Saviour and Lord. We chatted awhile in her native Gaelic, then I prayed and finally we all said the familiar words of Benediction "Gràs an Tighearna, Iosa