Bishop's Message
He ascended into Heaven
THIS YEAR, Ascension Day in the church year falls on June 2. It is celebrated in some churches, but tends to be largely forgotten or neglected in most others. How important is Ascension Day? A local preacher wrote to me recently with a theological question (Does Jesus still have a human body today?) and a […]
Bishop's Message
The story must live on
IN THE CITY OF PUNE in India stands the Oldham Memorial Methodist Church, which I visited recently. You may ask how Bishop William Fitzjames Oldham (1854-1937), who played a leading role in the founding of Methodism in Singapore and in its early years, including the founding of Anglo-Chinese School, got to be remembered in this […]
Bishop's Message
The Lamb of Heaven
IF WE WERE TO CHOOSE the best symbol for Jesus as He reigns in heaven, we would probably choose the symbol of the lion. Jesus as the Lion of heaven would be, to our minds, a most appropriate picture – what with the majesty, power and ultimately victorious roar of the lion. It is interesting, […]
Bishop's Message
DESERT TIME
THE YOUNG EGYPTIAN was on his way to church. He came from a fairly wealthy family and was brought up in a godly way. By the time he was 20, his parents had died, leaving him to care for the estate and his only sister. It was now six months after his parents’ death, and […]
Bishop's Message
The three moments in life
SINFUL MOTIVES “Many things done in church can be clothed in piety but hide deeper and subtler sinful motives.” WHAT DO YOU DO when a whole nation is on the move in the arid desert, and there is no water to drink? at was Moses’ problem. e frustrated grumblings of the people were growing in […]
Bishop's Message
Numbering our days
KNOWING THE DIFFERENCE “Many people spend a good part, if not all, of their days worrying and running after functional penultimate goals. They have difficulty knowing the difference between means and ends, between that which will crumble into dust and that which will endure.” I KNEW A CHURCH MEMBER who could tell you the exact […]
Bishop's Message
The Word became flesh
“ The truth that the Word became flesh is the distinguishing mark of biblical orthodoxy – the foundation of our salvation.” (1 Jn. 4:1-3). THE ASTOUNDING TRUTH that the unseen and divine Word became visible and human flesh dawned on the first Christians as they tried to make sense of the Jesus they had been […]
Bishop's Message
Objects of wrath?
A BELIEVER WROTE TO ME seeking help to understand what is, to him and many others, a disturbing passage in the Bible. He was referring to Romans 9. Paul writes that “God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden” (Rom. 9:18). The sovereignty of God […]
Bishop's Message
Principles for pulpits and pews
IN RECENT DAYS, criticisms have been directed by members of the public against some preachers who are said to be guilty of offensive preaching. As President of the National Council of Churches, I have received some of these letters of complaint (none of which, thankfully, had to do with Methodist preachers). It is true that […]
Bishop's Message
How we should treat aliens
“As Christians, we should welcome aliens and invite them to integrate into the life of the community, treat them with justice and compassion, and reach out to them with the blessings that are in Jesus our Lord.” THERE IS A WORD in the New International Version of the Bible that may sound rather odd to […]
Bishop's Message
Life-spans and plumblines
HOW WE ARE MEASURED “We are measured not by the busyness of our lives, but by the faithfulness of our hearts and steps. We will be measured not by how much we have accumulated or accomplished but by how much we have become Christ-like in our walk with God.’’ BEFORE THE GREAT FLOOD, we read […]
Bishop's Message
John Wesley and the Poor
“Our ministry to the poor becomes a means of grace by which God does His work of holiness in us. It becomes a way by which God perfects us in His love and makes us Christ-like.” JOHN WESLEY, THE FOUNDER OF METHODISM, had a big heart for the poor. He came from a family where […]
Bishop's Message
Look carefully at the Crucified Jesus
The Bishop’s Easter Message IF YOU VISIT JERUSALEM TODAY to trace the footsteps of Jesus on the Via Dolorosa and other places, it is difficult to ignore the physical and psychological torture that Jesus endured before He was strung on the cross. One such place is the Church of St. Peter in Gallicantu. The Latin […]
Bishop's Message
Remembering whose we are
THE WATER FROM HIS BAPTISM in the Jordan River evaporated quickly in the dry and hot Judean desert air as Jesus climbed the barren hills. Was He on His way to where the action was – to crowded urban Jerusalem, where the temple and palaces were? Or was He off to the gentle rolling hills, […]
