John 15: 12 “Love one another as I have loved you” One day at Rutgers University in New Jersey, Brian, a chaplain to the Chi Alpha student outreach of the Assemblies of God Church asked me, “Can you give a talk to our students on the baptism in the Holy Spirit?” Was I ever surprised! […]
There’s a secret library at the top of the stairs at 31 Lynton Road. During my GAP year, I had the privilege of living in this house, the London home of the Servants of the Word. I suppose the room is not really all that secret, it’s just tucked out of the way. For attention, it […]
John 15: 4 – “Abide in me as I abide in you” It is an undisputed botanical fact that a branch cut off from the stem or vine of a plant dies. It cannot bear fruit. This is the point which Jesus makes in John 15 when he states, “I am the vine…apart from me […]
The most important aspect for me of living as a member of an ecumenical community in the Sword of the Spirit, is the daily praying and sharing of my faith and life with brothers and sisters from different Christian denominations, now for almost 40 years. I grew up in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in the 1960s/70s, […]
John 15: 16a “You did not choose me I chose you.” The idea of ‘chosen-ness’ to many people can smack of elitism. God’s choices, however, are not based on the superior qualities of any person or group. He chooses people to be something and to do something. He chose Israel to be a light to the nations and fulfill his […]
Introduction The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is actually an eight-day observance or “octave” of prayer. It has been this way since the beginnings of this international movement in 1908. This is now the Sword of the Spirit’s 11th year of participating internationally in this worldwide observance. This year we are using the Bible passages proposed […]
I would like to share briefly with you about my most recent ecumenical experience in the National Congress “Pray Together for Mexico”.
How can the ‘ecumenism of blood’ lead to a deeper ecumenism of heart and mind?
Perhaps there is another mystery at work when martyrdom and persecution go together, as so many Christians in the world are experiencing today: they lead to deeper unity among those who suffer.
I had no other option but to turn to the Lord. These times of difficulty have taught me to grow in humility, surrender my life and trust in the grace of God: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in your weakness”
