Word on Wednesday with John Mason

Peace is never easy to achieve in our troubled world. Indeed, peace is increasingly in short supply in the secularized, divided democracies of the West. Angry mobs constantly make their presence felt on city streets – as we’re currently seeing in France. So what does Jesus mean when he says in his seventh Beatitude: “Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called the sons and daughters of God” (Matthew 5:9)? The Beatitudes or Eight Blessings are not features of eight different types of pe

So many in today’s Western world have rejected the notion of a creator God and with it, amongst important aspects of life’s meaning and purpose, have lost the unifying principle of past generations. In his 2013 book, The Big Ego Trip, Dr. Glynn Harrison, Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry, University of Bristol, UK, writes of the way the self-esteem ideology has led to a culture of narcissism and entitlement. He comments, ‘On almost any measure you care to mention – precision of terminology, evid

In his book, God is Good for You, Dr. Greg Sheridan an Australian historian and opinion writer observes: ‘… Christianity has been marginalized in the popular culture in the West …’ He notes that there are ‘very few Christian celebrities, or rather celebrities whose primary fame is due to their Christianity, their works or writings’. He further comments, ‘Christians have a right to be worried about what is happening to their beliefs in the West.’ ‘… The primary challenge is not intellectual but

Many people today grieve over the extremes of political divisions in a world that has turned away from God. The bitter hatred and vitriol stand in stark contrast to the words and actions of Jesus Christ who came to earth to bring us to God. In his fourth Beatitude recorded in Matthew 5:6, he says: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” Today I have a simple question: ‘What do you really long for in life?’ Peace and happiness? Health and fitness? Su

We don’t normally like to think of ourselves as being meek. These days meekness is usually associated with someone who is weak and submissive. Someone who is timid and easily pushed around. Yet in the third Beatitude in his Sermon on the Mount Jesus says, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth”. The Beatitudes lay the foundation for Jesus’s Sermon recorded in Matthew chapters 5 through 7. An interesting feature about these eight beatitudes is that the first and last make the sam

The world loves to laugh. Comedians will always have an audience. People don’t like kill-joys who ruin the party. Yet Jesus says, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted” (Mt 5:4). Jesus doesn’t mean that God’s people are always to be gloomy or morose. Still less is he saying they are to wallow in self-pity. He has in mind the grief we experience when we become aware of the purity of God and the reality of the dark side of our nature. Isaiah the prophet was keenly aware of thi