Life + Faith

Hey, I’m Jon.
And this is where I write about life and faith, no niche included. Just an honest attempt to be faithful and fruitful for Jesus. If that’s something you want more of, subscribe.

  • King Jesus: The Messenger

    One of the few times Mark directly quotes the Old Testament comes at the beginning of his gospel. He writes:

    I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way a voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’” (Mark 1:2–3)

    The Messenger

    These words point to a coming messenger. Someone sent ahead of the Lord to prepare people for his arrival, like the announcer before a basketball game who introduces the players from each team or the caller at a darts match who declares each score as it lands. The role is to get people ready and paying attention.

    Mark tells us that this messenger is John the Baptist.

    He appears in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. People from the Judean countryside and Jerusalem go out to him. They confess their sins and are baptised in the Jordan River.

    John is presented as a prophet in the mould of the Old Testament. His clothing of camel’s hair, leather belt, and wilderness lifestyle all point in that direction. He is especially reminiscent of Elijah. His role is to call people back to God and prepare them for what God is about to do next. In that sense, he stands as the last of the Old Testament style prophets, right on the edge of the new era that arrives with Jesus.

    The Message

    From this messenger comes a message that is clear and humble:

    “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” (Mark 1:7–8)

    John knows exactly where he stands in relation to the one who is coming. He is faithful and bold, but he is not the King. He says he is not even worthy to untie his sandals.

    That image can slip past us today. We tie and untie shoes all the time without thinking about it. But in the first century, with open sandals, dirty roads, and poor sanitation, feet were filthy. Cleaning them was servant work. The lowest servant work. It was considered such a degrading task that even Jewish servants where warned against doing it.

    John says he is not worthy to perform even that lowly role for the one who is coming. That is how great he understands Jesus to be.

    Baptism

    Part of John’s ministry is baptism, and it is worth noting what his baptism means. Mark says it is a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. It is about turning back to God.

    Repentance is a change of direction. Like when you miss a turn while driving and need to do a U-turn. Repentance is that turning of the heart and life back toward God, with confession and humility.

    Christian baptism includes repentance too, but it also goes further. It is baptism into Christ. It speaks of forgiveness, new life, belonging to God’s family, and receiving the Holy Spirit. John’s baptism prepares the way. Jesus brings the fulfilment.

    John’s role is not to draw attention to himself but to point forward. Prepare the way. Straighten the path. Get ready for the King.

    Have you got a prepared heart ready to hear from the King?

    King Jesus: A Series in Mark’s Gospel
    Part 1: King Jesus: The Beginning of The Good News
    Part 2: King Jesus: The Messenger
    Part 3: King Jesus: The Love of God the Father
    Part 4: King Jesus: The Kingdom of God
    Part 5: King Jesus: The Calling of The Ordinary
    Part 6: King Jesus: Place and Purpose
    Part 7: King Jesus: The Authority Behind The Words
    Part 8: King Jesus: The Power of Jesus
    Part 9: King Jesus: The Leper
    Part 10: King Jesus: The Paralytic

  • King Jesus: The Beginning of The Good News

    Do you like a good action movie?

    A James Bond film, Mission Impossible, or one of the Bourne movies? The kind where things are moving from the opening scene and the story carries real momentum.

    If one of the gospels were turned into action flick, Mark would be the script. It moves quickly, has lots of movement, and gets straight to the point. There is no warmup, no stretching beforehand, no long preamble. It is like the starter’s gun at the beginning of a race and we are off.

    Mark begins like this:

    “The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God.” (Mark 1:1)

    That single line acts as both introduction and purpose statement. It tells us what the whole book is about before anything else is said. Like the opening line of a great novel, it draws us in. Except this isn’t fiction. This is the announcement of a real person and the purpose for which he came.

    Mark doesn’t include genealogies, birth stories, or any post-resurrection events. His focus is clear and deliberate. He wants to announce and show that Jesus is the Messiah and the Son of God. The book is centred on who Jesus is, what he does, and what it means to follow him.

    The word gospel (euangelion in the Greek) means good news. In the first century, good news would be publicly proclaimed when there was a military victory or a royal announcement. You can picture the town crier calling out the news of the day in the streets. In that sense, Mark is like a paper boy standing on the corner calling out the headline,

    “Good news. Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God has arrived.”

    But this good news is greater than a victory in battle or the birthday of an emperor. This is the announcement of God’s King and the fulfilment of long-awaited expectation and hope.

    The good news is not merely an event. It is a person. Jesus himself.

    Notice the titles Mark gives him. Messiah. Christ. Son of God. These are not polite honourifics. They are identity claims. They tell us that Jesus is not simply another religious teacher or prophet. He is uniquely connected with God and shares in God’s own identity.

    From the first sentence, Mark wants us to know who stands at the centre of this story. Everything else in the book hangs from this opening declaration.

    King Jesus: A Series in Mark’s Gospel
    Part 1: King Jesus: The Beginning of The Good News
    Part 2: King Jesus: The Messenger
    Part 3: King Jesus: The Love of God the Father
    Part 4: King Jesus: The Kingdom of God
    Part 5: King Jesus: The Calling of The Ordinary
    Part 6: King Jesus: Place and Purpose
    Part 7: King Jesus: The Authority Behind The Words
    Part 8: King Jesus: The Power of Jesus
    Part 9: King Jesus: The Leper
    Part 10: King Jesus: The Paralytic

  • My Top Posts of 2025

    Another year, another blog post recap.

    As the year wraps up, it’s time to look back and celebrate the posts that have found their way into your screens, bookmarks, and the occasional late-night doom-scroll. This year felt a little more settled than last, albeit not exactly a literary avalanche, but apparently more widely read.

    Some older posts keep refusing to retire, a few newer ones found an audience, and a small but growing number of you even clicked the little heart icon; which I’m choosing to interpret as deep emotional commitment.

    Here are the stats, and similarly to my Top Books for 2025 post, I have a summary of the posts that received the most views this year.

    Enjoy.

    THE STATS (2025):

    • Total Views: 12,088 (Apparently you’re not sick of me yet)
    • Visitors: 9,104 (Nine thousand real humans, wild!)
    • Comments: 18 (This is what growth looks like, right?)
    • Likes: 118 (Triple digits. I’ve peaked.)
    • Posts Published: 22 (Hmmm.)

    THE TOP POSTS:

    1. God’s Love Expressed: Through the Cross

    (Yes, that one. Again.)

    This post continues its stubborn reign at the top, despite being written years ago. It reflects on 1 John 4 and the way God’s love is most clearly revealed through the cross of Christ. At its heart is the conviction that God’s love doesn’t ignore our sin but deals with it fully, decisively, and graciously in Jesus.

    If people keep reading this post, I’ll keep thanking God for the truth it points to.

    2. AI, Ministry, and the Shape of Discipleship

    One of this year’s newer posts. This piece explores how AI tools intersect with discipleship, pastoral ministry, formation, and wisdom. Rather than hype or fear, the post asks slower questions about what it means to form people in Christ when technology increasingly shapes how we think, write, and relate.

    The response to this post confirmed that many of us are trying to think faithfully, not just efficiently, about the future.

    3. Mission Possible

    This post reflects on Christian mission not as an optional extra or specialist calling, but as the natural overflow of a life shaped by Jesus. It pushes back against both guilt-driven activism and comfortable disengagement, inviting readers to see mission as grounded in God’s initiative rather than our competence.

    4. Martin Luther on Complete Forgiveness in Christ

    Another perennial favourite. Drawing from Luther’s Commentary on Galatians, this post explores the freedom that comes from knowing forgiveness is complete, final, and grounded entirely in Christ’s work; not our performance.

    Luther’s clarity, warmth, and theological stubbornness continue to do what they’ve always done: comfort weary consciences and unsettle self-reliance.

    5. The Trial of Jesus: A Fulfilment of Prophecy

    This Easter devotional reflection on Mark 14:53–65 looks at Jesus’ trial as both a moment of deep injustice and a profound fulfilment of God’s redemptive purposes. Jesus’ silence, His declaration before the council, and His willingness to suffer reveal a King who reigns through faithfulness rather than force.

    So there you have it: the most-read posts of 2025. Some new, some old, all pointing (I hope) in the same direction.

    This is something I’ve done in previous years, which you can find here: Top posts for 2024, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016. I also have a collection of writing published elsewhere on the inter-webs, which you can read here.

    If you’ve got a favourite post, a lingering question, or a topic you’d love me to tackle in 2026, feel free to leave a comment or send a message.

  • Christmas 2025: Jesus

    Jesus – Luke 2:41–52

    We have citrus trees along the side of our house. Four years ago we planted them. They are still in the juvenile stage, growing taller and taller each season. It’s a slow process and will take another few years before they produce any fruit.

    Before Jesus preaches and begins His ministry of healing, teaching, miracles, and calling followers, we read of Him doing something very ordinary – learning. Here we get that picture of a student, asking questions, listening, and sitting among teachers. Even Jesus, the Son of God, takes part in that slow work of growth before going about producing anything.

    It’s quite a simple story. Jesus doesn’t perform any wonders or reveal Himself to others. What He is doing is growing in wisdom, stature, and favour with God and the people (v52). This is a time of formation for Jesus. And if Jesus required it, then perhaps we too might need to do the same.

    Growth doesn’t happen overnight, it’s often gradual, unnoticed, and uncomfortable. Yet God uses these seasons to shape us, to humble us, and provide us with wisdom and patience for the road ahead. Luke’s inclusion of this story reminds us that we are being formed through those unseen and ordinary years.

    It’s like learning a new musical instrument, having to practice and practice and practice when no one is looking. It’s like moving through adolescence, discovering who we are, what our purpose is, and where we belong. As someone once said, growth is like outgrowing old shoes; it’s awkward, slightly painful, but necessary.

    We often want instant results, instant transformation, but discipleship takes time.

    Ask God to highlight one area where He wants you to grow this season. Is it patience, courage, compassion, humility, wisdom, rest? Something else perhaps? Take one small step this week in that direction.

    Where might God be inviting you to lean into slow, steady growth this Christmas?

    This devotional series runs alongside our Songs for the Saviour sermon series this Christmas. It explores the four ‘songs’ of Luke’s Gospel, which in their historical Latin form are known as the Magnificat, Benedictus, Gloria in Excelsis, and Nunc Dimittis.

  • Christmas 2025: Simeon

    Simeon – Luke 2:21–38

    Waiting is quite painful, isn’t it? It’s painful because we want answers now. We want things to happen right away. We want to know or see things happen in our own timing, not in the patient and enduring time of the Lord.

    Simeon’s life was shaped around a promise that was slow to arrive. To be fair, he’s not passive about it, he is attentive to what God might be doing. He waits with hope.

    We might know this kind of experience ourselves. Waiting stretches us, it teaches us, and in the course of waiting that which we genuinely hope for is often revealed.

    When Simeon finally sees Jesus, he is full of thankfulness and gratitude. He isn’t relieved, he doesn’t make a big scene, and there is certainly no big announcement by this old gentleman. Rather, he is worshipful. He praises and blesses God for the kindness in allowing him to see the Christ child (v29-32). This song, the Nunc Dimittis, affirms God’s timing, knowing it is never late and never rushed. Simeon shows us the kind of faith that doesn’t demand answers from God but trusts the God who knows them.

    This short story of Simeon is a great reminder that God is at work even in the seasons that feel awfully slow.

    He’s like the grandparent who has prayed for their family for decades, faithful in giving over to God what is His and trusting that in His good timing He will fulfil His word.  

    Waiting is part of our Christian life, our Christian experience. Can you think of one area in your life where you are waiting? Lift it up to God each day this week.

    How might God be shaping you through the waiting rather than simply delivering what you long for?

    This devotional series runs alongside our Songs for the Saviour sermon series this Christmas. It explores the four ‘songs’ of Luke’s Gospel, which in their historical Latin form are known as the Magnificat, Benedictus, Gloria in Excelsis, and Nunc Dimittis.