The pen will shout, never silenced.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.”

Words are powerful things. We think in words. We speak words. We write them.  They express who we are – our innermost thoughts, ideas and opinions. They can change lives. They can heal or can wound terribly.  The words above, which begin the gospel of the apostle John, describe Jesus: and how significant that He is described as “the Word.” Jesus is the One who spoke to us of our Heavenly Father and how we can be reconciled to Him; and who imparted (together with the other two members of the Trinity – our Father God and the Holy Spirit) His divine inspiration to the writers of the Bible.

As a Christian writer, I seek to glorify God and promote the gospel of Jesus Christ in various ways in the different spheres in which I write, including this blog. Sometimes more than others, I feel a prompting of the Holy Spirit to express my views on a particular subject or to provide insights and information that I’ve learned through personal or small group study, from sermons or a variety of other situations.

Over the past week I’ve thought a lot about the power of the pen. Like many others, I was horrified by this week’s events in Paris. My deepest condolences go out to the family and friends of those killed and the people of France who have been traumatised by these events. In a similar way only a few weeks ago, all Australia was deeply shocked and dismayed by the killing of innocent people in the Lindt cafe siege in Sydney’s Martin Place.

As a Christian, I am aware of the blessing of living in a country which allows freedom of religion. I am free to worship in a church or mosque or synagogue. I am well aware of what a privilege this is, in comparison to many countries in this world where Christians are persecuted, alienated, discriminated against or killed for preaching the good news of Jesus. Others practice Christianity in secret. Yet such is the reality and power of the gospel that throughout the world, people are coming to faith in Jesus Christ. My church congregation recently heard the testimony of a man who had come to faith in Jesus simply by reading Jesus’ name – he decided to find out for himself who this person with the compelling name was, and became a Christian.

The Christian message is one of hope, love and forgiveness. It is the only hope in a world of increasing fear and darkness.