Does what we believe about the Bible really matter?

The Bible is (probably) read in every church. It’s (probably) read by almost every professing Christian (some will read it more than others). Most Christians (probably) have some idea of some of the things the Bible says. Yet how many Christians think biblically about the Bible?

What do I mean?

The Apostle Paul gives us a clear definition of what scripture (The Bible) is:

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Tim 3:16-17

Notice the word “All”. This is a really important word. Paul does not say, “some”, “most” or “the majority” of scripture is “God-breathed” he says “all scripture is God breathed.” This is why most churches have a clear statement about the doctrine of scripture in their statement of Faith.

Elim for example states:

We believe the Bible, as originally given, to be without error, the fully inspired and infallible Word of God and the supreme and final authority in all matters of faith and conduct.

The Apostolic Church states:

The voice of Scripture is the voice of God. The whole Bible is the inspired Word of God, infallible in its declarations, final in its authority, all-sufficient in its provision, and comprehensive in its sufficiency. 

The Westminster Confession of Faith states:

The Supreme Judge, by which all controversies of religion are to be determined, and all decrees of councils, opinions of ancient writers, doctrines of men, and private spirits, are to be examined, and in whose sentence we are to rest, can be no other but the Holy Spirit speaking in the Scripture.

The Evangelical Alliance Basis of Faith says, regarding the Bible the Alliance believes in:

The divine inspiration and supreme authority of the Old and New Testament Scriptures, which are the written Word of God – fully trustworthy for faith and conduct.

All of these statements, in their own unique way, demonstrate a classic, orthodox view of the Word of God. These are not the sentiments of some fringe, fundamentalist sect. This is the mainstream view of the church catholic, down through the ages.

Why does this matter? The belief that the the Bible is the Word of God, is not just an ecclesiastical issue, it’s a discipleship issue. I’d also go so far to say it’s a salvation issue. Throughout the Old and New Testaments, there is a direct link between people’s posture towards God’s word, and their spiritual condition. Those who receive the Word of God in a reverent spirit are blessed, those who reject it encounter God’s judgement.

The Book of Proverbs reminds us:

My son, do not forget my teaching,
    but keep my commands in your heart,
 for they will prolong your life many years
    and bring you peace and prosperity.

Prov 3:1-2

The longer we are in church, the longer we are in the world. and the longer we are exposed to theology or various Bible teachers, the more chance we have of forgetting the Lord’s teaching and allowing his teaching to drift from our heart. Confidence in the living Word of God is not simply an intellectual belief, it’s a heart posture.

Psalm 1 reminds us of the blessings of allowing the Word of God to have central place in our lives:

Psalm 1

1 Blessed is the one
    who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
    or sit in the company of mockers,
2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
    and who meditates on his law day and night.
3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
    which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
    whatever they do prospers.

4 Not so the wicked!
    They are like chaff
    that the wind blows away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
    nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

6 For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
    but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

Let me encourage you, in these days of fake news, information overload, and truth wars, let the Word of God be your guide. Open the scriptures, read the scriptures, and study the scriptures. Allow the Spirit of truth to kindle a love and an understanding of God’s Word in your heart. In these days we need discernment more than ever because spiritual deception is a real danger. God’s Word is the key to overcoming in these days. God’s Word builds faith, and sharpens our spiritual perception, when we read it with a humble heart that is willing to obey the truth we discover in the pages of the book.

Transitions: Ministry Update re Kairos Church

On Sunday the 22nd February, I preached my last sermon at Kairos Church as the Lead pastor, having planted the church in 2020. It was a very moving service with a variety of emotions. There was a natural sadness that comes with the end of a season, but there was also joy and gratitude in seeing the church growing into an established congregation.

There are a number of providences that have brought us to this juncture, and I’ll paste the update I shared on social media below. To sum it up here though, a comment made by Rev Kenny Borthwick last summer on Lewis, when we met for breakfast, captures it well: ‘It’s not the end of ministry, it’s a clarification of ministry.’ For the last five years, I’ve been church planting, leading evangelism teams and street outreaches, doing itinerate ministry, pastoring, conducting funerals alongside full time prison chaplaincy. This is without even mentioning family, my wife’s full time work at Street Connect, and a number of family health issues. All this to say, the situation was unsustainable.

‘It’s not the end of ministry, it’s a clarification of ministry.’ Rev Kenny Borthwick

This is not to say anything has been short circuited. It’s not. There was a grace upon us for the work we were carrying. Part of the process of discernment is recognising when the grace is lifting because the season is changing.

On Sunday I preached into the season on the subject of Becoming an Antioch Church. I also shared some of the personal circumstances that have led up to to this decision.

Through it all, we know that God is faithful and that his purposes will come to pass. The season is not without it’s difficulties, but it is also not without its joy and blessings.

Here is the statement that I posted on my personal Facebook Accounts following the announcement at the church. I thought it good to share it here on my blog, as I hope to be able to devote time to writing again. Reading and writing is a passion of mine, and during the last few years there just hasn’t been time. By God’s grace, I hope to be able to able to find time to read and write more consistently.

Transition Statement shared 24/02/2026

It is with a mixture of joy and sadness I write the following ministry update regarding Kairos Church.
Following a series of ongoing, and serious family health complications, alongside full time work/ministries Laura, myself, and the ACUK National Leadership team have discerned that the time has come for me to step back as lead pastor of Kairos Church.

I am however delighted to announce that Ps Alistair Matheson will step into the role of lead pastor on an interim basis for the next 1-2 years with the specific objectives (along with Ps Tom Workman) of developing the local leadership team and identifying a longer term lead pastor.


I will focus my energies primarily as a full time prison chaplain but in due course I will also be ordained as an ACUK Evangelist.
I will God-willing, continue to support Kairos, and other churches with preaching and evangelism equipping and outreaches. However, my main focus will be supporting my family and wife as we navigate health challenges.


Regarding the health challenges, Laura’s vision and mobility has suffered deterioration in recent months. (Laura’s sight has been damaged through Retinal vein occlusion (RVO), and hyper tension, both of which is resulting in treatment but which has also halted much needed surgery. Her mobility has deteriorated to the point where she cannot move about the home without crutches.


Throughout this season we are grateful to the the Lord for his strength and Alistair, Tom, and other pastors, along with the ministry team who have invested in supporting the church. Alistair is a widely respected national leader. I know, by God’s grace, under his leadership, the church will not only survive, but it will thrive.

I’m also deeply grateful to friends of Kairos from various parts of Scotland, UK, and indeed the world who have supported this work either financially, or through ministry, encouragement, or prayer. I am indebted to many Christians and leaders both in the ACUK and beyond who have stood with us and invested in this church when it was a barely formed vision. There are too many people to name individually, but I thank you for supporting us and helping the church get to where it is today. May God bless you richly.


So let me finish by saying thank you to Kairos Church for allowing me to serve you as your pastor, thank you for letting me preach the gospel to you, and thank you for your patience with my faults and mistakes – I’m sure there are many I’m not even aware of. And thank you for loving Jesus, loving his people and serving the Lord through this local expression of the church we call Kairos (a key or critical time in God’s purposes).


As a church, this is another Kairos moment, and we can say with confidence: “And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” Esther 4:14


We also know that what God births, he sustains: “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Phil. 1:6

Jesus has promised to build his church, and he has promised that the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I look forward to continued partnership in the gospel, as we navigate this new season, knowing that God is faithful.
Yours in Christ,
Ps John Caldwell
If you want to hear my last message as lead pastor and update to church you can find it here: (Along with a very powerful testimony from Laura).

“I love Jesus but I don’t need the church!”: Is this Biblical?

‘An Apostolic People: Foundations and Features of a Missional Church’ is the first book I’ve picked up in 2026, It’s a quick read. I started and finished on the 1st January. The book was a core text for the Baton course (a leadership development programme for ACUK). The course no longer runs, and has been replaced by ACTS Divinity, and therefore some aspects of the book (including links to audio messages) are redundant, however the basic content of the book is very much still relevant. This is a book about the church and for the church. Whilst it was written to teach ecclesiology (theology of the church) for those training for ministry in the Apostolic Church UK, it’s not exclusively a denominational book. It’s a book that’s relevant for Christians of any theological persuasion as it unpacks the DNA of what the New Testament church is called to be. Jesus loves the church, and if we love Jesus, we should love the church too. This is where the book begins — Christ’s love for his bride. Let me share some inspiring (and challenging) extracts from the book about what the Christian’s posture towards the church should be.

The book was co-produced by Alistair Matheson, senior pastor of Glasgow City Church, and Apostolic leader within ACUK and Steven Anderson, former Apostolic leader in ACUK and current founder of Map Makers, a simple church network. The following extracts, I think, are from one of Alistair’s chapters.

“I do not just believe in the church. I love the church. Why? Because I love Jesus. And loving Jesus, I find myself loving what Jesus loves. And He loves nothing more than the church. His church. The chosen people He died for and ever lives for. Warts, blemishes and all. Contradictions, offences, short-comings, hypocrisies, foibles and failings. Every reason some people have to walk away from church justifies the resolve of Christ to cleanse and purify, to mature and exhort, to build up and perfect. Let me be honest. I thank God for the times Jesus didn’t walk away from me. I am more grateful than I can express for the times He could have left my church too, but did not. That has proven to be one of the primary differences between Jesus and some Christians! I will never forget the time a loved and trusted friend walked up to me just as I was about to open a Sunday morning service, placed in my hand the keys of the facility where our church plant met, looked at me pitifully and blurted, “I’m leaving this church; it’s never going to grow.” I never saw him in our church again. But Jesus kept coming. And, despite what would have been a variety of other justifiable reasons to leave us too, Jesus just kept on coming back. He kept coming until we started to grow. I’ve moved on now, but they’re still growing. In fact, they’ve only gone and planted another church since I left. Jesus is still there. Still loving them, working with them, changing them. Still growing them. Is this not the nature of church? Church is more than a doctrine, glorious though that doctrine is. Church is the object of Christ’s undying, unstoppable love.”

“To love Jesus is to serve His people. If Jesus loves the church, so must I.  When I share the cup of Communion, my covenant with Jesus extends to the community which is betrothed to Him.  For better, for worse. For richer, for poorer.  In sickness and in health – but never to be parted by death. I have never been fooled by those who say they love Christ but have no time for church.  They do not love the real Jesus.  They cannot know Him.  They certainly do not follow Him.  Jesus goes to church.  He comes to my local church every time we meet.  To use loftier, biblical language, the people of Christ are His place of abiding, the temple of His presence, ‘the dwelling of God in the Spirit’.”

“Because Christ is protective of His church, I am protective of it too.  My own wonderful wife may not be perfect, but let no one speak disrespectfully or destructively of her in my presence!  If they do, they should not be surprised if my defensive instincts are aroused! It is no different with the church. When people speak against church – any church where Christ is loved and His Gospel preached – I take it personally.  It is something I take to heart, not merely a cerebral or philosophical matter. Every Christian should have this instinctive protectiveness for the church, not just their local expression, but the entire body of Christ.  Paul emphasised to the Corinthians that when one part of the body suffers the whole body suffers with it.  As the late Ern Baxter once quipped in poetic humour, “A pain in the head puts the whole body to bed!””

“I am always in some way diminished by the disappointments of other Christians, and always enlarged by their successes and victories, no matter who or where they are.  It doesn’t matter how distant another Christian movement may seem to be, I am affected by its joys and sorrows.  Whoever my brothers and sisters may be, I am of the same blood.  Much though my Jesus loves me, He loves them no less.  Disparage them and you disparage me. This is the nature of the church as one body.”

The book goes on to develop a solid yet introductory theology of what an apostolic church looks like. It’s saturated in scripture. The book is ideal for leadership teams, pastors, church planters or any Christian looking to think through biblical Christianity. As I said, the principles in this book are not exclusively denominational. They are universal principles that can be applied in a variety of denominational contexts. As one of the contributors (Tim Jack, former National leader of ACUK) writes in his chapter, Jesus is not just building the Apostolic Church, he’s building his body, and his body is made up of all true believers everywhere, no matter what label they gather under.

2026: Starting the Year with God’s Word

Happy New year!

You’ve made it.

I don’t know what kind of year you’ve had. For many of us there will have been special moments and there will have been dark moments. Hopefully you’ve had more good than bad moments.

Whatever season you are in, let me encourage you with verse that jumped out at me during my reading this morning:

“Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off.”

Isaiah 33:17

This verse was spoken by the Prophet to God’s people during times of deep political turbulence, spiritual wanderings, and divine judgement. It was a dark season. Yet in the darkness, the Lord speaks this word to His people.

“Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty.”

That’s what following Jesus is all about. That’s why we fight the fight of faith. That’s why we keep turning up. That’s why we dig in to his Word, even when things feel spiritually barren, emotionally confusing, and mentally weary. Your eyes will see the King.

Faithfulness is never found in the mountain top, it’s always formed in the valleys.

But the valley is not the destination. There is a promised land, and not only are we promised that we will see the King, we are promised that we will inherit our promised land: “they shall behold the land that is very far off.” Right now, your destiny might feel far off. Right now your inheritance may feel like a fleeting shadow. But God has promised to bring you into all that he has planned and prepared for you.

Let me encourage you at this dawn of a new year, keep going. Keep your eyes on Jesus. Keep worshipping in the midst of warfare. Keep your heart pure. Keep digging into his word not just for information, but for transformation. And remember the goal:

“Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off.”

Isaiah 33:17