Pastoral Message (Page 52)

By Not Known One of the favourite titles of our Lord Jesus Christ we are more familiar with, is that of “the Author (Pioneer) and Finisher (Perfector) of our faith” (Heb 12:2).  In 2 Pet 1:3, the Apostle tells us how the Author and Finisher’s “divine power has granted us everything pertaining to life and godliness.” This should remind us of two very important facts:…

By Not Known Do you know what this acronymn stands for? It stands for What You See Is What You Get.  It is a computer term that “implies a user interface that allows the user to view something very similar to the end result while the document is being created.”   Unfortunately, with people, it is often not WYSIWYG.  This probably explains why a recent…

By Not Known I Corinthians 12:18:  But in fact, God has arranged the parts in the body every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. I Corinthians 12:24b: God has combined the members of the body… These verses come from a passage where the apostle Paul emphasises that although there is one body, it is made up of many parts and each part is integral and…

By Not Known Ask any child what he wants to be when he/she grows up and chances are they will NOT say “A pastor.” For that matter, how many parents would want their child to be a pastor? Somehow fulltime pastoral ministry does not seem to be very appealing and yet, every church needs a pastor and in the case of larger churches certainly a team of pastors to care for the…

By Not Known Hi, my name is “Living Dead”.  I know what you are thinking already… what a name!  But I really feel like one.  “Living” is like my baptism name; that’s what I aspire to do as a Christian.  “Dead” is like my natural name; it’s the reality that I struggle in daily.  Here’s a week’s worth of my [fictional] diary entries… read it and…

By Not Known A happy belated 2015 with greetings that are ever new.  To many of us, the new year means making new resolutions.  As we take stock of 2014 that has passed, we would  resolve to begin the New Year by initiating fresh inroads into the improvement of the various areas of our lives.   Often we make resolutions that would centre on enhancing…

By Not Known Who has authority to tell you what to do?  Or whose authority would you rather submit yourself to?  Is it to those with guns?  Or those who claim to be experts?  What and who is your authority? The Pharisees in Mark 11:27ff seemed to be like lost people who had no idea what was or was not of God.  Therefore they were unsure where the…

By Not Known As Christians we must think Christianly.  Our transformation into Christlike maturity depends on whether our minds are renewed according to the Scriptures.  This is why teaching is important.  The Bible calls us to love God with ALL our hearts, souls, minds and strength – i.e. in every aspect of our lives. To walk with God therefore requires us…

By Not Known When the monstrous tidal waves slammed into Banda Aceh and bulldozed inland on 26 December 2004, the world came to a literal stand-still between life and death – the living watching video footages of life being swallowed up by the waves; the dying battling for their last moments before they were no more… Between life and death was that fierce and fateful…

By Not Known Suppose you are introducing the Beatitudes to some teenagers.  Would any of them choose meekness as a quality that they would want to have?  It is likely that none would desire meekness.   The problem with the English word, meek, is that it rhymes with weak and for years, people linked the two together.  Indeed, meekness is a fruit of the…