Pastoral Message (Page 72)

By Not Known God’s mission is done through people. There are those who stay where they are to sacrificially pay, pray, promote and publicise. Then there are those who go. This going may be a sacrificial leaving of what the world calls ‘prospects’ and serving in some kind of full time missionary service in the home country. We have two examples of that in…

By Not Known Today is the start of our mission’s emphasis month. Being ‘mission-minded’ is on every church’s lips and in our statements of core values, ministry plans and such like. However, it is one thing to say we are mission-minded but another to embody ‘missions in motion’. It is sometimes true that the more we assert we are…

By Not Known Self-improvement books and DVDs are some of the hottest items to fly off the shelves in bookshops. It seems that we all want to lift our game in some area or another and are looking for tips and techniques to help us get there. Some of these resources are great. I’m a fan of the Dummies series with its no-nonsense approach, clear layout and plenty of…

By Not Known The recent monsoon has cut a disastrous swathe through Asia. China has been badly affected but seems to be handling it well. Not so Pakistan. Imagine a land area 343 times the size of Singapore under water. Imagine double the total population of Singapore being displaced by floods and now facing the danger of disease. And all this in a country ill-equipped to…

By Not Known Idols are ever-present in human affairs, but they take many forms. Jeremiah and others mock the folly of hand making an earthly object then worshipping it. As he says, the idols are like scarecrows in a melon patch –  there is nothing to be scared of, for they can do neither good nor harm (Jer 10:5). That’s something to ponder as we see…

By Not Known First of all then I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgiving be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may live a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good and it is pleasing in the sight of God who desires all people to be saved .. (1 Tim 2:1-3). As we celebrate the 45th…

By Not Known The void Formless without substance Emptiness spilling into nothingness No light, no life Silence   The word A sound Let there be… Light and life   Life Bristling, bursting, bustling Colour, shape, texture, scent, variety, Wonder beyond imagination     Another void Form without substance Religion without reality Silence  …

By Not Known In our time-starved lives we want to squeeze the most from every moment. The Apostle Paul says … make the most of every opportunity (Col 4:5b). We may rejoice at this apparently shrewd advice in time management. This is all the more so when we hear that the word he uses for opportunity is the Greek word for special or opportune time. Seen this way,…

By Not Known Wikipedia defines it well: Repentance is choosing to turn to God and it usually refers to confession to God, ceasing sin against God, and resolving to live according to religious law. It typically includes an admission of guilt, a promise or resolve not to repeat the offence; an attempt to make restitution for the wrong, or in some way to reverse the harmful…

By Not Known Routine can be nerve-numbing. After some repetitions, mechanisation sets in. One can just go on doing it without much thinking and reflection. It becomes just a job to be done. No wonder, many are employed in jobs but few are finding meaning in what they do. This can happen to religious practices too. Rituals, they call it. When…