Has Anything Changed?
By Not Known During the last month we have focused on the work of God’s outreach through missions and evangelism. Has anything changed? We have done Bible Studies and heard sermons around different aspects of the outreach task. We have learned how God commands us to take his message to all people, that he promises to empower us for this task and that he can use all…
What are you passing on today?
By Not Known It is easy to give away things that we do not need or value. Gifts we received from past Christmases, birthday celebrations, weddings, house-warmings, or maternity hand-me-downs are passed on from person to person, and family to family. Many of these ended up in messy storerooms where unwanted items continue to stream in over the years. Eventually, they are…
Mission Impossible?
By Not Known The command of Jesus is that his people should make disciples from all ‘nations‘ (Mt 28: 19) or, as we might express it today, all ‘people groups‘. Think about that. No part of humanity is outside the plan of God .. who desires all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth (1 Tim 2: 3- 4). This includes the smallest…
Giving our Best for Missions
By Not Known Henry Martyn was the best maths undergraduate at Cambridge University in his day. After graduation, he seems destined for a stellar career in his chosen occupation of law. Instead, Henry Martyn went to India in 1806 as a Christian missionary. In the next six years, Henry Martyn translated the New Testament into Hindi and Persian, and revised the Arabic New…
Problem and Solution
By Not Known The UN Secretary General recently said that things have become worse in the international arena over the last 10 years. That should make us think. Big increases in knowledge, education, technology, communications, wealth and such like have not become keys to an improvement in the human condition. Corruption, injustice and restrictions on personal freedom…
What is the Problem?
By Not Known Many think that the deepest human problem is that we are deprived. On this understanding, what we need is more of the things that we are deprived of in order to be happy. Some think that we are deprived of knowledge. Modern societies often see this as ignorance of scientific knowledge. If ignorance is the problem, education is the answer. But, does more…
Where Am I?
By Not Known Our sense of location is important. Do we define our space in terms of immediate neighbourhood, country or region? Or do we have a global sense of living in a complex set of relationships with every other human being and with the rest of creation? Alternatively, do we reach even higher and define our sense of location in relationship with God? We have seen…
Worshipping God
By Not Known An important goal for the Christian is that the whole of life becomes a living act of worship (Rom 12: 1). This means that every thought, word and deed reflects our deepest admiration of God, our dependence on him and our love for him. God created us for this. God calls us to this (Dt 6: 5) Our sinful nature leads us to worship the creation instead of its…
Life in the Spirit
By Not Known Confusion often abounds when we talk about ‘life in the Spirit’. Some link this with the more spectacular signs and foresee a life of speaking in tongues, miracles and prophecy. Others have a noble vision of an ascending scale of holiness and intimacy with God, in which it is ‘ever upwards and onwards’ Galatians mentions the Spirit 18…
Freedom
By Not Known Freedom has been a powerful cry fro the last few decades. It has been applied to causes including racial discrimination, women’s liberation, democratic rights, anti-colonialism, religious freedom, sexual preference and such like. The range of these causes should make us stop and think. ‘Freedom‘ is a word that need definition and boundaries.…