John the Baptist was a wild and holy prophet whose whole mission in life was to prepare the way for the LORD Jesus. John was prophesied in the Old Testament as one who would cry out in the wilderness and introduce Jesus to the world. (Isaiah 40:3ff; Malachi 3:1) And when his big moment came […]
Tom Torrance was an army chaplain in World War Two. He reckoned that the number one question soldiers asked him was this, “Is God really like Jesus Christ?” With the bullets flying and lives on the line, that’s what they needed to know. Because if God is like Jesus then, ultimately, it’s going to be […]
When it comes to prayer I think the most common question I’m ever asked runs something like this: “Should I really pray to God about such and such?” So many Christians seem to feel that “bothering God” with the minutiae of their lives is beneath the majesty of the Most High. God seems to have […]
We have all met people who are prisoners of despair. What we call depression could well be described in those terms: it is a helpless and hopeless condition with no prospect of release. They don’t want to collapse in despair but they feel bound to do so. Perhaps we have been in that waterless pit […]
There is a limit and a longing to us all. And that interaction between the limit and the longing defines our human condition. We are finite creatures, and yet this finite world does not satisfy. The prophet Haggai wrote in the 6th century BC to the Israelites in a strange kind of in-between time. They […]
[Apologies for this post out of sequence] What have been the decisive moments in your life? Can you pinpoint certain choices or “chance encounters” that have shaped your destiny? One single piece of news, good or bad, can change everything. Sometimes our whole world can turn “in the twinkling of an eye.” When the Apostle […]
Could Jonah be the most successful evangelist in the Bible? In Hebrew the report of his sermon consists of 5 words. And yet, in response, the 120 000 residents of Nineveh cover themselves in sackcloth and ashes and turn to the LORD. Sackcloth was the clothing of mourning. Ashes were also a reminder of mortality. […]
How would you feel if you had your yearly work review and the verdict on your performance was, “Unfaithful.” You might expect negatives like “incompetent” or “negligent” or “unqualified” or “lazy”. But “unfaithful”? What if your boss said your work was “adulterous”? “Adulterous”? You might well protest: “Hang on, I’m not married to my job […]
Given the suffering of this world, how can anyone believe in a good God or a happy ending? In Daniel 7, the prophet has a vision of the most terrible cruelty imaginable. It was a “vision by night” that left him, in his own words, “grieved in my spirit… and the visions of my head […]
The bible is all about dramatic reversals. Perhaps Mary said it best when she was told that the Mighty Christ would be born into her humble circumstances: “He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree. He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath […]
