In the Gospel narratives, we have seen Peter
But look at him now!…
One of the pieces of evidence in favour of the trustworthiness of the Bible is the remarkable honesty with which it tells us about its heroes: Abraham, Moses, Peter, Paul – the portrait of each and every saint is painted warts and all. We are told of their failures as well as their triumphs. So it is with David, shepherd, giant-killer, poet, soldier, and king: here is a very great man; here is ‘a man after God’s own heart’. …
The great moment had almost arrived. After 40 years of wilderness wandering, the Children of Israel were just 3 days away from their longed-for destination. They were about to cross the Jordan river, and enter the Promised Land. Their long-suffering leader all this time had been Moses. But it was not Moses who was to now lead them into Canaan. It was to be Joshua.
Joshua had a first-class CV for the job. He had the experience for it: he had been Moses right-hand man ever sense they left Egypt. …
“Friends, I want to speak to you about wickedness in the world today. I’m sure that you will agree with me that there are lots of extremely wicked and cruel people around. The world is full of cheats, and tyrants, and murderers, and liars. I think that God should punish these wicked people. I really do. Don’t you? ‘Course you do!”
That might have been a typical sermon snippet from Jonah the prophet. One day, the Lord had a word with him: “Jonah, I am very angry and upset with the people of Nineveh. …
This chapter tells us about the difference that Jesus makes in the lives of four individuals in particular – Lk 5:1-11 – Simon. Lk 5:17-26 – a paralysed man. Lk 5:27-32 – Levi the tax collector. Here we have:-
The term ‘leprosy’ covered a variety of chronic skin conditions, including psoriasis, dermatitis, and the bacterial infection of leprosy itself. Consider how desperate this man’s need was. He was physically disfigured: in its severest form, leprosy was terribly disfiguring, and this man is described as being ‘covered with leprosy’. …
Have you ever felt as though you were hanging on to your Christian faith by your fingernails?
Whatever the reason, your question is the same: Where is God?
This is not a new problem: cry of dereliction – Psalms (10:1 Why, O LORD, do you stand far off?…
Are you contented?
Alexander the Great conquered the known world. But he was not contented. After all his victories, he wept, because, he said, “There are no more worlds to conquer.”
Voltaire was a brilliant philosopher and a critic of organised religion. He was not contented. He wrote: “I wish I had never been born.”
Lord Byron lived a life of hedonistic pleasure. He was not contented. At the age of 35, he wrote:
My days are in the yellow leaf,
The flowers and fruits of love are gone;
The worm, the canker, and the grief
Are mine alone.…
At last, scientific research seems to have proven what many people have suspected all along. Prayer does not work. Prayer does not change things.
A recent study led by cardiologists from Duke University Medical Center tested whether heart patients recovered more readily if they were prayed for. The three year study involved 750 patients from throughout the USA and 26 prayer groups from different part of the world, including Christians in Manchester, Buddhists in Nepal and Sufi Moslems in America. …
“I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever.”
It is difficult for us to imagine the emotional turmoil of Jesus’ disciples at the time that these words were uttered. Impressed by his wonderful teaching and amazing miracles, they had concluded that their beloved Master was indeed the longed-for Messiah, and he would sit on David’s throne, restore the kingdom to Israel, deliver God’s people from all their troubles, and subdue all nations. …
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength…Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you; for the LORD your God, who is among you, is a jealous God.” (Deut 6)
With these words the Lord God formed a nation for himself, a people for his praise, through whom all the nations of the earth would be blessed. …
