-
Fighting the good fight
I know that I am a Christian, saved from the widespread epidemic of evil because of what Jesus did on the day of his execution, so many years ago. But there are times as I get older that I feel haunted by my past. I look back at the brutish young man I was and…
-
Power made perfect in weakness
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. (2 Cor: 12:9) Strong men and women, as wider society sees them, don’t exist in authentic Christian…
-
Be strong in the grace
“You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” (2 Timothy 2:1) Worship leader John Mark Pantana has a deep, tangible understanding that God loves him. I find listening to his songs really helpful in my own times with the Lord. It’s a type of music that’s stripped back of…
-
Blind man seeing!
“I am the Light of the World” (John 8:12) How do we react when we read these simple but beautiful, and certainly immensely powerful words by Jesus? It’s such a life-enhancing declaration by the Lord but can feel a little abstract and almost lofty in comparison to the ugly turmoil and turbulence we encounter too…
-
Catching life, not words
“Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus to catch him in his words.” They came to him and said, “Teacher, we know that you are a man of integrity. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in…
-
He forgave me
Deep calls to deep in the roar of his waterfallsAll His forgiving waves cascade onto me.Those, myself, walking in darkness, too oftenOf our own making, have seen His great light.And it’s wonderful. And it’s unexpected. And it’s everything. The cross and calvary – we never stray too farFrom that love, which binds us to freedom. When despair…
-
Carrying on
“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” (Galatians 5:1) A few years ago I took part in a three-day human rights forum at a settlement near the Mediterranean Sea for my work as a journalist. I…
-
Living in the 15 percent
It occurred a few weeks ago when I was rushing around, as usual, and the Lord quietly spoke to me: “You’ve pushed it away but it did happen to you.” “I don’t want to think about it,” was my reply. “I know and that’s good not to dwell on it,” I felt the Lord respond.…
-
The good news in the good news
“Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.” (Romans 8: 34) The church has coined various words and phrases over hundreds of years in trying to express what Christianity is all about.…
-
Disturbing
“For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.” (2 Peter 1:16) I was flicking through YouTube channels late at night about a year ago, with my wife asleep next to me, when I came…