By Not Known Many people live with a sense of a bad past. We may have a sense of a bad childhood with overly strict, uncaring, foolish or abusive parents. Or perhaps there were experiences at school or with friends, strangers or neighbours that leave us scared. Maybe our sense of a bad past is…

By Not Known Who are you? Consider these views: I think therefore I am. (Descartes) I am but a monkey shaved. (WS Gilbert – adapted) I am the master of my fate and the captain of my soul. (WE Henly) I am who I am. (Popeye the sailor man) I think I am IM therefore…

By Not Known We sometimes make a virtue of being passionless. Thus we respond to suffering with a (non-Christian) stoical ‘stiff upper lip’ instead of a tear. And permit ourselves just a passing smile at joy. This is not the heart of Jesus or of his Father. The Gospels show the passion of Jesus in…

By Not Known We are rightly careful to exercise good stewardship and accountability with the church’s finances. Thus we have prudent policies to handle all monies, submit the books to external audit and publish financial reports for all to see. This is good. But what of our stewardship and accountability of the gospel of Christ?…

By Not Known It’s rare to find an organisation that doesn’t have a mission statement. Mission statements tell what we will do in order to fulfil the vision of what we want to be. Our Ministry Plan 2006-2015 includes this mission statement. Under God, our mission is to : honour God’s name through faithful and…

By Not Known When using a map we start from where we are, look where we want to be and then plan how to get there. That picture of where we want to be is our vision. It is important for Christian people to have a clear vision of eternity, to motivate and guide our…

By Not Known Most of us plan. We plan our shopping, work tasks, holidays, finance, fitness regimes, eating and such like. We plan because it makes us more effective at being what we want to be and doing what we want to do. God plans and everything moves according to his plan (Eph 1:11). We…

By Not Known Jesus assumed that his first followers would be hated and persecuted by the unbelieving world, just as he was first hated and persecuted (Jn 15:18). The reason for this is simple: neither Jesus nor his followers belonged to the world. We are different. If our first loyalty is to God and his…

By Not Known Domestic violence is a too-common problem behind the door of many homes. The violence may be verbal, psychological, sexual or physical. Spouses may abuse their spouses; parents may abuse their children; children may abuse vulnerable parents; or householders may abuse their helpers. Domestic violence often involves some abuse of authority. One very…

By Not Known Jesus’ resurrection from the dead was the climax of his earthly life. As the preaching in Acts shows, the resurrection was the defining event that set Christianity apart. It was also the event that demonstrated beyond doubt that Jesus was God’s son (Rom 1:4) However, the resurrection is not the end of…