On Annual Leave

By Not Known une and December are usually the slowest months of each year. These are traditionally the seasons for family and annual leave.  Work desks take turns to be empty.  Incoming email volume almost doubles due to autoreply messages – “Sorry, I’m on leave, etc.…” Hotels are fuller and flights are expensive.  The motivation…

Are We “Here For God” When We Worship Him?

By Not Known Why are we in this place of worship?  Are we here for God?  It certainly seems so.  It’s logical, perhaps even biblical, isn’t it?  We often tell one another that we are here in church to provide a service for God.  We are presenting ourselves as a living sacrifice to God.  We…

The Power Of Encouraging Words

By Not Known Heb 10.15 says “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage on another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” According to this passage, encouragement is to be given when we meet together. Sure we can send…

Stirred By The Spirit

By Not Known Judges 13:24b-25 has an intriguing statement, “[Samson] grew and the LORD blessed him, and the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him…” What did this spiritual stirring look like? For Samson, the Spirit of the LORD gave him supernatural physical power to destroy Israel’s enemies (14:19; 15:14). Apart from the Spirit,…

Let’s Focus On Discipleship

By Not Known Alan Hirsch presented an interesting and thought-provoking video entitled, “Why Evangelism Can’t Be Our Focus.”  In it, he argued that “We must not stop sharing the good news, but here’s the deal, here’s the wonderful thing, it gets done along the way as you do discipleship. The Great Commission is just about…

Eating Together

By Not Known There was an interesting report in the Straits Times last week about family ties. The headline read, “More tucking in to Eat With Your Family Day.”  Some office staff were let off an hour earlier to go home for a family meal, and one school even taught its 1500 pupils how to…

He Loved Me!

By Not Known My daughter was given a little Barney soft-toy that sings a song – “I love you, you love me, we’re a happy family, with a great big hug and a kiss from me to you, won’t you say you love me too.” It’s a catchy tune with delightful words good enough for…

OLD TESTAMENT WORSHIP

By Not Known Studying the Old Testament history of worship is crucial to a fuller understanding of worship today. Even if we do not carry over all old practices to our current worship services, we can gain many valuable lessons that enrich our worship just by studying them.  Andrew Hill’s book “Enter His Courts with…

Joining the ‘Dones’?

By Not Known CM seemed like every church’s dream member.  He grew up as a Christian since his youth, active in Bible-study and even led one of the groups.  He gave generously and even led several to Christ.  Most of all, he was a faithful servant serving as a deacon at church. But abruptly, he…

GOD’S UNCHANGING CHARACTER

By Not Known Psalm 102:25-28:   In ages past you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. Even they will perish but you remain forever; they will wear out like old clothing. You will change them like a garment, and they will fade away. But you are always…