Church Blog (Page 104)
Thirty-eight…years to meet a miracle!
The sick man of John 5 believed that the occasional stirring of the Pool of Bethesda was his only hope of being whole again. Thirty-eight years later, on the Sabbath before the Passover Feast, a Galilean walked up to him and asked, “Do you want to get well?” What else did he know to do but repeat his failures to date: ‘By the time I get to the water, someone else has gotten the blessing.’ So, Jesus quietly healed him,…
Thirty-seven…chapters in!
Ezekiel is second only to the Book of Revelation in its ability to make you shake your head in confused amazement as it unfolds one spectacular vision after another. But that’s not all, some chapters will never ever be made into children’s storybooks and others would have to be censored before they were taught in youth class. By the time you reach chapter 37 you will have read enough to know that God reigns sovereign over everything. He knows all…
Thirty-six…wasted lives.
Joshua’s defeat of Jericho was the result of simple obedience. He marched around the city once a day for six days and seven times on the seventh day and miraculously the walls all fell down (Joshua 6). The next town was going to be easy, so a force of 3000 was dispatched and…disaster! They were humiliated as they showed their backs to their enemy from the small town of Ai. What went wrong? It was God. He was not with…
35—Halfway to Heaven
If you live in a Western country the average life expectancy is around 80; with women living a year or two longer as a rule. So, if you are clean-living, the chances are pretty good that you will attend your 80th birthday in good spirits. Not too many generations ago men especially were lucky to reach 60. Diets rich in fat and salt, over consumption of alcohol and cigarettes didn’t exactly do much to keep the heart disease and diabetes…
Thirty-four…and retired—Kind of!
The thought of a life rid of the hassles of money is delightful, indeed. Who doesn’t want to be able to retire tomorrow with millions? But for most of us this is the stuff of pie-in-the-sky dreams. I read an article recently by a man who retired at 34 with an annual income of $800,000. He was honest about the downside: In a world where everyone is introduced according to their occupations he felt like he had lost his social…
Thirty-three—Years to change the World
I consider myself a $2 historian. Probably because most of what I have read on history has come from books from op-shops. I have always considered Elizabeth I (1533-1603) to be the reason that we have many of the freedoms we enjoy today. But when one of my good friends dismissed her as a mere ‘person of interest in his Junior High history class,’ I should have been warned of things to come. One day I asked a group of…
32—Thieves
Having been a victim of an attempted car thief, I know the inconvenience and expense caused. The thought of sending a Christmas card to the offender (whoever he may be) has never crossed my mind—but I have prayed for his soul. In late April thieves stole 98 rental cars from a lock up near Auckland Airport. Not your ordinary anonymous white sedans, but these being camper vans painted green and purple, with writing written in circles designed to look like…
31—That’s all they’ll confess to!
Saturday 26 April 1986 was not a good day for Ukraine. In fact, it went down in infamy for deadly reasons. It was the day that rendered the town of Chernobyl radioactive to this day. As you know, the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant melted down. The official death toll was put at 31 by the then Russian authorities—and 31 is still the number they hold to. And, by the way, they consider themselves generous at that. Afterall, according to Moscow,…
Thirty—Starting to Begin
Though the year of my thirtieth birthday eventually led to great changes, the birth date itself passed with little notice; to myself or humanity in general. It probably depends on your levels of responsibility at this age as to how it affects your mindset. I can only speak in general terms, but I wonder if 30 marks a period in life where ‘idealism’ must be replaced with ‘realistic resolve’ if any real progress is to be made. Not wishing to…
Twenty-nine Reasons to Keep Going in the Faith
Feeling as if you are in a constant state of ‘just bumbling along’ is no way to live a victorious life in Christ. Yes, the Christian life is one of constant spiritual warfare, but it is designed to be fought from a position of victory, not defeat by a thousand discouragements. Here are ‘29 Reasons to Keep Going’ in your daily Christian walk: (1) Jesus is always with you—Mt.28:20; (2) The Holy Spirit dwells in you—Acts 2:28; (3) You are…