WON’T YOU BE A GOOD NEIGHBOUR, A GOOD SAMARITAN?

Ed Delph shares another thought-provoker…

From time to time, most of us feel left out. We feel like misfits. Others seem so confident, so sure of themselves, ‘insiders’ who know the ropes, old hands in a club from which we are excluded.
So, what do we ‘outsiders’ do? We form clubs too.

‘Them’ and ‘us’
These clubs range from informal to formal. Here is at least one place where we are in and they are out. Identity or worth is achieved by excluding all but the chosen. The price that we pay for this is a reduction of reality, a shrinkage of life. (more…)

‘BLACK HAWK DOWN’ SURVIVOR SAYS JESUS IS THE ONLY WAY TO TRANSFORM THE WORLD

Mark Ellis (left) and Michael Ashcraft share a great testimony…

What impacted Jeff Struecker most was not the thousands of hostile Somalis swarming his Humvee, nor the hailstorm of bullets and RPGs as he attempted to rescue fellow Rangers in the ill-fated 1993 raid of Mogadishu made famous by the movie Black Hawk Down.

What impacted him most was the next October morning back at base when his buddies one by one asked him about death and the afterlife. (more…)

CONFUSION IN THE CHURCH – PART 6

Dr Jim McClure, noted theologian, writes about two more current dangers …

Church leaders ‘must stick to the true message they were taught, so that their good teaching can help others and correct everyone who opposes it’ (Titus 1:9 CEV).

This article concludes the series Confusion in the Church in which I have turned the spotlight on issues in the contemporary church that misrepresent biblical teaching or question dubious practices that result in causing confusion in the church and bring discredit to the Christian message. (more…)

PARABLES – FAMILIAR STORIES WITH SPIRITUAL LESSONS

Harold Harvey shares…

Metaphors, similes and parables are forms of speech that many people use every day in their communication with each other. The New Testament uses these forms of speech quite often with regard to its message.

In fact, I think it nigh on impossible to understand the word of God unless one is familiar with these speech forms because the writers of scripture used them so frequently. (more…)

SPIRITUAL MEDICINE

Andrew Corbett reminds us of a great congregational truth…

Spiritual medicine?

Of course, when I say ‘medicine’ I’m not just thinking of the stuff that pharmacists supply in bottles of packs.

With the greatest respect to all my doctor friends, the best medicine frequently consists not of carefully composited chemicals, but words! (more…)

THEBUZZ

Disclaimer: Articles and links, as well as the source articles linked to, do not necessarily reflect the opinion of ConnectingwithYou! Our thanks mainly to Dan Wooding and ASSIST News Service link: www.assistnews.net (and other news sources such as Crosswalk for timely gleanings)

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GERMANY / USA
Saeed Abedini now safe after prisoner-swap

Dan Wooding reports good news on long-awaited answered prayer…

Pastor Saeed Abedini, and two other Americans freed by Iran, safely arrived in Switzerland January 17, and then flew on to Germany for medical checkups, after leaving Iran as part of a prisoner swap. Naghmeh Abedini said in an initial Tweet, ‘Saeed just landed in Geneva. He is getting ready to leave to Germany. I should talk with Saeed in just a few hours! Thank you for your prayers!’
(more…)

FEELING HELPLESS? KEEP PRESSING ON – BUT NOTE…

Robert and Maureen McQuillan share…

February already! If God were to judge our 2016 life achievements by a row of 12 candles that had been lit in anticipation, he’d be reminding us that one is already snuffed out and we’ve only eleven more before the year is gone.

It’s the proverbial case of tempus fugit (line 284 of book 3 of Virgil’s Georgics, where it appears as fugit inreparabile tempus: ‘It escapes, irretrievable time’). We usually say ‘time is on the wing!’ (more…)

2016 – A GOOD TIME TO SURRENDER AND DO SOMETHING FOR GOD!

Paul Morgan looks forward to a good 2016 future and challenges…

The events of Genesis 1:14 – ‘And God said: “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky…
and let them serve as signs to mark seasons, and days and years”’ – obviously happened quite some time before January 2016!

But we can see in the first book of the Bible that even as he created this world, God had a plan for it… one including seasons, days, years. Indeed God’s plan includes our lives – yours and mine. I believe that this new year of 2016 is a significant one of opportunity for us as we hear from God and obey. (more…)

‘THERE MUST BE SOMETHING BETTER THAN ALL THIS!’

Brian Bell mediates on the above …

Perhaps you too have said something like that…’There must be something better…’ when you found yourself in a difficult situation. Particularly one you didn’t understand or in which you were struggling to cope.

Psalm 118: 8 offer us encouragement regarding something better: ‘It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.’ ‘Better’ … that’s the Hebrew word tobe meaning ‘good, cheerful, well-favoured.’ (more…)

COMMIT YOUR 2016 PLANS TO GOD

Carol Round shares meaningfully re 2016 resolutions…

The apostle gives good advice in 3 John 2: ‘Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.’

A New Year has arrived and with it the usual resolutions to lose weight, get in shape and quit smoking. Some look for quick fixes through crash diets, new exercise crazes or so-called ‘magical’ pills while others seek a solution through surgery, bringing with it a host of possible complications and side effects.
(more…)

Connecting with You!

words of encouragement from us