Deuteronomy 32:4

WINNING THE BATTLE OF EVIL WITHIN

(March 30, 2025) Robert McQuillan challenges…

Albert Einstein said, ‘I do not fear the explosive power of the atom bomb. What I fear is the explosive power in the human heart.’

Interesting observation from the famous scientist who revered Almighty God. Einstein was saying that while the atom bomb has the capacity to destroy, the human heart can hold a greater destructive power!

Sadly we‘re living in days when evil hearts can be devastating unfriendly; and our enemy Satan continues to destroy faith in God and righteous living.

Someone even more perceptive than Einstein commented on more than one occasion about the evil in the human heart… Jesus. Boy, did He have a lot to say!

Jesus’ Wise Teachings
What He taught still stands! Here’s just some of the things Jesus had to say to those—

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ROADBLOCK

(February 05, 2024) Dr Jim McClure challenges…

I have been reflecting lately on the unexpected journey my life has taken over the years and I would never have guessed the direction it would take. It truly has been an amazing journey of discovery on roads that have been generally unplanned.  

Life can be compared to a journey. Sometimes the road resembles a journey down a 6-lane motorway and sometimes it is more like travelling down an unsealed, pot-holed lane.

In my last article, A Road Untravelled, we considered the account of the miraculous crossing of the Jordan river by the Israelites who were leaving their wilderness wandering of 40 years to begin the challenge of a new life in Canaan.

Of course, their journey did not end when they entered Canaan – they had many other roads ahead of them as they settled in, such as this one… 

Shortly after they had entered the Promised Land, they encountered their first roadblock in the form of the city of Jericho.

Considered to be one of the oldest cities in the world, it was rich in resources and its location was strategically important as it controlled the routes between north, south, east and west. Jericho was also one of the world’s first walled cities.  And what walls they were!

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A ROAD UNTRAVELLED

(January 07, 2024) Dr Jim McClure encourages Christians to confidently follow the Lord this new year… 

Welcome to 2024! Where did last year go?

I was reflecting on how much the world has changed in my lifetime. I was born when German bombs were being dropped on Belfast. But following the end of the war, despite various hardships, life was pretty good. I have come to the conclusion that I have been privileged to live in a time of unparalleled discovery and achievement in the world.

Following the Second World War who would have guessed that someone would walk on the moon? Who would have speculated that our old radio would be largely replaced by a colour television? Who would have considered that one day you could carry a phone in your pocket without trailing a telephone wire? Who would have anticipated that something called a computer would be invented that would give you instant answers to many of your questions on many subjects? Who would have predicted the amazing advances in medicine and surgery?

Of course, not everything over the years has been good or positive – I do not need to list some of the negatives and tragedies that have also been part of those years… although the Covid pandemic which, directly or indirectly, wreaked havoc in the lives of countless millions of people throughout the world, was one of those stressful times.

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FIVE WAYS GOD GUIDES YOU

(January 23, 2022) Richard Winter challenges Christian commitment for 2022…

Well, it’s been a challenging and tiring time with the likes of covid-19! I’m not sure what has tired you the most but personally I’m tired of zoom meetings! Tired of making YouTube videos! Tired of not being in church like we used to be.

But… I’m also a realist and recognise that the world and even the church has changed a lot!

We may get some old things back – but it will never be the same way as before. Possibly at no other time in our lifetime, we – you and I – are being called to evaluate our commitment to Christ and His church (think local church, not just universal church) and how we will propagate the Christian faith in a world that is actively hostile to our beliefs and worldview.

Reaching ‘our destination’
Everyone is lost until saved by Jesus… so how will we accomplish the task of reaching everyone for Jesus?

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THE CHOICE IS OURS

(June 9, 2021) Bonnie Spencer shares a most important challenge…

We make countless choices every day. We decide…

What to wear, what to eat, who to hang out with. What time to get up, unless we have a job that dictates that. Even then, we had the choice of taking that job, looking for a different one, or not working at all but instead backpacking around the country.

And so on… but the choice most often is ours.

Created to make choices
Although some countries severely limit freedoms, that is not how God created us to live. He is all about freedom and giving us the opportunity to make our own choices. Unlike the animals he created with instincts, he gave us the ability to think and decide for ourselves how to live our lives… even when it means making the wrong choices. That is clear from the beginning of history.

When God created Adam and Eve and placed them in the Garden of Eden, he instructed them, ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die’(Genesis 2:16-17).

From the start God has laid out what is right and what is wrong, telling the consequences of making the wrong decisions. Adam and Eve made a bad choice in disobeying God, and humankind has experienced the consequence of death ever since. Death was never God’s plan for us, but he allows us to choose.

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