future

FORGET THE FORMER THINGS

(September 20, 2019) Carol Round encourages us to let our Christianity shine forth in a needy world round us…

‘Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland’ (Isaiah 43:18-19).

Forget the past? Sometimes it’s easier said than done. In fact, I would say that it’s impossible to let go of the times we’ve been lost in the wilderness – unless we look up.

What does it mean to look up? Look up and seek… seek God, seek his forgiveness, seek his guidance, and seek his hand. Let him lead you from the past into his presence.

God’s presence washes over us like a fresh, spring rain, soothing our weary soul, reviving our spirit, and infusing us with hope. His hope, his strength, and his love can lead us from a life of despair to delighting in him.

Delight yourself in the Lord
In Psalm 37:4, David writes, ‘Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.’

Many believe, especially new Christians, that God will give us anything our hearts desire if we have enough faith. But, as we mature in our faith, we begin to understand what is important in life and to our heavenly Father. (more…)

GETTING BACK TO YOUR FUTURE

(September 9, 2018) Ed Delph shares another timely thought-provoker…

One of the most famous stories in the Bible is Luke 15. Although generally known as ‘the prodigal son chapter’ it is about putting three lost things back into circulation. It’s about…

  • A restoration of dignity and purpose.
  • Lost people getting back to the main road again after lengthy delays and detours.
  • How God’s compassion never gives up.
  • Seeing the essence of a person, not just the behaviour of a person.
  • Having the love to accept people for who they are but not letting them under achieve perpetually.

Lost… and without a good future
The chapter starts with Jesus talking to a crowd of people about a lost sheep, a lost coin and a lost son…  being lost they had no future. (more…)

TOP SECRET

(March 18, 2018) Dr Jim McClure, straight shooting theologian, shares a concern…

Deuteronomy 29:29 clearly declares: ‘The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.’

Relevant concerns today
Matthew Henry, the 17th century Bible scholar, made this comment: ‘He has kept back nothing that is profitable for us, but only that of which it is good for us to be ignorant. The end of all divine revelation is, not to furnish curious subjects of speculation and discourse, but that we may do all the words of this law, and be blessed in our deed.’

Although these words were written over 300 years ago, they are still especially relevant today.

I am very concerned about:

  • The plethora of books that have been written in recent years ‘explaining’ the mysteries of God and using the Bible like an Old Moore’s Almanac or the writings of Nostradamus.
  • The increase of those who write articles and books based on what they claim to be personal divine revelation which, of course, is untestable!
  • The corresponding hunger among many Christians for those who feed their imagination with ‘interpretations’ and ‘explanations’ of cryptic and hidden ‘truths’ supposedly found in the biblical text, and for those who publish their own speculation dressed as revelation from God.

(more…)

DARE TO BOLDLY GO WHERE NO ONE HAS GONE BEFORE…

Dr Robert & Maureen (2)(March 6, 2017) Robert and Maureen McQuillan reminisce and share a challenge to dare …

An article in a magazine about movies/TV shows/comic characters grabbed our attention last week –taking us back to the fifties, yet speaking about a real need today!

In a day when some serious-minded Christians, including church leaders, are saying that we need a fresh revival, here was an article by the delighted editor about another revival, that of the renowned 1950s British comic book hero – Dan Dare.

encouragement-03-17a

 

First Eagle, April 14, 1950

Okay… many, especially our younger generation and non-Brits will wonder who’s he? Who was Dan Dare? This editor (not an aged senior, by the  way!) stated it simply – ‘Before there was the science fiction Quartermass, before Doctor Who, before … there was Colonel Dan Dare – Pilot of the Future.

Boldly going places
We can easily add that decades before Star Trek and the Klingons or Star Wars and Dark Vader, there was Dan Dare and his arch-nemesis, the evil reptile-looking Mekon of Mekonta, ruler of the Treens! Decades before James T Kirk ever declared the Enterprise’s mission to ‘boldly go where no man has gone before’ we who were kids in the fifties can reflect and boldly declare that Dan Dare has been there, done that! (more…)

‘THERE MUST BE SOMETHING BETTER THAN ALL THIS!’

Brian Bell
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…)