Paul

PREFERRED – PANIC PURGING PRAYER!

(April 15, 2024) Wayne Swift again calls it as it is, challenging us to seek peace by prayer when panic hits…

The world we live in is beset by drama so often causing panic!

Panic Grabs
The media need consumers… and nothing grabs a consumer like an urgent situation. Media headlines always work to bring you closer so that you need their insights.

One day a while back I checked The Age website for the cricket scores. But what caught my eye, grabbing me, was the headline highlighting Australian share market slumps following US trend. Out of interest, I read the article Australian share market slumps, tracking Wall Street losses and found that the S&P/ASX200 had fallen 29.6 points, or 0.39 per cent, to 7493.6, weighed down by 10 out of the 11 sectors. 

(more…)

LET’S NOT TWIST AGAIN!

(January 14, 2024) Dr Richard Winter shares about Jesus’ second temptation…

Music changed when I was a young person –

  • Country became R & B.
  • R & B became Rock and Roll.
  • New music and new names came quickly to us.

New dances were invented – you may remember The Mashed Potato, The Watusi, The Freddie. Come on… I know you remember these dances. And nobody will ever forget The Twist.

Remember Chubby Checker and how we were all invited to ‘Twist again… Round and round and up and down we go…’

That may not be a dance today but twisting actually happens with many people when they misuse God’s word –

  • Twisting it!
  • Turning it around!
  • Moving it in many directions!

When I lived in Missouri we knew we lived in the Tornado Alley – tornadoes would tear through the Midwest. TV and radio would quickly inform you of coming danger, to get under cover quickly!

So today while others may be twisting merrily to music, some Christians are living in some ‘spiritual Tornado Alley’ and I would like to give some warnings about God’s word being tornadoed.

(more…)

ENCOURAGEMENT, STRENGTH AND HOPE IN TROUBLED TIMES

(November 15, 2023) Wayne Swift shares encouragingly…

Paul was so concerned about the troubles the Thessalonian Christians were encountering that he didn’t hesitate in sending young Timothy to help them. As he wrote in 1Thessalonians 3:2-3, Timothy was directed ‘… to strengthen and encourage you in your faith, so that no one would be unsettled by these trials.’

Knowing the circumstances of the fledgling Thessalonian congregation and the likelihood of ongoing persecution, Paul reminded them of his concern for those troubled Christians and encouraged them in their faith.

Encouraging means to give hope and the apostle was a great encourager of Christians and churches. A top example to us in these troubled days!

Faith-directed encouragement
Encouragement provides both hope and support in difficult situations and is welcomed. 

(more…)

PAUL’S GREAT CONCERN

(September 26, 2023) Brian Bell shares some thoughts on Paul’s concern about non-Christian behaviour…  

The apostle Paul had spent about 18 months with the believers in the Roman city of Corinth before he moved on. During the next three years that church grew in number but, unfortunately, also encountered a range of problems. And now a disquieted Paul writes them a letter expressing some concerns.

In many senses Paul’s 1 Corinthians’ letter may be considered unpleasant reading, since he addresses some exceedingly difficult issues – what we in our generation would call – ‘non-Christian behaviours.’

Among other things he talks about is rival factions within this gathering of early believers. I would draw our attention to the following…

Paul’s Plea
In verse 1:10bNLT, a troubled Paul writes pleadingly about divisions in the church – ‘Let there be real harmony so there won’t be divisions within the church, I plead with you…’

(more…)

PAUL’S SOUND ADVICE

(May 15, 2023) Dr Jim McClure shares on 1 Timothy 6… 

One of our favourite shows TV shows is the old British comedy series, As Time Goes By (1992 – 2005). In various ways it demonstrates how different life was then compared to today.

But can you imagine what life would have been like 2000 years ago – no cars, trains, planes, TVs, mobile phones, computers or credit cards! Basic comforts would have been minimal, food scarce and dining with friends at a local café or restaurant not even a consideration. There were no government welfare schemes, health benefits, or public schools.

In Jesus’ day, houses were generally very small, very basic with dirt floors, and extended families often lived under the same roof. At night oil lamps provided the lighting. Life was very difficult and often very brutal. The poor were frequently exploited and intimidated.

And this was the world into which the early church was born. The first Christians were confronted with the enormous challenge of impacting that world for God.  That was what Jesus was saying when He preached, ‘You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden’ (Matthew 5:14).  If we are followers of Jesus Christ, truly Christians, there must be some visible evidence in the way we live and in the values we hold.  The challenge Jesus gave 2000 years ago continues – to us today in 2023.

Personality challenge!
Of course, meeting that challenge becomes very personal! It requires us individually to address our own characters and to ask ourselves, ‘What do I need to change in my attitudes and behaviour?’ When we become Christians, we are forgiven but we are not made perfect human beings! In His relationships with others Jesus gave us an example to follow.  Sometimes we forget that! Jesus’ ministry and mission was not just about securing for us personal salvation. It was also particularly about changing the world for good and for God. Who we are and the way we live has a significant role to play in that challenge.

(more…)

THE BARNABAS EFFECT

(March 13, 2023) Richard Winter shares on something badly needed in church circles today…

I love stories so let me begin by telling you one that I heard many, many years ago and has stayed ever fresh in my mind.

Once upon a time… (original story opening, eh)… it was announced that the devil was going out of business and would sell all his evil equipment to those who were willing to pay the price.

On the big day of the sale, all his tools were attractively displayed… Envy, Jealousy, Hatred, Malice, Deceit, Sensuality, Pride, Idolatry and other implements of destruction, each price tagged marked.

Over in the corner by itself was a harmless-looking, wedge-shaped tool very much worn down, but with a higher price than any of the others. Someone asked Satan what it was, and he answered, ‘Discouragement.’ 

(more…)

‘MAN IN WHITE’ APPEARS TO MUSLIMS, BRINGING SALVATION

(May 14, 2022) Mark Ellis shares another good news incident…

During Ramadan, CBN News detailed some notable stories from the last few years about how Jesus has been revealing Himself to Muslims in dreams and visions.

In one story, a Middle Eastern missionary named Yazid (*name changed) shared about a man visited by Jesus every night for a month, asking him to write down what He said.

God at work in the Middle East
McLean Bible Church’s Pastor David Platt interviewed the missionary during The Gospel Coalition’s Something Needs to Change simulcast’ and Yazid had stated that ‘God is moving inside the Middle East with dreams, visions, and personal visitations.’

(more…)

READY TO HANG MYSELF, BIBLE APPEARS IN MY CELL

(July 22, 2021) Scott Bailey (prison I.D. left) shares his testimony…

‘I’m not going to survive this. There’s nothing left to live for. I give up!’

Through tears I fashioned a noose from the bed sheet, eyeing the light fixture at the top of my cell. It should hold me I thought. What was there left to live for? I had failed in every area of my life, withdrawal from drug addictions would probably kill me anyway. I prepared to end my life. I had become a prisoner of my own making.

Cancer death sentence
Years earlier, I had received a blow that changed my life forever… My doctor told me, ‘Scott, you have a rare cancer called Mucadermal Carcinoma. Due to the rapid growth of the tumour in your lymph nodes, you have one to three years maximum to live.’

He had removed a large tumour located near my brain, nerves had been nicked and the right side of my face was paralysed. All I could hear echoing in my ears was the death sentence. Reeling from shock, I recounted the beginning of my drug addiction 15 years earlier.

What was once a ‘party addiction’ of heroin, cocaine and pills now became a way of life, massive amounts. It didn’t matter; I was going to die anyway. I pushed away those who loved me. I became so strung-out that I kept a syringe of heroin in the drawer waiting for me so that when I woke up in cold sweats in the middle of the night.

(more…)