YOur Team

‘Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle.’ Romans  1:1 NASB In the Bible the word minister isn’t just a noun (which denotes a person, place, or thing); it’s also a verb (an action word). It’s what you do, not what you claim to be. In Scripture, the word servant sometimes referred to a 3rd-level galley slave chained to the oar of a Roman ship. Day and night, they rowed to the beat of another, and whether in battle or in merchant service, they expected to die chained to that oar. What a picture! Paul says, ‘Dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all He has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice – the kind he will...

‘Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labour in vain.’ Psalm 12 7:1 NIV How would you describe your relationship with your children? Strained? Exciting? Heart-breaking? Enjoyable? If you want a real eye-opener, ask them to describe their feelings about you and their home. But be warned, what they say might not be to your liking! And having a Christian home doesn’t necessarily exempt you. The old nature in us still rears its ugly head from time to time, and habits set in concrete can lead to broken communication. When Biblical principles are ignored, the result is pain and strain in the family. Three illustrations come to mind: 1) Rebekah loved her son Jacob more than his brother...

‘Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.’ Romans 1 2:2 NASB Long before William James, the Father of American psychology, was attributed with saying, ‘The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes,’ God said, ‘As a man thinks in his heart, so is he’ (Proverbs 23:7 NKJV). Often it’s our thoughts, not our circumstances, that determine our happiness. We keep thinking we will be happy when certain things happen. For example, a parent might say, ‘When little Tommy starts primary school, I will be happy.’ And they are, for a while. Next, ‘When Tommy leaves secondary school, I will be happy.’ And they are, at least for the...

‘No one should seek their own good, but the good of others.’ 1 Corinthians 1 0:24 NIV Self-pity can be deadly. It tells the wife and mother who works hard, ‘You’re not appreciated.’ It says to the office worker, ‘Look how valuable you are, yet you’re never recognised or rewarded.’ It says to the unemployed, ‘No chance!’ To the divorced, ‘No place!’ To the bereaved, ‘No hope!’ And to the struggling, ‘No way!’ Look at the prophet Elijah. 24 hours after his greatest victory, he is deeply depressed and wallowing in self-pity. ‘I have had enough…Take my life…I have zealously served…But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed…your prophets. I...

‘Jacob set up a memorial stone in the place where He had spoken with him,’ Genesis 3 5:14 NASB There are events in all our lives that, looking back, had to be the hand of God at work. Maybe you bumped into somebody who introduced you to your spouse, or a co-worker resigned and suddenly you were promoted, or a stranger said something that spoke to your heart. These are all signs of God’s favour, and when you’re tempted to get down, you need to remember how God opened the door for you, how he made a way, or spared your life, or healed your child. There is no such thing as coincidence. When something good happens, recognise that it’s God, and recall it often. In the Old Testament, ‘Jacob set...

‘He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, And broke their chains in pieces.’ Psalm 10 7:14 NKJV When the Israelites cried to the Lord, he saved them. He brought them out of darkness and broke their chains. (see Psalm 107:13-14). And He can set you free from whatever is holding you captive today. And not just temporary freedom, but long-term freedom: ‘"So if the Son sets you free, you really will be free.’ (John 8:36 CSB). Here are two steps you can take towards freedom: 1) Cry out to the Lord. God said, ‘You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.’ (Jeremiah 29:13 NIV). Away with dignity and decorum – desperate situations call for desperate measures!...

‘I have heard them crying out…and I am concerned about their suffering.’ Exodus  3:7 NIV For 400 years, Israel was enslaved by Egyptian taskmasters who oppressed them. You can understand their feelings of helplessness when you consider the areas in your life where you struggle for freedom from old habits. Whether it’s anger, food, alcohol, drugs, sex, money, or abusive relationships, we experience a sense of powerlessness in our struggle. And repeated attempts at freedom can produce increased feelings of hopelessness that lead us to give up trying altogether. The Israelites cried out to God, and He responded: ‘The LORD said, "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have...

‘Even the youths shall faint and be weary,’ Isaiah 4 0:30 NKJV Dr Richard Swenson says, ‘You can go into the woods, select a 3m sapling [young tree], bend it over, and when you release it, it will return to its normal height. But if you keep bending it further and further, it will stay down. With stress, first, you bend, and then you recover. With burnout, first, you bend, and then you break, and you stay broken. Burnout is not a figment of your imagination or a sensationalised diagnosis by psychologists. Exhaustion is real; it’s common, and it’s dangerous. It leads to irritability, anger, paranoia, headaches, ulcers, depression, and suicide. Burnout causes something inside you to break;...

‘Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for…Saul, for he is praying.’ Acts  9:11 NIV Has everyone else written off your Saul? ‘He is too far gone.’ ‘He is too hard, too addicted, too old, too cold.’ Joseph believed one day he would be reunited with the brothers who betrayed him, and it happened. The prophet Hosea’s wife deserted him and became a prostitute. Yet, he kept the door open, and she came home. God believed in Saul. And he believed in Saul through Ananias: ‘Brother Saul, the Lord – Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here – has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit’ (Acts 9:17 NIV). Max Lucado writes: ‘My favourite...

‘Blessed is he who considers the poor;’ Psalm 4 1:1 NKJV In October 2022, Forbes stated there were 2,668 billionaires in the world. It’s incredible to think that one individual, let alone 2,668 individuals, can be worth billions of dollars, and yet there are billions of poor people in the world. Does that seem right? These individuals might easily say, ‘I worked for my money.’ But the question is, what responsibility does God place on the haves with regard to the have-nots? Surely donations made by even one of these individuals would eliminate the threat of starvation experienced by millions. So, why are there still people who are hungry and dying of starvation? ‘Blessed is the one who...