You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you (ESV). “You will keep in perfect and constant peace the one whose mind is steadfast [that is, committed and focused on You—in both inclination and character], Because he trusts and takes refuge in You [with hope and confident expectation]. (Amplified Bible) Isaiah 26:3 We live in a time of great uncertainty. The battles in Ukraine rage on, and nobody knows when it might stop. The Covid situation – although improving in the West – is causing serious lockdowns in places like Shanghai, China. Over in the US and E ..read more

A king had a male servant who, under all circumstances always said to him: “My king, do not be discouraged because everything God does is perfect, and He makes no mistakes.” One day, they went hunting and a wild animal attacked the king. The servant managed to kill the animal but couldn’t prevent his majesty from losing a finger. Furious and without showing any gratitude, the king said; “If God was good, I would not have been attacked and lose one finger”. The servant replied: “Despite all these things, I can only tell you that God is good ..read more

This is the amazing testimony of ex-Media Corp actor Peter Yu and his wife, Brenda Leow. However, the video is in Chinese and there are no English subtitles. Individually, Yu and Leow attended church when they were young, but their foundations in Christ were not firmly rooted and they drifted deeply into the world. When Yu divorced his first wife, T.V. star Quan Yifeng, in 2008, he tried to numb the pain of a broken marriage through gambling and clubbing. He met Leow at a club he had patronised, and subsequently, Yu and Leow moved in together. The lowest point in their lives occurred when Leow ..read more

This audio-only testimony given by a former temple medium cum drug abuser was recorded sometime during the 90s, and in it, this brother-in-Christ shares how he got saved, of his marvellous transformation, and his miraculous healing from a painful stomach ailment. He also explains, in some detail, the business of being a temple medium — of how the demons enter and leave the medium’s body as they please (even at the most importune time for the medium), and of how the medium does not feel any pain when the demons are controllin ..read more

By and large, all sins can be categorised into one of three types:  the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (1 John 2:16, NIV). From the story of Samson, we perceive that he struggled with the lust of the eyes. We first infer this from the account of Samson asking his parents for a Philistine wife: One day when Samson was in Timnah, one of the Philistine women caught his eye. When he returned home, he told his father and mother, “A young Philistine woman in Timnah caught my eye. I want to marry her. Get her for me.” (Judges 14:1-2; NLT; with ..read more

On a trip to Thessaloniki in November 2011, I visited the Museum of Byzantine Culture, and it is a place that I would recommend for those of you who would like a deeper understanding of early church history in Thessaloniki. At the museum, look out for exhibits related to the early Christian church: Here is a panel which nicely explains what early Christian life in Thessaloniki was like: Meanwhile, here are a couple of random things that caught my attention. Firstly, here is an archaeological finding of a mosaic floor from the reception room of a house of the 5th century Thessaloniki ..read more

In a previous post, I reported that while in Thessaloniki, the Apostle Paul desired to preach at the Roman Forum (Roman Agora) but was denied permission because of the strong pagan influence around the area. If Paul could not preach at the Roman Forum, then where did he eventually preach at? Well, on a trip to Thessaloniki in November 2011, I visited the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki, where at the ‘The Jews at Thessaloniki’ exhibition, I came across a poster which indicated that the Apostle Paul had preached at the city’s synagogue in 50 AD. Indeed, this would be consistent with ..read more

Besides the two epistles (letters) written by Paul to the church in Thessalonica (1 Thessalonians and 2 Thessalonians), Thessalonica is also mentioned in the New Testament in a 7 other occasions: When Paul and his companions had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. (Acts 17:1; NIV) Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. (Acts 17:11; NIV) But when t ..read more

One of the first Christian communities in European soil was established in Thessaloniki and according to Wikipedia, the “Rotunda is the oldest of Thessaloniki’s churches“. Wikipedia also notes that “some Greek publications claim it is the oldest Christian church in the world, although there are competitors for that title“. I am in doubt over Wikipedia’s claim of the Rotunda (also known as the Church of Agios Georgios) being the oldest church in Thessaloniki. In particular, the Rotunda was formerly a pagan temple before it had been converted into a church, and perh ..read more

The bible encourages us to meditate on God’s word day and night (Psalm 1:2), and I think it is not without reason that we are instructed to do this. For one, I think (and this is also based on m own personal experience) that as we meditate on God’s word, we uncover hidden, spritual truths, that are not apparent on a cursory reading. I find it painful to read about the story of Samson (Judges 13) and have often wondered if he could have avoided his untimely death. Indeed, I do not think it was God’s plan for Samson to have died the way he did. Rather, I speculate that his fate is ..read more