As another year ends and we get set to embark on 2024, we’re reminded that time marches relentlessly on. Yet thankfully, God has given us a book filled with timeless wisdom to help us navigate our journey. Over the next few weeks, we will overview the books of Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon to harness some much-needed godly wisdom for 2024. We start today with Job. I think of this book as a series of boxing matches, all of which, except one, are verbal. The matchups are as follows: God v Satan (Job 1-2) Satan v Job (Job 1-2) Job v his 4 friends (Job 3-37) God v Job (Job 38-4 ..read more

God is both a ‘who’ and a ‘what’. When we talk about what God is, we refer to his attributes, those traits that make God uniquely God. Thus, God is all-powerful, all-knowing, all-kind, all-loving, and so on. When we talk about who God is, we refer to the Trinity. Putting the ‘what’ and ‘who’ together we can say, there is one God who exists as three co-eternal, co-equal persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Another way to explain the Trinity is: (1) The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are distinct Persons; (2) each Person is fully God; (3) there is only one God. While we believe the T ..read more

One way to help make the most of life is to set personal goals. You can set goals for your Christian life, character, marriage, family, career, leisure and/or community involvement. When setting goals ask yourself what the best possible future in those areas might look like. Don’t be unrealistic though, for the goals you set need to be under your control. At the same time, don’t sell your future short – dare to dream! Come up with SMART goals: Specific, not vague Measurable, not overly subjective Attainable, not unrealistic Relevant, not godless! Time-bound, not open-ended Make sure you writ ..read more

Every Christian faces three enemies: the world, the flesh and the devil. All three can be seen in Genesis 3. The world refers to the system humanity has put in place to get by without God. It came to life when Adam and Eve sewed fig leaves together to cover their nakedness (3:7). When the couple disobeyed God and ate the forbidden fruit, they knew something was wrong. They tried to fix the problem with completely inadequate fig-leaf clothing. The flesh refers to sinful human nature. After they sinned and were interrogated by God, Adam and Eve played the blame game. While they reluctantly confe ..read more

Back in 2010 Macy Gray released a US top 40 single called ‘Beauty in the World.’ It’s an upbeat pop song that celebrates the wonder we see around us. While I wouldn’t call it a classic (though it is catchy!), it nonetheless communicates an important truth, easily forgotten in a world that loves to focus on the negative, the bad and the ugly. Beauty has been defined as ‘that quality present in a thing or person that gives intense pleasure or deep satisfaction to the mind.” Most would agree that we often see beauty in the natural realm, be it fauna, flora, the night sky or incredible landscapes ..read more

How in the world can anyone count it all joy when they fall into various trials (James 1:2-3)? Seriously, you’re hit with significant sickness and you’re meant to consider that joy? You have a strained relationship that saps your emotional energy and you’re meant to think, ‘joy’? You have a reversal at work and somehow, as a Christian, you’re meant to process that as joy? The challenges brought on by Covid and the government’s response to it, joy for the Christian, really!? We usually greet such trials with complaining and distress, but the Christian response, says James 1:2, should be ‘all j ..read more

After a man and woman say “I do” on their wedding day and the celebrant declares the union legal, a new family has been created. Husband and wife are a whole family, they don’t need children to ‘complete’ them. If children come along, they become additions to the family, they don’t define it and thereby exist at the centre of it. This is critical for married couples to appreciate. For Christians, Christ is the centre of the family. I say this because our generation seems to be swamped with child-centred parenting. Everything in the home revolves around the children, their wants and needs. Suc ..read more

But why? Ever heard a child utter those infuriating words? Well, you may not know it but that question gives you a perfect opportunity to teach the child significant practical theology. In fact whether the question is asked or not, parents and friends need to teach children the moral reason why certain behaviours are good or bad. If for example one child hits another, or steals a toy or throws a tantrum, or treats people or property with disdain, then they need to know why it is wrong. It may be a case that they are not respecting people (who own property) with respect. All people carry the i ..read more

One word guaranteed to cause any Christian to feel guilty is the word ‘prayer’! We all know we ought to pray, but for one reason or another we can often find it very difficult. Knowing what or how to pray might just encourage us to pray more. Enter the prayer acrostic ACTS. As you pray, work your way through the acrostic in this way: Adoration – start prayer simply by praising God for who he is. Think through and acknowledge a few of his attributes. Confession – thinking on God’s perfections should lead naturally to thinking about our imperfections, so next step is to confess all known sin. T ..read more

If you appreciate great writing read 1 Corinthians 13 slowly, pausing after each verse. This chapter is the Apostle Paul’s masterful hymn to love. Not only does the whole chapter follow a parallel A B A’ pattern, but the rhythm and language are exquisite. Both the vessel and its contents work to extol love. That is, both what he writes and the way he writes reveal that the pursuit of God’s love is the greatest quest anyone can undertake. Yet how do we practically pursue the kind of love 1 Corinthians 13 talks about? It seems so other-worldly, so pristine, so out of reach! The answer, though it ..read more