A Devotional: The Perfect Kingdom

“He who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new?’” Revelations 21:5 Everybody always wants to know how the story ends.  The book of Revelation gives us the opportunity to flick forward to the final page, in order that we might walk towards the end of history with greater faith,Continue reading “A Devotional: The Perfect Kingdom”

Fix your Eyes on the Invisible

Do you ever get discouraged? Are you ever tempted to ‘lose heart’? If you are, you are not alone. Paul was almost certainly tempted himself to lose heart, and he wrote to other Christians who were also tempted to do so. Yet Paul wrote, ‘We do not lose heart’ (2 Corinthians 4:1,16). ‘We do notContinue reading “Fix your Eyes on the Invisible”

Soften Your Heart And Harden Your Feet

A twenty-one-year-old music college student took the cheapest ship she could find, calling at the greatest number of countries, and prayed to know where to disembark. She arrived in Hong Kong in 1966 and came to a place called the Walled City. It was a small, densely populated, lawless area controlled neither by China norContinue reading “Soften Your Heart And Harden Your Feet”

Perspective

In his book, The Vision and The Vow, Pete Greig tells of how a distinguished art critic was studying an exquisite painting by the Italian Renaissance master Filippino Lippi. He stood in London’s National Gallery gazing at the fifteenth-century depiction of Mary holding the infant Jesus on her lap, with saints Dominic and Jerome kneeling nearby.Continue reading “Perspective”

Restoring Relationships

Hans worked his way up from being a miner to owning a number of mines. His eldest son, Martin, was very intelligent and went to university at the age of seventeen. A respectable career as a lawyer lay ahead of him. Suddenly, to his father’s dismay, he cancelled his registration for the law course andContinue reading “Restoring Relationships”

Just in Time

Corrie ten Boom and her sister Betsie were middle-aged Christian women in Holland when World War II erupted. They resolved to conceal fleeing Jews from the Nazis. They rescued many. But they were eventually arrested and taken to Ravensbrück concentration camp. Betsie died there. Corrie miraculously survived to bear witness to the way in whichContinue reading “Just in Time”

Prayer Makes A Difference

Saint John Chrysostom (349–407) wrote, ‘Prayer… is the root, the fountain, the mother of a thousand blessings… The potency of prayer has subdued the strength of fire, it has bridled the rage of lions… extinguished wars, appeased the elements, expelled demons, burst the chains of death, expanded the gates of heaven, assuaged diseases… rescued citiesContinue reading “Prayer Makes A Difference”