What’s Darker Than Dark?

When I was a child I was afraid of the dark. One of my earliest memories is of waking to see a gigantic feral cat, silhouetted in the moonlight, filling the doorway to my bedroom. Yellow glowing eyes stared menacingly back at me as I contemplated what to do. Terrified, I did the best I … Continue reading What’s Darker Than Dark?

The Woman Who Touched God

There came a day when a woman, ritually unclean, dared to approach Jesus, and with trembling hand, reached out and touched His rabbi’s garment¹. Defying all convention, disobeying the Law, risking sudden and violent death, she carried within those tremoring fingers years of hope unrealised, nights of anguished tears, and one last act of final … Continue reading The Woman Who Touched God

The Sweet Sufficiency of Jesus

You know, the further I travel along this Christ-following journey, the more I’m persuaded there’s just one overwhelming priority for the Bride of Christ in this late hour. There is no shortage of prophetic voices proclaiming numerous messages in the name of Christ: messages about the end times, spiritual warfare, cities and nations, world events, … Continue reading The Sweet Sufficiency of Jesus

I’m Not Your Hero

The Sunday morning service was about to start. The child squirmed and protested on my hip as I stood at the back of the room, struggling to keep him still and quiet. The woman approaching me didn’t notice my difficulty in keeping my charge under control. Nor did she discern the tiredness behind my smile. … Continue reading I’m Not Your Hero

On Bearing Witness, Or “Just Go With Me On This”

We watched on with a mixture of awe and wonderment as the old woman cavorted gleefully just in front of us. She was short, round, gray haired…..and today she was beautiful. The silver hair on her head and her chin testified of a long life, a life that had known hardship - perhaps more than … Continue reading On Bearing Witness, Or “Just Go With Me On This”

From The Archives: Destination Christ

  The Bride’s journey is not a journey to somewhere.  It’s a journey into Someone.  Her goal is communion with the Father, by means of the Spirit, through oneness with Christ the Bridegroom.  Her destination is nothing less than Christ's fullness (Eph. 4:13). This is the very thing Jesus prayed for in his final hours of … Continue reading From The Archives: Destination Christ

Of Wolves and Kings

  The scene was somber. Weeping unashamedly each one in turn fell upon the apostle’s neck, covering his face with kisses, embracing him for what they now knew would be the last time.  Each of them feared for their spiritual father's fate, but none could contend with his determination to go on. Regardless of whatever … Continue reading Of Wolves and Kings

Unconditional Love – Or Not

Then the whole multitude of the surrounding region of the Gadarenes asked Him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. And He got into the boat and returned.( Luke 8:37) “Just go Jesus, OK? We don’t want anything to do with you. Don’t even think about entering this city. We’ve seen … Continue reading Unconditional Love – Or Not

Christ is the answer!

I want to share with you a recent post by my friend Patrick Maina in Nairobi, Kenya. The word he shares here and the moving video need to be heard and seen by all who seek to follow Christ. We deal on a daily basis with our own set of circumstances, but this post and video spell out the reality of our deepest identity. The apostle Paul said we are a people who ‘as dying, yet behold we live’. There are those who call us the people of the Cross, and so we are. But we are also the people of the Resurrection. Whether our lives are personally threatened or not, let us live out the Love that is stronger than any hatred and let us carry the Light of that unrelenting Love into every dark and evil place. Death has been swallowed up in victory. In Him is Life, and the Life is the (only) Light of mankind.

Patrick Maina's avatarLife beyond the walls

Credit: Chrismons and Chrismon Patterns Credit: Chrismons and Chrismon Patterns The attack in Garissa University earlier this month left many of us that are affected directly or indirectly with many unanswered questions. There was much pain and heartache at different levels and for this my prayer for peace and strength goes to God especially for the families and friends of the victims.

One brother from SA asked me what I felt and could only say sadness and helplessness, but deep inside I knew that even if it felt like that, we were actually not helpless. It may look like that, but the reality is different.

The creator of the universe, the omnipresent God was present as it was happening, and He was almighty to stop it, but He did not. The very present help in time of need was right there as those perpetrators opened fire on those unarmed people. To understand the whys and…

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Jesus Was Cool About Breaking The Rules

So there I was, frantically squeezing my feet into my brown school shoes, eyeing the wall clock with alarm and breathlessly leaping onto the back of the school bus as it pulled away from the bus stop. My heart was pounding as I rehearsed suitable excuses for missing roll call. My throat tightened with a … Continue reading Jesus Was Cool About Breaking The Rules

A Tale of Two Adams

The Garden ‘Stay here and watch with Me. My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death.’ Matt. 26:38 It was not by coincidence that Jesus chose a garden as the setting for the greatest battle of His earthly life. Wasn’t it in a garden that His ancestor, First Adam, had rejected Life and condemned all … Continue reading A Tale of Two Adams

Beholding The Glory

Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me….. Jn. 17:24 We who follow Christ have been invited to be with Him, where He is, that we may behold His glory. We are conditioned by religious … Continue reading Beholding The Glory

From the Archives: The Gift

For the third time, the ageing Pharisee circled the strangely shaped object lying at his feet.  No one could tell him who had left it unsolicited outside his door, or even when it had appeared.  Wrapped in the skin of a lamb and crudely labelled with just one handwritten Hebrew word, “chen”, its appearance was … Continue reading From the Archives: The Gift

Deep, Deep Love

 Come’ You said. That was it, just: ‘Come’. So here I am, in this place of no return. Looking back I can see the boat: familiar, safe, beckoning. There are faces I know within that boat, that’s the hard thing. People I’ve called friends. But they’re in the boat, and I’m….well, I’m outside the boat … Continue reading Deep, Deep Love

Love. Uncomplicated.

The doctor’s manner was courteous as we entered his consulting room, even if somewhat abrupt. Mr. P and I are no strangers to medical waiting rooms with their clinical atmospheres, hushed tones and oh so efficient receptionists. This day we had sat for an hour and a quarter past our appointment time, but the building … Continue reading Love. Uncomplicated.

The Old Man and The Train

    Imagine yourself in this scenario. You are on a train travelling at high speed, a speed that grows faster with each passing moment. You are in a crowded carriage where every other passenger is seated. But you are standing in the aisle, trying very hard to stay on your feet as the train’s … Continue reading The Old Man and The Train

From the Archives: The Courts of the King

And Enoch walked with God, and he was not for God took him.’  For much of my Christian life, I have found that simple Old Testament statement profoundly intriguing.  What did it mean that Enoch walked with God to the extent that God found it irresistible to remove him from this earthly life into His … Continue reading From the Archives: The Courts of the King

Crucified!

The mood among them was sombre to say the least. Passover was meant to be a celebration of Israel’s exodus from Egypt, but all this talk of Him going away without them was hitting them like a bucket of cold water.   Now His conversation had turned again to the Father and the One He called … Continue reading Crucified!

Of His Flesh and Of His Bones: A Mystery

One of the things I like about some more historic versions of the Bible is their poetic language. I know not everyone will agree and some struggle to understand the older translations, so this is purely an individual observation. Modern language translations and paraphrases also have an important place and personally I enjoy consulting a … Continue reading Of His Flesh and Of His Bones: A Mystery