By Trevor Bradley

Every day he goes around like a roaring lion seeking who he might devour… so Peter tells us.  Peter encourages us to be alert and to have our wits about us. (1 Peter 5 vs 8 & 9)

In Isaiah 36 & 37 it starts off with these words “And then it came about”.  Hezekiah is sitting in his palace and the King of Assyria decides to make a move on the kingdom of Judah, to attack it. The Assyrian king first sends his representative to meet with Hezekiah’s reps to warn them that they are about to get attacked.  He taunts them with the fact that no army or other god can withstand the King of Assyria’s onslaught.  Listen to his words “where will you find the wisdom and strength to fight us..on whom will you rely?”

Isn’t it incredible that when the evil one comes to attack us, his first weapon is always to get us to doubt our God?  Will God… can God… does God want to… is He able in this situation to rescue?  Are you not asking a bit to much of Him?  Hezekiah’s reps go back and report this to the King.  Hezekiah’s response is to go into the house of God – that is his first port of call.  How unlike mine at times, trying to figure a way out in and through my own earthly wisdom.  Hezekiah then goes to the one who carried the word of God at that time and asks Isaiah ‘What now…where to from here?”

Hear the words out of Isaiah’s mouth “FEAR NOT”

Wow that’s so difficult in the heat of the battle, but this is where the embedded word of God comes through and is brought to mind by the Holy Spirit.  Verses like:-

• Romans 8 vs 31 ” If God is for us( and He is) who can be against us”
• Isaiah 54 vs 17 ” No weapon formed against you will prosper”
•  Psalm 91 vs 16 “Then you will call upon me and I will answer you. And I will be with you in your trouble. I will rescue you”.

God told Isaiah to tell Hezekiah not to be afraid of “their words”.  Why? “For my word is more powerful than any other word on the face of this planet. In fact it is eternal and nothing can stand against my word”. (Isaiah 37 vs 6)

And here is the crux- verse 37- “FOR I WILL”.

My dear brother and sister, let me remind you today, as I did myself, that He will never leave you exposed, defenseless, vulnerable.  He will show up in the heat of your battle and He will deliver you, as He did with Hezekiah.  The battle belongs to the Lord (Exodus 14 vs 13 &  2 Chronicles 20 vs 15).

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By Pastor, Author and Blogger Tim Challies

The effects of extremism have been on display all weekend. They are splashed across every television screen, every news site, the front page of every newspaper. The attacks in Paris have shown us extremism at its most brutal and bloody, the kind that celebrates death, destruction and mayhem.

But did you know that the Bible calls Christians to extremism as well? It calls Christians to be zealots in a cause, to go to great lengths to carry out extreme deeds in the name of Jesus. We see this in Paul’s little letter to Titus where we are reminded of Jesus Christ “who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works” (Titus 2:14).

We, too, are to be extremists. We, too, are to go to extreme measures to serve our God. And here are our marching orders: Do good. We are to bring glory to God by doing good for others. Allah may be glorified in maimed bodies and blood-soaked city streets, but God is glorified in acts of love and deeds of kindness. He is glorified in deeds done not to earn favor with God, but deeds done as an expression of gratitude because we have already received the favor of God. God is glorified as we serve others in his name. God is honored in the costly sacrifice of love.

Jesus himself spoke of the primacy of good works: “Let your light shine before others,” he said, “so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). His friend Peter said it as well: “Keep your conduct among the Gentiles [those who do not adhere to Christian teaching] honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation” (1 Peter 2:12). The Apostle Paul would also echo the theme: “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). The theme pervades and dominates the New Testament. Does it pervade and dominate your life?  Read More…

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By Pastor, Author & Blogger David Murray

If you’d lived during the industrial revolution, you probably wouldn’t have thought, “Oh, wow, this is a revolution.” No, it’s hard for people in the middle of massive changes to make sense of them, to see the bigger picture, to see where all the different bits and pieces are pointing. It’s usually only with hindsight that historians can look back and say, “These were revolutionary times — times of epochal change and radical transformation.”

If the world is spared long enough, I believe that many will look back on these years and say, “That was a revolution. The world was radically and irreversibly transformed in the first 10-15 years of the 21st century.” They will put together all the multiple pieces – 9/11, the Iraq War, Madrid, London, Paris, Syria, Al Qaeda, ISIS, etc., – and see how they all fit together and what a different world picture they created.

But behind these infamous dates, places, and names are deeper forces that have been at work for decades and have now combined to create a perfect hurricane.

Unprecedented mobility. With modern transport — via road, rail, sea, and plane — it has never been easier for people to travel hundreds, even thousands of miles in a relatively short time, relatively unimpeded, and in relative safety. Whether we look at the Mexican border or at Europe this past summer we see the same thing — hundreds of thousands of people in multiple mass movements between nations and even continents.

Borderless nations. In the past, national borders and checkpoints would have made it impossible for people to get into one country from another without a passport or visa. The Mexican border is now more of a gate than a fence. Most European nations boast of being borderless. You can travel from one country to another almost as easily as going to the grocery store. Even when the French “closed” their so-called border on Friday evening, three escaping terrorists waltzed through a checkpoint near the Belgian border and escaped.

Greedy companies. Just as in the USA, large multinationals in Europe are driving greater immigration in their desire to get workers who will accept lower wages and thus increase their profits. Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel has spoken of the economic boost that welcoming hundreds of thousands of Syrians will give to their country.

Ambitious politicians. Many politicians want to accelerate immigration and give amnesty to illegal immigrants because they want their future votes and thus increase and extend their power in government.

Political correctness. College campuses, the media, politicians, and the courts have combined to make it almost impossible for moral values, religious beliefs, and ethical conduct to be critiqued. Anything goes apart from saying that anything shouldn’t go. So afraid are the authorities of offending Muslim sensitivities that many Muslim communities in European cities are now no-go areas for police and other state agencies. Even after Friday evening’s atrocities, the Democratic candidates for President refused to use the phrase “radical Islam.”

Smashed nations. Whatever the rights and wrongs of the Iraq war and its aftermath, or the the half-hearted confused military strategies in Lybia and Syria, the result is hundreds of utterly destroyed cities – even the destruction of whole civilizations. No wonder we have so many angry young Muslim men. We’re partly responsible for wiping their futures of the map. Their homes, their universities, their businesses, their roads – all lie in ruins.

Crusading Islam. When you put together unprecedented mobility, borderless nations, greedy companies, ambitious politicians, political correctness, moral confusion, and smashed nations you’ve created a wide open goal for an aggressive Islam that wants to conquer the world. There are virtually no obstacles left — no geographical, national, financial, political, or moral barriers — to hinder them.

Mass media. All of the above is now broadcast 24/7 around the world, via mainstream and social media, drawing ever growing tsunamis of undocumented and unknown peoples to Western Europe and North America, with the publicity around successful attacks provoking terrorists to outdo one another in their vile and abhorrent evil.

If such are the causes, what are the solutions? Well, it’s close to impossible to reverse or change what has happened over the past 15 years or so. Like all sin, we know how to start it, but we don’t know where it will end or what will end it.  Read More…

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Frank Retief was pastor at St James Church Cape Town for 31 years, having planted the church in 1968 with his wife Beulah.  He became the Presiding Bishop of the Church of England in South Africa until he retired in 2010.  Frank remains active in ministry through preaching, teaching, pastoral work & writing, and has authored a number of books.

Acknowledge Christ

Proverbs 3:5 & 6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and He will make your paths straight.”

We always have to choose between two different ways of looking at life – our way and God’s way. Our natural tendency is to make our own judgements and assessments and act accordingly. But very often the judgements we make are wrong. Proverbs 14:12 is a good reminder of this: “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.”

It is far better to lean on God’s view of life and not our own. Our own view of life will make wrong judgements about people, about circumstances, about life in general and most dangerous of all, about how to get to Heaven. Left to our own understanding we will inevitably think that we can make it on our own. Or we will conclude that it doesn’t really matter what we believe because all roads lead to God anyway! Then on that great day we will prove to be fools. Judgement will show that we leaned on our own way of looking at life rather than on God’s way.

It is far better to “acknowledge him in all our ways”. What does this mean and how do we do it? Well, it means that we reject our own natural tendency to view life as we please and in repentance turn to Him and accept His view of life. In God’s view we are all sinners needing a Saviour. He has provided such a Saviour for us. Furthermore, left to ourselves, we will inevitably make wrong decisions – so He has given us not only a Saviour but also His own word to be a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. To acknowledge Him thus means that we accept His opinions and views about all things. In all our decisions we want to know what will please Him most? What will reflect His wisdom, kindness and compassion? What will bring Him glory? Then we act accordingly. It is true that sometimes making decisions based on our relationship with God, rather than on the accepted wisdom of the age, may bring confusion upon us and it may displease many people. But the Proverb goes on to say: “He will make your paths straight”. In other words, no matter how many oppose you or ridicule you in the end you will be vindicated. Your paths will be straight i.e. without difficulty, disharmony, guilt or any of the things that come upon those who have no time for Christ and His opinions.

Most important of all is that if we acknowledge Him, we will acknowledge His value that He places on His Son and we will turn to Jesus as our only Saviour and our safe guide to the Glory to come.

Prayer: “Almighty God, Please forgive the tendency of my heart to act without you. Help me always to consider you in all of life and seek always to live acknowledging you and your ways in all things. Amen”

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By Speaker & Author Tim Challies

Marriage is under attack. Marriage has always been under attack. The world, the flesh and the devil are all adamantly opposed to marriage, and especially to marriages that are distinctly Christian. Marriage, after all, is given by God to strengthen his people and to glorify himself; little wonder, then, that it is constantly a great battleground.  If Satan cannot destroy a marriage, he will at least determine to weaken it. To neglect any of these 6 things is to invite his presence and to welcome his influence.

I have been thinking recently about some of the foremost foes of Christian marriage and, really, the foremost foes I see creeping up to assault my own marriage. Here are 6 deadly enemies of marriage, and Christian marriage in particular:-

Neglect of Foundation:

The enemy of marriage that deserves to be at the very top of the list is this one: neglecting the foundation—neglecting the biblical foundation. The Bible makes it clear that marriage is an institution decreed by God and an institution meant to glorify God by displaying something about him. The great mystery of marriage is that the covenantal relationship of husband and wife is a portrait of the covenantal relationship of Christ and his church. Marriage is from God, about God, to God, and for God, so we neglect God at our peril. It is only when the biblical foundation is in place that we are able to rightly understand how a husband and wife are to relate, how they are to take up their separate roles, and how they are to seek to bring glory to God both individually and as a couple. To build marriage on any other foundation is to neglect the rock in favor of building upon the sand.  Read More…

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By Kevin de Young – Kevin is the senior pastor of University Reformed Church (PCA) in East Lansing, Michigan, near Michigan State University. He writes as part of the Gospel Coalition.  Kevin has written 6 books, all of which CBD stock

The word doesn’t have to be annoying, but it usually is.

I opened up my big, red Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary (yes, I still have one of these dinosaurs on my desk) and found five definitions for the word “authentic.” It used to mean (1) authoritative, but now means (2) something worthy of acceptance or belief or reproduced in accordance with the originals. Authentic can also mean (3) real or actual, or (4) refer to a musical chord progression. It’s the fifth definition, however, that has become standard: “true to one’s own personality, spirit, or character.”

In a day where people disdain hypocrisy more than any other vice and prize transparency more than any other virtue, you can be as obnoxious as you want to be, fail spectacularly, and sin repeatedly, as long as you never pretend to be any better than you really are. It makes no difference what errors you say, think, or do, if only you are true to yourself. This is life in the Age of Authenticity.

Which is not all bad. Jesus spared no verbal expense in rebuking the hypocrites of his day (rule, to learn to be comfortable in your own skin, to refrain from trying to be someone or something you’re not. Authenticity appeals to so many of us because it seems a welcome antidote to calculating, self-righteous priggishness.

But living in the Age of Authenticity comes with many dangers–common vices made more deadly because they are willfully mistaken for virtues. Read more…

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