Years ago, there was a TV series, Extreme Makeover Home Edition. In this program a group of experts completely renovated an old house or in some cases completely demolished it and built a new one. In that period the family was sent away for a vacation and pampering. On the last day they were brought […]
Read moreThe altar was central to the Old Testament. The altar was the main channel of communication between the people and God. It was the place where the people brought sacrifices to God. It was the place where blood had to flow for the people’s sin. The altar and the animals sacrificed on it were people’s […]
Read moreThere has to be one set of rules to maintain order in society. Every person can’t simply have their own rules. That’s a recipe for disaster. God has just one set of rules too. Everybody is subject to the same rules, no exception, no discrimination. The Old Testament also had a bunch of rules and […]
Read moreWhen Jesus died on the cross, the curtain in the temple tore from top to bottom. The Message translation puts it so well: 19-21So, friends, we can now—without hesitation—walk right up to God, into “the Holy Place.” Jesus has cleared the way by the blood of his sacrifice, acting as our priest before God. The […]
Read moreI was drinking a percolated coffee on a farm. It was harvest time. Outside you could hear the workers gathering the harvest and loading the trucks. I was fairly tired from recording the Sunday sermon. Suddenly a man came in. I recognised him from somewhere, but couldn’t make the connection. Then I remembered I had […]
Read moreI pity the people who lived on earth before Jesus came. They did not actually have a chance of going to heaven. If they sinned, they had to take the punishment. I suspect I would have missed out on heaven too. But thank goodness God came with a supernatural, incomprehensible rescue effort. I will never […]
Read moreGod is a doing God. God is a God who keeps his Word. If He decides to do something, He doesn’t throw in the towel at the halfway mark. When He realises how huge the act is and how much it will demand of Him, He doesn’t reconsider and go against his Word. Jesus is […]
Read moreThe crux of our faith is so simple: … 5that there’s one God and only one, and one Priest-Mediator between God and us—Jesus, 6who offered himself in exchange for everyone held captive by sin, to set them all free. That is the best news that we, as sinners, could ever hear. We simply cannot get […]
Read moreSanta’s story: This reminds me of a dark year in my life – my 19-year old daughter was studying. She and her friends always liked to party, but at one stage my husband started suspecting that they were involved in questionable things. One Monday evening we got the news that her boyfriend had died in […]
Read moreSometimes life is hard. It’s just one curveball after the other and it feels as if life is falling apart piece by piece. Have you been there? I suspect so. You may be there right now. I’ve been there. When I was planning my fourth book launch a while ago, a couple of curveballs came […]
Read more