James’ golden thread of doing is not finished by a long shot. He will hit that nail on the head a few times more. But I suspect he does it because we easily fall back into our old way of doing things and then don’t see the effect of our faith. I must say I […]
Read moreWow, it’s unbelievable how our lives have been changed by technology! Of course, some of it is not good, but some apps have broadened and improved our worlds considerably. Take WhatsApp, for instance. Information is flying everywhere, and we immediately know what is happening in the world. There are no more limits, and no distance […]
Read moreThe ten commandments are not so easy to keep. Often, we don’t even know what the ten commandments say, let alone practising them in our lives. Jesus knew this, and that’s why He summarised the law in simple terms: we must love our neighbour as we love ourselves. And even doing that is not easy, […]
Read moreThere is a story about a student who studied at Stanford University in 1894 who had no money to pay for his studies. He had grown up in an orphanage. Together with a friend, he decided to present a concert to collect money, and they invited the famous pianist, Ignacy J. Paderewski, for this purpose. […]
Read moreWe’re sitting in the bakkie close to a tower to upload Sunday’s sermon to the cloud. The signal is poor. We’ve been driving around from one tower to the other all day and it’s been frustrating. You get frustrated with yourself, with the internet. Frustrated with anything that may cross your path unexpectedly. A man […]
Read moreAre you a forgetful listener or a doer? How often do we hear the Word of God in church and you know the pastor is preaching just for you, but you don’t do anything about it? Some time ago I listened to an excellent sermon. It was about that one thing that you have to […]
Read moreI was lying in my bed when I heard someone climbing through the window. Within seconds I saw him entering the room. In the moonlight shining through the window, I glimpsed his AK47. My heart was hammering in my chest. I could see him softly opening one wardrobe door after the other. I could see […]
Read more16Make sure you don’t take things for granted and go slack in working for the common good; share what you have with others. God takes particular pleasure in acts of worship … I can’t move past this verse and want to make the point again. Bertha tells of how she wanted to claim unemployment benefits […]
Read moreThis is the second part of Tert’s story. Herman is writing it down: In the first part of the story, the beggar told of how someone had prayed for him and how he had been cured of alcoholism. “So, how on earth did you find me?” Tert asked him. “Well, you see, I had a […]
Read moreTert told the story of the day he had breakfast with a former homeless person, and Herman wrote it down: “You see”, said the former homeless person, “I was an alcoholic for 18 years. Eight of those years I was living on the streets. I lost my job, my fiancé kicked me out; I basically […]
Read more