Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” Rom. 12:12 Chambers defines hope as a desire – an expectation that something good will happen. Hope for anything on this side of heaven is conditioned by many factors. Everyone alive had had hopes dashed, even when we were assured. When our hope is on God and what He has […]

“…And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.” Acts 4:31. “And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.” Acts 13:52. “Walk in the Spirit.” Gal.5:16. “Be filled with the Spirit.” Eph.5:18. Introduction The apostle Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 1:15-23 is undoubtedly one of the greatest prayers […]

Three Things the Early Church Did following the Resurrection Text: Acts 1:1-14, Acts 5:32, Ecclesiastes 4:9-12, Ephesians 4:11-12, Galatians 6:9, Hebrews 5:8-9, John 10:27-28, John 15:10, Matthew 26:21, Psalm 84:11, Romans 12:4-8 In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach 2 until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles […]

The Easter season is a celebration of second chances, renewal, and surprising fulfillment. This is not only true for those who witnessed the first Easter, but for us today as well! On the first Easter Sunday, God took the disciples’ greatest disappointment and turned it into their greatest happiness. Unfortunately for us, disappointment is one of the biggest deterrents of […]

I want to know Christ – yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his suffering, becoming like him in his death. Phi. 3:10 We know that there is a Holy God who created all things and demands holiness from His creatures. This God revealed Himself in and through His Son, Jesus Christ (Jesus = Savior; Christ […]

Easter is the most significant event in the Christian church calendar. Without the events of Holy Week, there wouldn’t be a Christian faith. Easter is the reason the Christian church exists! Easter commemorates the resurrection of Jesus Christ three days after his execution on a Roman cross. That moment of resurrection is the core of Easter—but the days leading up to Easter […]

“Moses saw that the bush was on fire, but it was not burning up.” (Ex 3:2) Then, that fire of God’s Spirit began to burn on in Moses to free God’s people and bring them to a new land. This is God’s way. Recently another devastating summer bushfire came close to where I live when more than 2000 Ha (5000 acres) […]

This year, the 5th Sunday in Lent coincided with the great feast of the Mother of God, her Annunciation. We’d left the middle of Lent the previous Sunday, that of John of the Ladder, and, instead of the 5th being centred on the great desert ascetic, Saint Mary the Egyptian, the day is devoted to the most beautiful of women, […]

One of the leading naturalistic attempts to account for Jesus’ death, empty tomb, post-mortem appearances, and the early proclamation of the resurrection is that the disciples had individual and group hallucinations. In this case, the New Testament authors would not have meant that the resurrected body of Jesus was physical. But is that what they recorded? We’ll look at the […]

The death of Christ is not only the demonstration of God’s love (John 3:16), but also the supreme expression of Christ’s own love for all who receive Him as their personal savior. It baffles us that God who is all powerful and knows everything allowed His only Son to suffer and die. Why did God not make another way to […]