Building Bridges.....

Saul who later on changed his name to Paul was once a dangerous enemy to Christians. He did almost everything to hunt them down. Saul was a cruel man, responsible for the stoning of Stephen. In my view and in many others he deserved to be treated the same way, he deserved to die. But God had another plan for his life. God wanted him to serve as an example of grace (1 Timothy 1:13-16). Jesus reached out to Saul in a direct and startling way (Acts 9, 22, 26). Saul came to realise that the Gospel was true. He recognised the seriousness of his crimes against God On the road to Damascus Jesus revealed himself to Saul who was stunned and afraid but he did what Jesus told him to do. Blind for three days he waited. Imagine how terrified he must have been not be able to see. Not to be able to really understand what was going on. Once so feared but now so vulnerable A man named Ananias was sent by Jesus to lay hands on Saul and when he did so Saul did three specific things that ...

We recently finished a sermon series at church from the book of Ruth. I have read it some times before and yes I liked it in the same way I liked the book of Esther. I know the story and I understood that for many people it is perhaps their favourite book in the Bible. Our friend Kirk did a good job preaching 4 sermons from the book of Ruth and he gave us lots to think about. One day back home I read the book of Ruth again alone in the kitchen... Ruth was such an important story that it was read every year during Passover. For the Jewish community it was a story that everyone knew. The amazing thing about this book is that it is not about a Jewish man; it’s not even about a Jewish woman. It is about a Moabite, a woman from a people who were considered enemies of God. Jews were not supposed to have any contacts with Moabites: “No Moabite or any of his descendants may enter the assembly of the Lord, even down to the tenth generation.” (Deuteronomy 23:3) I read ...