There are few things so phenomenal as to hear God speak and reveal something of His nature or what He is doing on earth. When I met Lana, the prophetic was a mystery to me. I was raised in a very conservative church in a small country town; to many in the church the prophetic was too far outside of their experience of Christian life for them to embrace it. Despite not knowing much about the prophetic, I had even unknowingly seen glimpses of it in my own life while I was young. I would be going about life and see glimpses of things—things yet to come—and putting it down…

The Source of Our Authority In a recent school session, Rebekah Bartels shared the power and imagery of a King’s seal. A King would impress the signet, leaving an impression on an object that would be held by someone as a symbol of the authority bestowed, signifying authority granted by the king himself. Whoever held the king’s seal operated with the king’s authority within the context of their mission. A seal was granted for a purpose: that a representative could act as a proxy for the king, and their decisions would be final and carry the weight of the king himself. Thus, where the King’s presence was needed in many…

Awesome was a word that I used often in my youth, growing up in the 80s and 90s. It was a word of expression, something good, something great, something unexpected. Yet, the true meaning of awesome describes none of these concepts. To see something awesome is to see something that fills you with awe. Awesome is a word that can define my wonder at God every time I consider a revelation of His character, nature, magnificence, love or goodness. But I can only view them through a mirror dimly, as Paul speaks. There is much He has left for us to find out when we see Him face to face.…

ry on this parable by Bede, an English monk and scholar around the 6th-7th century AD. His historical works are among the greatest sources of information on the early history of England; he also had many theological works shared across the church during his time. On the priest and the Levite, Bede surmised that “The priest and the Levite who saw the wounded man and passed by denote the priests and ministers of the Old Testament who could only show up the wounds of the sick world by the decrees of the law, but could not cure them”. Bede – the Good Samaritan. Perhaps this is not a new take…

Iron sharpens Iron As iron sharpens iron,So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.Proverbs 27:17 The word of God is deep. The book Proverbs is certainly no exception. On reading this verse, I wondered at how many ways this verse is true. Firstly, of the metals used in sharp tools and weapons, iron was the hardest for thousands of years. A tool or spear is only useful if it is sharp, but to sharpen metal, you generally need something harder to scrape away what is dull. If you tried to use a bronze file, the softer (bronze) metal would have little effect on the iron, and the harder iron would…

I was listening to an old sermon the other day, during which a conversation was recounted that made me think. A grieving man was talking to his pastor; he had prayed for a long time for God to intervene in a dire situation, praying for a miracle that would have saved someone’s life. The miracle didn’t happen, despite his believing he was standing in faith for the victory. While I sympathised with the man in the story, it became a challenge to my heart to better understand the dynamic of faith, especially if we are to take the words of Jesus seriously. “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say…

As I have been looking through the fruit of the Spirit of late, my focus has been turned to the seventh fruit listed, faithfulness. Faithfulness, to me, speaks of dependability, fidelity and reliability. It is an essential quality in marriage, and a powerful foundation in friendship. It is the relationship between Jonathan and his armour-bearer, or, in Tolkien, Sam to Frodo. With faithful companionship, terrible circumstances are traversed with a sense of peace because of the mutual support and confidence they share. We know faithfulness is a trait of God. God’s love and faithfulness could be seen as his most hope-inspiring qualities.   Yea, though I walk through the valley…

Creation I marvel at the miracle of creation, that one event would perpetuate on a seemingly infinite cycle. God created the world in 6 days, but even while He rested, His creation continued to create further generations of itself in a cycle that has not ended since the creation of space and time itself.   Adam and Eve were not the first created entities. But compared to the rest of creation, God created mankind differently. All of the rest of creation was spoken into being at the very utterance of God’s words, yet for man, God took something he had already created (dirt) and created the first human body from it. The…

Last time I wrote, I focused on the first commandment that Jesus highlighted – love the Lord your God with all your heart. I intended to write about the fruit of Kindness today, but as I pondered the matter, I realised that it was also the second commandment in practice – love your neighbour as you love yourself. The most basic definition of kindness is simply being good to others who are in need of goodness. In scripture, we see it at play in the parable of the Good Samaritan, but we also see it in God’s relationship and actions with the people of God, as He of his own…

And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ [a]This is the first commandment. Mark 12:30 When you think of it, love is a strange thing to command. I have written briefly on agape, of serving love, but did not write much on the heart element of love at that time. We have all heard the saying “love is a choice”; that is certainly true of the agape love we share between our Christian family members. But to love something with one’s whole heart demands more than service. The love described in the commandment…