04/05/2023

Return to me with all your heart!

Joel 2

“Yet even now,” declares the Lord,

    “return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
13     and rend your hearts and not your garments.”
Return to the Lord your God,
    for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;
    and he relents over disaster.
14 Who knows whether he will not turn and relent,
    and leave a blessing behind him,
a grain offering and a drink offering
    for the Lord your God?

18/04/2023

We preach Christ crucified!

18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written,

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
    and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”

20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 

21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach[b] to save those who believe. 

22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 

23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards,[c] not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 

27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being[d] might boast in the presence of God. 30 And because of him[e] you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

The grace of God!

Thank you Jesus for your grace and mercy on us!

11 For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people.

12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age,

Titus 2:11-12

17/04/2023

Who Were the Inklings besides C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien?

There’s been a certain amount of confusion about what defined an Inkling. To clarify, the Inklings were a group of British writers/scholars who met on Thursday evenings to read their work at Lewis’ rooms at Magdalen College, Oxford. 

The Inklings also had less formal Tuesday morning meetings, usually at Oxford pub The Eagle and Child (or as they called it, “The Bird and the Baby”). Lewis started the Inklings in the early 1930s, taking the name from a disbanded Oxford group. Most of the Inklings were Oxford scholars (some, like Hugo Dyson, taught at other institutions, then moved to Oxford). The Inklings stopped meeting in 1949, apparently due to lost momentum. Some members continued meeting in other contexts.

Humphrey Carpenter’s seminal study The Inklings lists 19 men who are considered canonical Inklings (David Bratman's “A Handlist of Books by the Inklings” lists their works). Occasional or one-time attendees included writer Roy Campbell and fantasy novelist E.R. Eddison (the Mythopoeic Society’s overview of the Inklings defines them as guests).

Alongside guests, various people met the Inklings in other contexts. Roger Lancelyn Green and W.H. Auden knew individual Inklings but didn’t attend Inklings meetings. T.S. Eliot knew one Inkling, Charles Williams, and befriended Lewis in 1959. Before that, Lewis saw Eliot as an enemy (or at least a representative of trends he disliked).

Similarly, Dorothy L. Sayers was friends with two Inklings (Lewis and Williams). Joy Davidman married Lewis in 1956 and knew his brother Warnie. These women certainly had a great impact on more than one Inkling. However, scholars usually refer to them as part of “the Inklings’ circle” or “the Inklings and their associates.”

There is none good but One, and that is God!


Mark 10: 17-22 The rich young man!

As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him.
Good teacher, he asked, what must I do to inherit eternal life?
Jesus said unto him, "Why do you call Me good? There is none good but One, and that is GOD." You know the commandments: 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honour your father and mother.
20 Teacher, he declared, all these I have kept since I was a boy.
21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. One thing you lack he said, Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.
22 At this the man's face fell. He went away sad because he had great wealth.

11/04/2023

Surely this man is... | Mark 15:33-41 | Good Friday Easter Service


Jesus defeated death!

07/12/2022

If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation..



16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.[b] The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling[c] the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

30/11/2022

Come Holy Spirit


John 4:24 - "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." COME HOLY SPIRIT FALL ON ME NOW
Sung by: House of Heroes/GMF Netherlands & Myanmar Choir
Written by: Caroline Tjen (City Harvest Church) Come Holy Spirit Fall on me now I need Your anointing Come in Your power I love You holy spirit You're captivating my soul And everyday I grow to love You more I'm reaching for Your heart You hold my life in Your hands Drawing me closer to You I feel Your power renew Nothing compares to this place Where I can see You face to face I worship You in spirit and in truth

26/11/2022

A kingdom that cannot be shaken!

A Kingdom That Cannot Be Shaken

18For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest 19and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. 20For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” 21Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” 

22But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 

23and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

25See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. 

26At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” 27This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. 

28Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, 29for our God is a consuming fire.

17/11/2022

...she shall be called Woman..


18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for[b] him.” 19 Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed[c] every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. 20 The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. 

But for Adam[d] there was not found a helper fit for him. 21 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22 And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made[e] into a woman and brought her to the man. 

23 Then the man said,

“This at last is bone of my bones
    and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called Woman,
    because she was taken out of Man.”[f]

24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed

22/10/2022

Unity and the Fear of God

Why Should I Believe Jesus Rose from the Dead? | Dr. Vince Vitale

Dear friends, I recommend this video, as the Lord Jesus did resurrect and we can tell others even though it could be a challenge. Praise the Lord!

Joshua 11

Joshua Defeats Jabin and His Allies

11 When the news of Israel's victories reached King Jabin of Hazor, he sent word to King Jobab of Madon, to the kings of Shimron and Achshaph, and to the kings in the hill country in the north, in the Jordan Valley south of Lake Galilee, in the foothills, and on the coast near Dor. He also sent word to the Canaanites on both sides of the Jordan, to the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, and the Jebusites in the hill country, as well as to the Hivites who lived at the foot of Mount Hermon in the land of Mizpah. They came with all their soldiers—an army with as many men as there are grains of sand on the seashore. They also had many horses and chariots. All of these kings joined forces and came together and set up camp at Merom Brook to fight against Israel.

The Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them. By this time tomorrow I will have killed all of them for Israel. You are to cripple their horses and burn their chariots.” So Joshua and all his men attacked them by surprise at Merom Brook. The Lord gave the Israelites victory over them; the Israelites attacked and pursued them as far north as Misrephoth Maim and Sidon, and as far east as the valley of Mizpah. The fight continued until none of the enemy was left alive. Joshua did to them what the Lord had commanded: he crippled their horses and burned their chariots.

10 Joshua then turned back, captured Hazor and killed its king. (At that time Hazor was the most powerful of all those kingdoms.) 11 They put everyone there to death; no one was left alive, and the city was burned.

12 Joshua captured all these cities and their kings, putting everyone to death, just as Moses, the Lord's servant, had commanded. 13 However, the Israelites did not burn any of the cities built on mounds, except Hazor, which Joshua did burn. 14 The people of Israel took all the valuables and livestock from these cities and kept them for themselves. But they put every person to death; no one was left alive. 15 The Lord had given his commands to his servant Moses, Moses had given them to Joshua, and Joshua obeyed them. He did everything that the Lord had commanded Moses.

The Territory Taken by Joshua

16 Joshua captured all the land—the hill country and foothills, both north and south, all the area of Goshen and the dry country south of it, as well as the Jordan Valley. 17-18 The territory extended from Mount Halak in the south near Edom, as far as Baalgad in the north, in the valley of Lebanon south of Mount Hermon. Joshua was at war with the kings of this territory for a long time, but he captured them all and put them to death. 19 The only city that made peace with the people of Israel was Gibeon, where some of the Hivites lived. All the others were conquered in battle. 20 The Lord had made them determined to fight the Israelites, so that they would be condemned to total destruction and all be killed without mercy. This was what the Lord had commanded Moses.

21 At this time Joshua went and destroyed the race of giants called the Anakim who lived in the hill country—in Hebron, Debir, Anab, and in all the hill country of Judah and Israel. Joshua completely destroyed them and their cities. 22 None of the Anakim were left in the land of Israel; a few, however, were left in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod.

23 Joshua captured the whole land, as the Lord had commanded Moses. Joshua gave it to the Israelites as their own and divided it into portions, one for each tribe.

So the people rested from war.