Lifestyle and Balance

Donald Trump has since he first launched himself into serious politics in 2016 received widespread support from a large section of the American Church. The news media has often positioned Evangelicals as the most obvious of his supporters, although in general, he has enjoyed strong backing from religious Americans, including white mainline Protestants and white Catholics. In the runup to the 2020 US elections, it was reported that his support within the religious in America was shrinking but there was certainly enough to spawn the barrage of prophecies and visions shared across social media indicating divine support for his campaign. A prayer session by his spiritual adviser Pastor Paula White-Cain for instance calling for angelic support from Africa for his foundering campaign at the time went viral globally. Such has been the man’s enigmatic charisma that a procession was even organized by locals in Nigeria for him during the campaign period, despite the widely disseminated report th...

Keynotes from John C Maxwell  Pick your rabbit: When you chase 2 rabbits, you get non.   7 questions I always ask when I arrange a meet with a person of influence by John C maxwell  What is the greatest lesson you have ever learned? ; They always go back to a very difficult moment of their lives  Nb wisdom comes from difficult times; when someone gives you wisdom, that means, it was born in the dark hour.  What are you learning right now? Every person you ask this kind of question must be a progressive learner  How has failure shaped your life?  The lessons they have learned shape their character. The lessons you learn from the wrong things help you build a good character  Nb the only value of failure is learning. Failure and success should never be separated. There is no one who has succeeded that doesn't have a failure story  Who do you know that I should know? A fabulous networking question  What have you read that I should rea...

The Cross and Passover (John 19:17-36)  At the beginning of John's Gospel, John the Baptist introduced Jesus by calling him the "Lamb of God" (1 :29, 36). This odd phrase might refer to the sacrificial lamb that was killed daily in the Temple (Exod 29:38-46) or to the sacrificial lamb of Isaiah 53:7 (cp. Acts 8:32-35; Rev 5:5-14).  Both rituals of sacrifice spoke of rescue and forgiveness from sin. However, this was not all that John had in mind. John presented Jesus as the Passover   lamb whose death marks the central event of the Passover season (see Exod 12:46; Luke 22:7; I 1 Cor 5:7). In the first century, Jews made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem each spring to celebrate the Passover and to reread the story of the Exodus (see Exod 12-15). When Israel was being rescued from Egypt, the blood of a lamb was sprinkled on the doorposts of each Jewish home in Egypt and saved those inside from death (Exod 12). Jews who came to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover need...

God's Commitment to His People (Zechariah 4:10) Zechariah told Zerubbabel not to "despise ... small beginnings" (4:10). God had acted in the past for the ultimate good "of his people, even in the Babylonian exile (7:12-14; see 14:3). God would accomplish his purposes for Israel's well-being in his own way and time. The people of Israel could take courage in the present and have hope for the future because God keeps his word and fulfils his promises (4:9). All humanity should be silent before the Lord, "for he is springing into action from his holy dwelling" (2:13). God wants patience and faith from his people, not a strident voice. God kept his word and fulfilled the promises he made through Zechariah by sending Jesus the Messiah into the world to bring salvation for all people. Jesus' word, that he will one day return and fully establish His kingdom, may also be trusted   (Matt 24.27,30, see Acts 1.6-11) .   Prayer Points ›We ...