I suppose there has always been a fashion in names. When I was a boy in school there were three Roberts in one classroom. To our teachers we were Bob, Bobby and Robert; to our classmates we were Bob, Professor and Goofy. I was Professor, I must have been a know-it-all. Goofy was the class … Continue reading Four women named Mary, three men named James
Mary
Where was the manger?
There are many supposed and real hints in the Bible of just how things will play out when our Lord returns. For centuries eminent scholars have scrutinized these hints and endeavoured to put together a coherent time line of that event. They have written many stories based on those searches; they all sound wonderful, but … Continue reading Where was the manger?
Why Mary?
The story is hardly credible to our modern minds. A fifteen-year-old girl informs her parents—I am assuming her parents were still living, though there is no mention of them—that an angel has visited her and now she is pregnant with the long-awaited Messiah. We don’t expect the birth of Messiah, and few people know the … Continue reading Why Mary?
Introduction to the New Testament – 1
The Gospels Matthew - The writer calls himself Levi; the other gospels call him Matthew, perhaps a name given to him when he became a disciple of Jesus. He was a publican before his call, a man who collected taxes on all merchandise transported along the road where he was stationed near Capernaum. This was … Continue reading Introduction to the New Testament – 1
Hail the King of glory
Gentle Mary laid her child lowly in a manger; There He lay, the undefiled, to the world a stranger: Such a babe in such a place, can He be the Saviour? Ask the saved of all the race who have found His favour. Angels sang about His birth; wise men sought and found Him; … Continue reading Hail the King of glory
Let my people go
During the course of my lifetime I have heard the Nativity story told in many different forms at Christmas concerts and read still others in children’s books. Some have stayed quite close to the Biblical narrative, others have veered off into the land of make-believe in ways that left me bewildered. Fear not, I’m not … Continue reading Let my people go
Saved through childbearing
And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety (1 Timothy 2:14-15). These are Christmas verses. Here is why. In verse 14 and the first part of verse 15, the Apostle Paul … Continue reading Saved through childbearing
And the house was filled with the odour of the ointment
Shortly before his crucifixion, Jesus came to Bethany and was invited to a meal in the home of Simon, a man whom He had healed of leprosy. To get the full story of the event, we need to put together the accounts found in Matthew 26, Mark 14 and John 12. Lazarus, whom Jesus had … Continue reading And the house was filled with the odour of the ointment
“This Child Will Break Your Heart” – 5 Parenting Lessons From the Mother of Jesus — Striving Nigerian Mom …Parenting With Purpose
“This Child will break your heart!” How about that for an opening line? As I was just pondering on the season of Easter, for some reason, my mind went away from Jesus for a bit, and I thought about Mary, His mom. And for some reason, my heart was heavy, just thinking about her. For […] … Continue reading “This Child Will Break Your Heart” – 5 Parenting Lessons From the Mother of Jesus — Striving Nigerian Mom …Parenting With Purpose
Joy to the world
Angelic messages surrounding the birth of Jesus: To Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist (Luke 1:11-19): And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said unto … Continue reading Joy to the world
Flatlander Faith 