Christmastime is upon us. For many in South Africa, this means warm weather, an extended break from work or school, time for family, opportunity for catching up on household chores, lots of eating, and, of course, gift-giving. There is nothing wrong...

The concepts of manhood, womanhood and marriage are under increasing attack in the age in which we live. Many sceptics of Christianity declare that Jesus said nothing about these matters, but in fact Jesus directly addressed this subject in the...

As with the majority of the pre-exilic Old Testament prophetic texts, we are again exposed to the besetting sins of God’s chosen nation, that resulted in them being taken into exile. We can learn from their thoughtless offences and see that we have...

Conflict between people who love each other and who live in relationship with each other is inevitable. How do Christians overcome these inevitable conflicts in a God-honouring way? We do so, according to 1 Peter 4:8, by continuing to love one...

The passage before us serves, among other things, to prepare the Christian for life and ministry in our world, particularly in our world of familiar relationships. It is one thing to have your integrity rejected by those who do not know you. It is...

No matter what age of man’s existence we look into, we will always find the struggle between lies and truth. From humanity’s beginnings in the Garden of Eden till today, and no doubt until Christ returns, this sin has plagued, and will continue...

William Cowper once wrote, “Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, but trust him for his grace; behind a frowning providence he hides a smiling face.” In Job’s final words in the book that carries his name, he talks about the importance of working...

The Philippian church, like ours, was made up of redeemed sinners. In this passage, Paul exhorts them to live together, not according to the flesh, but rather to follow the example of Christ: in humility, putting one another first.

We need hope. Mark 5 is designed to give us hope—hope that Jesus has power over the demonic (vv. 1–20), over disease (vv. 25–34), and even over death (vv. 21–24, 35–41). Jesus Christ alone can offer hope in the face of the mountainous...

One of the temptations we face when we face difficulties is to retreat inward. This is particularly the case in our age, which is characterised by individualism. Practically, we are tempted to stop serving when we suffer. Peter understood this, and...