Clever tactics of discouragement and how to resist them
August 14, 20262 Kings 18:17-37 In The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis imaginatively describes the tactics of Satan to discourage and lead Christians astray. His fictional character, Screwtape, is an experienced senior demon, who instructs his nephew in the art of temptation. The nephew’s ‘patient’ has recently become a Christian and the inexperienced demon thinks that the best strategy in making the man turn away from his new-found faith is to marshal logical arguments or lead him into grave moral sin. Screwtape, however, recommends a more subtle approach, a gradual shift away from God, an almost imperceptible drifting. In our story of Hezekiah,…
The challenge of faith and how we respond
2 Kings 18:1-16 According to Greek myth, Achilles’ mother dipped his baby son in the water of the Styx, the river that runs through the underworld, to make him invulnerable. His only exposed area was on his heel where his…
The nature of repentance and the way to healing
Hos 14:1-9 In the Harry Potter series, the arch-evil Voldemort splits his soul into multiple pieces through murdering others. Keeping these fragments hidden in various receptacles, he hopes to ensure his immortality. At one point the question arises whether such…
Holding onto life or death and why it matters
Hos 13:1-16 While grocery shopping the other day, I saw a woman ahead of me at the checkout buying traditional cigarettes. There was some delay in locating her favourite brand and as I watched the scene, I was startled at…
How to exchange toil for rest
Hos 11:12; 12:1-14 During the years I worked in Hungary, I had an ambitious Christian colleague who knew what she wanted and went for it without compunction. One time, there was an overseas trip in the plan for one of…
Lessons from the law of the rebellious son and the death penalty
Deut 21:18-21 As we have seen in Hosea 11, the background to God’s reluctance to eliminate Israel for their rebellion is the law of the rebellious son (Deut 21:18-21). It legislates that parents who have such a son take him…
God’s dilemma and how He solves it
Hos 11:1-11 Many a Christian parent knows the heartache of a child who turned rebellious and walked away from the Lord. Behind the sadness, even resignation, there is often the buried anguish of many years when those parents strained to…
Breaking up fallow ground: The time is now
Hos 10:9-15 My grandmother was born into a well-to-do family and married my grandfather who had an influential job. She had both wealth and prestige and was an immensely proud woman. However, during the siege of Budapest in the winter…
The reality of our heart and what we mourn for
Hos 10:1-8 The house we bought a few years ago came with a beautiful garden including some roses under our bedroom window. All that first summer after our move, it annoyed me that the middle rose produced no flowers and…
The tempting philosophy of ‘God and…’ and its results
Hos 9:1-17 I recently heard the testimony of a Christian woman who raised five children while holding down a demanding job. She was Superwoman, a loving wife, mother and effective worker. Except all this took a toll and when she…
What those who rely on themselves have forgotten
Hosea 8:1-14 I recently visited a historic church from the early days of New Zealand settlers. Wandering around the graves scattered in the churchyard, I came across a more recent tombstone with a person’s name and dates on it, followed…