Using the opportunity for a closer walk with God (Joel 2:18-32)
Joel 2:18-32 After a year working with a mission in the UK reaching out to international students, I returned home to Hungary feeling like a failure. What I had hoped would turn into a long-term ministry did not work out…
What God is looking for (Joel 2:1-17)
Joel 2:1-17 Those of us who live in New Zealand remember well the first couple of years of Covid, when the country tightly shut its borders and anyone entering had to endure two weeks in a quarantine hotel in strict…
How to respond to devastation in our lives (Joel 1)
Joel 1:1-20 After the devastating Canterbury earthquakes,[1] life was disrupted for many. Some lost their homes with immediate effect, others tragically lost family members or came to be injured themselves, yet others had relatively minor inconveniences of not being able…
Introduction to Joel
The Book of Joel is the second book in the Minor Prophets (from Hosea to Malachi), a loose collection, so called because these books are relatively short compared to the Major Prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel). The Minor Prophets are also…
Why must God judge?
2 Kings 25:1-30 A friend of mine told me of an acquaintance who had breast cancer. The surgeon thought that she needed a mastectomy, but she was so afraid of the body confidence issues that she asked for the tumour…
What motivates our service of God?
2 Kings 23:28-37; 24:1-16 When a pastor who had a significant impact retires, there is inevitable change. A new leader may set a different tone, but the congregation also contributes to the emerging tenor of their community. Sometimes a former…
How to love and serve God well
2 Kings 23:1-27 One of the deeply searching questions of the Bible is uttered in the Book of Job when the satan sarcastically inquires if Job serves God for nothing (Job 1:9).[1] Given that Job is blessed with a good…
The difference God’s Word can make
2 Kings 22:1-20 Immigrants in a new country tend to make efforts to preserve their culture and pass on their language and customs to the next generation. Children of such immigrants, however, often want to leave behind their cultural past…
How to avoid repeating our mistakes
2 Kings 21:1-26 Most of us can think of situations where life seems to have repeated itself. Maybe it was a conflict we escaped with someone only to see ourselves in a similar situation with another person. Perhaps it was…
The difference our choices make
2 Kings 20:12-21 When I was a child and we watched movies as a family, sometimes Dad would reassure us, children, when we were worried about how the story would end. I wondered at the time how he could know…