The Pastor’s Pen

Its ironic, how many of the significant people in our lives, and in biblical history, are often overlooked and go unnoticed. Epaphras, whose name means “lovely,” was one such character, who played an important role in the lives of many early church believers. Although his name only appears 3 times in the New Testament, and…

Life is full of changes for most people – some pleasant, while others are not. For those who believe in Jesus Christ, it’s important to reflect on our lives before and after we received Him. In Colossians chapter 1, the Apostle Paul provides an impressive summary of who Jesus Christ is in verses 15-20. Following that, in verses 21-23, Paul highlights…

While the New Testament speaks of two men by the name of James, I want to briefly consider James the son of Mary and Joseph, and half-brother to Jesus (Matthew 13:55). Throughout James’ early life, he was not a believer in Jesus being the Christ, the Son of God (John 7:5). However, all that changed…

In Acts 4:36 we are introduced to another biblical Joseph. However, the apostles called this man Barnabas, which means son of encouragement, or son of exhortation. We don’t know how this Jewish Levite came to faith in Jesus, but we do see repeatedly that he lived up to his name as an encourager. The first…

In Psalm 89, Ethan writes from the raw thoughts of his heart during what must have been agonising personal and national circumstances. From our modern way of thinking, Ethan has a peculiar order of writing in this Psalm. He begins by declaring his commitment to speak well of God, to declare God’s good character, and His promises for Israel.…

Faithful friendships are a wonderful part of life, but even great friendships fall short of the blessedness of quality fellowship. Friendships often carry the vulnerabilities of human selfishness and desires, whereas Spirit filled fellowship exists within a relationship motivated by other mindedness. While friendships are common, the sweetness of fellowship is less familiar to many…

While the apostle Paul was imprisoned by house arrest, and chained to a Roman soldier 24/7, he mentioned in his letter to the church at Philippi, what I suspect was an unexpected subject – labour. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me (Philippians 1:22). Paul, not knowing if…

Friendships possess the greatest potential for joy and satisfaction! Sadly, they also have great potential to bring the worst of pain. Therefore, it’s important for everyone, especially Christians, to be attentive in the matter of how we interact in our friendships. Over the years of reading God’s Word, I have grown to understand that the…

Without doubt, the apostles lived a level of closeness with the Lord that most of us can only aspire to. Having lived with Jesus, witnessed Jesus’ crucifixion, resurrection and ascension, then participating in the events of Pentecost, certainly provided memorable inspiration and intimacy we can only imagine. Even though Paul came to believe in Christ…

The prophet Ezekiel lived amongst the treachery and idolatry of Jewish society held captive by the Babylonian empire. In Ezekiel’s time and place, people’s attitude towards God was basically the same as that which exists globally throughout all ages. An attitude that normalizes cheap words and accepts faithlessness. As in almost all periods of history,…