Closer Day By Day

Gospel - Acts 1-2

Desert. On the way to Jerusalem from Dead Sea Looking down from Mount of Olives. Present time there are may Jewish tombs As I browsed through some photos I took from Mount of Olives about close to 2 years back, it brings me to the time where Christianity began. From this location, I could imagine the Old City of Jerusalem, built during Solomon’s time. At that location was the grand 2nd...

Prophecy - Obadiah

Welcome back to another round of Life’s Recipes! Today, we are pleased to have Mr Obadiah share his recipes with us. Mr Obadiah, is the well-known author of…you guessed it J… the book of Obadiah! Besides his writing, Mr Obadiah is also notable for his act of courage and faithfulness in hiding 100 prophets of God in caves during the massacre ordered by the vile queen Jezebel (1 Kgs...

Poetry - Proverbs 26-27

A maelstrom of feelings churns within me as I read our passage for today. While I feel joy at being affirmed in my long held beliefs and am glad to be reminded that they stem from the Bible, I also feel apprehension at being reminded that having and upholding these beliefs is one thing, actually living them is another. I can preach about them and believe them till I’m blue in the face but how...

Psalm - Psalm 114 - 16

In the 3 psalms we are reading today, each psalm presents a totally distinct and unique view of our Lord God. Let’s spend some time to read them in good pace. Bible Passage:  Psalm 114 to 116 God of the Living We find that God is described in very human terms, setting a comparitive view in relation to other forms of idols. God is not like the idols of Egypt and does not need to be fashioned...

History - 2 Chronicles 6-10

Glory one moment… and the next moment - the despair over the division of a nation. In just 5 short chapters, we experience the extreme swing of emotions.   The stories may be familiar but let us see what we can learn together today… Bible Passage: 2 Chronicles 6-10 A Building, More or Less I have been blessed to be able to witness 2 church dedications and 1 church rededication (maybe...

Law - Numbers 25-28

We are more endangered by the charms of a smiling world than by the terrors of a frowning world, do you agree? This time the Israelites incurred the wrath of God not due to complaints, but due to falling into a snare willingly and broke the commandments of God. Bible Passage: Numbers 25 to 28 Complacency and Stubbornness are Dangerous In the previous chapter, God kept His promises that He would...

Epistles - Hebrews 1-4

“God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past…..” The second time I read today’s passage, this first verse jumped out at me. How true! Haven’t we felt God at various periods of our life? Have we not heard His voice at different occasions, calling us back or comforting us? Furthermore, in Hebrews 1:2, we are reminded by the author that, in this end...

Gospel - John 19-21

Do you recall Jesus’ triumphant entry into the city of Jerusalem, surrounded by a mob of people waving palm branches and shouting ‘Hosanna in the highest’? (Mt 21: 8-9; Mark 11:8-10; John 12:13) Jesus’ popularity at that moment was due in part to the many miracles and healings He performed - especially that of Lazarus’ resurrection. When word spread of His powers and teachings,...

Prophecy - Amos 5-9

In trying to put a newsletter together, there are primarily two concerns.  One is what it says: factual content, proper vocabulary, grammar and punctuation are the issue here.  The other is how it looks: this concerns position of the type on the page, size of font, consistency in format and the like.  Sometimes, in order to make a page “look right”, the wordings have to be changed slightly. ...

Poetry - Proverbs 25

Today, we hit the book of wisdom again. Since we have been reading this book for quite some time and in great detail (relative to the prophetic and historical books), it is a good thing to step back, return to the basics and ponder what we are looking at here. For this reason, I’m starting with a very simple question here - what is wisdom? The book of proverbs tells us what wisdom is through...