Mwanga II, the King of Buganda in 1886, wanted to seduce young men and, when all the Christian pages began to refuse his advances, he had them put to death. They included Catholics and Anglicans. On their way to the place of execution, these young Christians sang hymns in honour of the Lord and some […]
Daily Devotion by Ruth Browning
1 Listen to me, all you peoples,all who in the whole world dwell.2 Low and high, both rich and needy,hear the message I will tell. 3 I will speak with understanding;wisdom from the heart I’ll preach.4 I will listen to a proverb;secrets with the harp I’ll teach. 5 Why should I fear days of evil,when […]
Daily Devotion by Fiona Bennett
The early church in Galatia heard the Gospel through Paul, but they later came under the influence of other teaching which proposed that Christians should continue to follow the Jewish Law, including circumcision. Paul believed that this undermined the Gospel, but realised that his understanding required a very different interpretation of Scripture which did not […]
Daily Devotion by Craig Morrison
Just as Abraham ‘believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness’, so, you see, those who believe are the descendants of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, declared the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, ‘All the Gentiles shall be blessed in you.’ For this reason, those […]
Daily Devotion by Trevor Jamison
I wonder what it would take for a United Reformed Church minister to tell the members of a URC congregation that they were all idiots. I think that it would take a lot, and that’s not just because of the likely consequences for the minister, whether they wrote it in a letter or, even more […]
Daily Devotion by Elizabeth Gray King
We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is justified not by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by doing the […]
Daily Devotion by Dan Harris
But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood self-condemned; for until certain people came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But after they came, he drew back and kept himself separate for fear of the circumcision faction. And the other Jews joined him in this […]
Daily Devotion by John Young
This passage should be read by those of us who are inclined to be starry eyed about how the Church should be. It reveals that from early years the Church was no stranger to conflict. On more than one occasion the apostle Paul feels he has been misrepresented and needs to argue his case. The […]
Daily Devotion by Rosalind Selby
You have heard, no doubt, of my earlier life in Judaism. I was violently persecuting the church of God and was trying to destroy it. I advanced in Judaism beyond many among my people of the same age, for I was far more zealous for the traditions of my ancestors. But when God, who had […]
Daily Devotion by Colin Hunt
Born at Epworth Rectory in Lincolnshire, John Wesley was the son of an Anglican clergyman and a Puritan mother. He entered Holy Orders and, following a religious experience on this day in 1738, began an itinerant ministry which recognised no parish boundaries. This resulted, after his death, in the development of a world-wide Methodist Church. […]