These Lively Oracles

My life has changed. Even during the short time that I have been writing these blogs I have noticed how my life has changed. And although the changes have sometimes been dramatic, my life has been wonderfully blessed. You see, although I no longer volunteer for any church work, my church-life is busier now than it has been for a very long time. Although I didn’t actively go out to mix with friends and socialise, I now have more friends at my local church social group than I have done in a long time. You see, the difference is God. He is the one who makes the changes. When we come to realise that Jesus is the only one we have to look for, then looking for Him is the only thing that matters. I was recently reading about two incidents in the life of King David. Two very, very similar incidents but two very, very different outcomes. And they are to do with King David’s mindset as a king when his armies went to war. In King David’s earlier years he was meant to be away at war with his army ...

Have you ever wanted to just come aside from everything and just take an undisturbed break for a few days? Get away from the troubles and worries of life? And just take time to breath, process your thoughts, knowing that no one will disturb you for a while? It’s something we all need to do at some point in our lives. Some of us will need to do it several times in our life as we grow older and more experienced. We spend years on a career or relationship and we never take the time to take stock, look around, and re-assess our positions. And it’s something we should all be doing, whether it is in a career, a course of study or a long term relationship. We need to stop, rest, look back and then plan forward. David found himself in this position at one time having to get away and hide from King Saul. He ran to a city in the north and asked the local priest for some help in the way of provisions. The priest gave him some bread and told David that there was a sword being stored at the back of...

There is no two ways about it. The christian life is not easy. Not only do we have to face hassles from others around us while we try to stick to our standards, but we also have to fight against ourselves and overcome our own failings and laziness. But our bible talks about “peace” in a different way than society teaches us. In 1st Samuel chapter 17 King Saul had found himself in a situation that he did not know how to handle. He was King over Israel. He and his army were encamped on a hillside along one side of the Valley of Elah. Half a mile away, on the other side of the valley were the armies of the enemy - The Philistines. And they had a very powerful weapon - Goliath. Goliath was a giant. Biblical scholars estimate him to be anything between 6 to 9 feet tall (2.5 – 3 meters). And he was standing in the middle of the valley. He had been coming down into the valley floor every morning and every evening for 40 days – almost 6 weeks – and shouting and intimidating King Saul’s armies....

I have no memory of the event. Yet it still happened. My sister and I were caught up in the middle of it. But I have no memory of it whatsoever. On Friday 21st of July, 1972 atleast 20 bombs went off in Belfast city centre. We were in the city centre that day but I have no memory of any of the events. However, my sister remembers everything. We were both in our early teens and were going to a dental appointment when the carnage started. Apparently I grabbed my sister by the hand and started to run in the direction of home. The whole town was in desperation. People were running away from one bomb and into the path of another. A policeman stopped us from running through the town and toward home. We were at a loss, not knowing what to do next. I don’t think the policeman knew either. So we just stood there at the side of the road. All of a sudden a man mysteriously appeared in a car. He told the police officer that he would make sure we got home safely. He got us into his car and followed...