January - February 2006


Brother Abedi and his family finally arrive in Guyana, in safety from persecution to start a new life.

Editorial : "Let the dead bury their dead".

The Lord’s comment, “Let the dead bury their dead” (Mt. 8:22), reveals how He had a way of so radically challenging the positions held by normal people of the world, to a depth quite unheard of and He did it in so few words. And even more wondrous, the Lord appeared to have come out with this so pithy and semantically dense statement almost ‘off the cuff’, when presented with a man declining to follow Him immediately because he had to bury his father. So let’s see in what ways the Lord’s comment was so radical.

Respect for parents, as expressed in burying them, “was at the heart of Jewish piety… under Hasidic-Pharisaic influence the last offices for the dead had gained primacy among all good works… the duty to participate in a funeral procession could even override study of the Torah”(1). And of course the Lord knew this, He knew just how fanatic the Jews were getting about burying parents - and it’s exactly that issue which He chooses to pick on in His relentless demand for our ‘all’ in following Him. Quite apart from the particular obsessive situation in first-century Israel relating to burying parents, there was a widely held view amongst both Greeks and Jews that burial of a father could only properly be done by the son, and if this wasn’t done, then the man was effectively not properly buried, which even Biblically is used as a curse. And ‘just’ for delaying doing the Lord’s service for a day, the Lord demanded all this of a person. He’s no less demanding today, even if His radical call is articulated over different issues. It may mean ...Read More...

Duncan Heaster

EDITORIAL: “Let the dead bury their dead” Duncan Heaster


News 

Click on a country to zoom into that country. Click on the ocean to zoom out. Click on Green country for news.

News from Africa
News from Europe / Eurasia
News from the Americas
News from Asia


Articles 
Brothers and Sisters to Love One Another Bre Chakumanda and E Akwaa Kondowe (Chinhoyi, Zimbabwe)
Why Did Elisha Ask for Two Parts of Elijah’s Spirit? Bro. John Kasanda (Kazembe, Zambia)
Biblical Recommendations to Consider Bro Atabong Martin (Muyuka, Cameroon)
The Champion’s Reward Bro Sylvester Tembo (Mzuzu,Malawi)
My Brother Abedi Bro. Clive Solomon (USA, ex-Guyana)
Envy Bro Samuel Mariita (Kibera, Kenya)
No one with Greater Love Than This Bro Leonard M Lar (Ndhiwa, Kenya)
Latvia Visit Report Bro David Webb (Walton, UK)
The Manna Sis L Mandap (Hong Kong)
Divisions in the Church (1 Cor 1:10-14,21) Bro James Mwanda Kambobe (Mansa, Cameroon)
Man Bro George Nwanzeah (Munyuka, Cameroon)
Caring For Our Sisters
‘Growing a Balanced Diet’
What About Witnessing Bro George Ndiege (Songhor, Kenya)
God Is Love and God Never Gives Up Bro Dzingai Sumburera (Bulawayo, Zimbabwe)
Discipline of the Tongue Bro Mondest Gwademba (Tirika, Kenya)
Pakistani Brethren Visit India Bro. Ash
Denial of One’s Salvation Bro Brown Silvane (Songea, Tanzania)
Forgiveness Bro Joseph Oppong (Shama Junction, Ghana)
Just Some Reminders Sis Ester Worrell (Canada)
Compare These With The Present Day Bro Benard Wabene W’Ikola (Lugufu, Kenya)
Obedience and Faith Bro Elvin Muntemba (Kitwe, Zambia)
Preaching in Swaziland Bro. Fanuel Sithole
Christianity - A Religion of Peace Bre Aigbosare & Frank Efeiretin (Urhonigbe, Nigeria)