Unemployment is a problem in many countries. I have known persons who have been retrenched, and I have seen its difficult effects. Many persons face crises about their worth and about...

A testimony given by the leader of a Lay Witness Mission team held the congregation spellbound. As he finished speaking, people were invited to come forward and commit their lives to...

The church my wife and I attend has a large candle on the Communion table that the pastor lights at every worship service before announcing a particular subject for prayer. The...

I write today’s meditation on a South African public holiday known as “Women’s Day.” As I write, people march in one of our major cities against the abuse of women and...

A church building in the center of a South African city had to be pulled down because its structure had become unsafe. It was a sad day, as countless preachers had...

There is a continual search after freedom of one kind or another throughout the world. In South Africa, the long search after political freedom eventually came in 1994. On April 27,...

Recently, I visited Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is one of the United Methodist Church’s historically black universities. There, in the middle of campus, I found this epigraph written...

The theme of this week is “Returning to God.” With such a theme, we can’t help but think of death. Even though death is so close to us with reports of...

How do we experience God’s mercy? Paul testifies that he received mercy even though he was the foremost of all sinners. The word mercy presupposes an acknowledgment of unworthiness on the...

One day I lost my earrings. My daughter had bought them for me with her first salary, so you can imagine how precious they are to me. I thought I had...