Episoder
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I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Wednesday morning, the 23rd of April, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.
We start in the Gospel of Luke 4:28-30:
“So all those in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, and rose up and thrust Him out of the city; and they led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw Him down over the cliff. Then passing through the midst of them, He went His way.”
Our Lord Jesus Christ told the people in the synagogue, that “this Scripture has come to pass”, where He said He would set the captives free, heal the broken-hearted and proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.
Then we go straight to the Gospel of Matthew 5:9:
“Blessed are the peacemakers,
For they shall be called sons of God.”I want to say to you today that we must move on. Sometimes we continue to ask people to forgive us, and they will not do it. Eventually, Jesus moved on. He went down to Galilee to Capernaum and performed many, many miracles there. We need to move on with our lives. You cannot keep holding back because people do not want to forgive you, they will not release you.
Remember the prodigal son, what happened to him? He told his father he wanted all his inheritance, went off, and blew the whole lot. His father didn’t run after him and say, “Come back son, let’s talk about this.” He left him, and when he was completely at his wit’s end, he came back to his dad. His dad loved him, forgave him and restored him.
Today I might be speaking to someone who is dealing with that very issue. I have to move on, there is no change, they will not forgive me, they want to continue to persecute me. I am moving on with my life. The Lord says, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” not “blessed are the peace-lovers." Sometimes, in order for reconciliation, there needs to be a time of moving on, and if that person wants to sincerely forgive you, they can come and visit you and forgive you, but in the meantime, you have got to get on with the calling on your life.
Now, today move on just like Jesus did and leave that person whoever it might be. Maybe it is a member of your family, a loved one, or a workmate. Leave them in God’s hands and He will deal with them in due course.
Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day,
Goodbye. -
I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Tuesday morning, the 22nd of April, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.
We start in the Book of Luke 3 and I am not going to read that chapter. I would like you to read it, but that whole chapter is the family tree of our Lord Jesus Christ, starting from verse 23 - Luke 3:23.
“Now Jesus Himself began His ministry at about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, the son of Heli, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi,…”
Do you know that that family tree goes all the way back? You will see in verse 38: “
… the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.”
That is the family tree of our beloved Lord Jesus Christ. If you go to the Book of John 15:5, the Lord says Himself:
“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit…”
I am talking today about the family tree. Maybe you are sitting there and you are saying, “Angus, I am an orphan. I don’t have any family. Maybe your family has rejected you, maybe your family has died and you feel that you have got nothing. I want to tell you that if you are a born-again Christian, you are not an orphan. You are a son or a daughter of the Living God. Family trees are important to people. I think I have told you before, my family comes from Scotland. My mother's mother was a Livingstone. Have you ever heard of David Livingstone? Of course you have. Well, she came from the West Coast of Scotland and that's where David Livingstone comes from. I would like to believe that I am related to that man who was partly responsible for abolishing the slave trade in Africa. My dad’s mother was a Finney, her maiden name was Finney. Have you heard of Charles Finney, the great American revivalist who won many, many souls to Christ? That is my family. I don’t know whether it is direct or not, it doesn’t matter, but ultimately and more importantly, I am a child of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, my sins have been forgiven, I have got a family tree, a future that I can look forward to. What about you? Let's pray together.
Dear Lord Jesus,
Today, I am sorry that I think I am an orphan. I am not an orphan, I am a son of the Living God, I am a daughter of the Living God. That is my inheritance and when I get home, you are not going to say to me, “Welcome friend”, You are going to say, “Welcome home, son or daughter of the Living God.” That is something to look forward to.
God bless you and goodbye.
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Manglende episoder?
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I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Monday morning, the 21st of April, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.
We start in the Book of Zechariah 13:9b:
“They will call on My name,
And I will answer them. I will say,
‘This is My people’;
And each one will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’”Then we just go to Zechariah 8:8:
“They shall be My people
And I will be their God,
In truth and righteousness.”Then just the last verse for today, Matthew 16:24:
“Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.”
The Lord says that we are going to go through fiery trials, oh yes, just like silver and gold, we are going to be purified in fiery trials. Then we will call Him our Father and He will call us His people. The Lord never promised you and me a bed of roses. No, no, there is nowhere in the Bible He said that.
“Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the Lord delivers him out of them all.”
Psalm 34:19I want to tell you a little story. Many, many years ago, there were a group of actors, production people and producers and editors who came to Shalom, they came to make a movie called, “Faith like Potatoes” and the principle actor, a man that I love dearly, Frank Rautenbach, took the part of Angus in the movie. The night we met, we had to meet all the actors, Jeanne took the part of my wife Jill, did a beautiful job and all the support actors, not to mention the directors and producers, it was a wonderful time. We had an evening together and apparently, I don’t remember this, Frank has told me I said “You are going to play my part but you are going to go through many fiery trials.” And he has.
Oh but friends, I want to tell you that through that incredible little movie, and all the glory goes to Jesus Christ, the Lord used these actors and multitudes have come to Christ and are still coming to Christ when they watch that little movie. Yes, Frank has been through fiery trials but through it all, Jesus has been glorified. Today, don’t be afraid of the fiery trials you are going through. The Lord will not allow you to be tempted more than you are able.
Jesus bless you and goodbye.
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I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Sunday morning, Resurrection Day, the 20th of April, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.
We go to the Gospel of Luke 24:17:
“And He said to them…” (Jesus said to them) “What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?”
Are you sad this morning? Are you believing that Jesus Christ is still in the grave, are you believing that there is no hope for you? Folks, listen to the next verse:
”Then Jesus said to them: “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!”
Luke 24:25It was prophesied the fact, that the Saviour of the world had to die for our sins but that He would live again and live forever. You and I need to understand, Jesus is gently rebuking us today, when we doubt. We look at the world. We see what’s happening all over the world and our faith starts to fade away. He says everything is happening according to the Word. “I told you about these things", He says, ”In me you will have peace. In this world you will have tribulation. Be of good heart for I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33).
I want to say to you today, where do you stand? Are you waiting for the coming of the Lord? He is coming I’m telling you now. There is nothing more sure than the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ is coming back again for you and for me.
Romans 8:31:
”If God is for us who can stand against us?”
It’s not over yet. It’s not over. This is just the beginning. You and I have to die to self in order to live for Christ. We have to allow our physical bodies and our mental attitudes to change. Our Saviour is not in the tomb. I’ve been there folks. I’ve been to Israel, not once, many, many times, and every time I go to the tomb, I tell you it is empty. Why? Because He’s alive. He has risen. Yes risen indeed.
Jesus bless you on this resurrection Sunday and look forward to an incredible future with Him.
God bless you and goodbye. -
I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Saturday morning, the 19th of April, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.
We go to the Book of Job 19:25:
“For I know that my Redeemer lives,
And He shall stand at last on the earth…”Do you know that your Redeemer lives this morning? Do you know that He will be standing on this earth at the last? We go straight to the Book of Romans 8:11:
”But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you,(thats the Holy Spirit) He (the Holy Spirit) who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.”
What an incredible scripture! Oh, my dear friends, we need to believe, we need to know He is not in the grave, He is alive. We need to believe that! We have a saying here at Shalom, “One genuine miracle equals a thousand sermons”. Jesus was known by His miracles that He performed, not so much by the sermons He preached, He preached very few that are recorded, but the signs and the wonders and the miracles - He is the Miracle-Worker!
I just want to tell you again, you have heard my story more than once but it is worth telling again. It was down in Ein Gedi, the lowest point on earth. It was in 2012. It was so hot, we were drinking water that was coming out of our bodies as we were drinking it. I think it was well over 40 degrees. It must have been 8 o’clock at night. I was asked to bring the message. There were 5,000 delegates from all over the world, something like 80 nations gathered together. I was reading from the Book of Acts, the account of the disciples in the upper room when the Holy Spirit came upon them. I was so in love with the Lord that night and so full of faith. I said, “Lord, please do it again.”
When I think back on it, what would have happened if He didn’t? Well, He did, so I don’t have to even think about all the egg that would have been on my face. I walked around the front of the lectern and a mighty rushing wind started blowing. Folks, it blew so hard, blowing the musical instruments off the platform and then it started to rain. It doesn’t rain in that place, it is dry, it is like the moon, there is nothing there. Those palm trees are being irrigated from miles and miles away. The Lord visited us. And I want to tell you, I did not have to make an altar call, I didn’t have to tell people to come forward to repent, they ran to the front. Some of those ladies were lying in the dust, just rejoicing in the faithfulness of God. Jesus is alive!
Tomorrow, Resurrection Sunday, we will celebrate the fact that our God is not dead, He is not in the grave, He is alive!
Jesus bless you and goodbye.
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I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Good Friday, the 18th of April, 2025 and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.
We go straight to the Gospel of John 12:24, and Jesus said:
“Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain”.
Yes, it's in dying that we live, and today, the Lord Jesus Christ, our beloved Saviour, has shown us by example what we need to do. If we want to live, we need to die to self. He did the same thing. It's in dying to self that we truly live. As a farmer, I can tell you it is only when you sow good seed into the ground and that seed dies, that it produces new life, new plants abundantly. Don’t hoard it, don’t stash it away, and don’t put it in a container where there is no disease, insect damage, or any mould that can touch it. It will stay there forever, but it is when you take it out of that enclosure and put it into the ground it starts to live. We mustn’t be selfish.
Jesus, today, 2000 years ago, showed us that if you want life and you want it abundantly, you must be prepared to die to self. No one took His life, He gave His life freely. No-one can touch the Son of God, and you and I today need to do the same. We need to put the flesh down, we need to start to prefer one another, we need to start to live and to work for our fellowman, and then we will find the key to an abundant life and a life that is worth living, a life that has purpose, and then we will understand the principle of living for Christ.
I want to encourage you today to sit quietly somewhere with your Bible, maybe in the garden, wherever, and just think about what the Lord did for you and me today. If He had not died for us and our sins, we would not be alive today. What a mighty gift He has given to you and me.
Jesus bless you and have a peaceful day, thinking about what the Lord did for us,
Goodbye. -
I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Thursday morning, the 17th of April, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.
We start in the Book of Deuteronomy 8:3:
“…man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.”
Now, that was written 600 years before the birth of Jesus. Quite incredible! Now, we go straight to the Book of Luke 4:4:
And Jesus answered him, (He answered the devil when He was tempted in the desert. He said):
“It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’ ”
Isn’t that incredible? 600 years later, the Son of God, in the desert while being tempted by the devil said,
“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.”
You know, the holiest sacrament in the Christian faith is communion, Holy Communion, breaking of bread, yes, and this is the eve of the Last Supper, the last meal that our beloved Jesus had on earth, and He sat around the table with His disciples and He had Holy Communion. We read that in 1 Corinthians 11:23-25. Now this is Paul. He says that
“the Lord Jesus, on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
Now, listen to this, verse 26:
“For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes”
Very, very important. Maybe tonight, sit with your family around the table as you think about Good Friday, which is tomorrow, and have Holy Communion together. You know folks, when I travel, and sometimes I go into the poorest of poorest areas, maybe in Central Africa, maybe overseas, people always tend to give you the best they have, not necessarily the richest people, but the poorest people, and it is so important to eat it heartily and to give thanks because that is what they want.
Now, tonight as we break bread together as a family, remember, Jesus says it is the Word of God that satisfies the soul, that gives you strength and healing and hope. Spend time reading your Bible.
Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day.
Goodbye. -
I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Wednesday morning, the 16th of April, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.
We go to the Gospel of Luke 2:49:
“And He said to them, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?”
This is a 12-year-old boy. I am talking about our Saviour - Jesus Christ. A 12 year old boy was lost, his mom and dad couldn’t find him. He had been lost, not for three hours but for three days! Where was he? He was in the very place he was supposed to be. He was in the temple in His Father’s house. He was found sitting quietly, debating, listening, asking questions and giving incredible answers and confounding the greatest minds in the world at that time, and they were astonished by His answers. Jesus says to you and me today that unless we become as little children, we will never see the Kingdom of God.
Oh my dear friend, you and I must be so careful that we don’t underestimate the young person’s mind - they are open. I just love speaking to young people. They are unpolluted by the things of the world. They are soft, they cry easily, they are very emotional, they are pliable. Just like a young sapling, a young tree, they can bend in the storms of life. They are teachable, not like an old tree, set in its ways, and eventually, the big wind comes, and they cannot bend, and they break, they snap.
We must not be like that. Jesus says we need to become like little children. I got an email a few days ago from a young 12-year-old boy by the name of Noah. I was so touched. Noah came to his very first Mighty Mens Conference at Jeffrey’s Bay a few weeks ago. His life has been completely changed.
Today, let us be gentle, loving and kind, and listen to what young people have to say!
Jesus bless you and goodbye. -
I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Tuesday morning, the 15th of April, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.
We go straight to the Gospel of Luke 2:25:
“And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.”
You don’t hear much about Simeon, do you? No, he is one of the ordinary people. There are millions of ordinary people in the world. He was not a high priest, he was not one of the inner circle. No, but I will tell you one thing, he saw and recognised Jesus before any of the high priests or the Pharisees did. The Lord showed him and he said,
“Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace,…”
You will see that in verse 29, when he recognised the baby Jesus, who had been brought to the temple. We need to understand something. It’s not about education, and there is nothing wrong with that, by the way, it’s a relationship with the Lord.
I had a man working on the farm. You have probably seen him in the movie, Faith like Potatoes. Yes, his name is Simeon. Simeon is illiterate, he can’t read, he can’t write, but I want to tell you, he became one of my best friends when I was a young farmer. Some of the holiest times we used to have together were in the workshop early in the morning before the staff arrived.
When I used to travel a lot and Jill was on the farm with the children and they were young, I used to call him in, we used to sit together and I would say, “Please look after the family till I get back”, and he would say to me, “Don’t worry, I will look after them.” And he did - Jill said to me, often in the middle of the night, she would hear him walking around, just checking that everything was okay, and he was the one man that when he laid his hands on my head and prayed for me, he made me cry. I don’t know why. Yes, like Simeon of the Bible. Let us not judge a book by it’s cover. Let us be very slow to judge one another because I want to tell you, I have seen so many godly men in my life who don’t hold any public office, but they have seen Jesus.
Have a wonderful day,
God bless you and goodbye. -
I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Monday morning, the 14th of April, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.
We start in the Book of Acts 4:13:
“Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.”
Then we go to Zechariah 8:23:
“Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.”
People should want to be with us. We are not to Bible-punch people, we are not to threaten people with hell and damnation. We are to love people. I remember like yesterday, when I was a very young man trying to find my way. I was a rugby player. We would go down to the rugby club on a Saturday night with all the young guys and the young girls. There was one particular young man I used to admire, and I couldn’t understand how the girls all clamoured around him, and us young guys who were spending time in the gym trying to get strong and look good, we had to struggle to get girlfriends, but this young guy the girls just flocked around him.
Now, he was nothing to look at. He was a bit skinny, he had long hair, those were the days of the Beatles, if you remember. He had buck teeth but you see folks, the difference between him and us was that he cared for the young girls. He would be the first one to welcome them, he would pull the chair out for them to sit on, he would complement them on their dress, ”You’re looking so pretty tonight.” He would make sure that they had something to drink. He would be more concerned about them than himself and they just loved him and they were flocking around him.
I want to say to you today, let’s try to stop forcing people into the Kingdom of God and let’s start loving them into the Kingdom of God because when people see Jesus in you, they will be drawn to you, when they see the peace in your heart, the love, that you’re not judgmental, that you’re not angry, you’re not bitter, for they see Jesus in you. Today, let’s be like Jesus.
Have a wonderful day,
God bless you and goodbye. -
I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Sunday morning, the 13th of April, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.
We start in the Book of Zachariah 8:16:
”These are the things you shall do; Speak each man the truth to his neighbour;”
Then we go straight to the Gospel of John 17:17:
”Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.”
The Bible is the absolute truth. That’s why when you go to a court of law they make you put your hand on top of the Bible and you have to say, “I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God”. If you and I truly love our neighbour then we have to tell them the whole truth.
It’s like that huge boil you’ve got on your arm, that tumour, that abscess. You can’t keep on putting plaster over the top. There comes a time when it is ready to be lanced, and you have to take the plaster off and take a sharp scalpel to lance it so that all the rubbish can come out and there can be healing. You can’t keep putting a plaster over it. You see there’s no such thing as telling white lie in order to keep your neighbour happy. By the way, there’s no such thing as a white lie. It’s the truth.
Henry Ford, the giant car manufacturer, was asked by his men if they could change the colour of his famous Model T Ford from black to another colour. He answered, ”You can change it any colour you like as long as it stays black.” Now that is how the Bible is. You cannot change the word of God.
I remember like yesterday, officiating at a funeral service, many, many years ago. I knew this man very, very well. He made some very big mistakes in his life, I want to be honest with you, but one thing I do know for a fact - He loved the Lord Jesus Christ with all his heart and at his funeral I said, ”Good people don’t go to heaven, believers go to heaven.” Because that’s what it says in the word of God in John 14:6, one of the most famous scripture verses in the Bible. Jesus said to him,
“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
I said that at his funeral and afterwards a man came over. He was very upset with me. He said, “How can you say that good people don’t go to Heaven?” I said, “Because that's the truth, it’s what the Bible says. It’s faith in Jesus Christ. You must be born again.” Now today, if you love your neighbour, you must tell him the truth!
God bless you and have a wonderful day,
Goodbye. -
I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Saturday morning, the 12th of April, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.
We go to the Gospel of John 1:32:
”And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him.”
The Holy Spirit coming down from heaven in the form of a dove and settling upon Jesus Christ. Oh, what a beautiful picture!
Early this morning, it was still very dark and misty, we’re having beautiful rain on the farm at the moment. I walked out of my house and into the prayer room, and in the shadow I saw a beautiful pair of turtle doves. There was such a peace about that picture, and you know they say that a turtle dove only mates once in his life. So if you kill his partner, he remains alone for the rest of his life.
I looked up the meaning of the word turtle dove and its characteristics, and it says he is a harmless bird. He represents innocence, powerlessness, meekness and humility. Don’t we need that in the world today, my dear friend? The sign of peace is the turtle dove.
I remember like yesterday, as a very young man when we had just arrived on the farm, Shalom, I was just about to have my breakfast in the morning, in those days we had the old phone that you had to crank the handle and there were two signs, two shorts, one long, that was your call sign. The phone rang and I picked it up and it was the Deeds Office in Pretoria saying, “You have to give us the name of your new farm that you have just bought”, and I had no idea what we were going to call this farm. So I shouted through to the bedroom, Jill was doing something in the bedroom. I said, ”Jill, we need a name. We need a name for the farm.” And she shouted back, ”Shalom.” Well that’s the name of this farm. Now Shalom means peace in Hebrew and of course the Prince of Peace is often represented by the Holy Spirit.
I want to say to you today, let us go out and when people are aggressive and when people are fearful and when people are ugly, let us represent the Holy Spirit. Let there be peace in our hearts. Oft times people come to Shalom to visit us and as we greet them, sometimes they burst into tears and we say, ”Why are you crying?” They say, ”We don’t know why we are crying,” and I’m hoping that they also can feel the peace of Jesus Christ in this place.
Today, let’s go out and represent the Prince of Peace, the soon coming King, Jesus Christ.
God bless you and goodbye.
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I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Friday morning, the 11th of April, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.
We go to the Gospel of Luke 1:80:
“The child continued to grow and to become strong in spirit, and he lived in the deserts until the day of his public appearance to Israel [as John the Baptist, the forerunner of the Messiah]. (AMP version)
I want to speak to you about that desert time. Are you in a desert time at the moment? Does it seem like nothing is happening young lady? Do you think you will never get married, yes? Young man, do you feel there’s never going to be a lady for you to marry? Do you feel that you are studying all the time - when is this going to end? When am I going to realise my potential and my dream?
Well, there is a preparation time. John the Baptist spent time in the desert until God called him to proclaim the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. It took Jesus thirty years of preparation before His ministry started. It took Moses forty years in the desert before the Lord saw he was ready to take the Israelites out of Egypt. Don’t rush.
Now, as a farmer, I can tell you it takes nine months before a cow will produce a baby calf. It takes the calf six months before it is weaned from it’s mother. It takes a young heifer eighteen months before she is ready to go to the bull and to produce a calf herself. A crop of maize takes one year, approximately one year to produce from the time you start preparing the soil. A good artisan, a tradesman - takes five years of apprenticeship before he is qualified as a tradesman, and it takes a lifetime for us to be prepared for entry into Heaven. Don’t rush, there is plenty of time.
Jesus bless you and goodbye.
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I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Thursday morning, the 10th of April, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.
We start in the Book of Genesis 18:14:
”Is anything too hard for the Lord?”
Wow, that’s a good question. I hope you can answer that one, and then we go straight to the Gospel of John 14:14:
”If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.”
That is a promise from God, folks, not to be argued. I want to ask you a question this morning. How big is God? Well, the answer is simple. He is as big as you allow Him to be. Some people keep Him in a matchbox. That’s true. I preached in Scandinavia many, many years ago. What a beautiful part of the world. Everything works there. They build the biggest trucks in the world. Their water is so clean and clear you can almost drink it out of the lakes. As I was preaching, a lady came up and she was weeping. I said, ”What is the problem?” She said, ”Please pray for us. You see, we keep Jesus in a matchbox and every now and again we just let Him out just a little bit.”
Folks, we must depend on God, not on the works of our hands. You see, some people think they don’t need God but I want to tell you, He is a miracle-working God and He’s asking you today, what is it that you need? Remember the story of Sarah? Sarah was in her nineties, and God said He would give her a baby boy, but she laughed. She didn’t believe it because she was in her nineties. How can a ninety-year-old woman conceive and bear a child? How can a man of a hundred years old be the father of many nations? I’m talking about Abraham and yet that’s exactly what happened.
You and I today need to think outside of the box. We hired the biggest tent in the whole world in 2008. We had five hundred rand which is about thirty US dollars in our pocket, and we booked it. A thirty thousand-seater tent, and we were expecting about twenty thousand men. Sixty thousand men arrived on this farm - many are listening to this message this morning! We fed them. Do you know we had to kill forty oxen to feed these men for one meal? We fed them for a whole weekend. How big is God? He’s as big as you allow Him to be in your life.
William Carey, the man that took the Gospel to India said, ”We must attempt great things for God and we must expect great things from God.”
Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day,
Goodbye. -
I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Wednesday morning, the 9th of April, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.
We start in the Book of Luke 1:76:
”And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest; For you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways,…”
Zacharias was talking about his son, John the Baptist. Jesus said there has never been a man born from the womb of a woman, greater than John the Baptist. (Matthew 11:11)
John the Baptist was a scout. Yes, a forerunner. I looked up the meaning of the word, “scout” in the Oxford Dictionary. It says “a person who is sent ahead to gather information about the enemy. Now when you are going into a new country, you always send your best man ahead. He prepares the way. That is what John the Baptist did for Jesus. He finds out the best route. He also finds out about the danger in that area and comes back and reports it. The Lord Jesus Christ has called you today, my dear friend, to be a scout, to be a forerunner, to be one who prepares the way for the people. We have an obligation. Our obligation is to lead the way. How do we do it? By our conduct, by our lifestyle, by our love and by warning people of the dangers ahead.
Do you remember that old song? I think we have sung it before:
I have decided to follow Jesus,
I have decided to follow Jesus,
I have decided to follow Jesus
No turning back, praise the Lord, no turning back.The cross before me and the world behind me,
The cross before me and the world behind me,
The cross before me and the world behind me,
No turning back, praise the Lord, no turning back.You and I are not turning back. Where are we going to go to? Back to Egypt? No, we are going forward. Where are we going? Our destination is Heaven. You and I are just travellers in this world, sojourners. Pick up your head and remember people are following you. Do not lead them down a dead-end alley, a cul-de-sac. Do not lead them into the enemy camp, but lead them in a place which is safe, a place where Jesus inhabits and they will thank you for that, and most of all Our Heavenly Father will be most proud of you.
Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day,
Goodbye. -
I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Tuesday morning, the 8th of April, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.
We go to the Book of Isaiah 6:8:
“Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying:
“Whom shall I send,
And who will go for Us?”
Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”Then we go straight to the Book of Zechariah 4:10:
“For who has despised the day of small things?”
Are you feeling this morning that you are not good enough, that you will never make it? Are you feeling that you are not equipped? Well, you are in good company! That’s exactly how I feel so many times - never despise small beginnings. Remember, God chose King David, the smallest and youngest of all of Jesse’s sons. There were eight of them all together, but God chose the youngest. It’s never too late to put your hand up. Remember Gideon’s army? He had 32,000 fighting men. The Lord said, “Send them all back”, and he ended up with 300 fighting men, and defeated the enemy. You will find that in Judges 7:7.
We ask ourselves a question. Why? Why does God choose the youngest, the most ill-equipped, the most uneducated? Why? Because He will not share His glory with any man. You see, when God does a miracle through an ordinary person’s life, God gets all the glory because people say there is no way that that man could have done that. God doesn’t need our expertise, He doesn’t need our intellect. He doesn’t even need our effort. All He wants is one thing, He wants our obedience. Yes, He wants us to love and to dedicate ourselves to Him alone.
Jesus told the fisherman right down at the Sea of Galilee, to leave their nets and follow after Him and He would make them fishers of men and look what happened with those twelve men. They changed the world. I want to tell you very quickly about a dairy farmer who lived in America. His name was Demos Shakarian. He came from an Armenian background. That man was saved, he thought he was going to be an evangelist. He bought a big tent and held a few meetings and he was fairly successful, but that wasn’t what God wanted him to do. Then God showed him to start the Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship International. Do you know that that movement touched tens of thousands of key businessmen around the whole world? A book was written called, “The Happiest People on Earth.”
I want to say to you today, put your hand up and say, “Lord, I don’t have much but I am going to give You what I have got,” and you will be surprised how He will use you.
Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day,
Goodbye. -
I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Monday morning, the 7th of April, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.
We start in the Book of Zachariah 3:4:
“Take away the filthy garments from him.” And to him He said, “See, I have removed your iniquity from you, and I will clothe you with rich robes.”
A beautiful promise from the Lord, to take away all of our sin. Then we go to the Book of Revelation 19:8:
“And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.”
Yes, we are talking about the marriage day, that wonderful, wonderful occasion when you and I will meet our beloved Jesus Christ, our Bridegroom. The Lord is preparing a great marriage feast for you and me when we meet Him in Heaven. You and I are the church and the bride, and Jesus is the Bridegroom. I want to ask you a question. Are you ready? Am I ready?
You know, I love weddings. I have had the privilege of marrying off my children and my grandchildren. What an occasion it is! The excitement when the mothers are getting the food ready, the bride and the bridesmaids are getting their dresses ready, the bridegrooms are cleaned up. These boys have had a nice shave. They are ready with their beautiful suits on. It is an incredible occasion, the flowers in the church are magnificent. It is a joyous occasion and lots of fun.
I remember, my very dear brother in Christ - his son was getting married to my youngest daughter, and he offered his vintage tractor. Yes, it was an inheritance he got from his grandfather and I want to say to you, this tractor was imported from England and was working up in Central Africa. He brought it to the farm and said he would drive my daughter and me to the chapel in this tractor. What a wonderful machine. Pop, pop, pop as it went up the hill, but it did have a little bit of a problem with the exhaust. There was a lot of black smoke and maybe even the occasional drop of oil. Now, my daughter had a beautiful white dress on! Aah, but we sorted that out because we gave her a lovely umbrella, but I want to say to you today there must be no oil, there must be nothing in our garments that will tarnish the wedding day. The Lord said He has given us new garments and we need to go to church, we need to go to the wedding day, clean. Are we ready for that great and wonderful day when we meet our beloved Jesus face to face?
Prepare yourself because that day is coming very soon.
Jesus bless you and goodbye. -
I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Sunday morning, the 6th of April, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.
We go straight to the Book of Romans 10:17 (the Amplified)
”So faith comes from hearing [what is told], and what is heard comes by the [preaching of the] message concerning Christ.”
I got a most beautiful encouraging message just yesterday and I want to read it to you. This is what it says:
Hi all,
Ralph here. I would like to share my affirmation and scientifically proven miracle that the Lord healed me at the pools of Bethesda. That was where the swirling pool was with the man who couldn’t get into the pool. Jesus healed him and told him to take up his bed and walk. That’s where we were. This is where Uncle Angus prayed over me for healing for brain damage which was a result of the carbon monoxide poisoning incident that Kath (his wife) and I had a year before our Israel trip. The MRI scan I had in the hospital showed clearly that I had brain damage. Theo may remember that I thought Angus was ill after he had prayed for me. I said to Kath, Theo, Sandra and Gary that Uncle Angus’ hand was burning hot and something must be wrong with Uncle Angus. It was the Holy Spirit touching my head and tangibly healing my brain from the brain damage. After this I was able to stop taking my tray of pills and believed I was totally healed. I didn’t feel I needed any proof or to go for another MRI scan. I knew I was healed.
Recently, I was booked for an MRI body scan as a precautionary check-up. The radiologist is a good friend of ours who knew our story and was one of the multitude of people praying for our recovery and asked if I would mind if he could scan my head. He explained later that most people do not allow this to be done as a result of the MRI showing the brain damage clearly. It can be very upsetting for most patients to see. I said he can do the scan feeling confident of my healing and miracle in Israel.
The scan results scientifically proved the miracle is real and showed all signs of the brain damage previously seen had miraculously disappeared. “This is scientifically impossible,” said our radiologist friend. He was so emotional and in awe when he could see that my brain was perfectly healthy and normal after 22 hours of carbon monoxide exposure and being in a coma for five days. This is a pure miracle. But God. Amen and Amen.”
God bless you.
Jesus is the healer! -
I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Saturday morning, the 5th of April, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.
We start in the Book of Luke 1:46-55, but before I read it, I just want to say something to you. This is a beautiful, beautiful scripture spoken by Mary the mother of Jesus.
I want to tell you the thing that I love about Mary more than anything else is her faith in God, truly, a giant in the faith. You see, Mary was not divine, no, no, no. She didn’t come down from heaven like an angel. She was born of an ordinary mother, an ordinary father, just like you and me, but God looked right through the world to find one maiden, a virgin, who He could trust with His only beloved son, Jesus Christ, and He found Mary from Nazareth. He saw this young virgin and He said, ”She will look after My Son while He lives on earth.” What an honour, what a privilege! But what I want to stress is the faith that Mary had, to believe the message that the archangel Gabriel brought from our Heavenly Father down to her, and when he told her that she was going to bear the Son of God in her womb - a Baby, nine months in your womb, and then you are going to bring Him up to age. What a responsibility, what an honour! This is her response, verse 46:
And Mary said: “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Saviour.
For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; (You see, she didn’t think of herself as anything special at all) for behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed.
For He who is mighty (our Heavenly Father) has done great things for me, and holy is His name.
And His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with His arm;
He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He has put down the mighty from their thrones, And exalted the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty.
He has helped His servant Israel, In remembrance of His mercy,
As He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed forever.”
You see, no doubt at all. Accepted the call. Said, “Yes Lord, I’ll do it.” And by faith she did it. Today, start to trust God by faith with the things that He has promised you that maybe haven’t come to pass just yet. I can tell you, they will come to pass if you continue by faith. Remember faith can’t see. Faith is to believe what you cannot see. God will bring it to pass.
Jesus bless you richly today and goodbye!
-
I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Friday morning, the 4th of April, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.
We go straight to the Gospel of John 14:9: Jesus said to him,
“Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?”
Oh, I just love that scripture. You see, Jesus is God made flesh. Jesus has a distinct personality. He has a beautiful heart. He has an incredible character and His viewpoint is “yea and amen”. That is exactly what God is like. We do not have to ask ourselves the question, ”I wonder what God is going to be like.” All we have to do is study the life of Jesus and then we know exactly what God is like.
I have 8 grandsons. They know me and they know me very well. I’ve heard them sometimes when they were younger, they bring their little friends to the farm to play and I’ve heard them talking outside and their little friends are a bit nervous to meet me and they say, ”He’s a bit gruff isn’t he? He’s a bit loud with his voice? I see he takes no nonsense. I also notice, he doesn’t talk twice, he only asks you to do something once.“ Then the little grandsons who know me, who have heard me, speak up and they say, ”No, Khulu (that’s the Zulu word for grandfather), no, he’s kind, he’s very kind to us. He’s gentle with us. He says we must be kind to the girls we must be gentle with the animals and just one important thing, when you go into the house, whatever food gets dished up for you on the plate, make sure you eat all of it, because you see Khulu’s father, my great grandfather, was in the war and he told Khulu how the people used to starve because there was no food. Don’t waste food.” So my grandsons know my character because they spend time with me.
Today, if you spend time praying, meditating, and reading your Bible, Jesus will become such a reality to you that on the great day when you meet our Heavenly Father face to face, it will not come as a surprise to you. Jesus bless you richly as you get to know Him better.
God bless you and goodbye.
- Vis mere
