The Passionate Believer

As always Dr. David Jeremiah does not disappoint in his writings. This book is superbly written mixed with great story-telling. The book neatly consists of 10 chapters and in my opinion deals with the mindset of an individual. My favourite chapter is the fourth one entitled "Mental Focus", but alittle more on that in abit. Most of  Dr. David Jeremiah's books are written to encourage(or atleast the books that I've been reading thus far). While I did enjoy the reading, it does work on your emotions and probably more than one would expect. The stories herein will mostly leave goosebumps now and then and we probably need that from time to time, something that will move your heart and create capacity for potential to work harder in your personal lives and develop your spiritual relationship even further. There is a unique balance the author creates in bringing the reader to a place of understanding through simplicity of words. In dealing with the individual rea

Psalm 103 vs 1 -5 " Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's ." ( ESV) This Psalm is one my most favourite portions of scripture. It's very dear to my heart and speaks volumes. And I want to share that special reason with you! In the world we live in today, everyone's focused on God blessing them. And what God is doing in and through their lives for them. (I'm not against the reality of God blessing us, in fact it's very much Biblical that God loves His creation and there's nothing that the eternal creator won't do for his creation). But when the focus becomes us, that's where the danger lies and the gospel of prosperity le

" And Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the LORD.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it. And Shaphan the secretary came to the king, and reported to the king, “Your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house and have delivered it into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the LORD.” Then Shaphan the secretary told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it before the king. When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes. And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Micaiah, and Shaphan the secretary, and Asaiah the king's servant, saying, “Go, inquire of the LORD for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the LORD that is kindled against us, beca

In his book Stepping Up!, Johnny McGowan talks about servant leadership. Whilst he sounds inspiring, the book borders on the ' Self-Motivational ' type of writings out there. You can see his writings are similar to that of Joel Osteen as he serves in the same church. Not to take anything away from the author, there are some nuggets that are great to take heed of. He talks about his early days working with his dad in the construction business before he serves in ministry. He has observed some valuable lessons from his father. One of them being is 'attention to detail' in every aspect of his work and how he takes that into ministry. He also speaks of walking alongside Joel Osteen and opens up on how we should serve others. And in so doing we render our lives as examples for others to follow. And there are many illustrations he uses from his own life in serving others and in the church.  I think I'm being biased here but I would personally prefer something

" Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had restored to life, “Arise, and depart with your household, and sojourn wherever you can, for the LORD has called for a famine, and it will come upon the land for seven years.” So the woman arose and did according to the word of the man of God. She went with her household and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years. And at the end of the seven years, when the woman returned from the land of the Philistines, she went to appeal to the king for her house and her land. Now the king was talking with Gehazi the servant of the man of God, saying, “Tell me all the great things that Elisha has done.” And while he was telling the king how Elisha had restored the dead to life, behold, the woman whose son he had restored to life appealed to the king for her house and her land. And Gehazi said, “My lord, O king, here is the woman, and here is her son whom Elisha restored to life.” And when the king asked the woman, she

"And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching." ~ Hebrews 10 Vs 24-25 ( KJV) Have you noticed that within the past two years the decline of Church attendance? Whilst at a certain time it was necessary for viewing services online, but now that things are changing once again and we're accelerating back to a place that is close to being normal as was in pre-covid times, attending church has never been more necessary in these times. In this short article we're not addressing the reasons as to why one would choose not to be in church but to name a few reasons as to why we need to actually BE IN CHURCH , although at times it may overlap. As the writer to the Hebrews talks about not neglecting the gathering of the saints, we must come to understand that whilst digital formats of serv

Forward is about looking ahead and Dr David Jeremiah is quite impressive with his story-telling. He uses true life stories to bring out fresh perspectives that are truly Biblical in nature. Ten chapters makes this book an easy read but make no mistake, one has to read to understand. One of my favourite chapters is four: Focus . It's amazing what we miss out on when we're not focused, but please don't take my word for it. You have to read the entire book. Forward is a book that enlightens the reader along with scripture about letting go of the past, hurt and even people that hinders the journey ahead. We don't move forward alone either, God gives us the opportunity to move ahead with others who are going along on the same journey. At the end, he makes a profound statement saying that although the book is named FORWARD, he hopes that the reader will also be able to look UPWARD. For that is the hope-filled end result. One can always look forward but if it doesn

Pastor Sam Machaka, who is a part of our blog team has just released his new book ' Renew Your Marriage, A Bible-Centred Approach For Marriages in African Contexts' . It's a book for all who live on the African continent and beyond.  It's a book that penetrates through cultures and differing contexts both for the young and young at heart. Biblically based, you will find treasures in it that will bless your marriage, drawing you and your spouse closer to each as you both are drawn into the presence of a powerful God who has blessed marriages from the very beginning.  It's available on Amazon and downloadable on kindle. Don't miss out on getting your copy now and be a blessing to other couples too.  Endorsements: Why another book on marriage? Sam Machaka is a Southern African voice saturating the book with the known cultural traps that Africans struggle with. As Shepherd he is uncompromising in the quest for the church to be god

"And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you? ” (Genesis 3 vs 8-9, ESV) "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” (Luke 19 vs 10, ESV) God did not create us to be mindless robots walking about. He created us for relationship with Him. Adam and Eve experienced this unadulterated, untainted relationship with God. They knew the pureness of the Father as they related to Him every single day. And the fact of the matter is that one day soon we will experience the same. Although sin has separated us from Him, He hasn't allowed us to wallow in it. He provided a way out. From the very beginning, God provided a way out. The cross of Christ is the way out! Christ just didn't die for our sins, rise again and say that we're forgiven

We would like to take this opportunity to wish you all our beloved readers and your precious families a beautiful Christmas ahead. May you see the Hand of our Magnificent God in your lives as you take the time to reflect on the Love of our Saviour this Christmas. We would also like to thank you for showing your support throughout the past year in reading our weekly articles and book reviews.  We appreciate the time you take to visit us at our blog. And we pray you would continue in through the next year and do spread the word as we endeavour to teach accurately from God's precious word. Personally I'd like to say thank you to Pastor Sam Machaka and his dear wife Mildred for all of their contributions to The Passionate Believer blog. We continue to pray for the Lord's blessing upon them for all their hard work at Brink Ministries Southern Africa, which currently operates from Malawi. (P.S. Pastor Sam's new book 'Renewing Your Marriage' is