Ephesians 4:26-27 says, ‘“In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.’ The Devil The word “devil” only occurs again in this letter in 6:11 in the context of spiritual warfare against the “powers”. Paul, the author of… Continue reading How do we give the devil a foothold?
Category: Ephesians
How to pray for power
A lot is said about power these days. Power evangelism. “Powerful” church services. There is even a power-Bible. Is praying for power wrong for Christians? Does it conjure up images of witches and warlocks mixing potions and reciting spells, while requesting power from some evil, occultic being? Is prayer for power legitimate and biblical?
Multi-colour churches and the defeat of racism
I often get very discouraged by the racist views expressed on so many news and social media sites. It seems that some (sad) people are hell-bent in making any and every issue about the amount of pigmentation of another’s skin. Sadly racism is also sometimes seen in the church; this was especially true of the… Continue reading Multi-colour churches and the defeat of racism
You were zombies
In Ephesians 2:1-3 Paul describes the Ephesian believers’ hopeless condition before they had come to experience the power of God in Christ Jesus which had transformed their lives – this of course is true for all believers. According to the Paul they were (spiritually) “dead”, which figuratively describes the state of being lost or under… Continue reading You were zombies
A praise-song for Africa
A key figure in the Xhosa tradition is the imbongi or praise singer. The praise singers traditionally live close to the chief’s “great place” (the cultural and political focus of his activity); they accompany the chief on important occasions – a praise singer preceded Nelson Mandela at his Presidential inauguration in 1994. The praise songs generally… Continue reading A praise-song for Africa