[A ‘Tuesday Challenge‘ originally prepared for the congregation of Horley Baptist Church during September 2025]
“Don’t take from next month what belongs to next month”[1]
These words were spoken by Grace Makutsi, a character in the series of books by Alexander McCall Smith under the general title of “The No1 Ladies’ Detective Agency”. The principle contains a certain amount of wisdom but is it practical?
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[A ‘Tuesday Challenge‘ originally prepared for the congregation of Horley Baptist Church during August 2025]
What is the relationship between your spiritual life and your daily activities? Or, to put it another way, if your faith does not affect your lifestyle, your work-ethic and your politics, is it anything more than a hobby?
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[A ‘Tuesday Challenge‘ originally prepared for the congregation of Horley Baptist Church during August 2025]
About two months ago[1] we considered the impact that the news of Israel’s defeat by the Philistines in 1070BC had had on Eli, the high priest at that time. Israel’s most important religious artefact had been captured and two of Eli’s sons had perished in the battle. Their deaths were a punishment for the disreputable way in which they had discharged their responsibilities as priests.
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[A ‘Tuesday Challenge‘ originally prepared for the congregation of Horley Baptist Church during August 2025]
The people that do know their God shall be strong.
Daniel 11 v32 [KJV]
When we think of the book of Daniel it is likely that we think of lions who lost their appetite, three fire-resistant fellows or a statue with fractured feet. Indeed, even people with little or no knowledge of the Bible will probably recognise those events, but what of the rest of the book? How many of us who claim to be familiar with the Old Testament know much about the content of chapters 7 to 12?
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[A ‘Tuesday Challenge‘ originally prepared for the congregation of Horley Baptist Church during August 2025]
Last week we took a brief look at the prophecy of Amos, one of the minor prophets whose accounts are included in the second half of the Old Testament. The term ‘minor’ relates to the lengths of the books that bear their names; it certainly does not signify that their messages were of any lesser importance.
Are we often tempted to dismiss these minor prophecies as being largely historical and not relevant to our time? A few of the stories, such as the scandal of Hosea’s wife or Jonah attempting to sail off into the sunset, may catch our attention but are we at risk of missing the messages that the rest of these texts may have for us?
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[A ‘Tuesday Challenge‘ originally prepared for the congregation of Horley Baptist Church during July 2025]
The Wikipedia entry for today[1] attributes the destruction of Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem to this date in 587BC. Solomon’s Temple was a magnificent structure, described in detail in the books of I Kings and II Chronicles. For several centuries it served as the focal point for the worship of God in Israel.
But the good times did not last. Moses instructed the Israelites to teach the laws of God to their children and their children’s children[2] but, as the years passed, the sincerity and enthusiasm of earlier generations gave way to formality, indifference and eventual neglect. Can we recognise a similar pattern in more modern times?
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