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The book of Jonah is the fifth in the collection called the Minor Prophets; it records the Prophet's interaction with God after the instruction to go to Nineveh, the repentance of the Ninevites and the Prophet's displeasure at God's forgiveness. Rather than a fully developed prophecy, it is an account of the experience of a prophet— more events than sermon. With only four chapters, the book divides into four major parts: first, God's Commission and the Prophet's Disobedience ( Jon1:1-17 ); second, the Prophet's Repentance and God's Deliverance ( Jon2:1-10 ); third, God's Commission and the Prophet's Obedience ( Jn3:1-10 ) and the fourth part is the Prophet's Annoyance and God's Correction ( Jon4:1-11 ). From studying the first chapter, we learn some vital truths about God and our interaction with him; we learn about his love for all people irrespective of their nationality, ethnicity or religious practices. We also learn of his sovere...

Introduction . The book of Jonah is the fifth in the collection called the Minor Prophets; it records the Prophet's interaction with God after the instruction to go to Nineveh, the repentance of the Ninevites and the Prophet's displeasure at God's forgiveness. Rather than a fully developed prophecy, it is an account of the experience of a prophet— more events than sermon. It is a message different from other books of the Old Testament in its portrayal of God as interested in other nations apart from Israel; it also discusses the themes of God's purpose and human will; judgement and forgiveness all in the context of the super abounding grace of God. With only four chapters, the book divides into four major parts: first, God's Commission and the Prophet's Disobedience ( Jon1:1-17 ); second, the Prophet's Repentance and God's Deliverance ( Jon2:1-10 ); third, God's Commission and the Prophet's Obedience ( Jn3:1-10 ) and the fourth part is th...

Background Some couple of days ago, I was reminded of Jonathan Tropper's dramatic comedy — This is Where I Leave You and how the protagonist, Judd Foxman was devastated when on his wife's thirty third birthday he hoping to bring her a surprise birthday cake found her sleeping with his boss on their matrimonial bed. Talk about devastating. That kind of story grabs your attention and forces you to really ask yourself, how much can one forgive? In the words of Charles R Swindoll, "Live long enough, and you will understand the difficulty of offering forgiveness when you have been wronged. It does not come easy, yet as believers, we have to recognize that our ability and willingness to offer it are the result of Christ’s saving work on the cross." Forgiveness — the God-kind of forgiveness is expected from the believer and this is the core message of Paul's epistle to Philemon. In this epistle, Paul asks Philemon, a wealthy Christian to forgive and receive bac...

The Christian life is an interesting one where we know that we serve a loving God who is all-powerful, all-knowing and who wants the very best for us; this understanding of our relationship with God and His divine attributes are the basis of faith and the reason why we pray, knowing that he hears us and according to His word, we will have all that we ask of Him. However, things become problematic when trouble comes, sickness comes knocking on the door or death strikes; we pray believing God for a way out and sometimes, the pain leaves, the sickness is healed and the dead is raised but some other times, irrespective of how much we pray, how many people pray or how much faith we release, it seems almost as if we are praying to a dead God who neither sees our pains nor hears our cry for help. It is in those times that we experience a crisis of faith and have to reconsider all that we have ever believed in light of what the Bible says and the circumstances of our life that seem unch...

Introduction . There are many themes in Scripture that run from Old Testament to the New and many persons who first appear early on in the Scriptural narrative and are still mentioned many years after their demise. A good example of this is Abraham the father of faith and David, sweet psalmist of Israel. Melchizedek is another figure who though mentioned briefly in Genesis is referred to again in Psalms and later in the Epistle to the Hebrews. However, unlike Abraham and David, Melchizedek is a man whose very identity and purpose is shrouded in mystery; yet God has revealed to us all that we need to know about him and the purpose he fulfills in Scripture. The Man Melchizedek Hebrews  5:6 As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.  5:10 Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec.  5:11 Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing . Many people have...

On the 31st day of October 2017, it was exactly five hundred years since Martin Luther nailed his ninety-five theses to the castle church door in Wittenberg (or mailed his theses to the Archbishop of Mainz) and started what eventually came to be known as the Protestant Reformation. In the pitch darkness of the middle ages, Luther like other reformers before and after him sought to protest the loss of Christianity's original identity and doctrinal probity and restore the theological foundations of the early church's belief and practice. Perhaps the most important question they sought to answer is that of salvation— "What must one do to be saved?" Is Salvation a result of human effort entirely, a mixture of the grace of God and the efforts of man or a matter of the grace of God entirely from first to last, without any human component? While the Protestant Reformation provided a scriptural answer to this question of salvation, five hundred years after that restorat...

Health has traditionally been defined as the absence of an obvious illness or disease, however this view of health and wellness is parochial and does not necessarily consider the human as an entity with a mind, emotions, intellect and a physical body. Health seen in its proper context entails the ability to fully function as a member of a community. This view of health is incorporated into the WHO definition of Mental Health as a state of well-being in which every individual realizes his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community. There exists a complex relationship between work and health— work is good for mental health and also the capacity to work productively is a function of good emotional well-being. While a good work environment enhances a person's overall well-being, a negative work environment where employees are exposed to bullying, harassment, poor...