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by Graham MolWhen the shadows stretch across the garden and the harsh brightness of the sun softens; when the heat abates and a cool, gentle breeze drifts through the air, this is the best time of day. I have fond memories of the cool afternoons, when my father had come home from work and we had convinced him to come out into the garden to play cricket or soccer. Other times, my sister and I would carry on playing our games until either it got too dark or my mom called us in for supper. Even now, as I have kids of my own, they often disappear into the garden in the late afternoon. It really is the best time of day and this is not just my opinion, it's a Biblical truth!Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day... (Genesis 3:8) The implication of this verse is that God would often come walk with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day (or the time of the evening breeze as is sometimes translated), it was a time of close fellowship with the Lord. I could imagine both Adam and Eve looking forward to this time of day where they got to experience and enjoy the presence of their Father. It is all the more tragic that Genesis 3:8 speaks of the moment that they hid from the Lord in shame after disobeying His command.Today we are blessed in that we can "walk" with the Lord at any time of day for His Holy Spirit is with us always. And yet, the cool of the day, that time after the busyness of work, in the moment between the going down of the sun and the arrival of the night, still remains a great moment to take a breath, maybe even step out into the garden, and just appreciate the blessed company of our heavenly Father. God BlessGraham

by Caryl MollI sat at the kitchen counter and put my head in my hands. I was distraught…“Please Lord, can you help? I know it’s a small thing for you, but I feel so attached to this strange, wild bird. This is an impossible request I know, but you have said that ‘nothing is impossible for you’. Forgive my doubt with these things Father, but I really pray for a miracle for our dear ‘Seagull’. Please can you intervene? Seagull’s ankle is tangled up with fishing line.  We are desperate to catch her, remove the entanglement and release her.  Please Father…Is it possible somehow that you are able to cause the twine that is wrapped around her ankle to just disappear…? Or can you help me to catch her with our trap? Please Lord, I pray for a miracle for Seagull.”I felt rather bashful putting this request to our mighty God. Aren’t there much more important matters for Him to hear? Why should my obscure little prayer be heard by the almighty Father of the Universe? I didn’t hold out much hope at all… I’d probably just have to accept Seagull’s horrible fate.But God had other plans… “SEAGULL’S” STORYTwo years ago a little Hadedah Ibis chick hatched in a nest in our neighbour's big tree. We woke up, one day, to the most awful, grating screech – very unlike the usual Hadedah calls in our city. Fearing that the bird was caught up somewhere, I rushed out to investigate and potentially rescue it. The horrible vocalization drew me to the tree where the chick was perched. It was a real surprise to discover that there was nothing visibly wrong with her - except for the crazy vocalization.We named the chick "SEAGULL"The weeks that followed were extremely noisy.  We had to endure some serious screeching emanating from the tree as her mom dutifully fed and cared for her. Soon Seagull was trying to fly. The odds were out as to whether she'd survive or not. We heard her antics constantly - often waking up to her screech in the morning and breathing a sigh of relief with the knowledge that;"SEAGULL is alive!"Over the months that ensued we followed (audibly and visibly) this strange bird's progress. Her voice didn't change but I worried about her ability to integrate into Hadedah society. In addition, her flying skills were hampered - she demonstrated suspect aerial manoeuvres and just managed to skirt electric fences around our neighbourhood. In addition, she sported badly ruffled feathers and mostly perched on only one leg.For two years we watched Seagull mature and then amazingly she pitched up with a mate one day. Her looks improved too. Eventually, the two produced a chick of their own.  For many months we followed their progress. Seagull was alive and thriving and retained her odd voice. (Most Hadedahs look similar, but this was Seagull’s unique quality which enabled us to follow her so closely) Quite simply...she was beautiful! SEAGULL became a permanent neighbourhood resident…

by Luke KincaidUp until a few moments ago, I realized that I was prone to take for granted that Paul, who wrote a majority of the New Testament, was a real, flesh and blood, Holy Spirit led, human being. He was just like you and me and he was able to make such an incredible impact on the world around Him because of the incredible value he placed on knowing and obeying Jesus.I was reminded of this while reading through the first chapter of Matt Chandler’s book “To Live Is Christ To Die Is Gain” which is a road map for authentic Christian maturity from the book of Philippians. In chapter one of his book, Matt Chandler recounts the start of the Christian church in Philippi as told in Acts 16 and this is the portion of the story that really stood out to me: 20 Bringing them before the chief magistrates, they said, “These men are seriously disturbing our city. They are Jews 21 and are promoting customs that are not legal for us as Romans to adopt or practice.” 22 The crowd joined in the attack against them, and the chief magistrates stripped off their clothes and ordered them to be beaten with rods. 23 After they had severely flogged them, they threw them in jail, ordering the jailer to guard them carefully. 24 Receiving such an order, he put them into the inner prison and secured their feet in the stocks. – Acts 16:20-24Paul and Silas were imprisoned because of Paul casting out a demon from a young slave girl who was making money for her owners through demonic means. The following is a rather lengthy excerpt of Matt Chandler’s words but I think they paint such an amazing portrait of who Paul was:As Westerners, when we think of ‘the stocks,’ we picture New England in the 1700s, the embarrassment and shame of having your head and hands stuck in a public contraption. But that is not what first-century Roman Empire stocks were like. These devious contraptions would contort the prisoner’s body into all sorts of excruciating postures, locking limbs and joints into place to the point of making the entire body cramp. The prisoner’s body would seize up with searing pain, and then the Romans would just leave the person there for days. Notice that the jailer is not commanded to treat his prisoners this way. The magistrates simply ask him to keep the missionaries safe, and instead he tortures them. So we aren’t dealing with a very nice man at this moment. This jailer is very good at his job, and he probably likes it more than he should. But when it comes to taking pride in one’s work, this guy could not out-enjoy Paul. ‘About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them’ (Acts 16:25). If you hated the gospel, wouldn’t the apostle Paul be the most frustrating human being alive? It did not matter what you did to this man, he loved…