Kameel Majdali's Road Ahead

Imagine this distressing scenario: before he repented, believed the gospel, and came to Christ, ‘Johnny’ was a smoker, drunkard, fornicator, liar and cheater. After his conversion, he became as a brand-new person. The old ways of life were gone completely and he became a new man. Cleansed of his worldly vices and sins, he became an ardent church-goer and zealous in sharing the gospel. Johnny had experienced a miracle of healing for himself and seen it in others, as well as other miracles. He was also filled with the Holy Spirit. So far, so good. Some time later false teachers came to the church, saying that if Johnny wanted to be ‘fully Christian,’ he had to be circumcised (not a pleasant prospect), keep the Ten Commandments including Saturday Sabbath, other other Mosaic laws. Because the proponents claimed to be quoting the Bible and spoke with dogma (don’t confuse this with divine authority - many dogmatic people only speak for themselves and not God), Johnny believed them. As ...

It is not a nice feeling. You are lying there in bed, the clock says 1:45 AM, and you know that, despite being tired, you will not be falling back to sleep anytime soon. What’s worse - you have to get up at 5:30 AM and a heavy day lies before you. Why is precious sleep so elusive? Is there anything you can do? If this is your situation, take heart: you have plenty of company. Sleep problems afflict many people. This is more and more common as our lifestyles become complex and busier. In my own family, there are three people who have had major problems with sleep over many years. Case One: He falls asleep immediately but then wakes up at 2 AM; goes to the living room to watch television and that is the end of his sleep for the rest of the night. Case Two: The other goes to the TV room at bedtime and stays there for 4 hours until sleep finally overtakes him; then goes to bed for half a night. Case Three: These two at least have some regularity in their sleep patt...

It sounds like an exotic African name. A sense of urgency, even panic, is gripping the world as the Ebola virus, the scourge of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, are beginning to spread elsewhere. Since this latest and most serious outbreak began in March 2014, 4,000 people have died. First identified in 1976 and named after the Ebola River in the Democratic Republic of Congo, this outbreak is causing some great global concern. The President of the relief organisation ‘Doctors Without Borders’ declared that the situation regarding Ebola is ‘ deteriorating faster, and moving faster, than we can respond .’ Furthermore, it is not just a health issue; people in West Africa are being quarantined without some of life’s basic necessities. Thus, it is also morphing into a humanitarian crisis, too. Remember, if more panic sets in and the virus spreads, much of our western human rights will be at risk, too. Governments will give people no choice, where they go while they live and ho...