Daniel and his friends are in trouble. Unless something dramatic happens, they will be murdered before the chapter is out (v13). Yet, we know this is not the end. God’s plan for Daniel involves him serving faithfully into old age (1:21). Today the tide turns.Notice that there is no hint of panic from Daniel and his friends. While the enchanters

Nebuchadnezzar was a bundle of nerves; the iron willed strongman reduced to a quivering wreck by the events of the night before. He may not have understood the finer points, but it didn’t take Sherlock Holmes to work out that the news wasn’t good. So he gathered together his best and brightest mystics to explain the mystery, but to no

By the end of this book, Daniel and his three friends will have faced overwhelming pressure to turn away from God, but by his grace they will remain faithful. Today we see some of the seeds of their success. I won’t go into WHY they felt that they should not eat this food or drink this wine. We simply don’t

A “Vocational Education and Training Centre” sounds like a wholesome place. These centres list their objectives as “promoting social integration” and promise to provide a quality education for the all the underprivileged people who enrol. Yet, behind the innocuous name is a terrifying reality. Mountains of evidence prove that these “training centres” are in fact concentration camps: a key instrument

The average teenager in our day lives a fairly uneventful life. Go to school, come home, do homework, watch a bit of TV, chat to friends online. The height of trauma for many (although not all) is a tricky math assignment or being asked to help with chores. In this book, we meet four teenagers who had been through trauma

For the next few weeks we will be studying the book of Daniel using notes written by Rev. Jonny McCollum.The headline on the front page of Jerusalem Journal? “DISASTER FOR FOLLOWERS OF YAHWEH!” The Babylon Bulletin? “ISRAEL’S GOD CRUSHED” The unanimous conclusion of the talk show hosts? The God of Israel is a big fat phoney. The gods of Babylon

Verses 28-31 - You can picture this woman, well on in years, her children grown up, perhaps with families of their own and trying to train them as they themselves have been trained. Their mother is constantly before their eyes. Her guidance, her wisdom, her loving discipline, her holy example are remembered. How could they stop thanking God for this

Verses 11-12 - The price of the virtuous woman has been told. Her different characteristics are now given. The first lines describe her as a wife. Her faithfulness, oneness of heart, and affection makes the heart of husband to trust her. A faithful wife and a trusting husband are a blessing to each other. He knows he can trust her

Verses 8-9 - The king must use his authority to protect those who can’t protect themselves. No case should be beneath his attention. When we look at Jesus, our King, we see that He stands on earth before His accusers, unjustly condemned, and no one opens their mouth to speak for Him, to defend Him. But when it comes to

Verses 1-2 - We really don’t know anything about King Lemuel except that he is given the great blessing of a Godly mother. She calls her son the son of her vows, but it can also be translated ‘the answer to my prayers.’ If we want to see our children loving and serving the Lord, then we need to be,