Dr Margaret's Treasure Chest

Most people love receiving gifts and are grateful for the giver's generosity. Gifts arrive on birthdays and other special occasions, and some come out of the blue, just because we are loved. Sometimes we can choose our gifts, and sometimes we hope for things without knowing whether we will ever get what we hoped for.   Recently, I came across the results of a survey showing that many people hope they will get to heaven by being a good person. Or they are doing enough good works to balance imaginary judgment scales in their favour. Others believe it is important to have some kind of faith, no matter which one that may be. The interesting thing here is that people focus on hope or faith, which prompts the question: How do we know that our faith is valid and absolutely reliable? How do we know it will achieve what we are hoping for?    I am sure that most of you have sat on many different chairs during your lifetime. Think about it for a moment… You sat on each one of t...

It is amazing that Christianity stands alone with its message while all other religious ideas have something in common. They say, "You have to achieve...!" Whether that achievement is self-focus, self-denial, self-degradation, working on yourself to be good enough, making yourself achieve certain things so that you may be acceptable, learning enough about this or the other... the main philosophy behind these requirements is, "You can/must achieve" - the focus is on self. The Bible, and therefore Christianity, on the other hand says, "There is nothing you can do but accept what has already been done for you. Christ died for your sins because you are helpless. He loves you and is ready to give you this great gift of eternal life. You can receive it through believing Him." Faith is all it takes - not works. It is interesting that throughout history all of the great philosophies have opposed the teachings of Christianity: Greece said, "Be wise, know your...

What do people see when they look at me? Who do I reflect? Do I draw people to myself, or do I draw them to God? Dr Harry Ironside used to tell a story about a man who lived in a small country town in England. One day, he went to London, where he would need to stay for several days. He was glad to be there on a Sunday because that gave him opportunity to hear some of the great preachers of that day. He wrote home to his wife, and he said: “Last Sunday morning I went to hear Dr Jones, and in the evening I went to the Metropolitan Tabernacle to hear Charles Spurgeon. I was greatly impressed by both of them. Dr Jones is certainly a great preacher, but Mr Spurgeon has a great Saviour.” That was an astute observation and led me to thinking… Who are people impressed with when they have been with me? Are they impressed with me, or are they impressed with my Jesus? How authentic is my life? How much impact for God does it have on the world around me? These are sobering questions b...

Hi there, I was just thinking about the importance of witnessing to those who (as yet) don't know our wonderful Saviour. When I was a new Christian, I went for it sledgehammer and all. I read about Charles Spurgeon who is supposed to have said, "Down the road, there's a fine old preacher. He is so sensitive that he tickles his people with a feather. But as for me, the Lord has given me the hammer." I preferred the hammer (and loved Charles Spurgeon - his 'Soul Saving Sermons' are truly brilliant), but soon I realised that the hammer didn't work so well for me. Instead, I learnt how to give the gospel in a softer way by sharing my testimony in a conversational manner without preaching. A few of us started a group and worked through a New Tribes course of how to give one's testimony with a purpose. We even put down on paper what we would say, honed our speaches, helped one another to make it interesting, cut all non-essentials, included relevant verses f...