Auburn Friends

Concerning the Chaconne (from Bach’s Partita No. 2 in D Minor): “On one stave, for a small instrument, the man writes a whole world of the deepest thoughts and most powerful feelings. If I imagined that I could have created, even conceived the piece, I am quite certain that the excess of excitement and earth-shattering experience would have driven me out of my mind. If one doesn’t have the greates...

An Australian Prime Minister, frustrated perhaps with the expectations placed upon him, was once heard to say that “life wasn’t meant to be easy”... We seek ease, but it is a strange thing that, while we are easily able to imagine all manner of fears and afflictions, we cannot begin to imagine any actual circumstances that would lead to endless happiness and contentment. Whatever pictures we paint...

Nabeel Qureshi (1983 – 2017) was a Pakistani-American Christian apologist, author, and speaker. He was a convert to Christianity from the Ahmadi movement within Islam and worked  with Ravi Zacharias from 2013 until 2016.  He wrote 3 books: Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus: A Devout Muslim Encounters Christianity, Answering Jihad: A Better Way Forward, and No God But One—Allah or Jesus. ( Recorded Nove...

There is a scene from the great musical “Hamilton” where a song is interrupted by a herald with the words: “Silence! A message from the king. A message from the king. A message from the king!”...

Well, we asked her – she was about 13 years old then - if she would like to come with us and meet an old lady to whom we had been referred, and I have to tell you, she was not too keen...

Let me tell you about a certain young girl who lived in a lush green land that was both quiet and peaceful. She had been a playful and energetic child like all of the other young girls who lived in that small village, but one day everything changed...

 Why do we not expect to see a burning zeal in those who are older in the Lord, a zeal that never fades and that, if anything, burns brighter and hotter with the passing years?

The scene is set with economy and beauty - the Pharisee's disgust, the woman's tears, kisses, devotion and love poured out...

An incident in the life of the Lord Jesus. "And when He came near the gate of the city, behold, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother; and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the city was with her."  (Luke 7:12)

On Psalm 90, Isaiah 40 and a chair in the back porch in the sun.

In a certain farmyard there was a pond, and around the pond were scattered a number of ducks...

Paul frequently distils into a few words great and important truths, and he has certainly done it in this farewell address to the elders from Ephesus...

A short letter to a young believer in the Lord Jesus, addressing a question concerning personal discipline and a life lived in the Spirit.

Eric Henry Liddell (1902 – 1945) was a British Olympic Gold Medalist runner, Scottish rugby union international player, and Christian missionary. He was born in China to Scottish missionary parents, attended boarding school near London and afterwards attended the University of Edinburgh.  At the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, Liddell created headlines by refusing to run in the heats for his favour...

Based on the book " Secret Believers " by Brother Andrew: Open this book and meet Christians who are courageous in the face of persecution. Butros, a Christian man with a heart for the church. Ahmed, Mustafa and Hassan, devout Muslims until their hearts are changed by the Truth of Scripture. Salima, a rich young woman who loses everything when she falls in love with Jesus. How can Christ...

Based on the book " Secret Believers " by Brother Andrew: Open this book and meet Christians who are courageous in the face of persecution. Butros, a Christian man with a heart for the church. Ahmed, Mustafa and Hassan, devout Muslims until their hearts are changed by the Truth of Scripture. Salima, a rich young woman who loses everything when she falls in love with Jesus. How can Christ...

Andrew van der Bijl (better known as Brother Andrew) is a Christian missionary born in1928 in the Netherlands, and remembered for his exploits in smuggling Bibles into communist countries at the height of the Cold War, for which he earned the nickname "God's smuggler" and wrote of his experiences in a book by the same name (1967).  He founded an organisation called "Open Doors&...

John Newton (1725 - 1807) was an English Anglican clergyman and abolitionist   After coming to Christ, Newton renounced this trade and became a prominent supporter of abolitionism. Now an evangelical, he was ordained as a Church of England clergyman and served in the parish at Olney in Buckinghamshire for two decades. Newton lived to see the British Empire’s abolition of the African slave trade in...

John Newton (1725 - 1807) was an English Anglican clergyman who preached the gospel and worked to abolish slavery in England.  He went to sea at a young age and worked on slave ships for several years. In 1745, he himself became a slave, but later returned to sea and worked again on slave ships, this time as captain.  After coming to Christ, Newton's whole life was transformed.  He renounced...

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906 – 1945) was a Lutheran pastor, theologian, anti-Nazi dissident, and key founding member of the Confessing Church in Germany. His writings have become widely influential, and his book "The Cost of Discipleship" has been described as a modern classic. Apart from his theological writings, Bonhoeffer was known for his staunch resistance to Nazi dictatorship, includi...

Dwight Lyman Moody (1837 – 1899) was an American evangelist and publisher. One of his most famous quotes was "Faith makes all things possible... Love makes all things easy."  Moody gave up his lucrative boot and shoe business to devote his life to preaching the gospel, working first in the Civil War with union troops through the YMCA and later in Chicago where he built a major evangelica...

This is part 2 of the story of Sadhu Sundar Singh.  We begin when he is just 16 years old and has committed himself to living as a sadhu. Sundar Singh was born into a Sikh family in Punjab state in northern India.  He was educated by his mother in their religion but also attended a Christian school to learn English.  After his mother's death when he was just fourteen he was very angry and fel...

Sundar Singh was born into a Sikh family in Punjab state in northern India.  He was educated by his mother in their religion but also attended a Christian school to learn English.  After his mother's death when he was just fourteen he was very angry and felt life had no meaning. But he was soon dramatically converted to Christ and resolved, despite intense opposition, to preach the gospel to...

John Wesley (1703 – 1791) was an English clergyman, theologian and evangelist who led a revival movement within the Church of England that soon became known as Methodism. In 1738, he was converted after serving as an ordained missionary to America for two years.  Wesley, like George Whitefield, found the need and usefulness of preaching outdoors. Across Great Britain and Ireland, he helped form an...

George Müller (1805-1898) was born in Prussia, and his youth was spent in utter ungodliness, even surpassing many of his age in sin and folly. His conversion was strangely sudden and happened simply by finding himself for the first time in the company of praying people. His life was at once turned wholly to God, and he rapidly grew in the knowledge of Him.  He is remembered chiefly for his work am...