05/01/2025

Angus Buchan

05/01/2025

Healing Hands

January 5, 2025 • Angus Buchan • Mark 16:18

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name, it is Sunday morning, the 5th of January, 2025, and this is your friend Angus Buchan with a Thought for Today.

We go to Mark 16:18:

“They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

Can you imagine the hands of Jesus being laid upon you, my dear friend, to take away all your sickness, all your pain, all your suffering, all your fear and all your anxiety, those beautiful, beautiful hands. Of course, you know they will have a hole through them. They have been pierced by nails when the Lord was nailed to the cross for our sins, but what beautiful hands.

Early this morning I was repairing a fence the back of our garden, and because I'm a preacher now and not a farmer, I must confess, my hands are very soft. I was quite embarrassed. I just remember my dear old Dad. Man, he had hands like you can't believe. He was a blacksmith, and he used tongs and 14-pound hammers, standing next to that fiery furnace and heating up that steel and banging it. He had the most incredibly powerful hands, yet they were so gentle - I never once saw him try to break a man's hand. He would shake your hand and it was like it was in a vice. It was firm, it was secure! Hands, hands are so important.

I remember, one day, going to the chemist's shop and as I was paying for something I said to the lady, look at my hands. I've got hands and like a woman now that I don't farm actively anymore. She looked at me and she said, “Don't insult women's hands.” Now, when I speak to farmers, I have to put my hands in my pockets because when they see those hands, they'll say those aren’t a farmers hands. But you know, on a serious note, the Lord tells us to lay our hands upon the sick and to pray for healing over them. To get a touch from the Lord is so beautiful and so precious. I love to stop and pray for somebody in the street and I will put my hand on their shoulder; sometimes I don't even pray and they start to weep. It's the love of Christ in us that people need to experience, so it doesn't matter whether your hands are strong or soft.

I think of the hands of that incredible neurosurgeon, Dr. Carson, who had the gift of separating Siamese twins with one operation taking something like 48 hours. Those were hands of compassion and hands that are strong. Remember, folks, people love a handshake, they love a hug, and it doesn't matter whether your hands are rough, or whether they’re smooth but make sure they're always clean. My Dad had the cleanest hands of a man I've ever seen. He made sure that when he went out, his hands were clean. There might be rough and gnarled, but clean, and most of all filled with the love of Jesus.

Have a blessed day.

God bless you, and goodbye.

07/01/2025

January 7, 2025 • Angus Buchan • 2 Corinthians 10:5, Romans 1:21

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Tuesday morning, the 7th of January, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We start in the Book of Romans 1:21: “…became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.” We are talking about vain imaginations, thinking things that aren’t true. Then we go to 2 Corinthians 10:5: “…casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,…” Oh my dear friend, we really need to be careful what we are thinking about. What am I talking about? We get an attitude against somebody because when we drove past them on our way to work and we waved to them, they did not respond, so we thought, “Oh, they are too good to speak to a humble person like me!” Okay, but what actually happened was, the sun was in their eyes and they didn’t see you. And that other time, you were in the shops and greeted that man who was walking right in front of you, “Hello John,” and he never responded but what you don’t realise is, John left his hearing aids at home and he can’t hear too well, so he never heard a word you said. I really want to say to you that we need to capture those vain imaginations because they pull you down and start arguments and thoughts that have no foundation, no meaning at all, just the devil trying to cause trouble. So I want to say to you today, read books that are solid, that are encouraging, that are true. Watch movies that have solid backgrounds. Don’t watch rubbish, don’t make your mind like a garbage pit but rather think about things that are pure and good and what the Lord says about you and your neighbour, and you will live a much more pleasant and positive life for Jesus Christ. God bless you and goodbye.

06/01/2025

January 6, 2025 • Angus Buchan • 1 Kings 17:12, Mark 6:37

I greet you in Jesus' precious Name. It is Monday morning, the 6th of January, 2025, and this is your friend Angus Buchan with a thought for today. We start in 1 Kings 17:12: So she said, "As the Lord your God lives, I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a bin and a little oil in a jar." That's what the widow told Elijah, the prophet when he asked her to make him a small biscuit. Then we got to Mark 6:37: But He answered and said to them, "You give them something to eat." Now, there was a large crowd of people, and they were hungry. Jesus says, "You, give them something to eat." You do it. "But you know, I'm an old-aged pensioner, I really don't have much income." or "I'm just a working man or a working woman. I'm a widow, I don't have much. I can't help..." But the Lord says that we are to use what we have. Remember, the Lord took two fishes and five barley loaves and fed 5000 men, not including women and children. This morning, God is looking for willing hearts who are prepared to step out with raw faith and obey the word of God. That widow did what the prophet said, and her flour and oil never ran out until the drought was over. If she had refused to make that biscuit, it would have been the last biscuit she and her little son would have eaten. It's in giving that we receive. What do you have in your hand? Give it to the Lord, and He will multiply it for you. In 2008, many of you will remember that we had the biggest tent in the world on this farm. Oh yes. We were expecting 23,000 men and 60,000 men arrived. The tent was full - 30,000 seats inside the tent and 30,000 men outside the tent. But listen to this. We also told them that we would feed them. Well, folks, I want to tell you something now. We slaughtered 40 oxen for one meal. Then we had those foot-longs, which we call footlong sausages, like hot dogs, and we fed those men. Then we gave them bunny chow, the famous Natal bunny chow. Where you take half a loaf of bread, take the inside out, and fill it up with stew. We fed them the whole weekend, and we never ran out of food. Today, give the Lord what you've got. He says we must give them something to eat and let him do the rest. Jesus bless you, and good bye.

04/01/2025

January 4, 2025 • Angus Buchan • John 17:17, Jeremiah 4:22, Hosea 4:1

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Saturday morning, the 4th of January, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We go to the Old Testament to the Book of Jeremiah 4:22: “For My people are foolish, They have not known Me. They are silly children, And they have no understanding. They are wise to do evil, But to do good they have no knowledge.” What a sad verse! And then we go to the Book of Hosea 4:1: “There is no truth or mercy Or knowledge of God in the land.” Another very sad scripture! As we start the new year of 2025, we have to teach the children of God carefully to do good and not evil. These comments have been made, not to unbelievers - no, but to the Body of Christ! We have got to get back to basics. John 17:17, Jesus says: “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.” Because I can hear somebody saying, “Yes, but what is truth?” Well, the word is truth. We need to teach our children, teach our loved ones, about the knowledge of God. That is what will set us free, and the knowledge of God is the undiluted word of God. It’s not about our opinions, it is God’s opinion that counts. One of my sons met a a new farmer in the district in the local farmer’s co-op, some months back. A very, very successful farmer who had been farming up-country, and he relocated and bought a new farm not too far away from us, and they got talking in the co-op, a good place to talk! This man was devastated. He said, “I have lost almost sixty head of cattle. Sixty cows have died from red water” (which is a tick-born disease). And my son said, “What are you doing about it?” And he said, “No, the experts have told us to leave the cattle and they will become immune in time.” My son is from the old school. He said, “Sir, I would advise you to dip your cattle regularly.” Well, of course, he got back to the basics and he dipped his cattle. We saw that gentleman in church a few weeks later. His face was beaming. He said, “I have not lost one cow since then.” We have got to do the basics right. There is a lot of theory going on. At the end of the day, it is what Jesus says that counts. What am I talking about? Husbands, love your wives - that is what the Bible says, unconditionally. Wives, submit to your husbands - it’s what the Bible says. Children, honour your parents - it’s what the Bible says. Parents, do not provoke your children. Love one another unconditionally. That is wisdom. Jesus bless you and have a lovely day, Goodbye.