I greet you in Jesus' precious name! It is Thursday morning, the 20th of February 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We start with Jonah 1:3:

"But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord."

You can't run from God. Don't try and run from God. The Lord told Jonah to go to Ninevah, warn the people, and tell them to repent. Jonah didn't do that; he ran away, but we know the end of the story. Jonah didn't win! You know, folks, when God calls you, you must obey Him. I have found, in my life, that happiness comes only through obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, Jeremiah had the same situation. Jeremiah 20:9:

"Then I said, "I will not make mention of Him,
Nor speak anymore in His name."
But His word was in my heart like a burning fire
Shut up in my bones;
I was weary of holding it back,
And I could not."

You see, they made a mockery of Jeremiah. They put him in the city square in stocks. They hurled abuse at him, and probably rotten vegetables and everything else. He said, "I have had enough, Lord. I am not doing this anymore. I am not speaking up for You anymore." And then he says, "But there is a fire in my bones, and I cannot help myself. I have to keep on preaching."

I had an incident many, many years ago as a young preacher. I was invited to a little town, and from the start, everything went wrong. The venue was a bad choice; it was a hotel on a Friday night, and all the boys, their girlfriends and/or wives were there, having a massive party. I was supposed to speak at about 6 o'clock, but the food only arrived at about 8 o'clock, so they put me on the floor at about 9 pm.

Many of these people were under the weather already, and I preached my heart out and made an altar call. I told them to come forward so that I could pray for them to accept Jesus. Folks, not one single person responded! I have never, ever forgotten that. I stood alone in that hall by myself, and they all sat in their chairs at the tables, arms folded, some sniggering, some smiling, and some of them not even with us. I stood alone. I will never forget it. I prayed and went home to the minister's house for the night. I didn't sleep that night, folks; I wrestled. I was in a cold sweat. "Lord, why am I doing this? They don't even want me here. Lord, there is a church on every street corner. I am a successful farmer; I don't have to do this." I felt the Lord say to me, almost tangibly, "Are you going to do this or not?" And I said, "Okay."

We had a men's breakfast the following day, and two men came forward. That was a start; on Sunday, we were in the township, and I want to tell you the dam broke, and multitudes came forward. Don't give up today. You are on the brink of a miracle. Just obey the Lord!

Jesus bless you, and goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Tuesday morning, the 18th of February 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We start in the Book of Obadiah 1:3:

“The pride of your heart has deceived you,…‘Who will bring me down to the ground?’

The Lord will bring us down to the ground if we continue to walk in pride. He says He will do it for our sake. We go to 1 Peter 5:5, and the Bible says God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. God will not stand for pride or arrogance, folks.

Do you remember the rich farmer? He had a bountiful crop. He said he was going to build more barns to take in that massive crop, and then he is going to sit down and drink and be merry, but the Lord said, “Foolish man, tonight your soul will be required of you.” It’s a dangerous place to be sometimes when you are succeeding because you think nothing can bring you down. Folks, the safest place for you to be is on your knees because you cannot fall any further. When you are on a pedestal and people put you up there, it is very easy for that pedestal to be kicked out from under you. When you get to the top of Mount Everest, where do you go from there? There is only one way and that is down. We need to be very, very careful.

We are most vulnerable when we are succeeding. We need to be careful. That is why there are few sports teams that become world champions twice in a row, because the first time they become world champions, they have worked blood, sweat and tears to get there, and then they tap off, they ease off and they can’t do it the second time. There is no more incentive, there is no more power, there is no more determination, and that applies to our faith also. We have less prayer times, we are less disciplined, we take things for granted and we become soft, and then we start to wing it but it doesn’t work and then the fall comes, and how the mighty have fallen. Don’t do it today, keep humble, give the glory to God and keep pressing on with what God has called you to, and He will enable you to stay in that position of success.

Jesus bless you goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus' precious name! It is Wednesday morning, the 19th of February 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We start with Obadiah 1:21:

"…And the kingdom shall be the Lord's."

Then we go to Psalm 22:28:

"For the kingdom is the Lord's, And He rules over the nations."

The last scripture is Matthew 25:34:

" Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."

The kingdom of God shall never fall! Where are we investing our time and energy? We live in a time when nothing is secure and solid. Where do you invest your money? Where do you go for peace and quiet? What country in this world is at peace at the moment?

In 1939, Neville Chamberlain, the Prime Minister of Great Britain, went across to Munich, Germany, to meet with Adolf Hitler, who was bent on conquering Europe then. Chamberlain wanted peace, so Hitler said to him, and I quote: "No more territorial demands to make in Europe." He flew back to Britain. Photographed as he got off the plane - that very famous photo of him showing the people of Britain that he had got a peace agreement with Hitler - No more war. Folks, he had barely said that, and Hitler continued his conquest of Europe and declared war against Britain.

Where do we find peace? Where do we find solitude? Only when we meet the Prince of Peace! Peace is freedom from anxiety and war - but the peace I am talking about this morning is your peace of mind, folks. Jesus is the Prince of Peace. In John 14:27, He says: "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." Today, let us invest in eternal things; let's invest in the peace of God; let's spend time with Him.

Father, I pray for my friends listening to this message right now. I pray that You will give them Your peace. Peace that cannot be found in this world, peace that will last forever. In Jesus' name, Amen.

God bless you and goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Monday morning, the 17th of February, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We go to the Gospel of Matthew 24:35. Jesus said:

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.”

Jesus puts His word even above His name, the word of God, the power of the spoken word of God. What you say is what you get. What are you saying about yourself this morning, my dear friend? Do you remember that old cliché, “Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never harm me”? That is totally wrong. In fact, it’s the other way around. If you have a broken bone it can be healed but words said in anger, words of death, are very, very hard to get rid of. You actually need prayer. Words are powerful.

If we look at the Gospel of John 1:1, this is what it says:

“In the beginning [before all time] was the Word (Christ), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself.”

Jesus has always been, from the beginning, Him, His Father and His Holy Spirit! I want to tell you a little story that happened yesterday. A senior gentleman, a very, very well-known man, came to see us. He said to me that he had a word from God that he was going to be healed when he came to Shalom. Now I want to clarify something here. This has got nothing to do with me, it has nothing to do with Shalom, it has everything to do with the spoken word of God. He was very persistent, he has been trying to get to see us for months, if not even longer, but he would not give up. It reminds me of Bartimaeus, the blind man, who was persistent. When everybody said, “Keep quiet”, he said, “No.” He shouted louder and the Word of God heard it and His name is Jesus, and He healed his blindness.

This man’s wife had told me he had been prayed for many, many times but nothing had happened. He arrived on the farm and he was walking with crutches. Very, very gingerly, he came into our office. He told me that he had a word from God that he was going to be healed today at Shalom. Folks, I was just a vessel, not a very good one either. I anointed him with oil, I prayed the prayer of faith. He gave his crutches to his wife and he walked out from this place, totally healed. Why? Because that man believed in the power of the spoken word of God.

Today, go out and believe what Jesus said about you, and it will come to pass.
God bless you and goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Sunday morning, the 16th of February, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We start in the Book of Isaiah 26:3-4:

”You will keep him in perfect peace,
Whose mind is stayed on You,
Because he trusts in You.
Trust in the Lord forever,
For in Yah, the Lord, is everlasting strength.”

Then Psalm 20:7:

”Some trust in chariots, and some in horses;
But we will remember the name of the Lord our God.”

Trust - who are you trusting in today, my dear friend? Are you trusting in politics? Are you trusting in your own efforts? Are you trusting in your personal belongings, your personal riches, your efforts, the things that you’ve built up, or are you trusting in the promise of God?

I’ve got a dear friend, we have walked together for most of our lives and he is a lawyer by profession, and one day I spoke to him and I said, ”Leon, what is the ultimate trust that we can put ourselves into? He said, ”There is a word in Latin and this is what it says, “uberrimae fidei” which stands for utmost trust.” He says, ”The promise and the word of a person is more trustworthy than any document.” He says, ”That agreement that you’ve signed on that paper is not even worth the weight of the paper, it’s the promise that a man gives you.“

Now God has promised you, He will keep us in perfect peace if we concentrate our minds on Him. It’s the trust that we have in the Lord that gives us His peace. Jesus Christ has promised you and He’s promised me that He will never leave us and He will never forsake us, and that is where our faith comes from, and our peace, and our hope, and our future.

Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day,
Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Saturday morning, the 15th of February, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We start in the Book of Luke 17:6:

So the Lord said, “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.”

“Have faith in God.”
Mark 11:22

That’s it - have faith in God. Without faith, we cannot please Him. Now Luke 17:5 says:

”And the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.”

Now, even the disciples asked Jesus, ”Please, increase our faith”, because they realised without faith, we can do nothing. Today, maybe you’re struggling to believe God for a promise He’s given you. Maybe He gave it to you many years ago and your faith is starting to wane, starting to lose power. How do we regain our faith? Well, if you look at Romans 10:17, the Word of God says:

”So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

Spending time reading your Bible, spending time believing what the Lord has said about you. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, My Lord will supply all of my needs according to His riches in Glory. We need to get started this morning. We need to get back to walking the faith walk. You see, faith is a way of life, not faith in faith, but faith in Jesus Christ, and the Lord always honours faith.

Now I’m sitting here thinking about the first campaign I ever organised - it was in that little town of Ladysmith about probably an hour’s drive west of where we live. It was ten minutes to seven in the evening. The service was going to start at seven o’clock and I was downstairs in the dungeon. I was waiting for the people to come. The band which we had brought up from Port Elizabeth were bravely on the platform playing music and I climbed up the steps, opened the door, had a look in, there was no-one there.

I was devastated. I mean, I’d been praying and we’d been trusting the Lord. I went down and I said, “Lord, if nobody comes, I’m going to preach to the chairs.” This is the honest truth. At seven o’clock, by faith, I walked up, I opened the door and the hall was half full of people. That was the beginning. Well, I want to say to you, we started off with the Mighty Men Conference on this farm with 240 men, and we ended up with 450 000 men at our last meeting on this farm in 2010, and I’ve got news to tell you, that this year there’ll be twenty Mighty Men Conferences happening all over the world.

That mustard seed of faith! Trust the Lord, my dear friend, He’ll do it for you.

Jesus bless you and goodbye

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Thursday morning, the 13th of February, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We start in the Book of Amos 5:4

”For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel…”

That’s you and me,

“…Seek Me and live;”

Then we go on to verse 6. He says it again, a second time:

”Seek the Lord and live.”

You know there is the most beautiful song, I’m sure you’ve heard it. It’s a wonderful song sung by many of the great Gospel singers. It is entitled,

”Give me Jesus.”

Take the world but give me Jesus,
I don’t want anyone else,
I don’t need anything else.
You are everything to me,
You can have all of this world,
I don’t need anything else.

If you have Jesus Christ, oh, you have everything! But how do we find Him? How do we find Jesus? Well folks, that was the question that Thomas asked of Jesus. Often we mock Thomas, the doubting Thomas, but you know, I don’t think he was a doubting Thomas. I think he was like many of us. He really wanted to know the truth. Well, in John 14:5, Thomas asked Jesus, ”How do we know the way?” And then Jesus answered in John 14:6. He said, ”Thomas, I am the way.” Oh folks, if you’ve lost your way this morning, I want to tell you Jesus is the way. He loves you. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done, what you haven’t done, what you should have done, but if you have Jesus, you have everything.

I want to tell you a little story that’s very dear to my heart. Probably a couple of weeks after I’d given my life to the Lord, on 18th of February, 1979. We were reffing a game of polo-crosse, that’s rugby on horseback, a rough game. I was standing behind the post with a very dear friend, his name was Jannie Barnard and Jannie said to me in the middle of the match, Angus, "There’s something that happened to you. What’s happened?” I smiled. I said, ”Jannie, a couple of weeks ago I met Jesus and He’s all I need.” He said, ”I want Him as well, Angus. Please, I need Him. I’m desperate.” I said, ”I’ll see you Monday afternoon, in my green cathedral, in the mealie fields.” Jannie and I prayed the sinner's prayer together and Jesus was all he needed, and it wasn’t too long after that that he was called home to be with the Lord. Today seek the Lord and then you’ll have everything.

Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day,
Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Friday morning, the 14th of February, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We go straight to the Gospel of Mark 11:2: “…and He said to them, “Go into the village opposite you; and as soon as you have entered it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has sat. Loose it and bring it.”

Now folks, we talk about the Miracle-worker. That is one of the titles of our Lord Jesus Christ. You know, He raised Lazarus from the dead after Lazarus was lying in the tomb for no less than four days. Now, in the Middle East when a person dies, they bury them the same day because the body starts to decompose, and yet Lazarus came out of that tomb, well, healthy and strong. Jesus gave people their sight back, their hearing, He caused the lame to walk, He fed the five thousand. Jesus is the Miracle-worker. He is the One who walks on water.

I want to tell you this story as a farmer. A male donkey is called a jack, that's a young colt. That particular one had never, ever been ridden before, he had never had anybody on his back. I want to tell you, a donkey is a highly intelligent animal and yet the Lord rode that donkey for the first time in his life, not only did He ride him, but He rode him through a cheering, shouting, clapping crowd, which is a miracle! Folks, if you understand animals, I want to tell you, it is a huge miracle to me. It takes us a long time to “gentle” a horse. I didn’t say “break” a horse. We don’t believe in that, but to gentle that horse so that you can put a saddle blanket on him, you can put a saddle on him and then you start walking him around in a confined area and, slowly but surely, you introduce him to riding.

Jesus got on that jack and he had never, ever been ridden before. I looked up the behaviour of a donkey. A donkey is very stubborn. He is not easily intimidated by anybody. I know some beef farmers who will put a donkey in amongst his beef bulls. Why? Because a donkey will not tolerate fighting. When the bulls who are way over a ton, start fighting each other, this little donkey who weighs probably 150 kilos, will separate them, and then of course you know the donkey has got a cross on his back. Do you know that, young lady, young man? - Right down the spine and across his shoulders, a cross. One old friend of mine, every time we would go to collect some staff in the lowlands, we would go past a group of donkeys, the old gentleman would raise his hat, tears would fill his eyes, and I would say to him, “Oom Johannes, why do you do that?” He said, “Because that animal carried my Saviour into Jerusalem.

So today, remember, we serve a miracle-working God!
Jesus bless you and have a lovely day,

Goodbye.