The imprisonment of the Apostle Paul was a big blow to the early church. Many may have thought it was game over. The great evangelist, the beloved Apostle to the Gentiles, the lynch pin of the early Gentile Church is now in a Roman dungeon awaiting trial. All is lost!

Is it bad, when a home is no longer a home?
When the place you called Safe your whole Life
becomes a chamber for your near and necessary death-
your Lonely and Small, execution.

If you listen to Imagine Dragons lyrics, especially “Night Visions,” they are very honest about the nature of human existence. As we listen, it rings true with our own experience. But as we’ll see, the hope clung to is more sentimental and not so grounded in reality. The Bible shows us our problematic reality as well but also reveals God’s way of salvation from it.

We’re making some changes. Want to know what they are?

The founders of the Messenger Volleyball Tournament did not intend the competition to be a one-off, a flash in the pan or a mere blip in the history of RP sport. On the contrary, the inaugural competition ended with the promise of the chance to do it all again in a year's time.

It was a time of fellowship and connection with all generations of people who had been involved in camps, we were able to reminisce on our own memories. The whole evening was a great reminder of how important camps are, and the need for us to continue supporting them prayerfully each year.

Travel by car, bus or train (one of the most beautiful train journeys in the world -it is said!) Walk the Peace Bridge (if it’s not blowing a gale). Make your way past the Guildhall and up Shipquay Street to the Diamond. You are now entering the historic Cathedral Quarter of the City of Derry. Where are you going? You are heading to Gateway Shop on Pump Street in the heart of the city!

On 26th July millions of people watched the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Paris. The event marks 100 years since the Games were last held there, in 1924. The 1981 Oscar-winning movie, Chariots of Fire, portrays two men aiming for Olympic glory at the 1924 Games, Harold Abrahams – running for glory and acceptance – and Eric Liddell, running in obedience to God. The film ends with these few brief words, “Eric Liddell, missionary, died in occupied-China at the end of World War II. All of Scotland mourned.” He was a man who ran his race in obedience to Jesus Christ.

Since you’re reading this article, presumably you agree with me that written words matter. In fact, they matter a great deal. As the digital revolution continues to change the way men and women communicate around the world, there have been some who bemoan the lack of interest in written words: many traditional libraries have either disappeared or morphed into internet cafes; older people complain that young people are too “glued to their phones” to do any serious reading; a sharp drop in the use of Christmas cards, postcards and private letters all suggest that the written word doesn’t hold the same importance as once it did.

I’m not naturally a very sociable person. I once famously told all the girls at GAC that I hated meeting new people (not a very encouraging thing to say as a leader). However, it is true that I find any form of socialising tiring and draining particularly if I do not know the people well. Nevertheless, having grown up as a minister’s daughter the idea of having many people in and out of your house is a normal one. Growing up our dinner table frequently hosted our congregation, visiting missionaries and many of our childhood friends. Perhaps because of this I see that hospitality is a way of life despite my introverted tendencies. Butterfield seeks in her book to show that hospitality is indeed inevitably part of the Christian life.

Solas is the Irish word for ’light’ and is in the name to provide a simple evangelistic opportunity to point people to Jesus who is the Light of the World who came into the world in order to rescue those who are in darkness. SOLAS is also the term used to highlight five important Bible truths of the Reformation known as the Five Solas: Sola Scriptura (Scripture Alone), Solus Christus (Christ Alone), Sola Gratia (Grace Alone), Sola Fide (Faith Alone) and Soli Deo Gloria (to God’s Glory Alone).

The Logos School of English Education in Cyprus is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. It has had many faithful Christian workers throughout its time. The school has around 350 pupils in Kindergarten, Primary and Secondary School. There are 39 nationalities represented in the school from a variety of different religions. We interviewed one of the teachers to find out more about Cyprus and how God is working there.

An alabaster jar, easy broken, easy spilled,

is brought before him who had it filled.

The jar is broken and out pours love

upon Love’s feet, soon pierced high above

The Prayers of Matthew Perry, A.I designed Supercar. and South African Rugby Captain Siya Kolisi

How many times have you been warned that we live in “an increasingly secular world”? How many evangelism videos have you seen preparing you to deal with the critical, cynical atheist? Of course, this is a real and pressing issue of our day, and the opening verse of Psalm 14 assures us that man’s outright denial of God’s existence is not a modern phenomenon, but that it is a rather persistent fruit on the tree of sin

How much do you actually know about Islam, aside from dress codes and extremists? Perhaps, because we live in Northern Ireland, it is not something that you have encountered, or you don’t see much benefit in engaging with it.

It started off as an idea conceived unformed at one of the semi-regular Messenger Committee meetings. An embryonic notion tagged onto an agenda under Any Other Business.

A tournament for the Reformed Presbyterian masses, open to every denomination and church from the metropolises of Belfast and Derry to the rural hinterland that makes up the rest of Northern Ireland.

Volleyball was the game. Played for years provincially and at various Camps and Conferences over the years.  Just a ball, a net and a boundary were needed to play. But winning required collective courage, undying dedication, and a team with the ability to consistently hit the ball over the net.

A Reformed witness has been sustained in Knockbracken since 1772 and the ministry of the Rev. William Stavely. Over the years, the Lord Jesus Christ has provided Knockbracken with 15 ministers.

What do you think of when you think of emotions? Perhaps it is a movie scene which brings overwhelming sobs, maybe your mind flicks to that anger that flooded over you when that driver cut dangerously close across you, or maybe the characters from Inside Out pop up in your head.

Chad is the largest land-locked country in Africa and is rich in diversity: The landscape flows from the sub-tropical South to the Saharan North, home to over 130 distinct people groups, each with their own language, culture and religious expression. A Muslim-majority country with a significant portion of Christians and traditional religions too, there is a great deal to be learnt from the largely peaceful, tolerant way of life.