Today many different events call for a speaker to be invited and give a presentation. For some businesses, organizations and educational events, many times an inspirational or motivational speaker will be invited to be the keynote speaker.

Encourage or comfort or fortify one another with these words. If there ever was a day when we needed strong encouraging words to fortify and fortress men and women it is today. Biblical prophecy is not to give us a fixation about a certain date, but that we might be ready for that all-important event. We hear quite a lot about Armageddon today, but do we hear that being taught in the church today, or do we hear it more frequently from politicians, and scientists and environmentalists and ecologists, or even from Hollywood? Our faith looks back to the Cross and our hope looks forward to His Coming, and we live in love right in the middle of these two events.

In how many scenarios at work do people wonder what the leadership is doing and what decision the leadership is making? When this arose in Thessalonica, Paul clarified the situation by writing this important letter. Notice how he speaks about those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. In a sense that is your address after you die. What will it be like? It will be like what we do every night as we fall asleep. Our Christian Faith not only teaches us how to live, but how to die. There was a concern about saints who were dying. Believers in Jesus were dying before Christ had returned and Paul had taught then the truth that Jesus Christ was coming back. There is no mistake about that! But they got the time and the timing wrong. That frequently happens. Paul's teaching here is really a gracious kindness, and of course, not only is it a kindness, but it became part of God's truth.

How many in the high echelons of the business and banking and commercial world might have been saved heartache and suffering and pain and financial ruin if they had paid attention to these very simple but demanding instructions and directions from the book of Matthew and Paul's inspired and authoritative letter to the disciples of Jesus Christ at Ephesus? Last Friday which was the first of April I received an email newsletter which is normally of quite a high standard, but on Friday last it was full of stupid silly April Fool's nonsense. Now if people want to be involved in that, then that is up to them, but in a fairly serious newsletter this has caused confusion and bewilderment in many areas as it named specific people. Questions were being asked all over the place. What bothered and troubled me, was that it was an overtly Christian email newsletter and suddenly things became misleading and confusing.

It can be so very helpful to use your sanctified imagination when reading and studying the Bible, and of course it can be dangerous too if this exercise is carried out the wrong way. When you really come to know Almighty God and Jesus Christ through reading the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments then some of the characters in the Word of God and the scenes and scenarios can take on a whole new meaning and significance. When I was young the vision that Almighty God gave to Paul when he was in Troas became very meaningful to me and we read of the story in Acts Chapter 16 when God was calling Paul and his missionary team to leave Asia and move on over into Europe. When I was young the vision that Almighty God gave to Paul when he was in Troas became very meaningful to me and we read of the story in Acts Chapter 16 when God was calling Paul and his missionary team to leave Asia and move on over into Europe.