I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Thursday morning, the 25th of September, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We go to the Gospel of John 21:9:

“Then as soon as they had come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid on it and bread.”

Faith has got feet, faith is a doing word, not a noun. A noun is a table or a chair. It can’t move, it can’t do anything, but faith is active. Don’t tell people that you love them, show them that you love them. Now, the Master taught us very well. Remember, after He had been resurrected He was at a place called Peter’s Landing on the Sea of Galilee. It's actually a big lake. It is 21 km long and 13 km wide, and very, very deep and full of fish. The disciples had been fishing all night. Now they were coming to land, and there was the Master, but He wasn’t just standing there. He had already taken time to take flour to make bread, to catch fish, to prepare them on the fire, and He was waiting for them.

That is what I love about our beloved Jesus. He is not just a talker, He is actually a doer. Now, what about you and I, today. Why don’t we do something and especially for someone who can’t repay us, then we know that our motive is pure. I want to say to the men, why don’t you cook supper tonight? You say, “I don’t cook!” Well you better learn. If Jesus can cook, you can cook too! Why don’t you wash the dishes? Get up a bit earlier and do something for your family. Mow the grass!

Now ladies, I am not letting you off the hook either. Why don’t you sit down and watch that rugby match with your husband? “I don’t like rugby.” No, he knows you don’t like rugby and that is why I am saying, why don’t you do it? Then he knows you are doing it because you love him and do it joyfully, and don’t forget to shout for the correct team! But jokes aside, let’s start to put our faith into practice, let’s start doing what Jesus would have done. Let’s start helping people physically, not just with a word of encouragement but following up by action.

Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day,
Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Wednesday morning, the 24th of September, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We start in the Gospel of Matthew 26:63-64:

”Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God!” “ Jesus said to him,’ It is as you said.”

Then we go to Mark 14:61-62:

”Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” Jesus said,” I am.”

Then lastly, Luke 22:70:

”Then they all said,” Are You then, the Son of God?” So He said to them,” You rightly say that I am.”

I think like never before, my dear friends, we need to be outspoken when it comes to the question, ”Who do you say that He is?”

If you look at Matthew 1:23, Jesus is Immanuel, which translates to “God with us.” He is not, “the man upstairs”, He’s not my mate, He’s not one of many gods. He is the Way. There is no other way. The early Christians were not known as “Christians”. They were known as, “followers of the Way.”

In John 14:6, Jesus says: ”I am the way…” He goes on to say, ”No one comes to the Father except through Me.” Now, that’s a very controversial statement, but if you do not believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, you cannot be a Christian. We need to be very definite about that, and it could cost you a lot. It could cost you your job, it could cost you your popularity, it could cost you a position in a team, just by saying, ”I believe that Jesus Christ is God made flesh.” Folks, when you do say that, that is when the power of God is within you. I can tell you that for a fact. The more outspoken I get about the love of Christ, the more powerful He is within me.

We are not here to criticise other faiths. We don’t have time for that. We are here to speak about our beloved Jesus, who died for us. There is no other faith where their god, that they are following, has professed to be God Almighty, not one. They talk about the son of god. They talk about a disciple of god but Jesus says; “I am the Son of the living God.”

Go out today and comfort people, and tell them that Jesus is your Lord and Saviour and He can be theirs as well. All they have to do is to acknowledge it.

God bless you and have a wonderful day.
Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Tuesday morning, the 23rd of September, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We go to the Book of Job 13:15:

“Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.”

Now that is ultimate trust, isn’t it? Then we go to the Book of Romans 1:16:

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.”

- not ashamed of the Gospel.

Early on a Wednesday at 5 am, we meet. In the winter in South Africa, it is dark, and we have a group of men who come faithfully and pray every single week. When we were having a prayer meeting, a young man prayed and thanked God for giving him the courage to stand up for Jesus. He said, “I took my family out to a restaurant and we sat together in a large group of people.” He said, some of the people in that group, he wasn’t sure whether they were Christians or not, so he was debating if they should just eat their food when it arrived or whether they should do what they always do at home, and that is to hold hands and thank the Lord for the food. Well, praise God, he was bold and he said very gently and very respectfully, “Can we give thanks to the Lord Jesus Christ for our meal?” They all held hands and they prayed in that restaurant a beautiful, gentle, respectful prayer, and the people in that group were very pleased.

We need to be outspoken. There comes a time when we cannot hold it in anymore. On the farm here at Shalom, we have a 30-foot cross to tell the world that we are Christians and we are not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ. At night, it comes on with a time switch and it shines brightly, right through the night until the early morning when the sun comes up. Then the lights go out, but the cross remains. Very near to this farm, there is a tarmac airstrip where a lot of planes land. Many a time, a pilot has told me that on a stormy night when they were struggling to find the airstrip, they saw this cross shining on the hill, and it gave them their bearings, and I think it gave them a lot of strength and courage as well. You and I need to shine brightly in a world at the moment that is totally lost and has no direction.

Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day,
Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Monday morning, the 22nd of September, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We go to the Gospel of Matthew 26:75:

“So he went out and wept bitterly.”

Oh, what a sad verse that is! The man that Jesus was grooming to take over the leading of the church promised the Master that he would stay with Him to the end and never let Him down. The Lord said, “Before the cock crows, you will deny me three times.” You and I need to be very, very careful before we make that statement or that decision.

Young man, don’t make idle promises. Don’t promise that young lady that you will marry her and then, at the last moment, change your mind. It can destroy a woman. Young lady, don’t lead on that man and make all kinds of promises only to leave him and marry someone else. When you make a decision with your partner to go into business, make sure you don’t drop the ball.

Yes, Jesus forgives, we know that, praise God. I know that maybe better than most of you, and if we repent and say sorry He forgives us, but the scar remains. That is a fact. If we go to the Book of Colossians 1:9, this is what Paul says:

“For this reason, we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;…”

We need to ask the Lord to give us direction before we make a commitment. My brother was a golf professional when he was a young man. He is actually a preacher today, and he couldn’t get to church on a Sunday morning because that was his busiest day playing golf, but every now and again, if it was a rainy day or whatever, he would go to church with his family, and the minister, when he left the church would shake hands and say to him, “Oh, so good to see you. I am going to come and have a cup of tea with you one of these days”. And he never ever came, and that upset my brother a lot and disappointed him. Rather don’t say it, than say like Peter said, “I will be with you till the end”, only to deny Him three times. Peter loved Jesus. That is why he was there. He didn’t run away but when the crunch came he didn’t come through with it. Don’t do that today!

Father God,

I want to pray for my friend who is listening to this message right now,

Lord, that they would think before they speak,

Lord, that they would really think it over before they make a decision, and once they have made that decision, Lord, give them the courage to fulfil it.

In Jesus name, amen.
God bless you and goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Sunday morning, the 21st of September, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We start in the Book of Proverbs 27:17:

”As iron sharpens iron,
So a friend sharpens a friend.”

Then we go straight to the New Testament, to the Book of Hebrews 10:25:

“And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of His return is drawing near.”

It is so important for Christians to meet on a Sunday at church, if it is at all possible. Now I have got a little message from a dear man just the other day, saying he is so concerned. There are many churches in his area that, since the COVID-19 epidemic, have not started again. People are just not going to church. We need to go to church. The Lord is telling us that it’s very important that we meet together, and I think the devil will try everything in his power to separate us because he knows what happens when two or three are gathered together in Jesus’ name. Yes - there He is in the midst of them, iron sharpening iron! Do not neglect the gathering of the brethren.

I am talking about a church on Sunday, and I'm talking about prayer groups. We need to meet in the church, outside the church, on sports days, on camping trips, we need to fellowship together, and that is what makes us sharp because we learn from each other, encourage each other and sometimes, if necessary, rebuke each other if a man or a woman is going off on a tangent.

Jesus bless you as you continue to meet together,
Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Saturday morning, the 20th of September, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We go straight to the Gospel of Luke 23:4:

“So Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowd, “I find no fault in this Man.”

Oh folks, Jesus is known as the Friend of sinners. Pontius Pilate was an unbeliever. He was not of the Jewish faith. In fact, he was a gentile, and yet he identified that Jesus Christ was an innocent man. When all the religious people were accusing Him and wanted to put Him to death, it took an unbeliever to speak up for Jesus!

If we go to Matthew 11:19, Jesus said,

“The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ’Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ ”

I want to say to you today, be careful before you start throwing stones because you might have a very big surprise one day when you get to Heaven. Jesus came to heal the sick, not the healthy. He says, “A doctor heals sick people, not healthy people.” That is why He was always found with outcasts, tax collectors, prostitutes - those that society cast aside.

I want to say to you and I am speaking from my heart today, I love people, irrespective of who they are, because Jesus loves them too, and I have had more response while I am doing a massive campaign from unbelievers than I do from the so-called, I said, “so-called” righteous. When a man realises what he has done and he needs a Saviour, he does a 180-degree turn around immediately. I have seen it with my own eyes.

We need to understand one thing. God has put eternity in the heart of a man. Every man knows deep down in his heart what is right, what is wrong, even Pontius Pilate. Today, let us love people, never compromise our stand as Christians, but give people an opportunity to meet the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, and He will save them.
Jesus bless you and goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Friday morning, the 19th of September, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We start in the Book of Psalms 51:10-11:

“Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from Your presence,
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.”

Then we go to the Book of Exodus 8:15:

“But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and did not heed them, as the Lord had said.”

This morning, I believe the Lord wants to speak to you and me about a hardened heart. It is such a sad thing to see, isn’t it, somebody who has a hard heart? It makes that person angry, self-righteous, and makes them self-centred, causing them to lose out. Pharaoh lost out badly. The Lord gave him many opportunities to soften his heart but he did not. Eventually, it cost Pharaoh his whole nation. Do not harden your heart.

I want to tell you a little story. When I was a young man and farming, I would come home for breakfast like most farmers do. We’d get up early in the morning, get the work started, everybody going, and then come in and have our breakfast. I would sit at the kitchen table in our little house and I could see out the door, and there was a little path that went up to the gate, and I would often see a salesman coming through the gate and I would observe his attitude. If he had a hardened heart, he would walk past our animals, our dogs and our cats, and push them out of the way with his foot. He wouldn’t acknowledge our little children playing in the garden. Obviously, he had a lot of responsibilities and problems in his heart, but he got very little business from me. Then there would be a salesman who would come through the gate and he would see my dog and my cat. He would stop, put his briefcase down, and pat the dog. He didn’t see that I was watching him, and then he would see one of my little children playing in the garden. He would go and greet them, get down on his knees, say, “What is your name, son?” Then he would say, “Where is your daddy?” “No, he is in the house.” Then he would walk into the house, and obviously, he got all of the business.

Today, soften your heart. I know you have been through a lot of tests. People have let you down, people have hurt you, but Jesus hasn’t. Don’t be like Pharaoh and throw it all away because of your hardened heart. Today soften your heart and the Lord bless you immensely.

God bless you and have a wonderful day,
Goodbye.

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

We start in the Gospel of Matthew 26:14-16:

”Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said,” What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you?” And they counted out to him thirty pieces of silver. So from that time he sought opportunity to betray Him.”

This morning the Lord has laid on my heart to share with us the word, ”Betrayal.” I don’t think there’s anything worse, is there? I looked up the Oxford dictionary to find out the meaning of this word. It says, “To be disloyal to someone, to be unfaithful, to breach trust. Deception, double-dealing, stab in the back, sell out, double cross.”

I left my prayer room and I went through to the house, and my wife, Jill, was making the bed, and I said to Jill, out of the blue, ”What is the worst kind of betrayal do you think there is for a woman?” She looked at me, she said to me, ”Angus, unfaithfulness is the worst kind of betrayal,” she thinks for a woman, when a man is unfaithful to his wife. It must have really hurt the Lord Jesus Christ when the soldiers came into the garden and arrested Jesus but what was even worse was that Judas Iscariot said, ”I will tell you which one it is, out of the disciples, when I kiss Him.” He came and he kissed Jesus on the neck, the utmost betrayal. That’s a very hard thing to come back from.

Now you might be saying, ”But how can we counteract that? How can prevent that from happening?” Well, I want to tell you a couple of simple things that we employ here at Shalom Ministries. Number one is accountability. There are no lone rangers in the Kingdom of God. There are no one-man shows. We are a team. I have got five men that I am responsible to. I have asked them to mentor me, to guide me and to watch over me. I cannot make my own decisions. I can go to them and say, ”This is what I believe the Lord has said”, and they will pray about it and give me their counsel. It gives me a lot of peace in my heart.

When you go out, young man, young lady, to go out and tell people about the Lord, you go out two by two. “Why?” You ask - because that’s the way the Lord did it. He sent the disciples out two by two so the one could watch the other one’s back. I want to say to young people, when you’re dating, don’t go out on your own, go out with a group of people. The devil is a liar and a thief. That’s what he did to Judas Iscariot. Judas went on his own and betrayed the Lord. If you’re in business, always have a double signature. Be prepared for someone else to stand up for you when you make a decision and ultimately ask yourself the question, "What would Jesus do?" and then do it.

God bless you and have a wonderful day,
Goodbye