I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Monday morning, the 4th of August, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We start off in Psalm 19:14:

“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,
O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.”

We have got to be so careful what we say, folks. You know, the most powerful member of the human body, the tongue. The tongue can make or break a person very quickly.

We go to the Book of James 3:10:

“Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening?”

Of course not!

There is a young man that I am mentoring. He sent me a beautiful message the other day and I really want to share this with you. He is speaking about the honey bee. Now, you know I am a bee-keeper. I love bees, I really do. They are incredible insects but the bee can be sweet and the bee can sting. Ask me about it! I know. That little bee can get in anywhere and he can sting you. I am talking particularly about the African bee, and the same thing applies with our tongue. What we say can make or break a person. Death and life are found in our very words. I want to encourage you today, even as the Lord is encouraging me, to be very careful how we talk. If you have got nothing good to say about someone, rather don’t say anything but rather encourage one another.

This world at the moment is in a terrible state. People are depressed, they are stressed out, they are fearful. A word in season, an encouraging word can make or break a person. I want to speak to my men. Men, build up your wives, tell them every single morning when you wake up… the first thing I tell Jill, I have been doing it for over 50 years, “Good morning Jill. I love you!” You know, those words are very powerful and she reciprocates. She says, “And I love you too, Angus”.

Tell your children that you love them. When they come home with their school report. “Is that the best that you did?”,

“Yes, that’s the best I could do, dad.”

“Well, that is good enough for me and it’s good enough for your mother.”

I want to tell you I don’t know how many times people have written to me and told me, “We enjoyed that little message you brought this morning.” It makes my day! You say, “But Angus, you get that all the time.” No, I don’t. Today, let us be the honey bee that makes the sweet honey, not the bee that stings.

Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day,
Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Sunday morning, the 3rd of August, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We go straight to the Gospel of Luke 14:18 and 24:

”But they all with one accord began to make excuses.”

Then we go right down to verse 24. Jesus says:

“For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.”

This is a story that Jesus told about a man who prepared a wonderful banquet, invited his guests, then they all made excuses, they couldn’t come. I believe the Lord is challenging us this morning and saying, ”Stop making excuses, no more excuses!” You see the servant went and invited all the people and the first one said, ”Look, I can’t make it. I’ve just bought a new piece of ground and I must go and see it.” The next one said, ”Please excuse me because I’ve just bought five yokes of oxen and I have to test them. Can you please excuse me?” Another one said, ”I’ve just got married so I can’t come.”

What is your excuse today? What is my excuse today? We cannot come. “Lord we want to serve you but we’ve got too much on our plate.” We want to have a bit of fun first, we want to sow some wild oats and then we will make our decision and come to the banquet. The Lord says that it might be too late.

I want to tell you a story that happened to Jill and I. Many years ago, we went to Israel. Now on our return home after our break there, I got the times mixed up. You see the plane was leaving at midnight. Now I didn’t know whether it was the early hours of the morning or the late hours of the previous evening. Anyway, I got there, I was devastated. The lady said to us, ”Your plane has already left. It’s on it’s way to South Africa.” They had to put us in a hotel in Tel Aviv and we had to stay there for a number of days until we could get another booking.

I want to tell you today, don’t make anymore excuses. There is nothing more important than accepting the invitation to the banquet by the Lord. Maybe you’ve never done it, maybe you’ve always said, ”Ah, that’s for other people, that’s not for me.” I want to tell you as I’m getting older the time is running out. I don’t know how many of my colleagues of my age group have gone home to be with the Lord or have gone somewhere else, but I want to tell you today, accept gladly the invitation because remember what the host said to his servant? ”Go out to the highways and the byways and invite all those who are blind and lame, and those who are sick, and those who are sleeping in the streets. Bring them to the banquet.” Do not be left behind! As an indication that you’ve accepted the invitation. Would you like to pray this prayer with me?

Dear Lord Jesus,

Please forgive me for making excuses. I do realise there is nothing more important than accepting this invitation which You have freely given to us.

We don’t deserve it but because you love us, You have invited us to Your table.

Today, I accept Your invitation.
In Jesus name, amen.

God bless you and goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Saturday morning, the 2nd of August, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We go to the Gospel of Luke 14:14. Jesus says: “And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”

The Lord is telling us that if you give things to people who can repay you, well, you have your reward here on earth, but if you give things to people who cannot repay you, then there is the proof that you are doing it for the Lord, and you will be paid amply when you get to Heaven.

George Müller, the founder of the children’s homes in Bristol, England, I have been there - I have seen those buildings where he took care of literally thousands of children, and something like 60 million pounds went through his hands, and he never asked for a penny. Incredible faith! But when he died and he left very little. They checked on the accounts and when they were going through the finances, they saw that there was a donor that had been putting money into the children’s fund for years and years, and they never knew who it was. But of course, when he died and his estate was wrapped up, they found out that George Müller, himself, was putting in an amount of money every single month towards the children’s home. Now, that is doing something as unto the Lord.

You and I need to start doing that a bit more. It hasn’t happened to me often but it has happened to me a few times, that when I have gone out for a meal with my wife and we sat at the restaurant and had a good time together, there have been lots of people in the restaurant, we have ordered a lovely meal, and when we have finished, I say to the waitress, “Can you bring us the bill please?” And she says, “Oh no, sir. There is no bill.” And I say, “What do you mean?” She says, “There are people who have just left the restaurant who paid for your meal”. I don’t know who they are, but God knows who they are. I have never seen them before because I did not recognise anybody in that restaurant.

I want to say to you today, do something that there is no reward for on this earth and the Lord will reward you amply in Heaven. Do something for people who cannot repay you.

Jesus bless you and goodbye.