I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Monday morning, the 7th of September, 2026, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for the day. We start in the Old Testament in the Book of Zechariah 4:6: “The Lord says, Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the Lord of hosts.” Then we go to the New Testament, to 1 Corinthians 2:1-2: “And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” Folks, it is the anointing of the Holy Spirit that moves people to hear the Gospel. Now I want to tell you an embarrassing story. Many, many years ago, I had been preaching maybe for 5 or 10 years, and a very dear friend of mine - this man was a qualified theologian. He had been to university, studied for seven years, and was a great preacher as well. So one Sunday night, I was preaching in his church and he said, “Angus, I am going to do a “crit” on you tonight. I said, “What do you mean?” “No, I am going to sit at the back of the church and I am going to write up how you are preaching and then I will tell you afterwards.” Well, I wasn’t so keen on that. Anyway, he said he would do it. At the end of the service, he came to me, and he said, “Okay, are you ready for the answers?” I said, “Well, I suppose so.” He said, “Well, your introduction was about 3/10” I said, “Okay”. “And your scripture reading about 2/10 and your theme was about 3/10 and your message was about 5/10.” By this time I was crestfallen. He said, “and of course, your conclusion and the end of the service was about 2/10.” He said, “But the presence of the Holy Spirit in your message was about 12/10!” I was so elated. D L Moody, one of the greatest evangelist that has ever lived. He was in England one time, and he had a very broad accent. He was also a farm boy and a shoe salesman. When he had finished preaching, an English noblewoman came up to him and said, “Mr Moody, I want to tell you that that was the most atrocious English I have ever heard spoken. And him, not to be let down he said, “Well Ma’am, I am using what English I have for Jesus. Tell me, what are you doing with your English?” Then the last little story: Gypsy Smith, that great English preacher who used to preach to up to 10,000 people in the open. A worn-out lay preacher came to see him and said, “I have preached everything from Genesis to Revelation. I am worn out. What can I tell them?” And Gypsy said, “Keep telling them what Jesus means to you.” God bless you and have a wonderful day.Goodbye.
