Open Doors

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Tuesday morning, the 30th of September, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We go to the word of God, 1 Corinthians 16:9:

“For a great effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.”

The Lord never promised you or me a rose garden - no, no, not at all. When we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour, we must take the full package, and that sometimes involves a lot of adversity. "A great and effective door has been opened to you." Now that happened to me in 2009, here on the Shalom Farm for the first time in my life, I saw with my own eyes over 120,000 men gathered to worship God, not people, men!

I will never forget, we had a rotary platform so that I could walk full circle and the men were seated all the way around the platform. It was an amazing event, a great and effective door, something I had been praying for, for many, many years - but with it came adversaries, hard times. I was severely challenged on the Saturday morning, I had preached my heart out, it was very warm and after I had finished the message, I went down the steps, underneath the platform. My older son was finishing up the praise and worship, I was praying for a group of 50 Australian farmers, and then I felt a bit light-headed. I walked out and I collapsed. I had a heart attack. They took me to the house. I never knew that at the time. I came around, they sat me in the garden. My dear wife, Jill, brought me a nice hot cup of sweet tea. I drank half the cup and I collapsed a second time, a second heart attack. With that, they called the helicopter 911, and they cut the fence open. I was lying there, I will never forget, I had an oxygen mask on me and I am saying, “Lord, what is happening?” The greatest moment in my life up to then, and I now can’t even speak. They put me on a stretcher, put me in the helicopter and as the helicopter took off, the pilot just tilted the helicopter a little bit and I could see tens of thousands of hands raised into the sky and the men were praying for me. 

Well, the good news is that when I got to the helipad in Pietermaritzburg, a ten minutes flight but an hour’s drive, the specialist was there to see me. He put me on a treadmill and then after I had been on the treadmill for a while, he took me off the treadmill. He said, “Mr Buchan, there is nothing wrong with you. You can go home.” The next morning, I was preaching my heart out again. Oh look, I had to stop and sit down a few times. I felt like I had been hit by a Mack truck but I fully recovered. 

So today, open your heart for the Lord. He has got great and effective doors for you but be prepared for the fight, but remember greater is He who is within you and I than he who is in the world. (1 John 4:4)

Jesus bless you and goodbye.