The Message of the Gospel
As we read the book of Job today, we have the advantage of seeing what Job could not see: the spiritual challenge that…
Biblical Studies/Theology
Faithful in Service
What is the church? Many people think of it solely as a building—sometimes a great and majestic cathedral and sometimes an unadorned, small, simple structure…
Controlling Our Tongues
Eating crow is never fun. The good news is we never have to eat words we fail to speak. Words are powerful…
Q: What Does ‘Crucified With Christ’ Mean?
Paul wrote, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live…
What is the Gospel?
Many years ago, my wife and I were invited to dinner at the home of a prominent older woman. She knew governors and senators and had been friends with Albert Einstein…
ABC
Here are the ABCs of accepting Jesus as your Savior: A. Acknowledge and repent of your sin, realizing sin separates us from a holy and righteous God…
The Lord’s Servant
Confronting false teaching is not easy, particularly for a young minister. But it is necessary, as the apostle Paul explained to his protégé Timothy…
From the Editor Mar/Apr 2021
When I became a Christian, I didn’t know much about Christianity. I didn’t know the New Testament or doctrine or what God expected of me as a believer…
The Coming Conflagration
“It is apocalyptic.” U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon didn’t exaggerate much when he assessed the wildfires that ravaged…
Getting Serious About Talking to God
The doctrine of coming judgments is not popular. Most Christians don’t like reading or hearing about it. They say it’s scary…
The Secret to Serving Christ
When I was a teenager, I enjoyed visiting my pastor’s study. His bookshelves were sprinkled with interesting knickknacks…
Q: What Is Meant by ‘The Last Days’?
People often ask how the phrase the last days should be interpreted and what events signal that we’re living in the last days…
The Christian Thing to Do
The toxic turn in the nature of the American political system, bitterly pitting factions and friends against one another, has…
How to Walk With God
Someone has aptly said, “Counting time is not nearly as important as making time count!” No one can stop the clock of history. It ticks with exactness through each…
Remain Committed
The Christian life is not a sprint to the finish line. It’s a marathon. It requires faithful endurance from beginning to end; and to live it, we must draw on…
From the Editor Jan/Feb 2021
Many years ago, my husband’s friend Ken Campbell lost his 18-year-old daughter in a car accident. Ken pastored a church here in South Jersey, and Gwendolyn was a student at Word of Life…
Meditating on God
Health experts agree that walking 10,000 steps a day is a good thing. So I do this “good thing” regularly, and I can tell you that my Oy veys grow louder every time I start walking. But I can also tell you that…
The Great I Am
“Welcome to the State of Israel,” the guard said, smiling as he checked us through security and into the Embassy of Israel in Washington, DC. My wife and I attended a function there…
The Father Knows Best
In 1949, a show called Father Knows Best debuted on the radio. It made the transition to television in 1954, starring Robert Young, who played Jim Anderson, the father of three children…
Q: Who Created Evil?
Horrible things happen in life, and some people blame God. God said through the prophet Isaiah, “I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil…
The Future-Teller
A peculiar industry has been growing in America. It generates $2 billion in revenue a year and employs roughly 85,000 people who are primarily mediums, astrologers, palm readers, and fortune-tellers…
Cyrus, ‘My Shepherd’
Bible scholar Harold Willmington once wrote, “Bible prophecy is simply history written in advance!” In the case of Cyrus, king of ancient Medo-Persia, God wrote the…
The Absurdity of Idolatry
Sam Coonrod made news last summer when he refused to kneel. The then-27-year-old relief pitcher for the San Francisco Giants was the only baseball player…
Why Animal Sacrifice?
In our modern world, many condemn animal sacrifice. In Florida, a religious group was sued for practicing it. The plaintiff defined sacrifice as “to unnecessarily kill…
Stand Strong in Christ
A concert violinist once was asked, “How did you become such a skilled violinist?” The musician replied, “By planned neglect. I planned to neglect everything that was…”
From the Editor Nov/Dec 2020
It’s confession time. I possess a peculiar ability that annoys everyone, even my husband. I listen to the same music over and over…
The Shekinah Glory
As I look at the world and the terrible things people do, I will never understand why God loves us and wants to dwell among us. The fact that a Jewish virgin bore the divine…
Seeing God
The one true and living God is omnipresent. That is, He is everywhere all the time, an infinite being with respect to space. Despite this magnificent attribute…
Immanuel Forever
We don’t know his name or his background. We do know he was a criminal (Lk. 23:32). But as he hung between heaven and Earth on a Roman cross, something within…
Q: What Is the Law of Christ?
In the final week of Jesus’ earthly ministry, a scribe (lawyer) asked Him a question: “Teacher, which is the great commandment…
The Priests: Keeping Israel Holy
Ancient Israel’s three great offices were prophet, priest, and king. Of these, the most enigmatic to people today is that of priest…
Courageous for Christ
Eighty percent of the people around the world today being persecuted for their faith are Christians. Many live under the constant threat of violence…
From the Editor Sep/Oct 2020
At sundown September 18, our Jewish friends will celebrate Rosh Hashanah. This first of the High Holy Days initiates a new year on the Jewish calendar…
Inside View Sep/Oct 2020
The Bible teaches that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge (Prov. 1:7). It also warns us not to be wise in our own eyes but to fear God (3:7)…
From Moses to Jesus
Eclectic is how I would describe my mother’s taste in furniture. Nothing really matched when I was growing up. Furniture was not her thing…
Life Under the Sun Eccl. 1-3
How do we find meaning in life? That is a question people around the world ask themselves. Even Israel’s King Solomon, the wisest, richest man who ever lived, asked it…
No Satisfaction Eccl. 4-6
In the 1960s, the English rock group The Rolling Stones shot to stardom with a song titled “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.” This thought easily could…
Q: How does God see time? 2 Peter 3:1–9
The apostle Peter faced corrupt, willfully ignorant teachers who argued that since the world’s creation, God had never intervened…
Why??? Eccl. 7-9
In 1969 singer Peggy Lee had a hit song titled “Is That All There Is?” The woman in the song reflects back over her life, which is filled with disappointments…
When the Grinders Cease Eccl. 10-12
Have you ever met someone who claims to be an existentialist? I have, and it was an encounter I’ll never forget…
How Do You Know God Loves You?
How do you know if someone really loves you? Some people may say they love you, but if they don’t show it, you may doubt…
Steadfast in Service
Timothy was a young leader in the Ephesian church when the apostle Paul wrote the epistle of 2 Timothy to encourage his “son” in the faith…
Enter the Greeks
On December 17, 2019, 16 leaders of The United Methodist Church signed the Protocol of Reconciliation & Grace Through Separation…
Plato Versus the Bible
At first glance, Plato’s theory of forms seems to have positive traits. It attempts to satisfy the seeking heart’s cry, “There has to be more to life than this!”…
The Acts 1:6 Controversy
The book of Acts opens after the disciples had been learning about the Kingdom of God for 40 days from the King Himself…
Joint Heirs With Jesus!
I have often heard the dispensational, premillennial view of the Bible criticized as too pessimistic and being all about Israel to the point that it denigrates the church…
Thankful for Everything
Memory is a wonderful gift from God. Some people say the human mind can store as many as 600 memories a second…
Q: Are the 10 Tribes of Israel Lost?
One of the most asked questions concerns the status of the 10 northern tribes of Israel. These tribes of the…
Introduction to the Second Epistle of Timothy
The final words of someone facing death usually hold great significance…
From the Editor Mar/Apr 2020
Do you believe in miracles? It’s a simple question, but the answer has far-reaching implications. Two people groups we’d expect to believe in miracles are…
Frame, Reframe: The Battle for Truth
I witnessed an attempt to reframe theology during our Canadian Friends of Israel Prophecy Conference…
Elisha: God’s Miracle Man
Elijah and Elisha were among Israel’s most important prophets. Some people confuse them, but they were extremely different men…
Important Events & Miracles
God performed 28 miracles through Elisha that affected people, prophecy, and politics and are recorded in the book of 2 Kings…
Q: Why Did Elisha Curse Youths for Mocking Him?
After performing a miracle in Jericho, the prophet Elisha went to Bethel…
A Great Woman, A Great Miracle
Some people spend a lifetime trying to acquire a great name or leave a great legacy. There is a special woman in the Bible…
Portrait of Grace
She was merely a little Jewish girl. Yet God in His sovereignty positioned her where her faith and grace would touch the highest echelons of military power…
Chariots of Fire
WAR. The very word conjures up horrific images of mass destruction, fleeing innocents, pain, and suffering. But another dimension of warfare exists…
He Is Risen, Indeed!
The apostle Paul believed in the resurrection, not because he was a Christian, but because he was a Jew. Faith in the reality of revival from the dead was part of his training…
Disciplining the Disorderly
A church is like a family. All members need love, and sometimes someone needs discipline. This fact was especially…
The Beginning and Distinctiveness of The Church
In light of the fact that Covenant Theology and Dispensational Theology disagree concerning when the Church began in history, the previous article examined four lines of evidence to the effect that the Church began on the Day of Pentecost of Acts 2.
From the Editor Jan/Feb 2020
Two things I feel like I’ve known about since the day I was born are the Holocaust and the State of Israel. Some people feel these entities are unrelated…
Inside View Jan/Feb 2020
The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry is an evangelical organization. We share the gospel with everyone willing to listen. The word evangelical comes from the Greek…
Q: What Does Romans 8:28 Mean?
Many Christians are confused about the apostle Paul’s statement, “And we know that all things work together for good…
Paul’s Emphasis on Prayer
Charles Haddon Spurgeon, often called the prince of preachers, had much to say about his prayer life…
Yes, Zuzu, There Is a Heaven
Each December my family and I look forward to the beautiful decorations, wonderful Christmas carols, and the many…
Q: What is the meaning of Revelation 1:7?
The apostle John wrote, “Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him…
How to Get to Heaven
The climax to the popular animated Christmas movie The Polar Express is the song “Believe” sung by Josh Groban, in which he repeats the phrase…
From the Editor Sep/Oct 2019
Over the years I’ve had many people tell me doctrine isn’t important. What matters, they say, is that you love Jesus. I’ll never dispute the importance of loving Jesus. But the apostle Paul spent…
Inside View Sep/Oct 2019
As long as we believe Jesus is the Savior of the world, does it really matter what else we believe? After all, didn’t Jesus come to save mankind from its sins, and isn’t that fact the basic essence of the Bible?…
God & Creation
We believe God is one being in three coequal, coeternal persons. This short statement expresses the Christian definition of the Trinity, or the triunity of the Godhead…
Q: What Does ‘The Apple of God’s Eye’ Mean?
People often use the phrase the apple of my eye to express how precious a loved one is in their sight…
Good Works & Salvation
We believe all human beings are sinners (Rom. 3:23), possessing active sin natures that result in our physical and spiritual deaths…
Jesus & the Word
We believe Jesus was conceived through the power of the Holy Spirit and was born to a virgin. The virgin birth is a crucial doctrine of the Christian faith…
Israel & the Church
We believe the unconditional covenant God made with Abraham is still in force today, and God will not cancel it. God made the unconditional covenant with Abram (Abraham), recorded in Genesis 15…
The Big Ten
Many people are familiar with Cecil B. DeMille’s film The Ten Commandments. In a famous scene, Moses receives the Ten Commandments on stone tablets…
A Misled Generation
It’s encouraging to know that before the Antichrist even appears on the world scene, his ultimate demise and destiny in the Lake of Fire are certain. When Christ returns to Earth, He will destroy this man of sin…
Leave the Light On for Me
For more than 30 years, a motel chain in the United States has offered a warm welcome to its customers by telling them, “We’ll leave the light on for you”…
What Heathenism Wrought
Without any announcement, the prophet Elijah appeared in Israel and boldly confronted his generation with a strong warning from God…
Q: Should Christians Always Obey Civil Government?
God instituted civil government in the Noahic Covenant after the universal flood (Gen. 9:6, 8–17) to protect human life and…
Israel’s Evil Kings
The northern kingdom was plagued with evil kings, beginning with Jeroboam (931–910 BC), who intentionally caused Israel to sin by erecting golden calves…
Confrontation on Carmel
The scorching sun beat down on Obadiah as he walked the arid path, each step sending a swirl of dust upward…
Passing the Mantle
It’s so important to teach the younger generation. Elijah mentored Elisha for almost eight years. Then Elisha made an unusual request…
Did Moses Write the Torah?
The Bible says explicitly Moses wrote the Torah. Exodus 24:4 states, “Moses wrote all the words of the LORD”…
The Restrainer of Evil
While establishing the church in Thessalonica, the apostle Paul personally instructed believers concerning future prophecy…
Pay It Forward
Have you ever heard of International Pay It Forward Day? Every April 28, in an attempt to transform the world for the better, a global movement encourages people to…
The Battle for Biblical Truth
Modern Israel is a miracle. When Mark Twain visited there in the 1800s, he left thinking it was the most miserable place on the face of the earth…
Q: What is the sin leading to death?
The apostle John told Christians, “If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him…
What’s in a Name?
When Moses encountered God for the first time, he asked Him, “When I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you..
The Great Deception
It’s easy to become discouraged and misled by false reports. That’s why it is so important to be able to discern between truth and error…
Assessing the Return of Haman
People visiting Israel during the annual Purim celebration in March, when masses of costumed Israelis joyously parade through the streets, might liken the event to…
Incontestable
Jesus Christ’s resurrection is the heartbeat of Christianity. Though most denominations have theological differences, one core truth binds the whole lot together: the belief in the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ…
Q: Why will people offer animal sacrifices in the Millennial Temple?
People often ask, “If Jesus’ sacrifice was the only efficacious, once-for-all sacrifice to expiate sin (Heb. 9:12), why should…
The Truth About Who Killed Christ
A few months ago, I met with a high-profile Jewish leader who was giving a talk about his journey from poverty to entrepreneurial success. As a boy growing up in the slums of Boston…
Casting Down Serpents
Exodus 7:8–12 records the account of Moses’ and Aaron’s first miracle before Pharaoh: turning Aaron’s staff (a symbol of authority) into a serpent that swallowed those produced by Pharaoh’s magicians…
Comforting the Persecuted
The apostle Paul made a practice of visiting churches he had planted and providing pastoral care and counsel. But sometimes opposition to him and his ministry made the task impossible…
Who Doesn’t Want a Blessing?
Nostalgia. That’s the emotion fans of the iconic 1960s TV series Star Trek feel when they hear the words live long and prosper. The character of Mr. Spock…
From Bitterness to Joy
Everybody loves a good story. God made us that way so He could instruct us in truth and illustrate it through the people whose lives are recorded in the Bible. Their stories show us, rather than tell us, how to live…
The Gold-Box Idol
During the closing period of the judges, the Israelites embraced wicked beliefs in their worship and view of God. God had confirmed Samuel as His spokesman and true prophet, but the Israelites refused to obey….
Q: What does it mean a ‘distressing spirit’ from the Lord troubled Saul?
When Saul was anointed king of Israel, the prophet Samuel predicted the Spirit of God would come on Saul, giving him the needed skill and wisdom to rule the nation…
A Hearing Heart
I have many fond memories of my mother from my childhood, but there is one memory that is far from fond. I still get a knot in the pit of my stomach when I think about it. When I was around 11 years old, we were…