Jewish World Update Jul/Aug 2018
The brutal murder of 85-year-old Holocaust survivor Mireille Knoll marks the 11th time in 12 years someone has been viciously killed in France specifically for being Jewish and attests to the alarming rise of…
Human Interest
From the Editor May/Jun 2018
As I sat in church a few weeks ago, a friend I hadn’t seen in a long time turned around to tell me how cute my grandchildren are. My first thought was, How would you know what my grandchildren look like? They live 600 miles away. And then it dawned on me: Facebook!
Scrubbing the Nazi Stain
Someone who stands before a faucet many times a day scrubbing up for fear of germs and general contamination suffers from mysophobia. The condition, which can lead to extreme anxiety, disrupts normal contact with others…
Christian Persecution May/Jun 2018
CHRISTIAN PERSECUTION is the worst it has ever been, according to a recent study by Christian persecution watchdog Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). “In terms of the numbers of people involved, the gravity of the crimes committed…
The New Titans
It rarely snows in Washington, DC. So when the big North American blizzard known as Snowmageddon dumped more than two feet of snow in the U.S. capital in February 2010, shutting down the federal government for an unprecedented four days…
Using the New World of Connectivity
Pastor David Lemming logs onto social media almost every day. He stays in touch with his people by encouraging them with a Bible verse, linking last week’s sermon so they can watch it online, and sometimes giving them a glimpse into the sermon he’s preparing for the following Sunday….
The Cyber War Against Israel
Facebook. YouTube. Instagram. Twitter. For most of us, these sites serve as entertaining outlets where we post pictures, share opinions, and watch videos of cats (so I’m told) or of a deer eating a snowman. (That one was viewed several hundred thousand times.) But for Israel, social-media platforms have become…
Echo Chambers of Hate
Every 83 seconds, someone uploads an anti-Semitic post to social media. In 2016 alone, more than 382,000 anti-Semitic posts appeared on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram1—many of which were never removed—denying the Holocaust; portraying the Jewish people as genetically inferior…
What If Abraham Had Never Existed
“Abraham never existed, but his cousin did!” said one of my professors during a graduate course on Israel’s early history at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He believed Abraham and all the…
Christian Persecution Mar/Apr 2018
KENYA—A group of Somali Muslims recently broke into the home of a Somali Christian widow and brutally attacked her three children in a small Kenyan town…
Inside View Jan/Feb 2018
A friend recently told me, “When I look at all that is happening in this world, I have to believe we’re getting very close to the end.” He was referring to the end of this age when God will begin a new time on Earth that will pave the way for the Messiah.
“And Now We Say, ‘Heil Hitler’”
How would you feel if you discovered your third grader marched to the cafeteria giving the Nazi salute? “The children were standing with their [right] arm[s] out in front of them and the teacher was modeling the position,”…
Christian Persecution Jan/Feb 2018
The Chinese government has begun a renewed crackdown on believers attending unregistered churches and Christian parents taking their children with them to church. Chinese law strictly forbids adults to teach children religion and…
Upside Down
Surveying the current geopolitical landscape can give me a headache. The world is embroiled in a spiritual battle. Right is made to look wrong; wrong is made to look right; security threats loom large; and if we don’t keep our eyes on the Lord…
Israel in the News Jan/Feb 2018
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said recently Israel will not accept the new, unified Hamas-Fatah government unless Hamas renounces terrorism and acknowledges Israel’s right to exist. “Israel opposes any reconciliation…
Follow the Money
A big Art Buchwald fan in my younger years, I’d expectantly scan the editorial pages for his usually hilarious, syndicated column that parodied some of the ridiculous aspects of current events. I thought of the late Mr. Buchwald recently and wished I…
No Longer Science Fiction
When a quadcopter from the Gaza Strip landed in southern Israel recently, the Israel Defense Forces released a brief statement saying it had taken it away for checks. The seemingly mundane incident is, in fact…
Christian Persecution Nov/Dec 2017
Three Egyptian military officers recently beat a Christian soldier to death for his faith and then claimed he died of natural causes. Joseph Reda Helmy, a believer from Kafr Darwish village, had completed one month…
Israel in the News Nov/Dec 2017
Israel has provided free medical care and hundreds of tons of humanitarian aid to more than 200,000 war-afflicted Syrians over the past year. The project, called “Operation Good Neighbor,” launched in…
From the Editor Sep/Oct 2017
There has always been a generation gap. Growing up, I never felt my parents understood me, my taste in music (Dad said if it wasn’t classical, it wasn’t “real” music), or my desire to…
Inside View Sep/Oct 2017
On our spring Up to Jerusalem tour, we made a stop at the headquarters of The Jewish Agency for Israel in Jerusalem to deliver funds donated to help Jewish people in other parts of the world…
Getting Back to Basics
I was sitting in the front row at the Embassy of Israel in Washington, DC, when Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer made a statement that drew applause from the Christian leaders in the room: “The stronger the Christian identity…
Iranian Threat Grows
As the war in Syria enters its end-game, Iran is closer than ever to achieving its long-term, strategic objective of establishing a land corridor for direct and unimpeded access to the Mediterranean Sea. The so-called Shiite Corridor—which…
Christian Persecution Sep/Oct 2017
“If loving and worshiping Christ is a crime, I am guilty as charged,” Egyptian believer Majed El Shafie told the judge. The Egyptian government had charged him with apostasy for leaving Islam…
Meet the Millennials
They’ve had more unflattering epithets thrown at them than any previous generation. Who are these young people, and what makes them tick?
Coming of Age
They may have been children 20 years ago, But today they are posed to take over the church. What is the best way to impart sound doctrine to the generation that is coming of age?
Why They Care
Millennials are a highly justice-oriented generation. They empathize with the downtrodden, embrace social-justice causes, and have massive potential to do good. But what is their motivation, and is it enough?
Coaching the ‘Participation Trophy’ Generation
Baby Boomers were taught, “Play to win.” But they taught their children, “Play to have fun.” How do we now teach this generation hungry for purpose to contend for their faith?
Bible Museum Opens Soon in Washington
If you love God’s Word and Israel, you won’t want to miss the Museum of the Bible’s grand opening in November in Washington, DC. Located only three blocks from the United States Capitol Building and…
Millenials and Israel
A quarter of the millennials in the United States sympathize more with the Palestinians than with the Israelis. This signifies a big shift. How did it happen, and what can be done about it?
How Long is Wrong?
Secularists and Bible critics often attack the Bible’s credibility due to its record of long lives before the Noahic flood. They claim such life spans are unrealistic and result from the incorporation of mythology into the biblical record.
Israel in the News Sep/Oct 2017
A new, high-tech Bible curriculum has ignited a Bible revival in Israel’s public high schools. Developed by the Museum of the Bible, headquartered in Washington, DC, in partnership with…
Inside View Jul/Aug 2017
Have you ever noticed the world’s fascination with hating the Jewish people? It’s nothing new. Anti-Semitism has been around since the days of the Old Testament. However, its growth today is alarming, particularly in the United States and Europe.
The ‘Fake News’ Frenzy
Based on the laws of supply and demand, truth has become a valuable commodity. If it were tea, its scarcity would make it extremely expensive. As we are inundated with the activist media’s half-truths and lies, which some call “fake news,” the real thing is…
The Same Old Same Old?
U.S. President Donald J. Trump has reversed himself on several important promises regarding Israel. On the campaign trail, he pledged to be a stalwart friend of the Jewish state but some of his initial policies actually mirror those of former…
Christian Persecution Jul/Aug 2017
INDIA—A Christian in Jharkhand state, India, recently succumbed to illnesses incurred when villagers immersed him and his wife in a cold pond because they had left their indigenous religion and refused to deny Christ.
God’s Guardians
Biblical cherubim are heavenly creatures that act as God’s guardians. Archaeologists have discovered in Ancient Near Eastern (ANE) iconography and architecture cherubim-like figures that mirror their biblical function and help us visualize what they may look like.
Israel in the News Jul/Aug 2017
If you’re a resident or tourist in Israel and have a life-threatening medical emergency, Magen David Adom’s revolutionary smartphone app may save your life. Magen David Adom (MDA), Israel’s national emergency medical service…
Fighting for Life
Scientists, humanists, atheists, and others have spent years speculating about when life begins. But anyone who reads God’s Word should know the answer. God told the prophet Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I…
Christian Persecution May/Jun 2017
In a horrific incident of torture, Esam, from Qaraqosh, related what ISIS did after his sister’s husband refused to convert to Islam: “He was crucified and tortured in front of his wife and children, who were forced to watch. They [ISIS] told him that…
The Fall: Mythology or History?
The book of Genesis records the fall of man—the event where humanity rebelled against God and thus exchanged an innocent nature for a sinful nature, immortality for mortality. Archaeology reveals that…
Christian Persecution Mar/Apr 2017
A Muslim suicide bomber in Cairo recently carried out the deadliest church attack in modern history a week after the Egyptian government announced its plans to open 10 new mosques every week while remaining indifferent…
Constantine’s Pretext
Since Jesus died and was resurrected during the Passover season, you would think the celebration of Passover and Easter would be inextricably linked. They might have been, if not for a disturbing decision rooted in church-sanctioned…
Creation Calling
The people of Israel bequeathed to the world the revelation of God through the Bible. In this revelation, the creation account in Genesis takes center stage and is recorded as a matter of protohistory. It was an accepted fact…
From the Editor Jan/Feb 2017
This year marks the 75th anniversary of Israel My Glory, and we plan to run vintage articles by Victor Buksbazen, the first editor of the magazine and first executive director of The Friends of Israel.
Christian Persecution Jan/Feb 2017
Christians in Russia now must choose between obeying the law and obeying God because of a new set of Stalinesque “anti-terrorism” laws passed recently that severely restrict evangelism and set the stage for a mass persecution of…
Still Dreaming
To some, it may have seemed like an odd pairing. But not to Natan Sharansky. As he sat with Martin Luther King III on a Sunday morning in Jerusalem, he felt like they were colleagues sharing the same goals Being with King in Israel…
The Birth of Israel My Glory
As we begin our 75th year, we thought you might like to read an excerpt from the lead article that ran in the first issue we ever published. The date was December 1942, and the world was at war, fighting the satanic evil…
Worship in the New World
For most people, the world of the Bible is an unfamiliar, alien realm. But for Bible-believing Christians, it is like the pleasant home of well-known friends. Beginning where the Bible begins, with the book of Genesis, I’d like to take you…
Inside View Nov/Dec 2016
“This is the most important lesson you will learn today!” Rafi said as the Jeep came to a stop on a dirt road, about half a mile from the fence dividing Gaza from Israel. Rafi climbed out with a…
A Change of Guard or Change of Heart?
By the time this issue of Israel My Glory arrives in mailboxes, America’s democracy may be days away from the 2016 presidential election. Or the election finally will be over, and the local voting booth will…
Eye on the Middle East Nov/Dec 2016
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin are working to repair bilateral relations. Long fraught with tension, ties between the geopolitical rivals reached a new low after…
Christian Persecution Nov/Dec 2016
Thousands of Christians who fled to Germany from Islamic countries for safety and religious freedom now face violence, harassment, and death threats for their faith from Muslim refugees in Germany’s…
7 Things I Learned About Dealing with Officials
I was fully prepared to breeze over a July 14 article in theguardian.com headlined “Ghostbusters in line for China ban due to supernatural theme.” But I read it, and I’m glad I did…
Israel in the News Nov/Dec 2016
World Vision, an American-based Christian charity, has shut down its Gaza office, laid off 120 Gaza employees, and canceled its projects in the region after Israel indicted its Gaza manager for allegedly funneling $7 million…
Eye on the Middle East Sep/Oct 2016
Representatives from 26 countries and international organizations met in Paris recently in an effort to relaunch stalled peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians. But the initiative is doomed to fail…
Christian Persecution Sep/Oct 2016
The Muslim governor of the Muslim-dominated Kaduna state in Nigeria recently proposed a law that would stifle Christian freedoms and criminalize street preaching…
The Peter Principle
What do you do when the Bible says one thing and the government says another? Follow the principle the apostle Peter gave us. A significant parade of years has passed since my grammar school days…
The Life and Legacy of C.I. Scofield
Cyrus Ingerson Scofield (1843–1921) was a significant American theologian, writer, and pastor who is best known for his Scofield Reference Bible, one of the most influential theological works of the…
Government in the Sunshine
In despotisms and tyrannies, people have no rights to be informed about the conduct of their leaders. That is not surprising, as neither their input nor their influence is wanted…
Israel in the News Sep/Oct 2016
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin (Bibi) Netanyahu vowed that the recent terror attacks in Judea and Samaria will not drive Israelis from their homes. “We will strengthen this place,” he told the…
Inside View Jul/Aug 2016
During the 15 years I have ministered with The Friends of Israel, I have been impressed with the longevity of our staff. We have very little turnover, and many of our colleagues work…
In Need of Therapy
The United Nations is obsessed with Israel. So obsessed that, if it were a person, it would need therapy. If it were a sports organization like FIFA (the soccer world’s governing body prosecuted for corruption last year), its representatives…
Eye on the Middle East Jul/Aug 2016
Israel has acquiesced to a plan to transfer sovereignty of two strategically important islands in the Red Sea from Egypt to Saudi Arabia as part of an informal, emerging alliance between…
Christian Persecution Jul/Aug 2016
An imprisoned Christian convert from Islam recently sneaked a message of encouragement to Iran’s Christians in the face of a government crackdown that has crippled the country’s…
Recycling History
Israel’s wise King Solomon, with years of world-watching behind him, concluded, “That which has been is what will be, that which is done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun” (Eccl. 1:9)…
Israel Leads The Way To Driverless Cars
In Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 1990 sci-fi classic Total Recall, the protagonist gets into a heated argument with a self-driving cab, driven by an artificial intelligence-challenged automaton…
Faith, Facts, and Grocery Lists
Christianity rests on facts. And because the record of Christianity relies on the accounts of facts set forth in the Bible, that Book is continually at the heart of debates and arguments over the…
Israel in the News Jul/Aug 2016
An online petition has been launched calling on UNESCO to reverse its recent “insulting” resolutions that deny any Jewish connection to the Temple Mount or Western Wall…
From the Editor May/Jun 2016
One thing I loved about being a newspaper reporter was going where the action was. Although I never went anywhere particularly exciting, it didn’t matter. I was involved with…
Inside View May/Jun 2016
Jewish people often ask us, “How long have there been Christians who support Israel?” Over the years, we have come to appreciate their question because Christians, more than any other group, have persecuted and tortured the Jews for two millennia…
Kudos to Canada
When Canada’s parliament condemned the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel in February, Israel advocates worldwide probably sighed with relief. BDS is a vicious, anti-Semitic movement that is…
Eye on the Middle East May/Jun 2016
After nearly six years of discord, Turkey and Israel are working to repair bilateral relations. Reconciliation is said to be imminent. Analysts say Turkey is motivated by a desire to obtain access to Israeli natural gas in order to…
Christian Persecution May/Jun 2016
A group of Muslim men in Pakistan recently abducted a 7-year-old Christian boy, gang-raped him, then strangled him to death with a rope. One week later, in a different region of Pakistan, another group of Muslim men mauled three young…
The Late Justice Scalia: Judgment Affirmed
Author Carl Sandburg popularized an old lumberman’s saying when he wrote, regarding the death of President Abraham Lincoln, “A tree is best measured when it is down.” The news that U.S. Supreme Court Justice…
God’s Way
Youcef Nadarkhani, 38, is an Iranian-Christian pastor. He spent three years in prison and was sentenced to death by hanging on charges of apostatizing from Islam and evangelizing Muslims. Although released in September 2012, he was…
Israel in the News May/Jun 2016
La Plata High School, a public school in Charles County, Maryland, is being sued in federal court for allegedly making students profess the Muslim statement of faith and memorize the Five Pillars of Islam, while a charter-school empire owned by…
From the Editor Mar/Apr 2016
Have you ever watched a TV show that asks simple questions to the so-called man on the street? Usually, it’s hilarious. Some of the answers are so ridiculous you can hardly believe people are…
Inside View Mar/Apr 2016
One of my responsibilities as executive director of The Friends of Israel is to lead our Up to Jerusalem tours to Israel. It’s something I enjoy immensely. I’m often asked…
What America Needs
When Americans tune in to the presidential debates, most of them already know what they want to hear. They’re ready for a new hope and change. That’s why CNN’s Republican debate in December was the…
Eye on the Middle East Mar/Apr 2016
The Israel Defense Forces recently detained 90 Birzeit University (BZU) students, teachers, and employees for association with terrorism. BZU, near Ramallah, probably the most prestigious and liberal of the…
Christian Persecution Mar/Apr 2016
A 32-year-old Pentecostal pastor was hacked to death recently and his body thrown in the river less than a week after members of a Bible study were poisoned in another area of eastern Uganda…
Inside Yad Vashem
The idea of a Zionist memorial to the victims of Hitler’s war against the Jews came to Mordechai Shenhavi (1900– 1983) before anyone even grasped the horrifying scale of the Holocaust. In August 1942…
Sirens of Silence
People stood shoulder-to-shoulder under the Jerusalem morning sun—still, respectful, and mindful of the solemn communication for which they had assembled. The only sound was that of…
The Evidence Trail
I recently attended the Christian Leadership Seminar at Yad Vashem, the Holocaust museum in Jerusalem. The Christian Friends of Yad Vashem (CFYV), which hosts…
The Things He Saw
On April 27, 1945, the 12th Armored Division of the United States Army liberated prisoners from a Dachau subcamp called Kaufering IV in Landsberg, Germany. Serving with the…
Israel in the News Mar/Apr 2016
More than 50 Orthodox rabbis worldwide have called for Jewish people to embrace Jesus as a Law-abiding Jew and to work with Christians for the betterment of society…
From the Editor Jan/Feb 2016
Often, as time goes by, things need a little updating. We’ve updated the look of Israel My Glory several times during its 74 years, and we thought you might appreciate…
Inside View Jan/Feb 2016
Our mission statement reads, “The Friends of Israel is a worldwide Christian ministry communicating biblical truth about Israel and the Messiah, while fostering solidarity with the Jewish people.” We have two primary efforts…
Telling the Truth
When knife-wielding Arabs went on a killing spree last fall in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and other parts of Israel, they butchered innocent Israelis…
Christian Persecution Jan/Feb 2016
Muslims fleeing the Islamic State (ISIS) hurled as many as 53 Christians overboard during a crossing from Libya last year. In another incident…
The Iran Deal: Wheel of Misfortune
The Constitution of the United States sets limitations regarding international treaties. It is a hallmark of the bizarre state of politics in Washington that…
Inside View Nov/Dec 2015
I recently met up with a Jewish friend in Jerusalem. He had just returned from a trip to a major city in Europe. When he checked into his hotel, he was told…
They Cry in Silence Nov/Dec 2015
Despite the fact that hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of Christians each year face their utilities being cut off, their lands seized, physical and…
Who Has a Hold on Hope?
Atheists chalked up another win in August when the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) forced the Royster Middle School in Chanute, Kansas, to remove a print of Warner Sallman’s famous 1941 painting…
Pastor Abedini Still in Prison in Iran
Saeed Abedini, an Iranian-American Christian pastor detained in Iran since 2012, has become the international face of the Islamic Republic’s brutal persecution of Christians…
How to Walk and When to Stand
Since June 26, when five Supreme Court justices issued their majority opinion in Obergefell v. Hodges, the millennia-old idea of religious freedom in America has…
Israel in the News Nov/Dec 2015
The European Union’s parliament recently voted in favor of a resolution to differentiate labels on products made in Judea and Samaria, eastern Jerusalem, and…
Eye on the Middle East Sep/Oct 2015
The UN Human Rights Council’s Commission of Inquiry in June released its 183-page investigative report into the 2014 Gaza war, blaming both Israel and Hamas for possible violations of…
Spawning a Genderless Wasteland
The June 26, 2015, U.S. Supreme Court Decision mandating all 50 states recognize same-sex marriage as a legal right marked a turning point for America. The decision is…