Ministry Freedom in the Balance
When I read the e-mail in May from a legal webcasting group that regularly advises lawyers on current, but usually mundane, employment issues, I knew it was one more bit…
Human Interest
They Cry in Silence Jul/Aug 2012
Eleven Christians in India barely escaped death recently after Muslims barged into a home where they were praying and tried to kill them. The mob grew larger and larger until…
Camels, Gnats, and the Importance of Doctrine
Did you know a high percentage of Christians really don’t know what they believe? This excellent article takes a look at what’s important and what’s not.
Chester and the True Gospel of Christ
Chester tried and tried to change his ways, but he always failed. His life included drugs, alcohol, immorality, broken relationships, gambling, lying, and other evils. He had divorced his wife…
25 Years of Changing Lives
Joyful reunions, laughter, and sweet fellowship flowed at the recent 25th anniversary celebration of The Friends of Israel’s Institute of Jewish Studies (IJS). Alumni, faculty, staff, and friends gathered at Friends…
Why?
Israel is an exciting and exotic place to visit, with ancient biblical sites, beautiful scenery, luxurious hotels, and colorful cuisine. So why would a small group of American Christians take time…
Jim Showers Assumes Position of Executive Director
Dr. James A. Showers took the reins this month as president and executive director of The Friends of Israel (FOI), becoming only the fifth man to do so in the 74-year history…
Inside View May/Jun 2012
May 1 marks a transition in leadership at The Friends of Israel as Bill Sutter begins his retirement and I step into his role as president and executive director. We…
Christian Zionism—The Real Story
The heat is up on the idea of a two-state solution to the Israeli/Palestinian dilemma. The current offensive touts a single state that eliminates Israel in favor of a Palestinian fiefdom…
The Death of Reason, the Burial of Faith
Radical New Testament critic John Dominic Crossan, touted by his publisher as being “widely regarded as the foremost historical Jesus scholar of our time,” has written a new book called The Power…
Raising the White Flag
It’s bad enough America’s courts are turning their backs on the nation’s his- toric values. But now something else has arisen that is just as bad—or worse.
They Cry in Silence May/Jun 2012
Two suicide bombers from the Boko Haram Islamist sect drove a car laden with bombs into the worship service of a Church of Christ in Nigeria (COCIN) congregation recently, killing…
A Letter From Jerusalem: Survival Strategies for Ordinary Living
Ever been to an outdoor market or a museum in Jerusalem? Journalist Elliot Jager takes you on a stroll through the city to see what everyday life is like for people who live there.
Some Good News for A Change
There’s Good News Tonight.” That was the lead each evening on Gabriel Heatter’s national news broadcast during World War II. Known for exuding a “dignified optimism,” Heatter brought to the…
The Nails and Streams of Liberty
The familiar words of the U.S. Declaration of Independence remind us we are endowed by God “with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of…
They Cry in Silence Mar/Apr 2012
When this column first appeared in our May/June 2001 issue, it was intended to inform our readers about persecution of the brethren in faraway places. Living in the West tends…
Bill Sutter to Retire
After 25 years of faithful service to The Friends of Israel, Rev. William E. Sutter will retire May 1 as president and executive director. Bill’s retirement was announced recently by The Friends…
Eye on the Middle East Jan/Feb 2012
Did spring really come early for Arabs in the Middle East last year? Many believe so. Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak was forced out after decades of ruthless rule…
In God We Trust—or Not
For people who doubt there is a war against God and Christianity in America, here is something to disabuse them of that notion. Last year, U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson…
Esther Fragment Survives Holocaust
In October 1940, the Nazis established the Warsaw Ghetto in Poland, where they forced all Jewish people in Warsaw and surrounding towns to live. They crammed an estimated 400,000 Jews…
Dear Court: Clean Up Your Mess!
Do you remember as a child being told to pick up your room? Most of us do. There are advantages to orderliness. And when it comes to our most fundamental liberties…
Where Have All the Christians Gone?
Freedom. Democracy. Have these truly been the result of the so-called Arab Spring? Not for Christians, who appear to be in even bigger trouble than they were in before.
They Cry in Silence Jan/Feb 2012
Imagine your 12-year-old daughter or granddaughter is on her way home from school. Several men jump out of a van and abduct her. Then they beat and rape her every day for months…
How to Have Faith
What is faith? How do you know if you have it? Will it do what you hope it will do? People exercise faith every day without realizing it. They go to doctors…
Israel in the News Jan/Feb 2012
Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood held a “kill the Jews” rally in Cairo in November. Thousands attended, promising to “one day kill all the Jews” and wage war against Jerusalem’s “Judaization.” The rally…
NRB: Google, iTunes, Facebook All Censor Christian Views
If you think you can place overtly Christian content on the ubiquitous Internet giants Google or iTunes, think again. The National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) has publicized its first report of the John Milton…
Dangerous Absolutes
Although they knew God, they did not glorify [honor] Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise…
They Cry in Silence Nov/Dec 2011
Kidnapped Christian Girl in Sudan Escapes. Hiba Abdelfadil Anglo, 16, has escaped from Muslims who kidnapped her in June 2010, beat and raped her, and tried to force her to convert to Islam.
Ancient Writing Tools
A stylus in Jesus’ day was a writing tool made of metal, ivory, or bone. The writer would press the pointed end of the stylus down on a waxed-surface tablet.
Thank God for Israel
Do you have a love for Israel and the Jewish people and don’t know quite where to go with it? We know a way you can tell them how you feel. And it’s terrific!
FOI Launches Adult-Volunteer Program in Israel
If you are 18 or older and would like to volunteer your time, effort, and resources to help the people of Israel, then you may want to join us in March…
Show Me the Law and I’ll Show You the Lawgiver
Law students used to be taught the importance of the Ten Commandments in American jurisprudence. Not today. But truth is truth, as you’ll see here.
The Plague That Will Not Go Away
A grisly discovery was made in Norwich, England, recently. Seventeen Jewish skeletons, apparently from the same family, were found at the bottom of a medieval well. Archaeologists theorize the Jews were forced down…
Saying is Believing
Rhetoric is everything. Or at least it appears so nowadays. But what happens when rhetoric doesn’t match reality? See for yourself.
Christian Demoted for Refusing to Attend Islamic Event
Tulsa, Oklahoma, Police Captain Paul Fields has been demoted, docked pay, and told he will not be promoted—all for refusing to attend an event at an Islamic center tied to the Muslim Brotherhood.
They Cry in Silence Sep/Oct 2011
So taunts the little gingerbread boy in a well-known children’s story. The arrogant little guy manages to evade everyone who wants to eat him until he meets a sly fox who knows…
Bowing to the Bad Guys
A recent report that Guantanamo’s Muslim detainees have convinced the U.S. prison not to fly the American flag where they can see it is consistent with the inexplicable descent into the absurd…
Being Right in a Rough World
When the news first broke that Osama bin Laden had been killed in Pakistan, television captured images of college students celebrating in Washington, DC, and National Public Radio gave unenlightened coverage…
They Cry in Silence Jul/Aug 2011
Muslims Murder a Convert. Two Muslim extremists in Somalia murdered a member of a secret Christian community in Lower Shabele region in April as part of a campaign to rid the country…
Fortress of Faith, Castles of Sand
Christianity in America is under attack as never before. The press is particularly hostile. But the source of other threats may surprise you.
Happy Birthday, KJV! 400 Years
May 2, 2011, commemorated a special day in printing history. It was the 400th anniversary of the first printing of the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible, one of the most beloved…
Beware the New Barbarians
An ultra-liberal movement is ripping its way through American culture. I call its purveyors the “new barbarians.” When we think of barbarian, we often picture Neolithic-looking creatures in animal skins, wielding giant clubs.
Eying the Ashes
Almost 50 years ago in America, the cry “Burn, baby, burn!” swept across Los Angeles, California, as riots that began in the Watts neighborhood raged out of control. They would be…
They Cry in Silence May/Jun 2011
Pastor in India Attacked. A pastor in India was stripped, beaten, and wounded by 10 Hindu extremists recently while praying in a home for a sick 8-year-old boy. The extremists arrived on motorbikes…
From Bill Sutter’s Desk Mar/Apr 2011
In 1950, a mere two years after the birth of the modern State of Israel, a historic conference was convened by then-Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion in Jerusalem’s King David Hotel.
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness
The timing was striking. The article appeared in the December 5, 2010, issue of The New York Times. Harvard philosophy professor Sean D. Kelly wrote about what makes a “life worthy of…admiration.”
An Unsought Exodus
A new crusade to rid the Middle East of Jewish people is picking up support around the world. Will it succeed? Read this.
They Cry in Silence Mar/Apr 2011
Somali Girl Shot to Death for Embracing Christ. A 17-year-old girl in Somalia who converted to Christianity from Islam has been shot to death in an apparent “honor killing.” Nurta Mohamed Farah…
The Invisible Revolution
When I read the comment in Wired magazine last fall, I was so astonished I had to read it again. It reaffirmed my suspicion that there is a quiet, almost…
When the World Descended Into Madness
Hitler’s evil obsession once plunged Germany into barbarism and madness that afflicted the entire world. And what lies on the horizon may be more madness in the making.
They Cry in Silence Jan/Feb 2011
We have been hearing reports that the sprawling Muslim country of Indonesia is a model of pluralism and religious harmony. According to an article on www.america.gov by Louise Fenner, “Indonesia…
No One To Talk To?
British scientist Stephen Hawking is one more atheist trying to tell us there is no God. In his new book, The Grand Design, Hawking contends, “Because there is a law such as gravity…
A More Perfect Union Nov/Dec 2010
Julea Ward was getting A’s in her classes. She had completed all of her required work for a master’s degree in counseling at Eastern Michigan University, but problems arose during…
They Cry in Silence Nov/Dec 2010
On August 6 Afghan police discovered the bodies of 10 Christian-aid workers in a remote village in northern Afghanistan. Six of the slain were Americans. All were members of the International…
Tampering With Freedom of Religion
President Ronald Reagan often called the White House a “bully pulpit,” meaning its power and prestige gave the president of the United States the ability to speak out on issues and influence…
Messianic Wannabes
So many people have claimed to be Christ who returned to Earth. But a brief look at their lives and ministries tells a different story.
Adhan Over Ground Zero
An estimated 10,000 protestors showed up on the streets of New York June 6 to rally against the proposed construction of a giant 13-story mosque and Islamic cultural center near Ground Zero…
A More Perfect Union Sep/Oct 2010
Now that the hotly contested Senate confirmation hearing of Elena Kagan is over and President Barack Obama’s nominee has become the 112th justice to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court…
Now That the Smoke Has Cleared
Nine years have passed since the tragedy of 9/11. Are we wiser and more diligent, or have we become what Lenin called “useful idiots”?
They Cry in Silence Sep/Oct 2010
Compass Direct News recently gave us a glance at life for Christians in Pakistan, a country that is 97 percent Muslim and purported to be an ally of America and…
When God Opens a Door…
After the Communists released Richard Wurmbrand from prison in 1965, an American heard him preach in Norway and encouraged him to tell his dramatic story in the United States. According…
From Bill Sutter’s Desk Jul/Aug 2010
The world is a strange place. What it needs the most is often what it hates the most. Of all the countries in the world, Israel is probably the most hated. People call…
Who Writes the Last Chapter?
Just when some of the “leading lights” of the international diplomatic community thought progress might be brewing in the quest to tame the Iranian mullocracy through UN sanctions, the lid…
A More Perfect Union Jul/Aug 2010
It all started when the Christian Legal Society (CLS), a fellowship group of Christian law students and lawyers, sought official recognition at the Hastings Law School, a part of the California…
The Downside to Assimilation
Wanting to be like everyone else often comes with a price. And sometimes, as this article shows, it’s too high to pay.
They Cry in Silence Jul/Aug 2010
Sometimes statistics are not enough. Those of us who report on the persecution of our brothers and sisters in Christ in so many parts of the world live in a constant…
The Emergents Are Emerging
The emergent/emerging movement is barely over a decade old (depending on when one marks its birth), and already it has splintered and morphed in many directions. As a result, it is often…
The Quantum Shift Toward Paganism
Eastern beliefs are infiltrating Christendom and moving it toward a one-world philosophy, the tenets of which may shock you.
‘Re-Imagining’ God
Although some attribute the emerging pagan worldview to the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and early ’70s, the professing church actually shifted toward paganism in 1993 with the first and now-infamous…
A More Perfect Union May/Jun 2010
In January the U.S. Supreme Court decided the case of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. Although the 5–4 decision narrowly upheld freedom of speech, it also made obvious the two…
They Cry in Silence May/Jun 2010
The bloody war al-Qaida is waging against America and the Western democracies is relentless and indiscriminate. And though al-Qaida terrorists actually kill more Muslims than “infidel” Westerners, they make sure…
Assessing the “What Hit Us?” Conundrum
It feels a lot like a dream, or nightmare if you prefer, from which we’ll emerge in the morning. But it isn’t. It is, in fact, a revolution that has ridden…
A More Perfect Union Mar/Apr 2010
Even the quickest glance at the text of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution makes one thing exceedingly clear: each of the rights guaranteed therein—religion, speech, assembly, and freedom…
They Cry in Silence Mar/Apr 2010
Compass Direct News reports that Christians in India were battered last year by radical Hindu extremists. A partial listing of the violent attacks confirmed that Christians were assaulted more than three…
The Bible vs. The Classroom:
A Practical Look at an Uneasy Truce
It has been almost five decades since the U.S. Supreme Court banned Bible reading in public schools. In 1963, one year after it struck down state-sponsored prayers in School District…
From Bill Sutter’s Desk Jan/Feb 2010
A dynamic factor in the Jewish people’s prophetic return to Zion is a special group of several thousand young men and women designated as “lone soldiers.” Leaving everything behind, including their families…
Learning the Hard Way
Most ordinary people laugh off as silliness much of what has become known as political correctness. But in the aftermath of Maj. Nidal Hasan’s brutal attack on military personnel at Fort…
A More Perfect Union Jan/Feb 2010
On October 22 in Washington, DC, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) convened a hearing process that may determine who will rule the Internet. What happens could affect the freedom of Christians…
The Cross in the Desert
Thousands of Americans are buried overseas where they died fighting for their country. Now the ACLU wants to remove a cross that signifies the last measure of their devotion.
They Cry in Silence Jan/Feb 2010
On October 27, Reuters reported that Somali pirates captured a British couple sailing in the Indian Ocean. The Britons, Paul and Rachel Chandler, were taken to Somalia and held for ransom…
Racing Toward the New World Order
The future dreamed of by the globalists of the 1980s has arrived. And it spells nothing good for Christians or loyal, devoted Americans.
The Decline of the U.S. Greenback
How much is $1 trillion? To get an idea of how massive this amount is, think of it in seconds. Going back in time 1 million seconds would take you back…
History Through the ‘Apple of His Eye’
In the mid 1990s, Steven Spielberg produced a cartoon series about two laboratory mice. One was incredibly smart; the other was clueless. Each episode revolved around the smart mouse devising…
Israel: The Inscrutable Enigma
Mark Twain, the famous American author, humorist, narrator, and social observer, had great personal problems with the religionists of his day and many other aspects of the world he occupied…
A More Perfect Union Nov/Dec 2009
Now that Sonia Sotomayor has been sworn in as the newest associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, some reflections are in order. How much do we really know about…
They Cry in Silence Nov/Dec 2009
Think of the plight of a partially paralyzed 80-year-old Christian and his wife, Hanifa, 73, who were unable to flee their town in northeastern Pakistan as hundreds of Muslim radicals went…
The War Above
God and Satan assign powerful angels to influence rulers and nations. Behind the scenes of international events rages supernatural conflict invisible to human eyes. We know this fact from the book…
The 12 Rules of Christmas®
Unfortunately, Christmas has become a time of controversy over what can and cannot be done in terms of celebrating the holiday. To clear up much of the misunderstanding, the following…
Zvi Nov/Dec 2009
In Psalm 94:3 it is written, “How long will the wicked triumph?” There are many wicked people in this world, but it is especially sad when one of them is your neighbor…
From Bill Sutter’s Desk Sep/Oct 2009
Recently we have witnessed an almost daily assault on biblical values designed, it would seem, to subvert the influence of America’s Judeo-Christian heritage on the forces of God-free humanism. Inaugural festivities…
A More Perfect Union Sep/Oct 2009
As part of my work with National Religious Broadcasters, I was involved in a small meeting in the Capitol Hill office of a congressional representative not long ago. Known in political circles…
Picking the Wrong Opponent
The God-haters are out to remake America in their image. It will be a fight to the death. But there are some things they aren’t counting on.
They Cry in Silence Sep/Oct 2009
For all of the talk in the highest echelons of American politics and religion about conciliation between Islam and Christians, nothing is changing for beleaguered believers in Jesus in countries where…
The Doctrine of Mahdism
He is called the Hidden Imam. No one knows the hour of his return. But he will rule the world, which will acknowledge Islam as the true religion. Who is he? He is the Islamic messiah.
Ahmadinejad’s Messianic Policy
Even though other Muslims have ruled Iran, Ahmadinejad is different. He claims he has a direct connection to God and will usher in the Mahdi. Unfortunately, his faith has worldwide implications.
From Bill Sutter’s Desk Jul/Aug 2009
Making her way to me through the crowd, Helene spoke with emotion: “It’s because of your kind of Christians that people like me even exist. They hid my father and his parents…
Eye on the Middle East Jul/Aug 2009
We hear much talk these days about carrots and sticks. Should U.S. intelligence officers attempting to pry information from captured terrorists use physical methods or persuasive conversation to convince the bad…
Reading a Premature Obituary
To hear the secular news media tell it, Christianity in America is one small wheeze away from death. Well, that isn’t exactly accurate. Here’s the rest of the story.
They Cry in Silence Jul/Aug 2009
Iran is an increasing concern for the Middle East and the world, and no one seems to have a workable plan for how to control it. Its radical Islamist leader, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad…
A More Perfect Union Jul/Aug 2009
Thomas Jefferson once famously said, “Almighty God hath created the mind free….All attempts to influence it by temporal punishments or burthens [burdens]…are a departure from the plan of the Holy…