Tidings of Great Joy
The Christmas season has arrived. My family is busy decorating the house, untangling the Christmas lights, and picking out the tree. Of course, my kids’ wish lists…
EDITORIAL
Walking the Fine Line
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas recently visited China at the invitation of President Xi Jinping. Last year, the Chinese Communist Party leader promised…
Let’s Get Back to Basics!
The Netanyahu government’s judicial reform proposal caused political gridlock in Israel earlier this year…
Who Rules the Roost?
The Israeli government’s proposal to reform its judiciary drew wide-ranging international criticism earlier this year. In an article titled “Israel unveils…
Growing a Global Love for Israel
Last December the Israeli Government Press Office (GPO) invited me to the sixth annual Christian Media Summit…
Social Media’s Antisemitic Underbelly
Twitter and Instagram recently locked rapper Kanye West out of his accounts after he posted, “I’m a bit sleepy tonight but…
PC(USA): At Odds With God’s Word
My responsibilities at The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry (FOI) have changed over the years, but one of the tasks I enjoy most is…
Something is Wrong
Pro-choice activists are fuming over the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that declared abortion is not a constitutional right, overturning its…
Pointing Our Kids to Truth
The COVID-19 pandemic did more than shed light on the science of infectious diseases in the modern era…
Managing Misinformation
The blaze has subsided since Whoopi Goldberg insisted the Holocaust “isn’t about race,” but the embers are still burning…
The Healing Substance of Serving
The evangelical church today is divided. Some parishioners contend the church isn’t “woke” enough—not alert enough…
We Lost a Mensch
If you’ve ever been called a mensch, consider it a great compliment. The Yiddish word is used to describe someone of noble character…
Like William Henry Hechler
Theodor Herzl, the father of modern Zionism, considered William Henry Hechler the first Christian Zionist…
God Doesn’t ‘Cancel’ Us
A missionary and church planter found himself in a difficult position when the members of the so-called cancel culture endeavored to silence him…
The New Middle East
Last December I stumbled across an article that nearly knocked me off my chair. The headline read, “Israel and the UAE working together…
‘Do This in Remembrance of Me’
At sundown on March 27, Jewish families the world over will gather in homes as they have for thousands of years to instill…
Goodbye, Year of the Virus
People the world over are probably relieved to say, “Happy New Year!” There is sheer jubilee in knowing the books on 2020 are…
Abracadabra! Let There Be Peace!
Magicians have the gift of misdirection. They make us focus on the inconsequential; and when we least expect it…
Abuse of Power
The moment I saw Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin pressing his knee on the neck of George Floyd as Floyd lay facedown, cuffed, and breathless, I knew…
What Is Normal?
I think you’ll agree with me that nothing seems normal anymore. COVID-19 has emptied highways, closed schools, turned homes into offices…
Realistic But Rejected
During the 2016 election cycle, presidential candidate Donald Trump often described an Israeli-Palestinian peace as one of history’s toughest deals…
Unifying Israel
Israel Railways recently christened the King David Line, a new fast rail connecting the country’s two metropolitan cities: Tel Aviv and Jerusalem…
Prioritize Your Heavenly Citizenship
It’s presidential-election year in America; and before you know it, you’ll be casting your ballot for the next commander-in-chief…
Meaningless?
A favorite site on any Holy Land tour is Caesarea Maritima. The views alone from this ancient port city are breathtaking. Situated on the Mediterranean Sea…
The Ultra-Orthodox Dilemma
Teens in the Western World usually have the luxury of choosing to attend a college or university, join the workforce, or enter military service after graduating from high school…
Is Israel’s ‘Left’ Dead?
When Benjamin Netanyahu squeaked out his fifth victory in April, making him the longest-serving prime minister in Israel’s history, eclipsing even legendary leader David Ben-Gurion…
Watching the Rapid Decline
You don’t have to be a political science expert to know the American political landscape is deeply divided. It wasn’t that long ago when Democrats and Republicans could rally around an issue…
What Lies Beneath
They say the tip of an iceberg represents only 10 percent of its volume; the other 90 percent sits quietly below the surface. April 2019 marks 130 years since Adolf Hitler’s birth in Braunau am Inn, the largest town in northern Austria…
Big Shoes to Fill
Nikki Haley’s departure as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations elated the political Left and saddened those who love Israel. In less than two years, Haley set a new American standard that leaves her successor with big shoes to fill…
Making Something Out of Nothing
Somehow Israel always seems to find itself in the middle of a controversy. Israel’s parliament recently passed a bill called the Jewish Nation-State Law, and immediately it made headlines around the world…
Israel Has the Right Idea
Universities have become a hotbed of anti-Israel, anti-Semitic activity. Students call Israel a “terrorist state” and encourage others to engage in “intifada” and violence. Professors compare Israel to Nazi Germany and peddle the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement…
Freedom of Speech?
Josh Blackman, a law professor at South Texas College of Law and frequent guest lecturer on college campuses, found himself the object of protest at City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law earlier this year. Professor Blackman was…
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…
The Perpetual No
No, no, no! Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s resounding “No!” came as no surprise when President Donald J. Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel…
“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,”…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Mr. Trump Move That Embassy
Israel is the only country in the world where the U.S. Embassy is not situated in the capital, close to the center of governmental affairs. In fact, virtually all embassies are situated outside Jerusalem as a bold political statement…
The End of an Era
U.S. President James Madison served alongside Presidents George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson and signed the Declaration of Independence. He was known as the “Father of the Constitution,” and his death…
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…
A Light at the End of the Tunnel
Claustrophobia is the fear of being confined in a tight space. It’s an anxiety disorder that can make someone feel like he is alone and suffocating. A woman who suffers from claustrophobia once told me…
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…
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…
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…
From the Heart
An unusual—and unanticipated—thought came to mind recently when I was asked to describe what I miss the most about spending time in Israel, now that I no longer travel there.
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…
Selling Islam in America
When Tulsa, Oklahoma, police captain Paul Fields refused an order to attend a mosque, he was slapped with a two-week suspension and permanent demotion. Captain Fields resisted…
Is America a Christian Nation?
“More than 90% of Americans who express a religious preference identify themselves as Christians.” So said a December 2014 Gallup survey after interviewing 173,490 U.S. citizens.
Jerusalem: City With a Soul
Near the road running from Jerusalem to Bethlehem is a field that has stood empty since the late 1980s. The United States designated it as the site for the U.S. Embassy. Since…
Prelude to Apocalypse
Standing atop a mountain plateau in the stark Judean wilderness, one can look down at the remains of Roman siege camps that eventually trapped some 960 Jewish men…
Warning Bells
The identities of those responsible for distributing anti-Semitic leaflets to Jewish people in Donetsk, Ukraine, in April remain sketchy. Implications of the incident do not. The official-looking…
Give More, Get War
Under threat of international isolation and more boycott and divestment scenarios, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said, “Enough.” His declaration of…
Insult to Injury
Talk and turning up pressure on Israel have obviously replaced rational movement toward peace in the Middle East. The prevailing powers seem to prefer to reward…
Him or Us; You Decide
Can a nation survive long after an extended time of peace and prosperity? Americans should be asking themselves that question. We have reached a crossroads in our fight for life as we…
It Is About Religion
The day held a unique significance for Egyptian President Anwar Sadat as he sat in a reviewing stand accompanied by a host of political, military, and visiting international dignitaries. It was…
Creating History
The craft has been around forever, but now lying has reached new heights. Even the most salacious prevaricators over past centuries did not take it on themselves to alter the history of…
Pretend Nazis
Proof of the collapse of common sense and sensitivity in today’s hedonistic culture has again reared its head, this time in the form of a bizarre writing assignment from an Albany…
Ties That Bind
Have we forgotten, or pushed out of mind, a phrase often quoted and fondly embraced in other days? I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse…
The Romans Are Back
Travelers standing atop the fortress Masada in the Judean wilderness and looking a dizzying 1,000 feet down to the desert floor become instantly…
Going It Alone
A prominent Virginia physician went into a deep coma awhile back as a result of a life-threatening bout with meningitis. In 2012 his book about the experience was…
Selling the Big Lie
Explaining why she left her job, a reporter for a major organization in Washington, DC, said recently, “I feel like I am, as a reporter in the Capitol, lied to every…
Christians and the Right to Vote
Many Christians are loath to participate in the political process. Some write it off, espousing the notion that voting is a fruitless waste of time. Others say it’s all in the Lord’s…
A Declaration of Peace
History has a nasty way of repeating itself. And it’s happened again. Those of us who remember 1938 recall Britain’s then-Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain triumphantly waving a paper while disembarking…
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…
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…
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…
Chasing Arafat’s Dream
During the fiasco over the Palestinian Authority’s all-out push at the UN in September for a unilaterally forged Palestinian state, the implausible morphed into the incomprehensible. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon eloquently illustrated…
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…
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…
Connecting the Dots
Nehemiah had his work cut out for him. God had promised to return the Jewish people to their land after their captivity in Babylon. And true to His Word, God brought Nehemiah…
The Heart of Prayer
Early on New Year’s Day a car bomb exploded outside a church in Alexandria, Egypt, killing 21 worshipers and seriously injuring dozens more. The next day was Sunday, and Christians throughout…
Assessing the Fear Factor
Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, leader of the crusade to build a mosque near Ground Zero in New York City, trashed his “moderation” pose when he disregarded millions of concerned Americans…
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…
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…
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…
Malevolent Momentum
Michael Freund writes in The Jerusalem Post, “Something is stirring in the Middle East.” How right he is. And it isn’t good for Israel or the nation’s supporters. “The winds…
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…
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…
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…
How to Win a War Without Firing a Shot
There’s a sleeper in the two-states-living-side-by-side scenario now tantalizing the Mideast peace process. Israelis have offered a perfectly sensible five-point plan that takes into account their need for future security…
Looking Back to See the Future
The mantra of the moment embraces the idea that we should never look back because all hope and promise are found in looking to the future. Or, to quote Satchel Paige…
The ‘Danger’ of Christian Zionism
Thus read the first line of a December 2008 news release from the National Council of Churches (NCC). So exercised is this liberal federation of mainline denominations, which claims to represent…
A Promise Kept
The passing of old friends often brings a mixture of sadness and relief to those of us left behind. Such was the case in the recent homegoing of a friend of more than half…
Who Holds the Future?
The conversation was between a militant, Russian Communist and a reserved, elderly Christian in the days before the collapse of the Soviet Union. A disciple of Marx and Lenin, the Communist…
Russia Is Back in Business
When Communism crumbled in the 1980s and the USSR was no more, the impoverished leaders of what remained were happy to receive aid and comfort from the West. As a result…
Positive or Negative? You Can’t Have One Without the Other
People who make their livings as editorial writers, news analysts, and commentators on contemporary trends and events are on the horns of a dilemma. On the one hand, society yearns for communicators who, in the
Who Speaks for Evangelical Christians?
It’s been rather amusing over the years to observe those who think they call the shots for evangelical and/or fundamentalist Christians when it comes to making social or political decisions in American life.
Rampaging Toward Change
The 10-year-old had a tight grip on a dollar bill when his father pulled into the parking lot of the general store. The boy anxiously held out his dollar and asked…
Religion and Politics: Who’s in the Game
An interesting contest seems to be heating up as the world paves a road to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The religious left has felt compelled to issue a series…
Mainline or Out of Bounds
Leaders of the National Council of Churches U.S.A. (NCC) are fond of reminding us of its size and influence. In fact, a Web site reviewing the organization’s newest yearbook called the NCC…
Checking Up on the ‘Big Split’
We were recently taken by a headline that appeared in The Jewish Week. It read, “Evangelical Split Over Israel Batters Bush.” The crux of the article rested on the premise that evangelical…
How Fair Is the Fairness Doctrine?
There is a move afoot to resurrect the misnamed Fairness Doctrine and impose it on conservative broadcasters. If it is successful, liberal politicians will debilitate Christian radio and virtually shut…
Emissaries of the Devil
For more than 2,000 years, the great imitation has gone on. And over the same period, millions upon millions have placed their hopes for health, happiness, economic prosperity, and communion…
The Rip Van Winkle Syndrome
Remember the story about Rip Van Winkle, the likable fellow of Dutch descent who slipped away from a nagging wife and bedded down for a nap under a shady…
So Much for the Divine Spark
Most of us have had such sentiments thrown at us when we’ve lamented the current state of affairs and extolled the virtues of the “good old days.” Well, since the genocidal…
The Certainty of Our Security
As the year turns, Americans find themselves moving into a new political reality. The operative word in most quarters is uncertainty. Where will the “new direction” take us? No one…
Questions That Beg for Answers
Here we go again. Just as they exploded with rage over 12 cartoons published in a Danish newspaper in September 2005, Muslims again are demonstrating that they will not extend freedom of the press…
Rediscovering Evil
The TV news anchors were discussing an unspeakably vicious murder that had been committed without provocation. The report was shocking but, unfortunately, the fare we have come to expect on the evening…