The Coming Conflagration
“It is apocalyptic.” U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon didn’t exaggerate much when he assessed the wildfires that ravaged…
“It is apocalyptic.” U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon didn’t exaggerate much when he assessed the wildfires that ravaged…
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…
“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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…”
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…
In the final week of Jesus’ earthly ministry, a scribe (lawyer) asked Him a question: “Teacher, which is the great commandment…
Eighty percent of the people around the world today being persecuted for their faith are Christians. Many live under the constant threat of violence…
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…
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)…
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…
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…
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…
The apostle Peter faced corrupt, willfully ignorant teachers who argued that since the world’s creation, God had never intervened…
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…
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 if someone really loves you? Some people may say they love you, but if they don’t show it, you may doubt…
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…
In October 2018, a massive Category 5 hurricane side-swiped the Hawaiian Islands. Named Walaka, it was one of the most intense hurricanes ever recorded in…
Premillennialism is less popular than it used to be. But it’s essential to…
On December 17, 2019, 16 leaders of The United Methodist Church signed the Protocol of Reconciliation & Grace Through Separation…
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!”…
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…
Many people are bewildered about what is happening in the world today. Why is abortion so prevalent? Why is there so much murder and mayhem?..
Memory is a wonderful gift from God. Some people say the human mind can store as many as 600 memories a second…
“We have no pulse.” Those were the words my wife heard as the paramedics transported me to the hospital. The events of that evening were nothing short of miraculous…
The Danish Contemporary Bible 2020, the first Danish translation in more than 20 years, has removed the word Israel…
The final words of someone facing death usually hold great significance…
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…
I witnessed an attempt to reframe theology during our Canadian Friends of Israel Prophecy Conference…
Elijah and Elisha were among Israel’s most important prophets. Some people confuse them, but they were extremely different men…
God performed 28 miracles through Elisha that affected people, prophecy, and politics and are recorded in the book of 2 Kings…
After performing a miracle in Jericho, the prophet Elisha went to Bethel…
Some people spend a lifetime trying to acquire a great name or leave a great legacy. There is a special woman in the Bible…
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…
WAR. The very word conjures up horrific images of mass destruction, fleeing innocents, pain, and suffering. But another dimension of warfare exists…
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…
A church is like a family. All members need love, and sometimes someone needs discipline. This fact was especially…
Many Christians are confused about the apostle Paul’s statement, “And we know that all things work together for good…
Charles Haddon Spurgeon, often called the prince of preachers, had much to say about his prayer life…
Tomorrow is unpredictable. No one knows what it will bring. The ups, downs, twists, and turns of life…
Each December my family and I look forward to the beautiful decorations, wonderful Christmas carols, and the many…
The apostle John wrote, “Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him…
Few subjects pique our interest more than the afterlife. What happens to us when we die? Many people speculate they’ll have a more fulfilling existence beyond…
When you arrive in heaven, Saint Peter will greet you at the pearly gates with your eternal itinerary. You’ll receive your wings and a halo, take a seat on your white fluffy cloud…
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…
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?…
Why doesn’t God always intervene to prevent terrible tragedies? If you’ve ever found yourself asking, “Where were You, Lord?” you’re in good company…
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…
People often use the phrase the apple of my eye to express how precious a loved one is in their sight…
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…
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”…
While establishing the church in Thessalonica, the apostle Paul personally instructed believers concerning future prophecy…
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…
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…
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..
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…
In the short, handwritten note from the apostle Paul to his friend Philemon, we step into a captivating story of grace and divine providence…
Being a Christian has never been easy. We find ourselves at odds with the world. More often than not, our values, ethics, and morals directly conflict with those held by the majority. The reality is that…
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…
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…
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…
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….
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…
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…
Disobedience to God can drastically change a person’s life. King Saul’s disobedience dramatically altered both his life and his kingship. As a consequence for transgressing into the priestly office…
The expectation of great potential can be exciting. It certainly is for athletes and professional sports teams, as each new season dawns. Many a manager has left training camp saying to himself…
Much is written about David in the Bible. At the mention of his name, some people immediately think of the courageous teenager who slew Goliath using a slingshot and a stone. Others remember a tender young shepherd who penned Psalm 23…
Exodus 4:21 records a statement God made to Moses: “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do all those wonders before Pharaoh which I have put in your hand. But I will harden his heart, so that he will…”
One of the apostle Paul’s earliest ministries was in the city of Thessalonica. Because his heart was to “the Jew first” (Rom. 1:16), he preached the gospel first in the…
This Christmas season, as we gather in our churches to worship our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and sing the carols of Christmas, we no doubt will sing “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” one of the most beloved hymns of all time…
Birth announcements are exciting. Parents share the news first with family, then with close friends, and later with the community. In the first century, however, it was unthinkable to send birth announcements to the poor and to those who held lower-class occupations, like shepherds…
I have some Christian friends who do not celebrate Christmas. They object to the many pagan traditions that have crept into the holiday and argue that Jesus was not even born on December 25. I don’t disagree. They are quite correct…
According to Jesus, the unpardonable sin is “blasphemy against the [Holy] Spirit” (Mt. 12:31). However, it is important to study the context of Matthew 12:22–32 to understand what this means…
For more than 50 years, Charles M. Schulz’s animated classic, A Charlie Brown Christmas, has touched millions of television viewers. In it, Charlie complains, “I think there must be something wrong with me, Linus. Christmas is coming, but I’m not happy…
King Herod was a complex man. He was a brilliant builder and politician, yet a ruthless and brutal tyrant. He makes a brief appearance in Scripture as the cold-blooded killer of baby boys in Bethlehem and surrounding areas…
“Who were those people? What just happened?” Mary and Joseph may have asked themselves these questions following their brief encounter with Simeon and Anna at the Temple in Jerusalem. They had gone there to…
The story of the wise men, or magi, is one of the most interesting and captivating accounts recorded in the Bible. Countless Christmas cards, carols, and plays present the story of their journey to see Jesus, the one “born King of the Jews” (Mt. 2:2)…
“The actual evidence concerning the Exodus resembles the evidence for the unicorn,” declared Pennsylvania State University Jewish Studies Professor Baruch Halpern.1 The ancient Israelites created…
Paul’s concluding words in this epistle are extremely important. He revisited prominent themes of prayer, sanctification, the Lord’s faithfulness, spiritual commitment, and preparedness for the Rapture of the church…
Many people want to know about leaders on the world scene—the men and women whose faces they see regularly online and on television. What are these people really like? Are they kind, caring, and patriotic? Or are they cold, calculating, and self-serving?
If you had visited “Dr.” Malachi Love-Robinson in his medical offices in Florida a few years ago, you would have met a nice-looking young man sporting a white lab coat, stethoscope draped around his neck, who would have examined you with…
Horrifying pictures of the Holocaust of World War II continue to shock people even today. After 75 years, film footage still reminds us of Satan’s relentless and barbaric attempts to eradicate world Jewry. Throughout history, demonically inspired, hate-filled fanatics…
Years ago, my boss at the office where I worked asked me about the Antichrist: “Does the Bible teach that the Antichrist will be destroyed? Or does he win in the end?” His question came following the release of The Omen in 1976, a movie that revolves around…
These words refer to prophecies related to Christ’s Second Coming, and they often leave people perplexed. It has been 2,000 years since the apostle John wrote the book of Revelation, and these prophecies have not been fulfilled…
The apostle Paul often addressed the church as a family. He called members brothers and sisters and encouraged them to love one another. To function properly, a church—like a family—must have structure, order, respect for its members…
When God confirmed a covenant with Abraham (Gen. 12:1), He issued a divine proclamation: He vowed to give all the land He was promising Abraham to both Abraham and his descendants forever (13:15). God bequeathed the land through…
Leon Uris’s novel Exodus, about the founding of the State of Israel, captivated the world when it came out in 1958. It became an international sensation, rising quickly to number one on The New York Times best-seller list and staying there for eight months…
From the time God created the world, Satan has wanted to rule it. In ancient days, one of Satan’s strongholds was the Phoenician city-state of Tyre, which dates back to around 2700 BC…
“Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose” (vv. 1–2)…
“At the Rapture,” wrote Bible scholar John F. Walvoord, “Christians will see their loved ones who died and preceded them to heaven. It will also end their earthly problems, and they will be forever with the Lord.”1 For these reasons, the Rapture has been a…
Nowadays, trying to discern between truth and fake news is a full-time job. Such is also the case with the distinction between Israel and the church. I believe God’s Word clearly teaches Israel is not the church, and the church is not Israel…
This statement was fulfilled at the Lord’s transfiguration, when He gave three of His disciples a foretaste of His glory and power in advance of His Second Coming…
1 Thessalonians 5:1–3: In 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18, we saw that Christians (both dead and living) will be raptured to be with Christ when He appears to receive His church. But what about those left behind?…
A minister once told me about a church that was having difficulty finding a pastor. Its doctrine was identical to that of The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry. The church used…
For centuries conservative biblical scholars have believed in the inerrancy of Scripture. Such theologians as Augustine (354–430), Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274), Martin Luther (1483–1546)…
A student recently came to my office and told me he had been to a conference with pastors from mainline churches. When he mentioned he was taking a course on Dispensationalism…