Elwood McQuaid

The Way Back to God

Few believers in Jesus Christ will deny that we have been swept up in a period of chaos and confusion that threatens the survival of our nation…

dove wings

Signed, Sealed, Delivered

Most people want a stamp of affirmation when they complete a transaction. All types of affirmation exist…

Happy Birthday, Israel!

In a small room in faraway British Mandate Palestine, Jewish statesman David Ben-Gurion rose to his feet before an assembly of Jewish dignitaries…

Israel: Trip of a Lifetime

Pick up a tour brochure touting journeys to places far or near and you’ll likely see the claim, “The trip of a lifetime!” A promise…

Coming Home

For millennia, the Jewish people have held a hope in their hearts, a dream embodied in the Israeli national anthem, “Hatikvah.” That dream is “to be a free nation…

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…

A Place Called Home

The suggestion provoked a small eruption. I made it some years ago at a family gathering of my grown children and their families…

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…

Silhouette of man speaking.

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…

Didn’t Know Who You Were

The wonderful Christmas season will soon be here. It’s a time to celebrate the divinely supernatural, when God did something for humanity that is so spectacular it has to be experienced personally to be understood.

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…

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)…

The Stones Cry Out

A growth-inspiring experience of a lifetime is to walk among the artifacts of empires, civilizations, and societies that have lived and died and, in many respects, shaped our world. For those of us living in the United States, a relatively young country…

Lest We Forget

When invited by the Embassy of Israel to Washington, DC, to attend a prerelease screening of Steven Spielberg’s film Schindler’s List in 1993, I filed into a theater crowded with viewers…

The God Factor

In October I read about the stealthy removal by night of the Ten Commandments monument from the grounds of the Oklahoma Capitol in Oklahoma City after the state’s Supreme Court…

Silhouette of man speaking.

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.

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…

Silhouette of man speaking.

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…

Psalm 126: O Jerusalem

On Wednesday, June 7, 1967, the wail of a ram’s horn blown at the base of the Western Wall in Jerusalem shook the world. Surrounded by young paratroopers with tear-stained faces, Rabbi Shlomo Goren raised…

Silhouette of man speaking.

The Inextinguishable Church

The global campaign to eliminate Christianity and the followers of Jesus Christ is as diverse as it is unrelenting. In the Middle East and Africa, ISIS Islamists have reverted to…

Ariel: City of Visionaries

When 40 families stood atop a craggy mountain overlooking the wilderness of Samaria in 1978 and scanned the barren wasteland that would become their home…

Silhouette of man speaking.

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…

Life in a Land of Many Gods

Some 2,000 years ago, the apostle Paul strolled through the marketplace in ancient Athens where a plethora of altars dedicated to manmade gods offered Athenians a smorgasbord of…

Silhouette of man speaking.

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.

Recollections of a Friend

In a life spent traveling and meeting hosts of people from all walks of life, I’ve found that few individuals leave an enduring legacy. Such a legacy was left by a person of small stature but…

Silhouette of man speaking.

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…

Remembering the Martyrs

On Sunday, January 8, 1956, Nate Saint’s watch stopped at 3:12 P.M. Five days later, his body was found downstream on the Curaray River in the jungles of South America. Ed McCully’s…

Silhouette of man speaking.

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…

Meet Me at the Manger

Nestled in the terraced Shepherds’ Fields on the approach to Bethlehem is a cave. I expect it is merely one of many where shepherds and townsfolk of bygone days found…

Israel: Forever a Fact

On the cusp of a national election, the air is filled with promises. But when the election cycle ends and the ballots are tallied, we learn which promises have a shot at being kept…

High-Tech Religion or the Real Thing?

Watching the student riot “celebration” following the University of Connecticut NCAA basketball championship win in April was disturbing, to say the least. Seeing students…

New-Wave Anti-Semitism

“Let’s burn the Jew!” No, the words were not taken from the yellowed pages of a Nazi manual on the mass genocide of innocent people. They were shouted in a…

Remembering Latrun

Days after Israel was declared a state on May 14, 1948, ill-equipped and virtually untrained men and boys who would become the Israel Defense Forces stood in the line…

Givers and Takers

In November 1980, Ronald Wilson Reagan became the oldest man ever elected to the office of president of the United States. He brought to the White House experience garnered…

Common Sense Has Left the Building

When 5-year-olds are expelled from class for pointing, school bus drivers refuse to intercede while teenagers pummel and bully children, and the Pledge of Allegiance and patriotic assemblies…

Who Weeps for the Children?

It was a rather strange occurrence. The church was filled to capacity night after night to listen to Dr. J. Sidlow Baxter, one of the last great pulpit orators to have settled in the United States from…

No Surprises, Please

On October 6, 1973, 40 years ago, Israel was wrapped in prayer shawls, observing the holiest of Jewish religious observances, the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). Radio was silenced…

Life From the Inside Out

As I sat in the pew at church a few Sundays ago, the speaker read a verse from 1 Samuel that struck me as the explanation for why we in America find ourselves in the condition…

The Changing Face of America

Drive through almost any town in America on a Sunday morning and you’ll see church parking lots filled with cars. Yet a cultural revolution is taking…

Will Someone Say, ‘Holy War’?

It was strange indeed to see the black flag of Islamic Jihad flying over the White House in Washington, DC. Yet that was the image on the programs handed out at…

When God Steps In

A rapidly rising tide of aggression is aimed at Israel, and the West seems impotent to stem it. But there is One who is omnipotent, and He has made promises He intends to keep.

Defining Our Obligation Toward Israel

The United States talks a lot about being Israel’s friend. But actions speak louder than words. And America’s actions are saying plenty, with little appearing pro-Israel.

They Cry in Silence Sep/Oct 2012

All Egyptian Christians should flee from Egypt, and they should never look back.” The stark warning came from a commentator in the aftermath of Mohammed Morsi’s election as Egypt’s new…

Radicalized Christians?

When Texas Congressman Al Green (D) chastised Rep. Peter King (R-NY) in June for holding Homeland Security Committee hearings on the radicalization of Muslims in America, he demonstrated how little…

Has the Dream Lost Its Luster?

When Zionism first appeared, it bore the dreams of a persecuted people and had the blessing of much of the Western world. A lot has changed over the years, as you’ll see here.

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.

Ignorant or Indifferent?

Christianity is nothing like other reli- gions. In a dangerous world, people need the whole counsel of God. If you don’t think so, you’ll want to read this article.

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.

Is There a Way Back?

The story of the Gospels is the wonderful news of what Jesus did for us. But the anti-Christ forces in America are power- ful. There is an antidote, and it’s the same one God prescribed for ancient Israel.

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.

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…

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.

Map of the Middle East.

The Magic of Mahmoud

Like a diminutive political time bomb, Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stalked the halls of the United Nations in September. He took his vitriol to the podium of the General Assembly…

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…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East Nov/Dec 2010

Here in the United States, citizens are befuddled about the meaning of the word illegal. A dictionary informs us it means “not according to or authorized by law.” Which says to most…

Hope We Can Believe In

Are you worried about the future? Politicians tell us “change” is what we need. But God knows what we need, and He delivered it around 2,000 years ago.

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…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East Sep/Oct 2010

Remember the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at President George W. Bush during a press conference in 2008 and spent nine months in a Baghdad prison for his trouble? Well…

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…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East Jul/Aug 2010

A recent Arutz-7 headline read, “Ex-US Envoy Indyk: Bibi’s Refusal to Obama ‘Threatens Alliance.’” Martin Indyk apparently has left Israelis wondering just how much is actually at stake in Israel’s decision…

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…

An Interview with Daniel Pipes

I think it is. There are three components to it. The first is demographic. Indigenous Europeans are not having enough children by about one-third. You need 2.1 children per woman…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East May/Jun 2010

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward (Ps. 127:3). This message from God’s Word is worlds away from the message of a Palestinian…

The Tribulation’s Silver Lining

Humanity is about to hit the skids. But God has a reason for everything. Here is a peek at His purpose and the glorious silver lining.

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…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East Mar/Apr 2010

An Islamist terrorist’s attempt to blow up a Northwest Airlines plane over Detroit, Michigan, on Christmas Day set bells ringing across America and the Western world, and near panic ensued as officials…

Christians Against Israel

Palestinian Christians have come out with a document against Israel. But it reads surprisingly like it was written by militant Islamists.

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…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East Jan/Feb 2010

When Ya’akov Teitel was arrested for multiple criminal acts in Israel last fall, the Ortiz family in the town of Ariel in Samaria breathed a sigh of relief. For nearly…

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…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on Middle East Nov/Dec 2009

The Financial Times headline read, “US Attacks Israel Over West Bank Settlements.” Startling on the surface, the article merely confirmed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ruffled some feathers when he announced…

The Ghettoization of Israel

Inferior status, limited opportunity, and heavy restrictions. These are characteristics of ghettos. And they seem eerily like what the world is trying to impose on the free and democratic nation of Israel.

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…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East Sep/Oct 2009

In what, under the circumstances, some would think incredible, 100 people deplaned in June in Tel Aviv as new immigrants to Israel. They were the vanguard for thousands more scheduled to make…

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…

Map of the Middle East.

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…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East May/Jun 2009

As the preacher phrased it in Ecclesiastes, “Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days” (11:1). Well, there may be a twist on the truth…

Imperishable Remnants

There was never a time when all of Israel rebelled against God. A remnant has always been faithful. Today twin remnants form a marvelous union of grace.

They Cry in Silence May/Jun 2009

Those were the words Jesus spoke to His disciples in what we know as the Sermon on the Mount—words that traveled across the centuries to lodge in the heart of a 10-year-old…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East Mar/Apr 2009

As 2008 slipped off the stage into history, former American President James Earl “Jimmy” Carter was off on a mission to aid Arab countries and terrorist organizations by monitoring elections…

Tuning in on the Last Days

Many people today want to know if we’re living in the last days. There’s an easy way to tell. You just need to know what you’re looking for.

They Cry in Silence Mar/Apr 2009

What could you expect if you were among the 2,000 to 3,000 Christians living in the Gaza Strip now controlled by the Hamas terrorist organization? Nothing good. As we have reported…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East Jan/Feb 2009

We often hear the famous words of the late U.S. President Ronald Reagan, trust and verify. They are repeated often in the heat of negotiations with world leaders who are less than scrupulous…

Security on the Island of Grace

When the qualities that made America great disappear, America may disappear as well. And one quality in particular overrides the rest. A secure America depends on it.

They Cry in Silence Jan/Feb 2009

Read these statistics and then try to tell yourself that all is well in the world of Christianity. According to the All India Christian Council (AICC), as reported by Compass…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East Nov/Dec 2008

Reading the dictionary can be an exhilarating experience. Not that an overwhelming number of young people might find it so. Nevertheless, it is an exercise in personal enlightenment that is well worth the time.

Merry Christmas 2008

Gone are the days of Studebakers, five- and-dimes, and the much-anticipated gifts of sweet, juicy oranges stuffed into Christmas stockings. But two important facets of the holiday will remain forever.

They Cry in Silence Nov/Dec 2008

According to Compass Direct News, Muslims are murdering Christians because the leader of the radical Islamist group Tibliq died in May from injuries sustained in a 2006 auto accident. Ali Olukade’s followers now…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Future

Two preachers were handing out tracts in England recently when a police officer threatened to throw them in jail for committing a hate crime. “They were warned that if they came back and were beaten

Martyrs or Murderers? There is a Difference

Religion, religion, religion. We don’t like to speak of it in the West, but it perme- ates every facet of everyday life for Muslims. And it determines many things, as you’ll see when you read this article.