Inside View Jan/Feb 2025
I once read that the greatest threat to any organization is leadership succession. This statement rings especially true of Christian organizations…
Jim Showers
Inside View Nov/Dec 2024
Since Hamas’s brutal and unprovoked assault on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, we’ve heard many protesters chant, “From the river to the sea…
Inside View Sep/Oct 2024
God designed and ordained marriage as the natural order of a man and a woman becoming one flesh. The first marriage occurred at the beginning of human history…
Inside View Jul/Aug 2024
From the time the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob settled in the Promised Land following their 40-year wilderness wandering, they have faced enemies…
Inside View May/Jun 2024
Hamas’s brutal attack on Israel last October and the subsequent war exposed the current global rise of antisemitism. Protesters justified Hamas’s massacre…
Inside View Mar/Apr 2024
October 7, 2023, was a wake-up call for many Christians unfamiliar with Israel’s role in God’s plan of redemption. Those who think God has…
Why Blood?
Today we don’t associate blood with cleansing. In fact, bleeding is often the result of an injury or disease. So, it’s natural to wonder why…
Israel’s Reconciliation
Scripture places much emphasis on Israel’s reconciliation with God through faith in His promised Son. Beginning in Genesis 12, we see God working…
The Mystery of Salvation for the Gentiles
When Jesus was on Earth, He told His disciples, “Do not go into the way of…
How to Become Right With God
“How do I become right with God?” is neither a Jewish question nor a Gentile one. It is a human question…
Inside View Jan/Feb 2024
I am writing this column a week after Hamas’s brutal massacre of Israelis along the Gaza border. Though we don’t yet know the war’s outcome…
Inside View Nov/Dec 2023
Are you familiar with the World Economic Forum (WEF)? Whether you know the name or not, you certainly are feeling its effects as we witness the…
Inside View Sep/Oct 2023
Recently, I have had trouble seeing clearly. My doctor attributes my struggles with vision to advancing cataracts, which must be removed…
Inside View Jul/Aug 2023
The Jewish people are returning to Israel! Since the persecution of Jewish people in Eastern Europe in the late 19th century, many Jewish immigrants have…
Inside View May/Jun 2023
On our tours to the Holy Land, I teach each group about modern Israel. Many Christians don’t realize what it took to bring a country into existence…
Caesarea Maritime
When I lead our Up to Jerusalem tours to Israel, I enjoy seeing the excitement of those who have never seen the Holy Land. On our first full day of touring…
Mount Carmel
My college professor once invited a missionary to speak in our class on the history of the Christian faith. She had spent many months providing…
Megiddo
In 2002, the CBS television news show 60 Minutes ran a segment on what it proposed motivated evangelical support for Israel. The broadcast claimed we believe that…
Gideon’s Spring
Scripture teaches time and time again that bad choices lead to bad outcomes. Man’s disregard for God and His Word leads to destruction…
Inside View Mar/Apr 2023
At our farewell dinner for our Up to Jerusalem tour to Israel in October, I was touched by the comments of our Israeli guide. We honored him for skillfully leading…
Inside View Jan/Feb 2023
A few years ago, a friend sent me a page from the December 27, 1937, issue of Life magazine. In it was an article titled “Christmas in Naziland…
Inside View Nov/Dec 2022
Many believers today see no value in studying prophecy, particularly end-times prophecy. They say it serves no purpose and is difficult to understand…
Inside View Sep/Oct 2022
“The Holocaust is not about the murder of 6,000,000 Jewish people, it’s about the murder of one Jewish person times 6,000,000!”…
Inside View Jul/Aug 2022
Have you heard that Jesus was the first Palestinian? Perhaps you’ve heard Jesus was the great-grandfather of the Palestinian people or, more shocking…
Inside View May/Jun 2022
I hate to think what this world would be like without Israel. Have you noticed that ads to help feed children in Africa, common in the 1980s and 1990s, are seldom seen…
Inside View Mar/Apr 2022
People often ask me if the Abraham Accords are related to end-times prophecy. The Accords have been called peace agreements, which begs the question…
Inside View Jan/Feb 2022
In the book of Ruth, we see the practice of gleaning in action. Boaz first sees Ruth when she goes to his field to glean grain for herself and her mother-in-law…
Inside View Nov/Dec 2021
Modern Israel has become the world’s leader in water technology, and its innovation in this important area is one way God is blessing the world…
Inside View Sep/Oct 2021
The Western church relies heavily on English translations of the original manuscripts of Scripture. Until John Wycliffe’s first complete translation in 1382…
Inside View Jul/Aug 2021
I’ve had the privilege of visiting Israel 28 times since my first trip in 2003, most often to lead tours. It has been a rich blessing to see the land of the Bible…
Inside View May/Jun 2021
The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry is devoted to sharing the gospel. Gospel is part of our name; and since our inception in 1938, we have lived…
Inside View Mar/Apr 2021
I often meet friends of Israel who tell me Bible prophecy is seldom taught today. It went from being an extremely popular topic among Christians to a forgotten relic…
Inside View Jan/Feb 2021
Have you ever wondered if you would be willing to risk your life to save someone else? Many Europeans faced that decision during World War II…
Inside View Nov/Dec 2020
When we tour Israel each spring and fall, we always visit Galilee. Why? Because much of Jesus’ ministry occurred there. Following His first miracle…
Inside View Sep/Oct 2020
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)…
Inside View Jul/Aug 2020
Our Hesed volunteers left for Israel this year with great hope and anticipation until the coronavirus pandemic caught up with them. Shortly after arriving in Israel…
Inside View May/Jun 2020
A good friend of mine who is Jewish once told me Jewish history in Christian countries follows a pattern. Initially, Jewish people are welcomed…
Inside View Mar/Apr 2020
Is the church becoming ignorant or arrogant when it comes to Israel? A LifeWay Research survey of evangelical Christians found that 76 percent of those…
Statement on the Trump Administration’s Israel-Arab Peace Plan
Our hats are off to the Trump Administration for launching a bold peace plan initiative for Israel and Palestinian Arabs on January 28, 2020…
Inside View Jan/Feb 2020
The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry is an evangelical organization. We share the gospel with everyone willing to listen. The word evangelical comes from the Greek…
Inside View Nov/Dec 2019
We often refer to the Jewish people as God’s uniquely chosen nation. That’s because Israel is unlike any other nation. God raised it up for His particular purpose…
Inside View Sep/Oct 2019
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?…
Inside View Jul/Aug 2019
I awoke in Jerusalem on April 5 to learn my uncle, Dr. Renald E. Showers, was called home to glory. As I reflected on Rennie’s life and the family stories I heard growing up…
Inside View May/Jun 2019
Each year in May, Israel celebrates its rebirth. Established on May 14, 1948, modern Israel is now 71 years old. The fact that the Jewish nation arose from the ashes and has come back to life…
The Battle for Biblical Truth
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…
Inside View Mar/Apr 2019
It was troubling to watch the video of Rafi’s Jeep going up in flames, the victim of an incendiary balloon launched in Gaza and carried by the wind into Israel. Within seconds, the entire Jeep was aflame…
Inside View Jan/Feb 2019
I was sitting in a room with approximately 5,000 people last summer in Washington, DC, listening to then U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley. She delivered a remarkable speech that reflected on her year and a half at the UN…
Inside View Nov/Dec 2018
As I travel and speak, people often tell me they no longer hear teaching about Israel and Bible prophecy in their churches. Their comments reveal two distinct realities: (1) There once was a time when they did hear such teaching in church, and…
Inside View Sep/Oct 2018
In the book of Deuteronomy, God told the Israelites to teach His Word diligently to their children—when they were in their homes, when they went out, when they were lying down, and when they rose up so that all may be well with them (6:1–7). The psalmist said the Word of God will guide us in truth…
Inside View Jul/Aug 2018
I recently had the privilege of spending several days in Israel with new Jewish arrivals to the land. They varied in age from teens to older adults, but the same theme defined their testimonies. They had an innate desire to return to the land…
Inside View May/Jun 2018
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…
Inside View Mar/Apr 2018
As we all know, President Donald Trump in December officially recognized Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel. Why it took seven decades for the United States to do so can easily…
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.
Inside View Nov/Dec 2017
Earlier this year, as I was looking back at the beginning of The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry, I turned to the first issue of Israel My Glory, published in December 1942—only four years after the ministry began.
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…
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.
Inside View May/Jun 2017
Does God fight for Israel? When Israel triumphs over multiple Arab armies attacking on multiple fronts, it certainly seems that God fights for Israel. Such was the case in 1967 when Israel won a humanly improbable…
Inside View Mar/Apr 2017
A friend of mine asked me, “Is there any way to make sense of the Middle East today?” There is so much turmoil. The entire region seems ablaze in conflict; and Syria, Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Egypt are…
Inside View Jan/Feb 2017
Sitting around a table in Warsaw, Poland, last summer, I listened as our Friends of Israel staff there shared how God worked in their lives to bring them to faith in Christ and eventually into Jewish ministry.
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…
Inside View Sep/Oct 2016
It is common to cross paths with Christians who don’t believe the Jewish people today are God’s Chosen People. They fail to see how Israel fits into God’s plan for this world…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Inside View Sep/Oct 2015
Do you ever feel like you want to do something to help Israel in addition to praying? That was how we felt when we started the Israel Relief Fund many years ago.
Inside View Jul/Aug 2015
Not long ago I attended a first-ever conference titled “People of the Land: A Twenty-First Century Case for Christian Zionism” in Washington, DC. It was an evangelical response to…
Inside View May/Jun 2015
As this issue of Israel My Glory goes to press, I’m excited to report we have just launched our new radio ministry, “The Friends of Israel Today.” Since our previous program host retired…
Inside View Mar/Apr 2015
“To be absent from the body [is] to be present with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:8). I thought of that verse when I received word that our beloved and longtime colleague, Zvi Kalisher, had passed away…
Inside View Jan/Feb 2015
When high school graduates in the United States head off to college or work, Israeli graduates enter the military. Men are required to serve for three years and women for two. Men remain…
Inside View Nov/Dec 2014
After Joseph’s brothers were reunited with him in Egypt, they began worrying he might seek revenge because they had sold him into slavery many years earlier. But Joseph…
Inside View Sep/Oct 2014
This issue of Israel My Glory examines the growing anti-Zionist movement within evangelical Christianity, especially among the Millennial generation—those born between…
Inside View Jul/Aug 2014
What price would I be willing to pay to follow Jesus? The question resonated with me over and over during our recent Up to Jerusalem tour. Each issue of Israel My Glory runs…
Inside View May/Jun 2014
Life is filled with questions. Questions help us focus on a subject and motivate us to seek answers. Many questions are simple; others can be complex. Arguably, the…
Inside View Mar/Apr 2014
Communion at the Garden Tomb is always one of the highlights of our Up to Jerusalem tours to Israel. As I sat in the serene gardens on our tour last fall, preparing to celebrate…
Inside View Jan/Feb 2014
I often encourage people to advocate for Israel and speak up when others berate the Jewish state. Recently, a friend, Pastor Roger Truax, contacted me because of an anti-Israel article published…
Inside View Nov/Dec 2013
Every time I visit Israel, I see the modern miracle of the Jewish people. No other nation has ever been exiled and returned to its homeland to become a nation again. First the Jewish people returned…
Inside View Sep/Oct 2013
Israel’s enemies are at it again. The latest attack comes from the Church of Scotland in its document The inheritance of Abraham? A report on the ‘promised land,’ which refutes Israel’s…
Inside View Jul/Aug 2013
In March our Up to Jerusalem tour visited The Jerusalem Great Synagogue. It was a highlight of our trip to the only city in the world where God has chosen to place His name. Even Jesus…
Inside View May/Jun 2013
I often hear people say, “I think the Rapture is close!” or “I believe we are living in the last days just before the end-times.” Many people have a profound feeling this world can’t…
Inside View Mar/Apr 2013
The super-sized, thousand-mile-wide Hurricane Sandy set its sights directly at us here in southern New Jersey. I witnessed God’s incredible…
Inside View Jan/Feb 2013
Love is a tremendous motivator. I was reflecting on that thought recently as I considered the founding of The Friends of Israel. In 1938 Jewish people lived in tremendous…
The New Anti-Semitism
Since the birth of modern Israel in 1948, a new form of anti-Semitism has emerged. Rather than attacking the Jewish people directly, it claims to oppose only Zionism…
Jesus the ‘Palestinian’
In some Christian circles, the theological justification for gaining freedom from Israeli “occupation” is Christian Palestinianism, a form of liberation theology that emphasizes…
10 Errors of Christian Palestinianism
What’s wrong with Christian Palestinianism? A great deal. Here are 10 of its most obvious errors: 1. It blames Israel for much of the conflict between Israel and the Arabs…
Inside View Nov/Dec 2012
When U.S. presidential candidate Mitt Romney visited Israel in July, he called Jerusalem the undivided capital of Israel and vowed to move the U.S. Embassy there if elected. It was the first…
Inside View Sep/Oct 2012
Are your church leaders in sin? According to Mark Dever, senior pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC, if they want your church’s statement of faith to include…
Inside View Jul/Aug 2012
I rejoiced in the Lord as I flew home recently from Israel after leading our first adult-volunteer Hesed Project trip. In the two weeks our 13 team members worked at Kaplan…
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…
The Facts and Flaws of Covenant Theology Conclusion
What does God say about Israel’s future? If the New Testament teaches ethnic Israel has a future, then Replacement Theology is untrue. While on Earth, Jesus established that He was premillennial…
The Facts and Flaws of Covenant Theology Part Four
Most Replacement theologians use a particular set of verses to argue that God no longer views the Jewish people as His Chosen People and has replaced Israel with the church…
The Facts and Flaws of Covenant Theology Part Three
If Replacement Theology is true, then certainly God has an opinion about it—one He states clearly and teaches visibly in Scripture. Conversely, if it is not plainly taught, then Replacement Theology…
The Facts and Flaws of Covenant Theology Part Two
Covenant Theology is the dominant theological system of most mainline Protestant churches and maintains that God has replaced the Jewish people with the church. On the basis of two or three “covenants”…
The Facts and Flaws of Covenant Theology Part One
Covenant Theology is the dominant theological system of most mainline Protestant churches. It is a system of theology that interprets the Bible’s philosophy of history through the lens of two or three…
Replacement Theology: The Black Sheep of Christendom Conclusion
When the reformers separated from the Roman Catholic Church, they brought with them Replacement Theology. Furthermore, they built their eschatology (doctrine of future things) and ecclesiology (doctrine of the church) on the idea…
Replacement Theology:
The Black Sheep of Christendom Part Three
Until the fourth century, Christianity was illegal in the Roman Empire. Although Replacement Theology had overtaken the church and metastasized into anti-Semitism, the church had no authority to do anything…
Beware the Bowls!
The scene is God’s courtroom in heaven. The bowls are about to be poured out, bringing to full measure God’s wrath on sinful humanity.
Replacement Theology: The Black Sheep of Christendom Part Two
The church is not Israel, and Israel is not the church. However, more and more Christians today fail to see the distinction. They have been so indoctrinated into Replacement Theology…
Replacement Theology: The Black Sheep of Christendom Part One
Replacement Theology crept into the early church and altered many things. In fact, you may unknowingly be living with some of those changes in your church today.