Valley of Elah
One of the most famous upsets of all time took place in the Valley of Elah: The Israelite shepherd boy David slew the Philistine warrior giant, Goliath…
Lorna Simcox
From the Editor Mar/Apr 2023
Publishing is an interesting industry. We must do everything very far in advance to meet our deadlines. I’m writing this column on December 2, 2022, but you’re reading…
From the Editor Jan/Feb 2023
As a child, I asked my dad, “Why didn’t Jewish people fight the Nazis?” He replied, “They couldn’t fight. You don’t understand.” Today, I understand better…
From the Editor Nov/Dec 2022
Christmas is around the corner. ’Tis the season for almost every made-for-television movie to overload us with house-decorating, tree-lighting, cookie-baking, and…
From the Editor Sep/Oct 2022
My husband, Tom, had a wonderful opportunity recently to visit Israel on a tour led by the Zionist Organization of America. He was among a handful of Christians…
From the Editor Jul/Aug 2022
When I was a student at Word of Life Bible Institute, a professor from Dallas Theological Seminary told me one of the main reasons people leave the mission field is because…
From the Editor May/Jun 2022
Last summer my husband, Tom, and I went to Las Vegas, Nevada, for the funeral of a dear friend. To say Las Vegas is hot in July is an understatement…
From the Editor Mar/Apr 2022
If you’ve been a Christian for many years, you have probably taken communion hundreds of times. In fact, you probably know Jesus’ words…
From the Editor Jan/Feb 2022
A few years ago, I watched a film about a man who never learned to read in school. His mother dies when he is young; and his father moves Stanley around…
From the Editor Nov/Dec 2021
When I was eight years old, I had a friend named Mary. She moved to Vermont from California, lived two houses away, and attended Catholic school. Every year I’d…
From the Editor Sep/Oct 2021
Growing up, Passover was my favorite holiday. It arrived just when New England’s harsh, snow-packed winter was finally giving way to spring…
From the Editor Jul/Aug 2021
Who among us, at one time or another, has not questioned God? Why, Lord, did You let my baby die? Why didn’t You heal my child? Why do You allow Christians to…
From the Editor May/Jun 2021
Shortly after I became a Christian in 1980, I was invited to a luncheon sponsored by the local branch of a nondenominational, evangelical Christian organization…
From the Editor Mar/Apr 2021
When I became a Christian, I didn’t know much about Christianity. I didn’t know the New Testament or doctrine or what God expected of me as a believer…
From the Editor Jan/Feb 2021
Many years ago, my husband’s friend Ken Campbell lost his 18-year-old daughter in a car accident. Ken pastored a church here in South Jersey, and Gwendolyn was a student at Word of Life…
From the Editor Nov/Dec 2020
It’s confession time. I possess a peculiar ability that annoys everyone, even my husband. I listen to the same music over and over…
From the Editor Sep/Oct 2020
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…
From the Editor Jul/Aug 2020
I don’t know what the situation will be by the time you receive this issue of Israel My Glory. Today we’re “sheltering in place,” unable to go practically anywhere…
From the Editor May/Jun 2020
As I write this column, I’m looking at two miniature Israeli flags on the windowsill of my office. When the degenerate empire of Nazi Germany surrendered May 8, 1945…
From the Editor Mar/Apr 2020
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…
From the Editor Jan/Feb 2020
Two things I feel like I’ve known about since the day I was born are the Holocaust and the State of Israel. Some people feel these entities are unrelated…
From the Editor Nov/Dec 2019
Those of you who’ve read my book, The Search, know how much I loved and respected my late mother-in-law. Miss Thelma, as we called her…
From the Editor Sep/Oct 2019
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…
From the Editor Jul/Aug 2019
Every now and then, the Lord brings someone into your life who changes everything for you. I met Rennie and Ellie Showers 33 years ago when I was a student at Word of Life Bible Institute…
From the Editor May/Jun 2019
“When that plane touches down at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv,” someone told me recently, “I know I’m in a country that’s a miracle…
From the Editor Mar/Apr 2019
What would you do if someone asked you, “What’s the big deal about the resurrection?” That was the question a talk-show host asked a guest many years ago. The guest, a professing Christian…
From the Editor Jan/Feb 2019
Both of my children came to know the Lord at age four. I’ve heard some preachers say children can’t get saved that young, but I beg to differ. It depends on the child and, of course, on God…
From the Editor Nov/Dec 2018
When my younger daughter was about 12, she took figure skating lessons. She got pretty good, too. Since we were always at the rink about two hours, I’d bring work with me. One day a girl who sometimes skated with my daughter sat down beside me…
From the Editor Sep/Oct 2018
Why are so many people willing to believe a lie? They would rather believe they evolved from monkeys than that they were created by almighty God, who loves them. They would rather believe there’s no such thing as absolute truth and that the Bible is nothing more than fables and myths….
From the Editor Jul/Aug 2018
Some things seem almost too absurd to be true. But life is filled with absurdities when it comes to Israel. Do you see the ladder in the photo below? It has leaned against the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem for at least 150 years…
From the Editor May/Jun 2018
As I sat in church a few weeks ago, a friend I hadn’t seen in a long time turned around to tell me how cute my grandchildren are. My first thought was, How would you know what my grandchildren look like? They live 600 miles away. And then it dawned on me: Facebook!
From the Editor Mar/Apr 2018
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…
From the Editor Jan/Feb 2018
When I was a brand new believer many years ago, a wonderful woman in my church invited me to her home for lunch. I knew nothing about Christian doctrine. All I knew was that I was a sinner, Jesus had died for me…
From the Editor Nov/Dec 2017
Every December, my husband and I try to go to Disney World for a few days to attend the Candlelight Processional at the America Gardens Theater in Epcot. Tom likes Disney World because he says it’s the only place where he…
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…
From the Editor Sep/Oct 2017
There has always been a generation gap. Growing up, I never felt my parents understood me, my taste in music (Dad said if it wasn’t classical, it wasn’t “real” music), or my desire to…
From the Editor Jul/Aug 2017
Every Wednesday, we have chapel at The Friends of Israel headquarters. It’s a wonderful time when we pray together, hear a brief message, and sometimes connect via Skype with one of our workers overseas who…
From the Editor May/Jun 2017
June 1967 was a good time to be Jewish. At least it seemed that way to me. I was a teenager during the Six-Day War, and I was so proud of the Israeli soldiers. Not only were they fighting for their country, but they were fighting…
From the Editor Mar/Apr 2017
My husband is a huge Bing Crosby fan. I think he has every song Bing ever sang, including multiple versions of “White Christmas.” He’s also seen a few Road to films, strictly because they star Bing. One is called…
From the Editor Jan/Feb 2017
This year marks the 75th anniversary of Israel My Glory, and we plan to run vintage articles by Victor Buksbazen, the first editor of the magazine and first executive director of The Friends of Israel.
A Little Math Helps a Lot
It is often interesting to know the age of individuals at significant points in their lives. The Bible is not written in chronological order, and ferreting out that information often requires doing a little math. But the results can be fascinating.
From the Editor Nov/Dec 2016
I started working for Elwood McQuaid in 1999. He was executive director of The Friends of Israel and always led our Up to Jerusalem tours. My mother-in-law, Vera Bowker, then FOI’s publications manager…
From the Editor Sep/Oct 2016
Have you ever heard of the Yazoo land scandal of 1795? Apparently, it is considered “the most corrupt deal in American history,” according to historynewsnetwork.org…
From the Editor Jul/Aug 2016
I grew up in a Catholic town. Most of my friends attended either one of the many Roman Catholic churches in the area or the First Congregational Church downtown. Had you asked me…
From the Editor May/Jun 2016
One thing I loved about being a newspaper reporter was going where the action was. Although I never went anywhere particularly exciting, it didn’t matter. I was involved with…
From the Editor Mar/Apr 2016
Have you ever watched a TV show that asks simple questions to the so-called man on the street? Usually, it’s hilarious. Some of the answers are so ridiculous you can hardly believe people are…
From the Editor Jan/Feb 2016
Often, as time goes by, things need a little updating. We’ve updated the look of Israel My Glory several times during its 74 years, and we thought you might appreciate…
From the Editor Nov/Dec 2015
Christmastime is my favorite time of year. Perhaps it’s because I never celebrated Christmas when I was growing up. I was probably 10 before I even learned Jesus was Jewish.
From the Editor Sep/Oct 2015
A few months ago, the husband of one of my dearest friends died of a heart attack while eating lunch. One minute he was alive; the next, he wasn’t. My friend told me the ambulance arrived…
From the Editor Jul/Aug 2015
As we all know, the Jewish people are no strangers to tragedy. They probably have endured more of it than any nationality on Earth. They even have what some call a Jewish…
From the Editor May/Jun 2015
Many years ago I had a wonderful friend who truly loved Jewish people. She was a devout Christian who had come to Christ later in life from a Greek Orthodox background and…
From the Editor Mar/Apr 2015
When I was reading the book of Obadiah awhile back, I felt it offered so many good principles for everyday living that I thought you might enjoy an entire issue on it. Many months later, as I was preparing…
From the Editor Jan/Feb 2015
Although I don’t do it much anymore, I love traveling. I remember the first time I saw Paris. All I wanted to do was sightsee. I had studied French for what seemed like forever, thanks to…
From the Editor Nov/Dec 2014
I don’t often read fiction (unless it masquerades as news about Israel). But when Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code came out in 2003, I decided to pick up a copy and see what all…
From the Editor Sep/Oct 2014
Going to church with my family is among my favorite things to do. So when I visited one of my daughters a while ago, I was thrilled to go to church with her and her family.
Dr. Ateek’s Rose-Colored Glasses
Naim Ateek is not a large man. He is slender, around 5 feet 7 inches tall, with white hair and a self-effacing, gentle look about him. He is not loud or aggressive, and he would…
From the Editor Jul/Aug 2014
I am not a Facebook fan. One of my daughters has tried to get me on it, luring me with pictures of my grandchildren. And in a moment of weakness several years ago, I allowed…
The Thought Machine: It May Soon Be Reading Your Mind
Anyone who likes science fiction movies probably remembers Marty McFly’s attempts to get “back to the future.” Marty ends up in a time machine built from…
They Cry in Silence Nov/Dec 2013
U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) probably should have read Proverbs 17:28 before telling the world via Fox News in September that Muslims who shout “Allahu Akbar!” are no different from Christians…
Inside the IDF: The Most Humane Army in the World
The world wants you to believe that Israel’s soldiers are like Hitler’s Nazis. But the truth is exactly the opposite. You’ll be amazed at what this army does to protect its enemies.
Hanukkah: A Story of Courage
It’s rarely easy being Jewish. From the time the Babylonians destroyed Solomon’s Temple in 586 B.C., the Jewish people have been under Gentile domination. Even today every country on Earth thinks it has…
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…
Islam Rewrites the Bible
Millions of people today fail to grasp the differences between Jewish and Muslim claims to Jerusalem and the Temple Mount. But the differences are enormous. Jewish claims are based on Scripture…
Oh How He Loves You and Me
In studying God’s Tribulation judgments, it’s often easy to forget how much God loves us. Many wonder how a caring God could allow such affliction on Earth. Many years ago…
A Stranger in the Night
What better time of year than Christmas to relate a true story I heard on the radio in 1995. If you do not believe in angels, I strongly suggest you reconsider…
How Jesus Can Change a Life
When I got the idea for this article, my dear friend Josephine Marcone was lying in a hospital bed suffering from pneumonia. Since she’s 82 (you’d never know it), I…
Rabbi Bernstein Still Battling Freehold
If you want to hold a growth group, Bible study, prayer meeting, or weekly religious gathering of any type in your home in Freehold, New Jersey, you likely will find yourself before the zoning…
Bernsteins Today, Baptists Tomorrow
When ultra-Orthodox Rabbi Avraham Bernstein of Freehold Township, New Jersey, decided to hold a Friday evening Shabbat service in his home almost ten years ago, he had no idea he would become…
Dealing With the Devil
Most Americans don’t think in terms of demon possession. We think in terms of disease. If we see a young man beating his head into the ground or throwing himself into a fire…
The ‘Main Thing’ is Israel
My youngest daughter has just completed her sophomore year at a secular university. It took her almost the entire two years to find a church where she could worship that did not consider…
Chai, Chai, V’Kayam Conclusion
Growing up I always loved to dance the hora, a Hebrew folk dance that was stomped to merrily while singing “Hava Nagilah.” We also danced to another Hebrew song. The words go like this: Dovid…
Chai, Chai, V’Kayam Part One
Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird. It’s a plane. It’s a superhero who was killed and came back to life then was killed again and came back to life then killed someone else…
The Perfect Triad
If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard that the Israelites made it through the Red Sea because it was low tide or because they “knew where the stones were,” I’d be rich…
The Two-for One Deliverance Conclusion
While I was taking a boat tour of a recreational lake in Western New York years ago, my guide pointed to a magnificent home gracing the water’s shores. It dwarfed the smaller, more modest…
The Two-for-One Deliverance Part One
More than 20 years ago I had a friend whom I’ll call Jill. I telephoned her one afternoon, and her husband answered. “She can’t come to the phone,” he said. “She’s up…
Mary Magdalene: Setting the Record Straight
Seventeenth-century philosopher Joseph Hall once said, “A reputation once broken may possibly be repaired, but the world will always keep their eyes on the spot where the crack was.” How true. Worse yet…
What I’d Tell My Dad
I’ve never known a time when there was not an Israel. As a child I’d look up at the big map on my Hebrew School wall and knew it was the country that belonged to…
Just Like Jezebel Conclusion
What does it take to convince someone that he believes a lie? Cold, hard facts? A visible, bona fide, supernatural occurrence? Sometimes even these don’t work. They didn’t work with Jezebel even after the greatest
Just Like Jezebel Part One
Mike Wallace of 60 Minutes fame has never been my favorite television reporter. He always seems a little too arrogant—too sure of himself. But after the Pentagon and World Trade Center tragedies of 9/11…
Hannah and the God Who Hears Conclusion
I had been a Christian only two years when a dear friend gave me a book titled Hinds’ Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard. “It’s wonderful,” she said. “You’ll love it.”
Hannah and the God Who Hears Part One
Our greatest tragedies in life sometimes produce our greatest triumphs. And when our answer more clearly than ever and to use our sorrows to draw us infinitely closer to Him. I know from firsthand experience. After…
The Children Who Remain
My friend brenda Giles is no stranger to suicide bombings. An evangelical christian who spends about as much time on her knees as she does on her feet, brenda lives in the Jewish neighborhood…
The End of the Line Conclusion
Nothing thwarts the God of Israel. He alone is sovereign. He alone declares the end from the beginning “and from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, ‘my counsel shall stand…
The End of the Line Part One
World War II was a little before my time—a very little. But I don’t recall a day in my life that I didn’t know about it. Growing up Jewish, and being a first-generation American…
Are You A Naomi? Conclusion
Vacation Bible School was just around the corner. And a welcome corner it was, too. The weather always seemed perfect in North Carolina, and I looked forward to…
Are You a Naomi? Part One
I’m not much of a shopper. My favorite place in the mall is probably the ice cream parlor, where I’ve spent many a pleasant moment contemplating the virtues of hot fudge versus butterscotch…
A Step in the Wrong Direction
A pastor in the Midwest tells about his early years trying to shepherd a church that his entire family attended—sisters, brothers, and father. Apparently it wasn’t easy. During a business meeting when he was trying desperately…
Miracle Mother Conclusion
Logically speaking, the State of Israel should not exist. Five fully armed Arab nations tried to snuff it out at birth in 1948. Nevertheless, with few weapons; no air force; no navy; and an “army”…
Miracle Mother Part Two
Satan is the master of deceit. He can disguise his deceptions so brilliantly they often appear the epitome of logic and right thinking. But faith often contradicts logic. God’s ways are not our ways…
Miracle Mother Part One
Biblically speaking, Gentiles probably have more right to question God’s miracles than do Jewish people. After all, it wasn’t the Gentiles for whom God plagued Egypt or parted the Red Sea. It wasn’t the Gentiles…
A Widow’s Christmas
The worst Christmas I ever had was the year my first husband died. It wasn’t the loneliness that did me in; it was the self-pity. As a young widow, I was faced with raising my four-year-old…
The Seeker Conclusion
It isn’t a good time to be Jewish these days. In Israel, Jews are being murdered almost daily by Arabs determined to remove them from the tiny sliver of land they still have left in the Middle East…
The Seeker Part One
King Solomon spoke three thousand proverbs and fifteen hundred songs (1 Ki. 4:32). The epitome of the philosopher-king, he was unequaled in wealth and wisdom, and his fame spread throughout the world. He ruled during…
His Mercy Endureth Forever Conclusion
To all those who truly repent, God omable wisdom, He distinguishes the weak from the strong, the humble from the proud, and tries the hearts of all men. Somewhere along the way, the Most High…
His Mercy Endureth Forever Part One
A well-known entertainer in Hollywood gave his life to the Lord many years ago. But money, fame, and corruption began to do their work…
Looking for Christmas
A dispute raged a few years ago over whether to allow a manger scene in front of a local municipal building. A lady in town reportedly opined, “Isn’t it a shame that we…
The Eyes of Faith Conclusion
My friend’s father had a heart attack in February. Renée told me her dad was in the maternity ward of a hospital, visiting his newborn grandson, when he suddenly slumped over in a chair. Seconds…
The Eyes of Faith Part One
I’m from Missouri,” was a popular saying years ago. Often those who said it weren’t from Missouri at all but were expressing skepticism about something. They were saying, “Show me, and I’ll believe.” “Show me…
Happy Mother’s Day
Donald Grey Barnhouse, a great man of God who ministered for many years at Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia until his death in 1960, once told the true story of a boy whose mother died…
Deborah A Mother in Israel
Some people are unlikely leaders. On the surface, they appear to lack the distinctives we usually associate with greatness. David, for example, was a shepherd boy, a dreamer, who wrote songs and played a harp—qualities…