Month: August 2019

The Old Testament is Christ concealed. The New Testament is Christ revealed.

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“The Revelation and Testimony of Jesus Christ” Revelation 1:1-2An in-depth study of the book of Revelation is no simple matter. How grateful we should be that God gave us Revelation?! But I can tell you Satan is not. He hates this book, for it reveals his downfall and gives believers a hope that is steadfast and sure.We would do well to look carefully at what the Bible says about “those things that will be hereafter,” for false prophets seek to profit, charlatans concoct predictions, and “ministers” pridefully promote themselves with doomsday warnings.During any study of Revelation, keep these truths in mind:Satan Hates …

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Make a Difference

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Esther 2:19-3:1519 When the virgins were gathered together the second time, then Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate. 20 Esther had not yet made known her kindred or her people, even as Mordecai had commanded her; for Esther did what Mordecai told her as she had done when under his care.21 In those days, while Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate, Bigthan and Teresh, two of the king’s officials from those who guarded the door, became angry and sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus. 22 But the plot became known to Mordecai and he told Queen Esther, …

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Damascus Became a Ruinous Heap

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Isaiah 17:1-3 1The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap. 2The cities of Aroer are forsaken; they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid. 3And the fortress shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the […]

A Most Unwelcome Leader – by Steve Schmutzer

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You have to admit – it’s a fantastic story.Against all odds, a well-known polarizing figure gains the leadership of an entire nation – the world’s number one superpower. But he’s an outsider. He’s not one of the establishment folk, and his path to power was an unconventional one. Not everyone is happy about this – especially the members of the ruling class. This new guy’s a legitimate threat to their self-serving agenda, and his early successes force them to rethink what they most want to believe about themselves. While the new leader gained his position through proper process, plenty of …

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The Trees that are Slow to Grow Bear the Best Fruit – Molière

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How patient should we be? To what extent is godly patience practiced? How many chances should we give to someone who knowingly has bad intentions and wants to harm us? Very often, we act hastily at the first hint of an offense, and we are quick to condemn. Is our patience contained in a shallow vase that needs only a few drops more to overflowing which then pulls the trigger of condemnation? To bring truth even closer to the surface, we need to question the extent to which partiality plays in our rush to rebuke one and not the other. …

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Getting What He Paid For!

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Dr. Mike Murphy It should never shock us to hear the wisest of words spoken at a Bible study.  So many times, even in teaching a study, I have heard the Holy Spirit speak the greatest words of wisdom.  Not through me, but coming from the lips of those in the class. Hearing the Spirit speak through them in the most amazing of ways, as their words taught far more than I could ever bring to the class that day.In a Bible study the other day, the Holy Spirit gave me another one of these moments.  As from a man …

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“Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.”

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How many times during each of our lives have we heard these words? Despite how often you have heard these words, how many of you know where these words come from? We all know these as words of encouragement, words that tell us the benefit of diligence and hard work.Most who know a little about these words, will attribute them to Benjamin Franklin, and his publication of Poor Richard’s Almanac. In the 1735 version of the almanac, most Americans first saw these words in print. Words that Franklin saw as giving an earnest intent, with an uplifting message that reached …

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33–Isaiah Judgment of Philistia

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This heavy prophecy was given to Isaiah in approximately 715 B.C. It described the destruction of Philistia which consisted of five city states located in the Gaza Strip on the Southwest coast of Israel. They were Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath and Ekron. Each functioned as an individual entity with its own king and government. The […]

Operation 10/40

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Originally written March 2012 Having spent three and a half years of my adult life embedded in the Middle East ”sharing our culture” with the Iraqis, Afghanis, Jordanians, and Saudis, I feel like I can speak firsthand about our foreign policy experiment with a high degree of clarity that a lot of our pundits and […]