My God and My Neighbor

When people know the Bible, they understand life better. One of the simple yet profound truths of the Scriptures is that “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall” (Prov. 16:18). A thousand years after Simon wrote these words, Jesus said, “Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Matt. 23:12). There are few things that lead to p...

There are two kinds of Bible readers: those who read it for themselves and those who want someone else to do their thinking for them. That’s why there is so much big government religion today. Denominations set up a governing body supposedly to guide and assist the individual churches in that denomination. There are tow major problems with that arrangement. First, there is no biblical authority fo...

How many times has your faith really been put to the test? Your faith is tested every day, but there are times in the life of a Christian when our faith seems to be pressed to the limit. It's not that we're unclear about what we should do. The problem is that it also seems very clear what could happen if we do. That stress causes fear, and that fear clouds our judgment. We must choose between fait...

Nations rise and nations fall. Politicians come and go. The world of politics is unstable and unpredictable. It’s no wonder that elections make us nervous. We work hard to secure our lives and set things in place for our families, and the government with a single decision can change everything we’ve built. We sometimes fear what the future will bring in our nation.  Daniel lived in a foreign land....

Americans disagree with each other on many points, but there is one thing we agree on: things are changing and they’re changing fast. People are moving from one state to another and from one country to another. The world is a smaller place. Everything seems to be challenged: our government, our education, our families, our values and our way of life.  The book of Daniel is about adjusting to chang...

We may not like change, but it’s part of life. And there are times when the world around us changes suddenly, drastically and permanently. Life can be so fast and different that our heads swim and it’s hard to think clearly. Today is one of those times. Everything in this country is changing quickly—our neighbors, our government, our schools, our values, our families and even our religion.  How ca...

An old but still popular view is that Gog and Magog in the Bible refers to Russia, and toward the end of time Russia and its allies will join forces to fight against the nation of Israel. And with all the wars going on, it’s no wonder that people are talking about Gog and Magog. Israel is at war with the Palestinians. Russia is at war with the Ukrainians. The United States is it war with Iran. All...

We can know that God is . Even nature teaches us that. David said, “The heavens declare the glory of God” (Psalm 19:1). But knowing God is different. It’s like the difference between knowing who someone is and knowing him on a personal level.  People all over the world sense that there is more to this life than what they see. And they yearn to know the One who created all this. But can they? And i...

Is Jesus the only way? The world needs a straight answer. When the church began, the Roman world was full of all idolatry, superstition and witchcraft. Beliefs were like a buffet where each person chose the religion he liked. But when the apostles preached, they didn’t present Jesus as just another religion. They preached that He was THE WAY. That message is just as needed today. This is not arrog...

One of the top Internet searches today is this: “Is the Bible the Word of God?” But it’s more than just questions that people are asking. Some  are making some serious charges against it.  The religious landscape of America is markedly different now from what it was 75 or 100 years ago. Then there was a general consensus in this country that the Bible is the Word of God. They disagreed about what...

There have been more books written about Jesus than any other person who ever walked the earth. Yet there is still debate about who He was. Some of the most common questions people ask about God and religion today include “Is Jesus God?” and “Was Jesus God and man?”  It’s ironic that Jesus asked His disciples what people were saying about Him in Matthew chapter 16. They all saw the same miracles H...

It’s one of the top five questions most frequently entered on Internet searches about God and religion. That shouldn’t be surprising. We live in a world that is so fast-paced and information-driven that people have either forgotten or don’t know where they came from, where they are headed, and why they are here. In this episode, we’ll look at the gloomy approach to this question first—the mentalit...

There’s nothing new about this commonly asked question about God and religion. From prophets in the Old Testament to martyrs in the Revelation, saints of God have struggled to understand the answer to the simple question: “Why?” In this episode, we will delve into verses that provide a basis for understanding this puzzling dilemma of mankind—If God is all-powerful and if He is perfect in love, the...

This question ranks at the top of the list of the most commonly asked questions in internet searches. This episode is a simple approach to this issue. Sometimes we defend the existence of God with technical words and drawn-out reasoning. There is a place for these discussions, but the truth is the average person doesn’t understand those words and needs something more direct.  How would you say God...

Jesus said, “You shall know the truth” (John 8:32). That settles the matter. So why is it that many believers think we can never be sure about our faith until we get to heaven? Some call it a “leap of faith”— an expression that is not in the Bible. Others think certain verses in the Bible teach that we can’t know the truth; we can only hope that we do.  This thinking is becoming more common. Our a...

Left, right or straight ahead? How many times have you faced that decision on the road? This episode is about direction in life. Sometimes the course to take is clear because God’s Word tells you what to do. At other times it is not. For Christians, that is where trust in God comes into play.  Proverbs 3:6 tells us how to leverage the providential hand of God. It is about the simple recognition Je...

Christians will quickly tell you they believe God exists. But if you ask them if they trust God, they may hesitate. Trust can be a difficult concept to grasp, not because it’s hard to understand, but because it’s hard to do. God gives us the ability to stand on our own and make decisions for ourselves. Putting our trust in Him and letting Him have control of our hearts and lives can be a challenge...

When you face a really hard trial of life, it’s hard to see how anything good could come out of it. Your mind is so fixated on surviving the pain of the present that you don’t think about it. And if the hardship lasts for months or years, you get into such a habit of thinking negative thoughts that it’s difficult to have positive ones.  We don’t know how these tragic times in our Christian lives w...

People today have a personal interest in the Bible because they want to know if God has a personal interest in them. They want to know if God has a plan for their life, a plan for their future. Does God have a plan just for you? If He does, can we know what it is?  Jeremiah 29:11 is a popular verse today because in it God said He had “thought” or “plans” for His people. The real question is: What...

This episode kicks off a new series on Bible verses that are Googled most. At the top of the list is John 3:16. Millions know it by heart. Countless sermons have been preached on it. This one verse contains many of the most important themes in the Bible: God, Christ, salvation, love, faith, salvation and the hereafter.  Yet the “Golden Text” of the Bible is one of the least understood. Church trad...

The U.S. military bombs Islamic terrorist locations in Nigeria. New York City elects the first Muslim Mayor. A Congressional hearing is held to discuss whether sharia is compatible with the American system of government. These recent developments have called attention once more to the growing presence of Islam in America. This episode is not a primer about what Muslims believe and how they worship...

The wealthiest and wisest man who ever lived said the problem of mankind is that people are not satisfied. His name was Solomon. In the book of Ecclesiastes, he wrote about the emptiness inside us that can drive us to seek satisfaction through selfish pleasures. But he said that just will not work. The more we try to find fulfillment through pleasures, the more empty we will feel. He knew that by...

It’s no surprise that Philippians 4:6-8 is one of the top internet searches related to the Bible. Stress, anxiety and depression are worldwide problems. People are looking for peace with others and peace inside. This is a powerful passage on the subject that deserves special attention. Many Christians are like Martha who was “worried and troubled about many things” (Luke 10:41). People in Bible ti...

For hundreds of years before Jesus came, Greek philosophers debated all kinds of philosophical questions. They rarely agreed on anything. But there was one thing many of them were united on: the highest goal in life, the greatest good, is happiness. But the tragedy was that they couldn’t agree on what happiness is or how to get it. Today 2000 years later, the situation hasn't changed. People want...

Your past can be a friend or an enemy, a teacher or a tormentor. Memories can make you happy or sad. The apostle Paul had, as we would say, “a past.” But not everything in his life before he became a Christian was evil. Much of it was good, even impressive, in his time. He was a successful man in the Jewish community who was on the verge of becoming more successful. He also did something that stil...