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Though an army deploy against me, my heart is not afraid; though war break out against me, still I am confident. I have asked one thing from the LORD; it is what I desire: to dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, gazing on the beauty of the LORD and seeking Him in His temple. For He will conceal me in His shelter in the day of adversity; He will hide me under the cover of His tent; He will set me high on a rock. Then my head will be high above my enemies around me; I will offer sacrifices in His tent with shouts of joy. I will sing and make music to the LORD.…  ( Click for more )

But we encourage you, brothers, to do so even more, to seek to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you, so that you may walk properly in the presence of outsiders and not be dependent on anyone. - 1 Thessalonians 4:10b-12 HCSB

Living with godly simplicity does not equal inactivity. It is not an encouragement for mental or physical laziness. Simplicity, when it is handled properly, removes the noise and clutter that threaten to steal our sense of peace and intimacy with Christ.

We should never tire of doing even…  ( Click for more )

But we encourage you, brothers, to do so even more, to seek to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you, so that you may walk properly in the presence of outsiders and not be dependent on anyone. - 1 Thessalonians 4:10b-12 HCSB

Francois de Fénelon[1] made a habit of encouraging his friends to live a quiet life. To one he wrote: "Your mind is too much taken up with your circumstances, and this hinders you from understanding the mind of God . . . I think it is such a hindrance to the kind of quiet meditation…  ( Click for more )

But our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will transform the body of our humble condition into the likeness of His glorious body, by the power that enables Him to subject everything to Himself. - Philippians 3:20-21 HCSB

Jesus’ glorified body was able to change appearance. Even before His resurrections, at the Mount of Transfiguration, we get a glimpse of the possibilities.[1] His appearance was dazzlingly brilliant and terrifying.

Immediately after his resurrection, He was able to look like one of us…  ( Click for more )

"You are to make an altar for the burning of incense; make it of acacia wood…There is to be an incense offering before the LORD throughout your generations.” - Exodus 30:1,8 HCSB

Hashem ordered His people to make incense a regular part of their worship experience on numerous occasions[1] going so far as to actually give the specific ingredients to a formula that was to be strictly dedicated to tabernacle use.[2] He even gave the exact dimensions and materials that were to go in an altar of incense.[3] Not only was incense part and parcel with both the tabernacle…  ( Click for more )

The proposal pleased the whole company. So they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte from Antioch. They had them stand before the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them. - Acts 6:5-6 HCSB

It’s amazing to see how many false assumptions Christians have about the process of ordination, seeing as it’s one of the most basic, elementary teachings of the Bible.[1] Ordination is a symbolic recognition of an individual’s giftedness. It does not convey giftedness…  ( Click for more )

Indeed, the LORD's hand is not too short to save, and His ear is not too deaf to hear. But your iniquities have built barriers between you and your God, and your sins have made Him hide His face from you so that He does not listen. - Isaiah 59:1-2 HCSB

An old righteous man was convinced by friends to visit their church. The day of worship dawned, bright brisk and beautiful, as they all joyfully looked forward to fellowshipping with other believers and praising God’s holy name.

However, as the tzaddik approached the church, he suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. “I…  ( Click for more )

They will not build and others live in them; they will not plant and others eat. For My people's lives will be like the lifetime of a tree. My chosen ones will fully enjoy the work of their hands. They will not labor without success or bear children destined for disaster, for they will be a people blessed by the LORD along with their descendants. - Isaiah 65:22-23 HCSB

I was recently asked if the Ransomed would bear children during the Millennium. I believe that today’s passage adequately answers that question. For many Christians, this is a novel concept but we must remember…  ( Click for more )

When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put aside childish things. - 1 Corinthians 13:11 HCSB

Unfortunately, American “Christianity” is often characterized by childish immaturity and shallowness. As with all spiritual conundrums, the problem lies in our approach to “d’vekut,” which is our relationship with God.

We often hear people express their desire to be “carried in the arms of God” or to “sit in His lap.” While I understand the idea of…  ( Click for more )

Were they ashamed when they acted so abhorrently? They weren't at all ashamed. They can no longer feel humiliation. Therefore, they will fall among the fallen. When I punish them, they will collapse, says the LORD. This is what the LORD says: Stand by the roadways and look. Ask about the ancient paths: Which is the way to what is good? Then take it and find rest for yourselves. But they protested: We won't! I appointed watchmen over you and said: Listen for the sound of the ram's horn. But they protested: We won't listen! Therefore listen, you nations and you witnesses, learn what the…  ( Click for more )

Go and assemble all the Jews who can be found in Susa and fast for me. Don't eat or drink for three days, night and day. I and my female servants will also fast in the same way. After that, I will go to the king even if it is against the law. If I perish, I perish." - Esther 4:16 HCSB

Hadassah was a young Benjamite girl whose name in Hebrew meant “Myrtle”. When the people of Judah under King Jeconiah’s leadership lost a war, King Nebuchadnezzar dragged her family (along with thousands of others) to Persia.[1]

Along the way or shortly thereafter,…  ( Click for more )

Then He commanded the crowds to sit down on the grass. He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed them. He broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. Everyone ate and was filled. Then they picked up 12 baskets full of leftover pieces! Now those who ate were about 5,000 men, besides women and children. Immediately He made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side, while He dismissed the crowds. After dismissing the crowds, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. When…  ( Click for more )

But Ahab son of Omri did what was evil in the LORD's sight more than all who were before him. Then, as if following the sin of Jeroboam son of Nebat were a trivial matter, he married Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and then proceeded to serve Baal and worship him. He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he had built in Samaria. - 1 Kings 16:30-32 HCSB

There are three main reasons that many people have come to associate Jezebel with lewd sensuality. Jehu associated her with prostitution as well as witchcraft,[1] the Bible describes Jezebel…  ( Click for more )

Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, "When you help the Hebrew women give birth, observe them as they deliver. If the child is a son, kill him, but if it's a daughter, she may live." The Hebrew midwives, however, feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt had told them; they let the boys live. So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, "Why have you done this and let the boys live?" The midwives said to Pharaoh, "The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they…  ( Click for more )

Woe to them! For they have traveled in the way of Cain, have abandoned themselves to the error of Balaam for profit, and have perished in Korah's rebellion. These are the ones who are like dangerous reefs at your love feasts. They feast with you, nurturing only themselves without fear. They are waterless clouds carried along by winds; trees in late autumn--fruitless, twice dead, pulled out by the roots; - Jude 1:11-12 HCSB

I heard a story about an elderly Indian who had been invited to a church service in a big city. The service was impressive and creatively organized. There…  ( Click for more )

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness, who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Woe to those who are wise in their own opinion and clever in their own sight. - Isaiah 5:20-21 HCSB

One of the most telling aspects of Mr. Pullman’s books, in regards to his personal philosophy, is that not only do the children accidentally kill God, Lord Asriel and Ms. Coulter are depicted as heroes who kill a Jesus-like character. In the end of the series, in spite of her earlier dalliances with the wicked, kidnapping…  ( Click for more )

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness, who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Woe to those who are wise in their own opinion and clever in their own sight. - Isaiah 5:20-21 HCSB

According to Mr. Pullman’s point of view, one of the clear indications of the Church’s evil lies in the fact that the Church doesn’t want you to grow up or know sexual pleasure. The scientists that are directed by the “Board of Oblations” work to separate the kidnapped children from their daemons…  ( Click for more )

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness, who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Woe to those who are wise in their own opinion and clever in their own sight. - Isaiah 5:20-21 HCSB

In article 2, I mentioned the tool given to Lyra by the house Master in The Golden Compass called the alethiometer, or as it should be understood “the truth measurer.” By this device, Pullman teaches children that occult tools are useful. The alethiometer enables Lyra to predict the future and learn information…  ( Click for more )

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness, who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Woe to those who are wise in their own opinion and clever in their own sight. - Isaiah 5:20-21 HCSB

In the movie, The Golden Compass, Lucifer is good. Judaic tradition teaches that there is an archangel under Yawheh whose name is Azrael. This archangel became particularly associated with death. Though his intentions were good, he ended up on God’s wrong side, and he and other angels were cast out.

To my mind,…  ( Click for more )

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness, who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Woe to those who are wise in their own opinion and clever in their own sight. - Isaiah 5:20-21 HCSB

In all the years that I have been writing, I only remember one other time I felt compelled to argue directly against a particular author. That occasion was when a Canadian pastor claimed the Bible was filled with errors, was racist and was misogynistic. Why he bothered to declare himself a Christian is beyond me.

Once…  ( Click for more )

The death of His faithful ones is valuable in the LORD's sight. LORD, I am indeed Your servant; I am Your servant, the son of Your female servant. You have loosened my bonds. I will offer You a sacrifice of thanksgiving and will worship the LORD. - Psalm 116:15-17 HCSB

A righteous man lived in a country where it was against the law to worship God and read His Word. Disregarding this wicked law[1] and choosing to fear the Lord[2] rather than man, the tzaddik remained steadfast in his devotional life. Soon, an evil neighbor caught sight of the tzaddik at prayer and told the authorities.…  ( Click for more )

Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You can't eat from any tree in the garden'?" The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, 'You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.'" "No! You will not die," the serpent said to the woman. "In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."…  ( Click for more )

But they did not understand what He said to them. Then He went down with them and came to Nazareth and was obedient to them. His mother kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and with people. - Luke 2:50-52 HCSB

In today’s culture of convenience, it has become commonplace for children to ignore their duty to their parents. As the parents age and become infirm, it becomes more and more difficult to care for them. Often their minds begin to slip and they develop a stubborn unreasonableness straining the relationship…  ( Click for more )

“Now I urge you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all say the same thing, that there be no divisions among you, and that you be united with the same understanding and the same conviction. For it has been reported to me about you, my brothers, by members of Chloe's household, that there are quarrels among you. What I am saying is this: each of you says, "I'm with Paul," or "I'm with Apollos," or "I'm with Cephas," or "I'm with Christ." – 1 Corinthians 1:10-12 HCSB

There once was a wise man who over…  ( Click for more )