This teaching deals with restoring the context within which the Apostles taught the first generation of believers in the Messiah to understand trials and tribulations. We must get a renewed vision for both the pressures of the great tribulation period and the kindness by which our Father disciplines us to...
Before I was married I tried my hand at painting. I had a couple of room mates at the time who were very talented painters. Since I had little experience and no training in painting I asked for pointers often. One thing that both of my friends told me was...
Within the context of any journey – whether literal or parabolic – the most important component of the journey is the destination. After the destination is determined, an appropriate vehicle and course of travel can be defined. For the Church and Israel it is the same way. Where are we headed? How must we get...
One thing that I hope this short series might accomplish is to take a popular and trendy subject and give it substance and sobriety. Art Katz once said about missing the subject of Israel that it is to “miss the faith entirely”. This may sound extreme, but that is only...
Does idolatry still exist? Good question! Idolatry – it immediately invokes a sense of a primitive people, still naive enough to believe that the earth was flat, the sky was covered by a metallic dome, and that totem poles were somehow alive and able to bless or curse us. This...
So, after looking at God’s choice to have a people who would be ‘princes’ with Him (cf. Israel), we see God giving them everything a decent human being could need to remain faithful until the promise of the coming of the Day of the Lord. From the temple, the law,...
33 Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! (Rom 11:33 NASB) At the conclusion of his discourse regarding God’s dealings with Israel throughout history, Paul erupts in praise as he contemplates the ‘mystery of Israel’...
By Bill Scofield Recently, a presidential candidate visited Israel and drew some serious criticism for defying the standard position of the U.S. government (as well as the international community) regarding the city of Jerusalem. Going back as far as the Six-Day War in ’67, the Johnson administration’s refusal to acknowledge...
When counseling or talking to people about life, I am often reminded that we need an abundance of grace AND willful obedience to see how our hearts and minds fight against the knowledge of God. Rather than from outside influences, our tribulations are usually internal and a fight against what...
I was reading a well-known Bible scholar recently regarding conflicts of ideology which occurred in the early church as more and more Greeks were brought to the faith. These particular conflicts were over the two very unique forms of worship which were present in the early church. For the Jew,...