The Trumpet Will Sound

Today is Nisan 1 on the Hebrew calendar. It is the first day of the new calendar for Israel coming out of Egypt. It also marked the day the Tabernacle was finished and set up, one year later. Moses held a one-week dedication ceremony, for the Tabernacle and the priests, and when everything was complete, he came out of the Tabernacle and blessed the people: and “the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people” (Leviticus 9:23).   Four hundred years later, Solomon built the fi

Jesus said, “Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, and blasphemies.”  Then, these things in the heart come out in words and actions that fill homes and nations with heartache and evil. Sin is the root cause of all human suffering and death, and there is no cure but Jesus. By providing forgiveness of sins through His cross, and a new nature of righteousness by His Spirit, Jesus has provided the Cure for every human he

When God’s plans for Abram were about to begin, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am the Almighty God; walk before Me and be perfect” (Genesis 17:1).  When God’s plans for the Exodus were about to begin, God appeared to Moses in the burning bush and said, “Tell the children of Israel, I AM has sent you” (Exodus 3:14).   When God called Ezekiel to be a prophet, He started off by revealing Christ’s glory… “The heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God” (Ezekiel

It was winter. A young man, Samuel Trevor Francis, stood on a bridge overlooking the River Thames, preparing to end his life in the roiling, icy waters. Life had beaten him down, confusion filled his thoughts, he felt value-less. He recalls the moment that he was about to jump: an overwhelming love, so great, so vast, flooded his heart. He knew it was God’s love. He had grown up hearing the Gospel, but somehow never fully accepted that God’s love was meant for him too. He lef

To grow in our Christian walk takes a willing heart, one that sees its own need to grow and mature more into His likeness. This process is humbling and exposing. But the psalmist, David, was willing to pray this honest prayer…  “ Search me, Oh God, and know my heart, test me and know my anxious thoughts, and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23,24).   Very few people really want to see a spiritual report card, but how else ca

People are predictable. We all strive to chart out our life to the best of our abilities, only to be met with obstacles that leave us confused and disillusioned. The Samaritan woman at the well was thirsty for a better life. She had had 5 husbands and was presently living with a man who wasn’t her husband. But her gnawing thirst was never satisfied as long as she relied on herself to bring true contentment. She believed what many still believe today, that discontentment, if a

Today Canada's Liberal Party will try to push through a “hate-speech” law, which, by their own admission, is intended to criminalize the Bible. People have signed petitions and Constitutional Lawyers will seek to defend our right to have it, quote it, and preach from it. But our true Supreme Court is Heaven’s Throne.   When the political and religious leaders threatened the early Church, they prayed… “And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant to your servants, that

Our guide took us through thick grizzly country to teach our daughter’s class survival skills. Many adults and teens alike felt anxious about walking right into bear territory. But the more our guide talked and proved his skills, the more confident we became – not in ourselves, but in his ability to keep us safe and train us right.   The Bible says, “Grace and peace be multiplied to you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. According as His divine power has give

“Turn to Me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: and rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn to the LORD your God: for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repents of the evil” (Joel 2:12).   When the Bible speaks of God “repenting,” it simply means that He changes His mind about the impending judgment He was about to bring because the people changed their minds about their sin.   God sees sin a

When the Bible speaks of God’s judgment on the world, cities, or people, it has to be viewed with the full knowledge of WHO God is. God is love; He is good; He is slow to wrath, righteous in all His ways and holy in His works.   God is also a Protector of the helpless. He hates death, evil, and lawlessness, far more than we do. The Bible clearly tells us what He hates… arrogance, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart devising wicked plans, feet that are swif

In Bible times, when the Master of the house was away on a trip, the servants were never quite sure of his exact time of return. Jesus taught about His return in light of this parable. “Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning and be like men who are waiting for their Master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to Him at once when He comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the Master finds awake when He comes... You also mus

Years ago, I attended an all-day white water rafting adventure. There were several big rafts, each one with a trained commander at the back. We had to be trained in our position on the raft and trained on what to do if a member falls off. Then we were instructed on all our gear and how to tape the seams tight. Since the waters were frigid with white rapids, there was little room for error. But as the instruction time was happening, people talked and laughed, ignoring the inst

The Children of Israel had spent years in bondage in Egypt. Their hardships grew worse and they cried out to God. He heard…  “The Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt and I have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings” (Exodus 3:7). Great hardship was met with answered prayer in a deliverer - Moses. Through miracle upon miracle, Pharaoh finally agreed to let the Israelites go. They rounded up their belongings

“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in season; whose leaf also shall not wither, and whatever he does shall prosper…   The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore, the

The Good News of the Bible is this… “In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him” (1 John 4:9). The term “only begotten” means “the only One of His Kind.” Five times the Bible uses this term to emphasize there is no other like Him. Jesus is both God and Man and that is why He alone can save us, fill us with His Spirit, and keep us forever.   Consider these vital truths regarding the “s

Psalm 46 describes a world in the midst of a great earthquake and storm. Yet it describes the help and presence of God in such a powerful way that it ends with this comfort… “Be still and know that I am God.” May this sweet hymn remind you of His nearness and power.   Be still, my soul, the Lord is on your side; Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain, Leave to your God to order and provide, In every change, He faithful will remain     Be still, my soul, your Best, your Hea

“If I perish, I perish.” Those were Queen Esther’s words as she stood in the gap for her people in ancient Persia, in a Christlike act of sacrificial love that God memorialized.   God has given mankind a moral obligation to rescue the perishing… “If you refrain to deliver those who are being drawn to death, and those ready to be slain; if you say, ‘Look, I didn’t know!’ Does not He who weighs the motives of the heart consider it? And He that keeps your soul, does He not know

In Daniel 10, we get a glimpse into the spiritual warfare behind the scenes. The prophet Daniel had received a troubling vision of a great war. It shook him up so much that he went into a three-week period of intense mourning, fasting and prayer.    After those three weeks, God sent an angel to minister to Daniel. The first thing he wanted Daniel to understand was that, “From the first day you humbled yourself before God in prayer, you were heard, but the Prince of Persia res

The Iranian leader is dead. He was in direct opposition to God and all that encompasses His message of freedom. What does this mean for the underground church? The Gospel can now flourish without fear of imprisonment or torture. Celebrating is going on around the whole world where the Iranian people have fled for safety. This is biblical… “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s armies says, ‘I will break the bow of Elam (Iran); the best of their forces.’” (Jeremiah 49:35)    God c

Here we sit at the near closing of the Age of Grace. Just as God shut the door of the Ark, so too will He close this window of opportunity to come to Christ in faith for the forgiveness of sins. But the toes of the present step on the heels of the future, and spiritually this is very true. This life will be measured.    What will be our first thought in Heaven? Will we still care as passionately as we do now about the events on earth, or will they melt away in His Holy presen