We tell people we love them—especially those to whom we are closest. Husbands and wives, parents and children, relatives and friends are people we may openly say this to, “I love you.” What about God—have you said to God, “I love You”? Of course, just saying the words might not be enough, but, like in human relationships, telling someone that we love them can really mean a lot. As much as encouraging another person about our commitment to them, we also strengthen our own resolve, and we show that we aren’t taking our relationship for granted. Popular religious parlance often involves those who claim that they “love the Lord,” but those may be empty declarations without proof. Proof of our love for God is shown when we “keep His commandments” (1 John 5:3). Only when we walk in the truth of God will we then be able to obey what Jesus described as “‘the first and great commandment’”: “‘“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind”’” (Matthew 22:37). Imagine being asked by Jesus if you love Him! Peter was—three times in a row! (John 21:15-19). The Bible shows […]

We have just finished the annual ministerial Church Conference with great success and unity. We discussed many things, and we will continue collectively in doing the Work and feeding the Flock. And I want to thank everyone for their prayers in regard to the conference and its success. It may be challenging at times to look at the size of our respective groups and feel discouraged or frustrated by the apparent lack of members. But something that I take courage and strength in is the fact that within the ministry, we are of like mind, and we uphold each other. At the end of the day, we are each, in our ways, helping to support, maintain and participate in building the Church, as God shows us and opens the doors for us, including how to preach the Gospel as a witness to this world (Amos 3:3). There cannot be dissension and confusion (James 3:16). When we study the Bible, it is easy to see that, for the most part, the true people of God, in regard to churches, have not been large. Christ speaks about the little flock (Luke 12:32). He isn’t mentioning large swelling churches here, but rather a […]

When people ask if anyone has ever seen God, they usually mean God the Father. The Bible is clear that no one has seen God the Father, except in a vision. As we learn from John 1:18. “No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.” Jesus Christ has made Himself known in many ways throughout history, including through physical expressions. These expressions, however, should not be confused with seeing Jesus Christ in His full glory. For example, Jesus Christ revealed Himself to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:8-9). His presence was evident as He walked in the garden and spoke with them. In Genesis 18:1-2 we find that Jesus Christ appeared to Abraham as a man together with two angels, also appearing as men. We know that those two are angels from Genesis 19:1. Christ and the two angels ate a meal that Abraham had arranged to have prepared for them. Later, the two angels went toward Sodom while the “LORD” spoke with Abraham (Genesis 18:22). In Genesis 32, Jacob fought with Christ all night and in the morning he […]

In this chaotic world of upside-down values, we have witnessed in the UK yet another example of what priorities are important to a national politician who has been at the forefront of the nation’s approach to the Covid pandemic. Matt Hancock, the UK’s Health Secretary, was caught acting in a compromising situation leading to the revelation of his adulterous affair, and it resulted in him losing his high profile job. The BBC reported that “his resignation and apology followed photos published by the Sun newspaper showing him in an embrace with a colleague, Gina Coladangelo.  The paper says the photos of the pair – both of whom are married – were taken inside the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) on 6 May 2021.” The Sun newspaper added on the 25th June 2021 that “Matt Hancock has today broken his silence to admit he ‘breached social distancing rules’ – but failed to apologise to his wife of 15 years after his explosive affair was revealed by The Sun.” Politicmag.net added that the “Labour Party chairwoman Annaliese Dodds said of Mr Hancock: ‘He set the rules. He admits he broke them. He has to go.’” What so many were complaining about was that “social distancing […]

I was recently on a long bicycle ride, as I am apt to do in the summertime, and witnessed a minor accident when I was on the descent down the final hill. There was a man who appeared to be in his mid-thirties off to the side of the road half way down the hill standing next to his bicycle. The rocky ground he stood on was on a slight incline, causing him to lose balance, falling backwards to the ground. He simply fell over. If he had fallen on a grassy surface, it would not have been a serious fall. However, the ground was very rocky, and though I couldn’t tell for certain, it was easy to imagine that he could have hurt himself. I had about 5 to 10 seconds to react – enough time to stop and help. But I didn’t. I slowed down slightly and looked behind after I passed, seeing that the car behind me had stopped. The people in that car had acted out of concern for this stranger, but I did not for several reasons that essentially add up to poor judgment. I learned a big lesson that day. My reflexes to help […]

The times we are presently in bring forth many temptations where we may be enticed to do or say things in response to statements that go against what we believe, where we may also want to have our “voice” heard.   But even if we were to say something based on our own convictions, is whatever we say going to make a difference?  Biting our tongue and keeping quiet can be quite a challenge.  Knowing when to stay silent and when to speak involves much patience and wisdom.  These two characteristics don’t come out of thin air, but it is a gift from God to develop these traits, through His Holy Spirit, which is the same power that Christ was filled with when He was in the similar situations that we all go through when we are put to the test. The question we hear often with all the inconsistencies around us is, what is the Truth?  That is easy for us to answer since we have been called out of this world to understand the Truth, by believing in the Bible, which is the Book of Truth, and it has been proven to us that the Bible is in […]

Many years ago, I read an article in the Plain Truth magazine which spoke about the old political guard stepping down or being replaced. Names of influential political figures, some already forgotten these days, still come to my mind—names such as, for example, Konrad Adenauer, Helmut Kohl and Franz-Josef Strauss from Germany; Charles de Gaulle from France, Mikhail Gorbachev from Russia; Indira Gandhi from India, Golda Meir from Israel, Margaret Thatcher from the UK, Anwar Sadat from Egypt; and Ronald Reagan from the US. They ultimately gave way to a younger generation coming to power. Names come to my mind such as Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Angela Merkel and Benjamin Netanyahu. This was some time back, and they have become, by now, the old guard themselves, having been taken off the political scene or going to be replaced very soon. While Angela Merkel made it clear that she will not stand for re-election and that she will step down for good, others may still return. Then there are those of the old guard, mainly dictators, who try to cement their rule in perpetuity, such as Vladimir Putin of Russia or Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey. At the […]

This past Sunday, a friend and I worked on my wife’s car. It needed front brakes,  cabin and engine air filters cleaned, sparkplugs, and an oil change. The job took us a few hours to get done. During the process, we noticed that the axle boots on both sides had torn and needed replacing, and a few hoses and the serpentine belt also needed replacing. So my job, while done for the moment, requires more work in the near future. The car is 10 years old and so it is starting to need some work done on it. This is life. Things break down and end up needing fixing. If I am being honest though, I have put off some of these repairs. I knew that some of them were required and kept meaning to get to them. But inevitably time, money and brain power all seem to be missing in order for me to act in the best possible way. Now the fear is that without proper attention and care over a long enough time, the car would break down to the point where it would become unusable. How many times in our lives do we find these same […]

You hate to listen to the news these days because it’s mostly bad news.  A good day in Chicago means that only ten people have been shot. Anti-Semitism is up tremendously since the conflict in Israel, with increasing attacks on Jewish people around the world. We should not think that we could not be next. In fact, the whole world will hate us. Luke 6:22 says: “How blessed are you whenever people hate you, avoid you, insult you, and slander you because of the Son of Man!” (International Standard Version throughout). The reason is: We do not fit in.  A people willing to kill the unborn and turn their nose at obeying God will not tolerate righteous people within their midst because those who obey God make them look bad. However, there will eventually be peace on earth without wars, conflicts and killings, when the glorious Kingdom of God will rule. Let us look at some encouraging Scriptures in regard to this. Isaiah 2:2 tells us: “It will come about in the last days that the mountain that is the LORD’s Temple will be established as the highest of mountains, and will be raised above the hills; all the nations will […]

These are four simple words, but without them, we would have no hope. All we could expect would be death, even eternal death. When we look through God’s Word, there are many laws and ways of life listed. A comprehensive list of blessings and curses was given to the Children of Israel as a physical nation just before they were to end their wanderings and enter the Promised Land. In Deuteronomy 28, the first 13 verses give a list of promises for good and health for the people if they would “diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments…” (Deuteronomy 28:1). However, in the rest of the chapter, beginning in verse 15 to verse 68, that’s four times as many verses, a list of curses and sickness was given if the people “do not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments…” (Deuteronomy 28:15). They were given two choices, one leading to great physical prosperity, and the other leading to misery and suffering. One way leading to life and good, the other to death and evil (Deuteronomy 30:15). Even when offering the people (long physical) life if […]