All posts tagged: Bible

Benny Hinn in 2019

Prosperity preacher, Benny Hinn, reveals his two biggest regrets

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Popular and equally controversial televangelist, Benny Hinn, revealed his two biggest ministry regrets in an interview with Stephen Strange, the Christian Post reports. The first regret that Hinn, 71, pointed to was his failure to address the inaccurate and false prophecies that were delivered during his meetings by himself and others. He specifically cited outside ministries that had uttered prophecies during his meetings, that “brought harm to not only peopleā€™s lives but also to my reputation.” He then cited some of his own failed prophecies and stated that no one is perfect. Hinn added, “sadly ā€” and I wish I could go back and fix it ā€” but sadly, there were some prophecies I gave that were not accurate or from the Lord.ā€ His second-greatest regret was his emphasis or perhaps his overemphasis on the prosperity message because he still believes in certain aspects of what is referred to as the prosperity gospel. Hinn admitted that there were elements of this message that he labeled as ‘gimmikry’ and because of the pressure to raise money, …

Painting of Abraham and Sarai by James Tissot

The strange verse in Hebrews that seems to honor failure

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When people receive a prophetic word from God or feel called to do something, the response is often to sit back and wait for God to do it. However, there is a strange verse in the book of Hebrews, that suggests this may not be the correct response. It’s strange because oddly it seems to promote human failure. It seems to imply that our efforts, even when we make mistakes, are commendable. In Hebrews chapter 6, the writer is talking about the great men and women of faith in the Bible and tells us we need to follow their example. Ā “So that you may not be sluggish, butĀ imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises,” the writer states (Hebrews 6:12 ESV). He says that we shouldn’t be sluggish, which is how the ESV translated the Greek word, nōthros. Other versions translated it as slothful or lazy. So the writer of Hebrews says we need to imitate those men and women of ancient times, who received promises from God but were not sluggish …

How a supernatural vision led to one of the largest water baptisms in America’s history

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Jesus told His disciples, “My sheep hear my voice” and I believe the Lord speaks to us through the Holy Spirit. We see an example of this in Acts 8, when Philip encountered the Ethiopian Eunuch. We are told that God spoke to Philip in two ways. First, we are told that an Angel of the Lord appeared to Philip telling him, ā€œGo south to the roadā€”the desert roadā€”that goes down from Jerusalem to Gazaā€ (verse 26). Some suggest the angel may have spoken to Philip through a vision or a dream. Then as Philip walked down this road, we read that Jesus communicated with Philip again when he encountered a chariot, but in a different way. “Then the Spirit said to Philip, ‘Go up and join this chariot,’ā€ Luke writes in verse 29. We are not told specifically how the Holy Spirit spoke to Philip, but it does not appear to be through a prophetic word or word of knowledge given by another individual. The Holy Spirit communicated this message directly to Philip, who …

Jaffa Gate, Old Jerusalem, Israel

Archaeology confirms the Bible’s description of Jerusalem during King David’s and Solomon’s reigns

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Over the years, liberals have tried to downplay both King David and King Solomon’s roles in the Bible by suggesting they were little more than tribal warlords and that Jerusalem itself was basically an insignificant hamlet. They believe the Bible exaggerated both the size and significance of Jerusalem and as well the importance of King David and King Solomon in Israel’s history. However, that theory took a heavy body blow, after a recent study of a section of the ancient wall that surrounds Old Jerusalem revealed that it is much older than originally thought, the Daily Mail reports. It was originally believed that King Hezekiah (715 BC to 686 BC) built this section of the wall to increase Jerusalem’s defenses, when “He rebelled against the king of Assyria and would not serve him,” (2 Kings 18:7 ESV). It was initially believed that this expansion was not only due to an impending threat of invasion but also to the rapid growth of the city from Jews fleeing the invading Assyrian army. However, a study of the …

Open Bible on dark background

Is the Bible ā€œHate Speechā€? Yes ā€¦ Maybe

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We have a neighbor who likes to go for coffee on Saturday morning. Usually, we know some other people, in the shop, and the conversations are friendly. In the coffee shop, there is a young ā€œmanā€ who works behind the counter and serves coffee, and ā€œheā€ wears a dress when he works. No one has told us about preferred pronouns, in this case, but notice that I have used quotation marks for words like ā€œmanā€ and ā€œhe.ā€ We have to be careful in our modern world when we write or speak publicly. It is generally understood, that the worker in the coffee shop has a masculine voice and other features. Most of us donā€™t want to get into an argument about ā€œTransā€ beliefs, and we talk about other things. We donā€™t want to go there. So, we all try to be polite, and there are some topics we donā€™t mention in our conversations. At the last neighbor meeting at the coffee shop, a friendly neighbor came in and saw us, so he joined us for …

Inside Iran's Parliament

Is a demonic angel, the Prince of Persia, influencing the government of Iran?

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As we watch events unfolding in the Middle East, it is clear that Iran is a major instigator of the problems involving attacks on Israel. Iran is believed to be providing both financial and armament support to several terrorist groups in the region, including Hamas (Gaza), Hezbollah (Lebanon), and Houthis rebels (Yemen). Even other Middle Eastern countries, such as Saudi Arabia, which was actually attacked by the Iranian-backed Houthis in 2019, are concerned about Iran’s growing influence in the Middle East. As I have mentioned in an earlier article, before 1935, Iran was commonly referred to by its ancient name Persia. In a recent Christian Post article, Jason Jimenez wonders if the issues we are seeing in Iran today are being instigated by powerful demonic forces that are influencing the country’s political leaders, whom even the Iranian people despise. Jimenez asks if the Bible’s description of a powerful fallen angel, who influenced Persia in its ancient past, is exerting itself once again? In Daniel 10, the prophet Daniel, who was living in Persia (verse one), …

Should we read any more into two odd coincidences, one that took place this year and the second 3,000 years ago?

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The four-horseman of the Apocalypse that the Apostle John saw being released on the world in his vision of the end times is perhaps one of his best-known apocalyptic references, other than the anti-Christ and the mark of the beast. With that in mind, many people in Britain, and around the world, were stunned to see video and images of a bloodied white horse and black horse charging through the streets of London, England on Wednesday, April 24, 2024. The horses were part of a group of seven horses in training with a British army cavalry unit. The animals were startled by a work project going on nearby, and four horses bucked off their riders. Five horses managed to escape. Three were recaptured soon after, while the remaining two, a black and white horse, charged wildly down the streets of London for another six miles before finally being corralled. Both were immediately taken to a vet and the army is reporting that both horses are recovering. What made this imagery particularly bizarre was the videos …

Dr. Mattera’s 14 reasons why we should believe in Divine healing today

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Dr. Joseph Mattera heads The U.S. Coalition of Apostolic Leaders, and he recently wrote an article for the Christian Post on 14 reasons why Christians should believe in divine healing. Amazingly, there are Christians who believe that healing is not for today, and insist that this stopped as a spiritual gift with the ending of the Apostolic age. I am not going to go through all Dr. Mattera’s reasons, but there are three that caught my attention. My favorite reason: Dr. Mattera’s third reason The first one that struck me is that the early church disciples pointed to divine healings as evidence that Jesus rose from the dead. After the healing of the lame man at the temple, Peter and John were dragged before the Sanhedrin the next day to explain what happened the previous day. “Let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel thatĀ by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified,Ā whom God raised from the deadā€”by him this man is standing before you well,” …

Temple of Apollo at Delphi

The most important archaeological discovery related to the Apostle Paul?

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We have an interesting incident that took place in Acts 18:6-16 while the Apostle Paul was in Corinth. Things were getting heated after the Apostle convinced Crispus, the leader of a local synagogue and his family, to believe that Jesus was the Jewish Messiah. During that period, God actually spoke to Paul in a night vision, telling him not to be afraid but to stay in the city and keep preaching the Gospel. Eventually, several leading Jews in the city came together in a ‘united attack’ and dragged the Apostle Paul before the proconsul of Achaia, a man by the name of Gallio. Proconsul was the title used for the governor of an area or the mayor of a city. They accused Paul of causing Jews “to worship God in ways contrary to the law.” Luke actually quotes Gallio, who immediately recognized this was not a legal matter, but rather a theological one. ā€œIf you Jews were making a complaint about some misdemeanor or serious crime, it would be reasonable for me to listen to …

Man walking with Bible under his arm.

More Gen Z say the Bible is transforming their lives, survey finds

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There was a bit of good news in a recent survey of Gen Z, those born between 1997 and 2012, conducted by the American Bible Society, CBN reports. For the past 14 years, the American Bible Society has been asking Americans how much they engaged in the Bible. Based on how much they read the Bible and believe it is relevant to their everyday lives, the State of the Bible survey sorts Americans into three basic groups, ‘scripturally engaged’, ‘moveable middle’, and ‘disengaged’. Overall the survey found that the percentage of people who are considered ‘disengaged’ from the Bible, was at its highest percentage, 57%, in the survey’s 14-year history. This was up from 53% the previous year. However, amid this overall decline, the 2024 survey found that Gen Z was bucking this trend with 54% stating their lives had been transformed by reading the Bible, up from 50% the previous year. Another group that showed improvement was Black Americans. The survey found that the number of Black Americans who ‘engaged’ the Bible had increased …

Ikeja, Nigeria

How one Nigerian Christian came to terms with the horrific persecution taking place in that country

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There is a horrific persecution of Christians taking place in Nigeria by Islamic extremists. According to a report published by the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law, an estimated 8,000 Christians were killed in that country last year because of their faith, some in horrific ways. The non-governmental agency added that 50,000 Christians have been killed in that country by Muslim extremists since 2009. Along with this, over 18,000 churches and 2,200 Christian schools were set on fire. In a recent op-ed for the Christian Post, Oscar Amaechina, who serves as the president of Afri-Mission and Evangelism Network, Abuja, Nigeria, wrote about his personal struggles dealing with this horrific persecution of believers. “I have persistently asked God in the past why He would not protect His servants,” Amaechina wrote. “I expected God to arise and fight for the Nigerian Christians, but He remained silent.” “I wept profusely when I saw the video of how Lawan Andimi, the chairman of a local chapter of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), was beheaded,” he continued, …

JiDion, popular YouTuber

Influential YouTuber explains his decision to delete videos and follow Christ

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There has been a remarkable transformation in the life of a popular YouTuber, JiDion, who became a Christian probably sometime in 2023, Premier Christian News writes. He has over 7.7 million followers on his YouTube Channel and in October 2023, he deleted all his videos, except one. This meant 121 of his 122 videos were gone. Many of them had millions of views, with several exceeding 10 million. They were mostly prankster videos and his byline, before the deletion, basically described what he did. “I like messing with strangers…” JiDion wrote. JiDion deleted those videos because they conflicted with his decision to follow Christ. This decision comes complete with a new byline, “Retired menace. Full time follower of Jesus.” JiDion has since added two new videos, one of which explained his decision to delete the videos. “If I’m gonna truly give my life over to God, I gotta also take out the wickedness that I put into the world,” JiDion said. “As an influencer, I failed this generation horriblyā€¦I can’t be the way I was …

A river turns blood-red in Iran. Is it a sign of the end times?

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Maybe it’s just a coincidence, but in the Apostle John’s vision of the end times, the prophet saw rivers turning blood-red as part of the judgment associated with the pouring out of the bowls of wrath in Revelation 16: Then the third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of waters; and they became blood. (Revelation 16:3-4 NASV) Most believe that the waters turning red is reminiscent of what took place when God turned the Nile into blood during Israel’s deliverance out of Egypt (Exodus 7:20). In other words, blood-red rivers speak of judgment. So like I said, it’s possibly just a coincidence that in the days preceding the launching of Iran’s massive attack on Israel on April 13, 2024, involving over 350 drones, ballistic, and cruise missiles, the country experienced blood-red water, Israel 365 News reports. “Iranā€™s Meteorological Organization is not known for its prophetic inclinations,” Adam Berkowitz explains in his article for Israel 365. “However, last month, it issued a ‘red warning’ for flooding in five western provinces as a new …

Iranian Shahed 149 drone

Greg Laurie suggests Iran’s recent attack on Israel was a fulfillment of Bible prophecy

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There is no doubt that things are heating up in the Middle East, just as the Bible predicted it would at the end of days before Christ’s return. While I look at Iran’s recent attack on Israel with over 300 ballistic and cruise missiles and drones on April 13, 2024, as more of a sign of things yet to come, others believe it’s the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy. While I may not necessarily agree with them, they may have a point. In a recent article on Harvest.org, Greg Laurie pointed out that with the formation of the nation of Israel on May 14, 1948, in a single day (Isaiah 66:7-9), “the prophetic time clock began to tick.” “I do believe the attack of Iran on Israel was a fulfillment of Bible prophecy,” Laurie writes. “A sign of the end times, according to Scripture, is the Jewish people will be regathered together in their homelandā€¦ That was not just a sign, that was a super sign.” “The Bible had more to say. Not only will the …

Arch of Triumph, Paris, France

Over 12,000 people were water-baptized in France on Easter Sunday

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Despite reports that France is going through what is described as a period of ‘de-Christianization’, a remarkable thing took place in Catholic Churches across France on Easter Weekend as over 12,000 people were water baptized, CBN reports. The Catholic Church focuses on baptizing infants, who are baptized without making a faith commitment. However, the number of infants being baptized has been declining for several years, making what happened on Easter Sunday even more significant. This is because the majority of the baptisms, 7100, involved adults and the remaining 5,000 were between the ages of 11 to 17. In other words, they involved people making the conscious choice to be baptized. France’s Roman Catholic Church traditionally hosts adult baptisms at Easter, and the number this year not only set a record but was 31% higher than the number of water baptisms at last year’s event. Also, young adults are expressing a renewed interest in faith, as the number of people between the ages of 18 and 25 being water baptized rose from 23% in 2023 to …

Rolled up dollar bills on a chess board

Can selling prophetic words lead to quenching the Holy Spirit?

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The greatest fear that Satan has is encountering people who are filled with the Holy Spirit, because they have the power to heal and deliver people from Satanic oppression. When the Pharisees accused Jesus of casting out demons by the power of a higher ranking satanic being, Beelzebub, Jesus responded that He was actually casting out demons by the finger of God (Luke 11:20). Matthew, citing this same incident, provides further illumination by telling us that the finger of God is actually the Holy Spirit (Matthew 12:28). Christ is the source of our spiritual authority and the Holy Spirit is the source of our spiritual power. So if Satan wants to strip believers of their power, certainly one effective way of doing this would be by compromising their relationship with the Holy Spirit. The Apostle Paul provides one example of how we can do this when he warns, “Do not quench the Spirit” (1 Thessalonians 5:19 ESV). According to Thayer’s, the Greek word, ‘sbennumi’, means ‘to extinguish, quench a fire or things on fire.” Literally, …

Road circling back

Circling Back

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It was mid-fall, the prairie sky was growing dark and sleet was turning the highways into hockey rinks. I zipped up my jacket, started my 4Ɨ4, and steeled myself for the trip. I was circling back. ‘Circling back’ is an idiom from the 80s corporate world meaning ‘to avoid an unpleasant or unwanted topic’ by circling back and talking about this later, much later, or maybe never. In the military sense, it means ‘to reverse direction,’ when scouts would move ahead of the main force and then having spotted an enemy, they would circle back the same way they came and report what they saw. Sometimes to move forward, you have to go back. I was circling back to meet up with a group of people where fellowship was a challenge for all of us, me and them. As I traveled, I listened to Christian music and did lots of praying. For years, I felt like an outsider in this group. I felt like a Zebra and never knew if I was one of the …

Prophetic Dreams?

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As we study the Bible, we read that God often spoke to people through dreams, and recently Vlad and Lana Savchuk produced a video providing some guidance on dreams, Charisma News reports. First, they warned that not all dreams are from God. In the book of Joel, we read that dreams are frequently associated with an outpouring of God’s Spirit (Joel 2:28-32). While this is true, it is also important to realize that not every dream is from God. “Jude 8 actually talks about false prophets who are deceiving people through their dreams and God was clearly warning people concerning dreamers who had these dreams,” Vlad stated. “False prophets can deceive through dreams. We have to be very careful that we believe every single dream that people give especially negative dreams that come true because that could be operating from the spirit of divination,” Vlad noted. Dreams can provide deliverance The second thing they pointed out is that God can provide deliverance through dreams, as Lana shared how her healing started through an intense dream …

A Roman milestone on the road between the Iberian cities of Bracara Augusta and Asturica Augusta

Was Jesus standing near a miliarium, when He said if they compel you to go a mile, go two?

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Most of the time when Jesus was teaching, the Lord was outside, and I often wondered if much of what He said was based on what He saw around him. When Jesus said, “See how the flowers of the field grow,” (Matthew 6:28), I suspect there was a field nearby. So, when Jesus told His disciples, ā€œAnd if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles,ā€ (Matthew 5:41 ESV), I wonder if they were actually standing within eyesight of an ancient Roman milestone. Referred to as miliarium, the columns were routinely made of granite or marble and were typically set up to mark the distance of 1,000 double Roman steps, approximately one mile today, on a road. Since people only traveled a few miles each day, these stones provided valuable information on how far they had journeyed. In addition to supplying the one-mile distance, the stone also had the name of the Roman Emperor responsible for the road’s construction and typically the military unit, overseeing the road’s maintenance. The stones often …

John Cooper performing with Skillet in 2017

Skillet frontman, John Cooper, facing death threats over the title of his book

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Things are definitely taking a negative turn for Christians in America, and it was perhaps best demonstrated by comments made by John Cooper in an episode of ‘Politically Rude,’ hosted by Abby Johnson, Church Leaders reports. Cooper, who is the lead singer for the Christian rock band, Skillet, recently published a book in November 2023 entitled, ā€œWimpy, Weak, and Woke: How Truth Can Save America From Utopian Destruction.ā€ The book focuses on the ā€œphilosophies behind utopian dreams that become dystopian nightmares, and presents a positive vision for how we can thrive and flourish.ā€ The book states that man’s solutions will not cure the raging ails of the world, and only God is the solution. In an interview with Church Leaders, Cooper added that the trouble started long before the book was printed and actually began when he released the title of the book. Initially, it resulted in “absolute hate and cussing” and people telling him to “go to hell.” This would have been fine because Cooper is used to this type of hate because of …

The Western Wall in Jerusalem, with the Temple Mount and Dome of the Rock in the background.

Has the Temple Institute chosen the individual who will make the Red Heifer sacrifice?

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A recent photo published on the Temple Institute’s Facebook page has many speculating that a man has been selected to sacrifice one of the red heifers brought to Israel from Texas in 2022, Charisma News reports. The photo is of a young man standing outside the pen where the red heifers are being housed comes with the caption, “A KOHEN FIT TO PERFORM THE RED HEIFER CEREMONY!” The ash from the red heifer sacrifice is necessary for the purification ritual for priests working in the Temple (Numbers 19:1-11), and according to Jewish tradition are to be sacrificed at the age of three. The post goes on to explain that this individual, along with others, met the criteria for being accepted as a priest. The Temple Institute adds that it looks for the highest level of purity when deciding on its priests, and this includes never having been in contact with a dead person. This individual met these criteria by having been born at home and having “never set foot in a hospital or cemetery” (see …

Saint Basilā€™s Cathedral, Moscow, Russia

The Experience of a Lifetime!

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By Rick Renner

When our family first arrived in the former USSR, we disembarked the airplane to find Soviet soldiers standing all around the landing strip with machine guns in arm ā€” a brand-new sight for our family! Those soldiers tried to rush us along to leave the runway area and get inside the terminal.

A photo of the 1900 Oberammergau Passion Play portraying Jesus' entry into Jerusalem on a donkey

The world’s largest Passion play

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Oberammergau is a small town of 5,000 residents in Bavaria, Germany, and is best known for hosting the world’s largest Passion play, the Western Journal reports. It is held roughly every ten years or so because of a pledge that town citizens made in 1634 during the height of the devastating Bubonic plague that swept Europe, killing between and third and half of the population. The citizens vowed that if God spared their community, they would hold a Passion play every ten years and according to tradition, the village was largely spared despite people with the plague coming to the village. The Passion play typically involves 2,000 of the town’s residents as actors, singers, and production workers and can last between five and seven hours, with one break for lunch. Only people who are residents of the town and 20 years or older are allowed to participate. In preparation, for the performance men who are playing leading roles, often start growing their beards and hair on Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent, the previous year. …

Phil Robertson in 2015

The Power of Testimony, the story of Phil Robertson

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Many of us underestimate the power of our personal testimony of what Christ has done in our lives, but we can be sure of one thing, Satan doesn’t. In his vision of the end time, the Apostle John writes that when Satan begins to directly attack believers in the end times, he saw them conquering Satan “by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony” (Revelation 12:11). Though the blood of Jesus played a major role in this spiritual battle, so did the believer’s ‘testimony’, which is the Greek word, ‘marturia’. It refers to the testimony that a person gives during an actual judicial trial as evidence, or more generally to any testimony. In this verse, it refers to the believer’s testimony of what Christ has done in their lives, and it’s this testimony that helped conquer Satan. We see a demonstration of a testimony’s power, in the life of Phil Robertson, the former Duck Dynasty star. The Robertson family recently produced a movie, entitled The Blind, which portrays Phil’s remarkable …

Michelangelo's Moses with horns, The Vatican, Rome

Meet Moses with horns

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If you go to the Vatican in Rome, you will find a statue of Moses with horns. Yes, horns. The marble statue was created by Michelangelo at the request of Pope Julius II to be used as part of the Pope’s tomb. The statue was completed in 1545, 32 years after Pope Julius had died. It proves that some Bible translations are more accurate than others because the famous Renaissance sculptor created Moses with horns because of a mistranslation of a Hebrew word in the Latin Vulgate. The Vulgate was largely based on the Latin translation of scriptures from the Hebrew and Greek texts created by Jerome, a priest and theologian, in 382 AD. Though the Vulgate is a bit renowned for its mistakes, it basically became the Roman Catholic Church’s official Bible. So did we end up with a horned Moses? A second set of ten commandments was needed after the first set was broken (Exodus 32:19). When Moses came down the mountain, with the new tablets, his face was shining so brightly, having …

Trailer of burnt Bibles in front of Global Vision Church in Mount Juliet, Tennessee

A trailer full of Bible purposefully burnt in front of Greg Locke’s church in Tennessee

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An estimated 200 Bibles were destroyed after an individual purposefully set fire to them in front of a church on Easter Sunday, Fox News reports. The Bibles were in a trailer found in an intersection in front of Global Vision Church in Mount Juliet, Tennessee. The church is pastored by Greg Locke. The whole incident was caught on the Church’s security cameras. But what was particularly strange is that the Bibles had been brought to the church in the trailer by the man, who then parked it and set it on fire. A woman who had driven through the night to attend the service arrived shortly after the fire had been set and immediately reported it. It is uncertain what the motive was for the fire, but undoubtedly it was intended to intimidate Locke and those who attended his church. It is also possible, that the Bible burning is connected to two recent events that Locke has been involved with. It may be related to a book burning that Locke organized at his church in …

Stained-glass window portraying the resurrection of Jesus in the Berlin Cathedral, Germany

Nearly 70% of Americans believe Jesus rose from the dead, poll finds

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According to a recent Scott Rasmussen National Survey poll conducted on March 20 and 21, 2024, nearly 70% of Americans believe that Jesus rose for the dead, the Daily Signal reports. In addition, to the 68% who believe in the resurrection of Christ, the poll also found that 83% of those surveyed believed that Jesus lived and walked on the earth. This sharply compared to only 5% who believed that Jesus was just a myth. When asked if they planned to attend a church service on Easter Sunday, 49% responded that it was ‘very likely’ this would happen, with 23% adding that it was ‘somewhat likely.’ Twenty-six percent stated that they definitely or probably would not be attending a church service. The survey also asked individuals about their prayer life and found:

thoughtful young woman

Sex? In the Bible? Where?

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So, Iā€™m writing about sex, on the Easter weekend. Seriously, this is a topic that we all need to understand. With people that I know, probably the most destructive fire that we can light is our sexual behavior. I wonā€™t tell the stories, but we all know someone who brought trouble into their life, through this door. About half a century ago, pharmaceutical drugs like antibiotics were developed, and tested. These medications could cure some incurable sexually transmitted diseases. Imagine living in a world where an infection like syphilis could destroy a life, including brain damage and mental illness. Apparently, the famous gangster Al Capone suffered from the severe effects of that disease and died in that state. I had a friend, when I was young, who was born blind. His eyes never could function because his mother had syphilis when he was born, and her disease infected and damaged his eyes, in the birth canal. This was as terrible to see as it sounds. About the same time that antibiotics were developed, medical science …

Country road

Long distance healing

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As we read the Gospels, the most common method that Jesus used to heal the sick was by laying hands on them (Luke 4;40; Mark 8:23). When Christ touched people, the healing virtue flowed out from Jesus into the person that He was touching (Mark 5:30). Since Jesus was functioning fully as a man filled with the Holy Spirit, He was the pattern for how Divine healing happens today. When we lay hands on people, the Holy Spirit inside us flows into the other person. But on the odd occasion, we also see anomalies to this practice, such as long-distance healing, when Jesus healed people without touching them. We know that Lazarus was raised from the dead by Jesus shouting while standing outside Lazarus’ tomb (John 11:42-44). At this point, Christ was probably only a few yards away from the body. But in another instance, the healing of the centurion’s servant, Jesus, who was traveling to the centurion’s home, though close to the man’s home was undoubtedly further away when the healing occurred (Luke 7:6-10). …