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“Now God granted Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the commander of the officials” (Daniel 1:9). God’s favor is the rich reward of obedience. God delights in granting special grace and favor to those whose hearts are set on pleasing Him. For example, “Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord” and was spared the ravages of the Flood (Gen. 6:8). Joseph found favor in His sight and was elevated to prominence in Egypt (Gen. 39—41). God granted Moses and the children of Israel favor in the sight of the Egyptians, and they were able to plunder...

For those of us who have raised children, you might remember the question. There was a commercial, as I recall, that used the question to emphasize one product or the other in a humorous way.Children in the back seat of the car in the commercial kept asking, “Are we there yet?”We who transported our young kids on those times – especially on longer trips to Grandmas or other destinations – have heard that question, often in whining tones as time went on. I certainly remember hearing it. And I’m sure my parents heard it on those long trips from Pekin,...

“And the king appointed for them a daily ration from the king’s choice food and from the wine which he drank, and appointed that they should be educated three years, at the end of which they were to enter the king’s personal service. . . . But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the king’s choice food or with the wine which he drank; so he sought permission from the commander of the officials that he might not defile himself” (Daniel 1:5,8). Godly integrity is built upon the foundation of biblical authority. From the...

“Now among them from the sons of Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. Then the commander of the officials assigned new names to them; and to Daniel he assigned the name Belteshazzar, to Hananiah Shadrach, to Mishael Meshach, and to Azariah Abed-nego” (Daniel 1:6-7). You can’t always prevent personal loss, but you can respond to it in ways that glorify God. It was a quiet January morning in the San Fernando Valley of Southern California until suddenly and without warning the earth shook with such a violent force that many department stores, apartment houses, homes, and freeway overpasses crumbled...

“Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, the chief of his officials, to bring in some of the sons of Israel, including some of the royal family and of the nobles, youths in whom was no defect, who were good-looking, showing intelligence in every branch of wisdom, endowed with understanding, and discerning knowledge, and who had ability for serving in the king’s court; and he ordered him to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans. . . . Now among them from the sons of Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah” (Daniel 1:3-4, 6). Man values physical beauty and...

“In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the vessels of the house of God; and he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and he brought the vessels into the treasury of his god” (Daniel 1:1-2). Integrity shines brightest against the backdrop of adversity. Our passage today tells of the tragic time in Israel’s history when God chastened her severely by allowing King Nebuchadnezzar...

“O Lord, who may abide in Thy tent? Who may dwell on Thy holy hill? He who walks with integrity, and works righteousness, and speaks truth in his heart” (Psalm 15:1-2). To love Christ and to be characterized by ever-increasing fidelity to biblical truth is the heart of true integrity. Christian integrity has been defined as the absence of compromise and the presence of biblical convictions. In the words of the psalmist, it is to work righteousness and to speak truth from the heart (Ps. 15:2). Many people in Scripture demonstrate exemplary integrity. For example, Jesus spoke of Nathanael as...

INTRODUCTIONOne key to understanding the Scriptures is to “rightly divide the Word of Truth.” There are a number of different ways the Bible can be divided in order to understand the parts as well as the whole. One of the ways is by means of the dispensations, which are contained in the Scriptures.A. DefinitionTo understand exactly what a dispensation is, there are two major words in the Greek language from which the concept of dispensations comes. The first Greek word is oikonomia, from which our English word “ecumenical” is derived, means, “to manage,” “to regulate,” “to administer,” “to plan.” The...

“And while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously” (1 Peter 2:23). Jesus Christ, as the sinless sufferer, is the only model we need as we endure life’s trials. Prior to his death in 1555, the English Reformer and martyr Hugh Latimer expressed his convictions this way: “Die once we must; how and where, we know not. . . . Here is not our home; let us therefore accordingly consider things, having always before our eyes that heavenly Jerusalem, and the way thereto in...

MCC Toronto is a “vibrant and progressive church rooted in the Christian tradition and the 2SLGBTQ+ community” that is “open and welcoming to everyone, and a Human Rights Centre that is fiercely committed to social justice,” at least according their website. Led by “non-binary” impastor Rev. Deana Dudley and a “transgendered woman” named Rev. Junia Joplin, as well as a cadre of three-pronouned assistants, they run the joint with the full blessing of Satan, who has most assuredly taken up residence in the hearts in the minds of the congregation. In fact, we featured Dudley yesterday in her bizarre barefoot...

“For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison” (2 Corinthians 4:17). It is far easier to endure trials when we value the future over the present. A few years ago the popular Back to the Future movies dealt rather whimsically with the possibility of time travel, which always involved entering the future. The recurring theme was that with all the complications of tampering with the future, it was better to live in the present. Viewers could infer that, ultimately, it is not worth it to dwell a lot on the future....

Progressives love to bully the right for taking a political stance in the pulpit, but nobody plays politics in the pulpit better than these radicalized, unhinged leftists. In a recently surfaced video clip, in a laughable display of political theater, Atlanta pastor Gregory Sutton anointed deranged Trump prosecutor, Fani Willis, with oil. Willis’ appearance at Jackson Memorial Baptist “Church” took place during Sunday morning service on Pentecost Sunday on May 19. It’s hard to decide what’s more appalling—the blatant twisting of Scripture or the sheer audacity of the whole spectacle. Let’s start with Sutton’s stunning eisegesis—no, worse, narcisgesis—of Isaiah 54:17....

The number of young Evangelicals in the United States who support Israel and view it as crucial to the End Times is declining as they increasingly move toward amillennial and postmillennial eschatology, according to a recent study.The Jerusalem Post noted earlier this year that support for Israel among young Evangelicals has cratered by more than 50% over three years, as laid out in the 2023 book Christian Zionism in the Twenty-First Century: American Evangelical Opinion on Israel, by Kirill M. Bumin, Ph.D., and Motti Inbari, who serves as professor of Jewish Studies at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke.'Thinking...

“For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison” (2 Corinthians 4:17). Believers are far more blessed when they concentrate on the spiritual rather than physical aspects of life. Concerning endurance, Paul is again our role model. One reason he was able to endure pain and trials was that he knew the physical was far less important and lasting than the spiritual. He realized that our physical bodies are naturally aging and therefore not permanent. He was probably aware of this more than most people because his rigorous ministry with its travel...

“For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21). In addition to Scripture, God has given us more than adequate spiritual resources to meet suffering and death. Wall Street, the name synonymous with the American stock market and financial investing, is a place where confidence can rise and fall with great force and unpredictability, right along with the rising or sinking level of stock prices. Prices always seem to even out, but who can be certain about how they will behave in the future? The apostle Paul’s spiritual confidence was not based on the changeableness...

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Fuller Theological Seminary, an evangelical school in Pasadena, California, is deliberating whether to become more open to LGBTQ+ students who previously faced possible expulsion if found to be in a same-sex union. That’s according to a draft of proposed revisions to the seminary’s sexual standards that was obtained by The Associated Press. If the board votes to approve these revisions, Fuller could become the first evangelical seminary in the country to adopt standards acknowledging the diversity of thought among Christians pertaining to human sexuality, according to retired professor John Hawthorne, an expert on Christian colleges. Such...

For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21). We can count on Scripture to give us confidence in the face of death. A few years ago my radio ministry heard from a listener who was exhibiting exactly the right attitude in the face of a terminal illness. A teenager from the Midwest sent a prayer request concerning her recently diagnosed Lou Gehrig’s disease. That Christian young woman, who by now is probably with the Lord, accepted her condition with grace and optimism. Here is part of what she wrote to us: “I love the...

“Whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and in this I rejoice, yes, and I will rejoice” (Philippians 1:18). It is possible to maintain your joy even while dealing with criticisms and irritating distractions. The dictionary definition of detraction is “the uttering of material (as false or slanderous charges) that is likely to damage the reputation of another.” A detractor wants to undermine and destroy the good name and credibility of another. Great statesmen, such as President Abraham Lincoln during the American Civil War, often have been the targets of contentious political opponents and stinging detractions by the...

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4). The apostle Paul was a model believer who did not let his troubles steal His joy in the Lord. According to today’s verse, believers should never let a negative outlook replace our joy, no matter how bad life seems to be. The apostle Paul set an example that was far different. He wrote to the Philippians that in spite of being imprisoned in Rome, he was still rejoicing. Even though Paul was restricted under trying and harsh conditions, he was glad because the gospel message was being declared,...

“But being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God” (Acts 7:55). Because Stephen was so consistently Spirit-filled, it was natural for him to react in a godly way to persecution and death. The cliché “Garbage in, garbage out” provides a good clue to the essence of the Spirit-filled Christian life. Just as computers respond according to their programming, we respond to what fills our minds. If we allow the Holy Spirit to program our thought patterns, we’ll be controlled and renewed by...