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“Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, the height of which was sixty cubits and its width six cubits; he set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent word to assemble the satraps, the prefects and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates and all the rulers of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. Then the satraps, the prefects and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates and all the rulers of...

The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is sharply divided over a proposed amendment to ban affiliated churches from allowing women to serve as pastors and elders. A vote on the amendment will take place at the annual SBC meeting this Tuesday. While there is a general theological consensus that senior pastor roles should be exclusively filled by men, opinions vary widely on the broader implications of what is being referred to as the “Law amendment.”The amendment, proposed by Arlington Baptist Church pastor Mike Law, would insert new language into article three of the SBC’s governing document, which outlines the requirements for...

Dr. Tony Evans has recently stepped down from his pastoral duties following an admission of personal failure. Evans, a towering figure in the evangelical world, has long been a polarizing character due to his controversial theological positions and alliances. Serving as the senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, Texas, for an astounding 48 years, Evans has built a significant public following, authored many books, and has even released a study bible under his own name. However, his ministry has been marred by several heresies and doctrinal errors that demand scrutiny. Tony Evans’ theological aberrations are not merely...

The only thing the SBC’s North American Mission Board likes more than not being financially transparent is flouting their gaudy expenses in the face of sacrificially-giving pew-sitters, perfectly exemplified by NAMB’S 2024 annual meeting exhibit, which featured a race car wrapped in their logo and colors. Because the institutions react to Form 990s* as vampires react to sunlight, we’ll never know if they spent thousands, tens of thousands, or even more on it. What we do know, however, is that whatever money was spent is a slap in the face to all the little church ladies giving to the Annie...

“And Daniel continued until the first year of Cyrus the king” (Daniel 1:21). People of integrity are people of significant spiritual influence. When King Nebuchadnezzar took Daniel as one of his personal servants, it was just the beginning of a ministry that would last for seventy years. Daniel 2:48 records that soon afterward “the king promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts, and he made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon.” At Daniel’s request, the king also appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego to positions of authority, thereby...

“Then at the end of the days which the king had specified for presenting them, the commander of the officials presented them before Nebuchadnezzar. And the king talked with them, and out of them all not one was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the king’s personal service. And as for every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king consulted them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and conjurers who were in all his realm” (Daniel 1:18-20). God always equips you for the tasks He requires of you. Daniel and...

“As for [Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego], God gave them knowledge and intelligence in every branch of literature and wisdom; Daniel even understood all kinds of visions and dreams” (Daniel 1:17). Godly wisdom guards against the influences of a godless society. From the beginning of human history Satan has tried to confuse and confound God’s purposes by corrupting man’s thinking. In the Garden of Eden he succeeded by calling God’s character into question and convincing Eve that her disobedience would have no consequences. To this day he continues to deceive entire civilizations by blinding “the minds of the unbelieving, that...

Perhaps anticipating his death, Joseph met often with apostles and other close associates to restore the temple endowment prior to the completion of the Nauvoo temple. Wilford Woodruff, later situated the temple instruction in praying for the Lord's biblical vengeance of blood of the prophets as follows:[3] I have already said that there is nothing [antagonistic to the government in the Mormon endowments] of that kind in any part or phase of Mormonism. I ought to know about that as I am one of the oldest members of the church. A good deal is being made of a form of...

“So [the king’s overseer] listened to [Daniel and his friends] in this matter and tested them for ten days. And at the end of ten days their appearance seemed better and they were fatter than all the youths who had been eating the king’s choice food. So the overseer continued to withhold their choice food and the wine they were to drink, and kept giving them vegetables” (Daniel 1:14-16). All spiritual commitment will be tested. When God wants to prove the quality of one’s commitment, He tests it. The test may come directly from Him, as with Abraham when God...

In a spectacular display of pandering and virtue signaling, Johnson Bowie of Victory Church recently delivered a sermon that epitomizes the worst excesses of the woke DEI agenda infecting Evangelical churches today. His assertions, filled with cringe-inducing rhetoric, reveal a disturbing trend in Evangelical churches toward prioritizing diversity over biblical fidelity and common sense. “I was just looking at a church a few months ago,” Bowie whitesplained. “Their entire staff was white except for their janitor. What the, just take the whole thing down. Just burn your website down. Burn it down. What are we doing?” Similar to Matt Chandler’s...

“The commander of the officials said to Daniel, ‘I am afraid of my lord the king, who has appointed your food and your drink; for why should he see your faces looking more haggard than the youths who are your own age? Then you would make me forfeit my head to the king.’ But Daniel said to the overseer whom the commander of the officials had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, ‘Please test your servants for ten days, and let us be given some vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then let our appearance be observed in...

“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...