I heard this week that Spain plans to recognize half a million undocumented immigrants. From one news outlet: “Spain’s Socialist-led government is preparing to grant legal status to roughly half a million people now living and working in the country without documentation.” Part of the reasoning for this decision relates to economic needs in Spain. The same article reads, “Spain’s decision was partly in response to fears that the ageing native-born population won’t be capable

In John 18:38, Pilate asks Christ, “What is truth?” Ironically, even as Pilate asks the question, truth incarnate was in his presence. Pilate recognized enough of the truth to know that Jesus was innocent—three times stating, “I find no guilt in this man.” Sadly enough, then and now, truth is quickly sacrificed in the pursuit of power, greed, scoring points against an opponent, or any number of other vices. In the case of Jesus, it was just more expedient for Pilate to condem

1) Come. Never miss church unless it is absolutely necessary. George Washington’s pastor said of him, “No company ever kept him from church.” 2) Come early. Rushing into church at the last minute is not conducive to true worship. 3) Come with your whole family. “The church service is not a convention that a family should merely send a delegate.” 4) Take a place toward the front of the church. Leave the rear seats for those who may come late, and for the backsliders, and mothe

The secular world often seeks to dismiss the Bible and its claims, portraying many of its accounts as fictional stories—such as the Exodus. Secularists frequently argue that if this significant event truly occurred, there should be evidence outside of Scripture to support it, and that no such evidence exists. Today, however, I would like to share the Ipuwer Papyrus, a document that appears to stand in direct contrast to that claim. The Ipuwer Papyrus appears to be an eyewitne

I was glued to the screen last Saturday, trying to pick up all the details about what happened in “Operation Absolute Resolve.” While I find the details of Nicolás Maduro’s capture intriguing, it was the response from Venezuelans that mostly caught my eye. In several videos, reporters asked various Venezuelans who had immigrated to the United States what they thought. Their responses were that of relief, jubilation, & celebration. No one seemed sad, & everyone seemed thankful

I enjoy New Year’s as it gives me time to pause and reflect. How are things going? What do I need to change? What do I need to focus on? What needs to stay the same? How do I fix what’s not going well? I like thinking these thoughts (yes, I’m weird!). As we turn the page on 2025, allow me to put another reflective thought before you: could this be the year that Jesus Christ returns? In two places in Scripture, different biblical authors verbalize a request to Christ for Him t

Christmas is one of my favorite holidays, but I do have one small Christmas pet peeve: Nativity scenes. Nearly all of them depict three wise men present at Jesus’ birth, offering their gifts among the animals and shepherds. Yet when we read Scripture carefully, we find that the magi actually arrived later, and we do not know how many of them came. When we read Matthew 2:1–2—“After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod, wise men [magi] from the east ar

This past few weeks, Community Bible Church has been the host for four funerals, served luncheons, and two of them had a visitation/prayer service the night before. None of the deceased were current members of this church. Our beautiful sanctuary and spacious, comfortable facility served hundreds of people in this community. We were Community  Bible Church! I was told repeatedly, “It must be hard to lead a funeral service for someone you don't know.” Honestly, it is not. I do

Christmas is a time of great rejoicing as we celebrate the incarnation: Jesus Christ the Son took on flesh and dwelt among us as our Immanuel to seek and save the lost (John 1:14; Luke 19:10). However, the warmth and goodwill brought by the Christmas story is shockingly interrupted when we reach Matthew 2. After the star guided the Magi to the humble manger to worship the Child, the Lord warned the Wise Men to avoid King Herod. Troubled by the prophecy that the Messiah was to

The preaching passage for this morning, Mark 5:1–20, contains many details to help us in our demonology (“study of demons”). I would encourage you to read through the passage several times first, and then afterwards consult this paper. Also, look at the various verses referenced. I present the following comments as biblically-informed opinions, not as “Thus saith the Lord.” So, chew up the meat and spit out the bones! The passage emphasizes that these spirits that harm the ma

As we enter the holiday season, it is a wonderful time to reflect even deeper on Jesus Christ our Savior. Meditating on how much He loves us reminds us that it brought Him joy not only to create us, but also to suffer and redeem us. The love Jesus shows is indescribable—the Creator of all things humbling Himself, uniting His infinite nature with a finite human nature, entering His own creation as a helpless child, living a sinless life in a sin-marred world, and ultimately al

Out of all the prophecies in the Bible, one is the most amazing, mind-blowing, and challenging of all – the Seventy Weeks (not weeks but literally sevens) of Daniel 9:20-27. It begins with Daniel praying in exile, for the predicted 70 years is almost over (Jeremiah 25:8-11), and he is confessing Israel’s sins and pleading for restoration. God then sends the angel Gabriel to deliver the vision of Israel’s future. Israel would go back to the land after seventy years, but their