In the conquest of Canaan, did God command genocide? If so, does that justify national aggression today? No, God did not command genocide, nor does the conquest of Canaan justify national aggression and war today. God’s overarching command was to “drive out” the inhabitants of Canaan. The biblical emphasis is not on Israel driving them […]

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This collective jolt back to reality only happens when a nation finds itself at “Ground Zero,” and we need Ground Zero perspectives again.

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Most of us have a favorite verse of Scripture and, if asked, could tell why we like that text a lot. Could we also explain how the verses just before and after our favorite impact and help unpack its full meaning? Without revealing its location yet, I’ll tell you my favorite verse for today and […]

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When I heard that the Bible Advocate was spending a year on the Ministry of Reconciliation, I was thrilled. Some of my first Christian thoughts were those of reconciliation. Today, after seven years as a pastor, I still think we need to hear this message and spread it with the greatest resolve. I base my […]

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Is peace lost or missing among us today? Your desire is for relationship. Your desire is to restore and renew relationship.

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Fear took control over my life at a young age. I was never that child who played and hugged dogs. I was afraid of them and hid every time I saw one. During my elementary and middle school years, I had trouble making friends, fearing that they’d reject me. I’d let my classmates cut the […]

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Dear BA Reader and Friend, I hope this fall support letter finds you and yours safe and well. What a year it has been! I can’t recall one as calamitous as this in my lifetime — and we still have three more months to go! As one crisis mounts upon another and this world seems […]

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My childhood memories of many sermons in church were from men who seemed angry about a lot of things. They preached long and hard about world conditions and the imminent battle of Armageddon. I greatly feared the nations of Gog and Magog! Late at night, I thought I could hear those evil armies crashing over […]

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The New Testament often paints its greatest truths with the broadest brush strokes. From it we get the big picture about the ministry of reconciliation, being ambassadors for Christ, and being compelled by love. But with these grand principles, the New Testament also sketches smaller portraits that show us what these truths look like in […]

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Visionary Leadership in a Global Crisis These are troubling times. As I’m writing, the World Health Organization is reporting over 16,000,000 global cases of COVID-19 and over 650,000 deaths. The Center for Disease Control reports that 4,000,000 of those cases and nearly 150,000 of those deaths are here in the United States. I know several […]

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Despite the best effort of some, we live in a world fractured along ethnic, religious, political, and racial lines. Peace seems to elude the human race. Many of us believe that under certain conditions, peace would be attainable. If only we all had the same religious or political beliefs, or if only we were more […]

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Peace Where is the peace the angels proclaimed? The earth still swirls with sin and pain. Only humble hearts swept clean Contain the Holy Gift. Believe, trust, bow low. Wise men still seek Him to know. Our true Peace.   “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you. . . . Do not […]

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