Archives for May 2018

By Richard Land As we prepare to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Israel's independence (May 14, 2018) we need to explain to others, and to remind ourselves, why many evangelicals fervently support Israel and the Jewish people. According to Lifeway Research in Nashville, at least half of self-identified evangelicals believe that at some point in the future most Jewish people will accept Jesus of Nazareth as the promised Messiah. Additionally, large segments of American evangelicalism believe that God has made certain promises to His chosen people, the Jews, that He did not make to Gentiles — including possession of the Promised Land of Israel forever, in belief, in unbelief, in obedience and in disobedience, unconditionally forever. These beliefs are based on the Abrahamic Covenant that God made with Abraham (Gen. 12:1–3). In this covenant with Abraham, God not only promised the land of Canaan to the Jews forever, He also promises to bless those who bless the Jews and curse those who curse the Jews. Consequently millions of evangelicals believe that if they want God to bless them individually, and America collectively as a nation, then they need to bless the Jews. This means among other things, that anti-Semitism … [Read more...]

By Rick Warren “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you” (1 Peter 5:7 NLT). It takes more than willpower to stop worrying. You already know that, because you’ve already tried it. You’ve thought, “I shouldn’t worry about this,” yet you just keep on worrying about it. It’s going to take more than your willpower to stop worrying. It takes four things: 1. You have to get to know God. Jesus says in Matthew 6:32, “People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things” (The Message). If you don’t have a relationship with God, you have every reason to worry. You’ve got to get to know God! As a believer, you have a heavenly Father who has promised to take care of you. You are God’s child, and children get special privileges. When you worry, God says, “You’re my child. Why are you acting like an orphan?” 2. You have to put God first in every area of your life. Matthew 6:31-33 says, “Don’t worry at all about having enough food and clothing. . . . Your heavenly Father already knows perfectly well that you need them, and he will give them to you if you give him first place in your life and live as he wants you to” (TLB). Anytime you take God out of the center of your life and put … [Read more...]