The eastern region of Baalbek, Lebanon was believed to be a “safe zone” for residents, and refugees who had been displaced by the increased hostilities across the country. That changed on October 29, when an Israeli airstrike on the region resulted in over sixty casualties, including two children. On October 30, the Israeli Defense Forces […]

“Ixe! If it wasn’t for solar energy, we would have closed down, you can be sure. We had to stop due to the pandemic on 15 March 2020, but the energy costs were fixed,” said Erika Cazuza, administrative and financial manager of the Brazilian Cooperative of Rural Producers of Monteiro (Capribom). Ixe is a word […]

  Matthias Schmale is the Assistant Secretary-General, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine. Schmale brings more than 30 years of experience in humanitarian and development work. He previously served as Senior Adviser to the UN Development Coordination Office’s regional team for Africa, as Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator (a.i) in Nigeria, and in several high-level […]

The decision of Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, to adopt two laws that would severely limit or outright ban UNRWA has the potential to set a dangerous precedent, where countries can simply implement their own justification to ban the activity of the United Nations, even if it violates their obligations under international humanitarian law. Even with […]

Holding this year’s presidency of the Group of 20 (G20) large industrial and emerging economies is allowing Brazil to push forward the dream of creating a global biofuels market without the current trade barriers. Brazil is trying, at least since the beginning of this century, to free up global trade in ethanol, but so far […]

Despite earlier income convergence among nations, many low-income countries (LICs) and people are falling further behind. Worse, the number of poor and hungry has been increasing again after declining for decades. After the post-Second World War ‘Golden Age’ ended over half a century ago, the world has seen unequal and uneven economic growth, industrialisation, and […]

At just 11 years old, with a heavy heart, Louis  peered up at his parents and said goodbye. He was leaving his small village in northern Benin to live with his uncle in Parakou, where the schools were better. Ever since, Louis has continued to make sacrifices to pursue a strong education and a better […]

On November 6, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that the second round of polio vaccinations in the Gaza Strip has been completed. A total of 556,744 children under ten years of age received the mOPV2 vaccine along with a dose of vitamin A to ensure immunization. However, due to rampant hostilities from the Israeli […]

The ongoing, escalating violence in Lebanon forces millions of Lebanese civilians to face daily bombardment, repeated orders of evacuation, routine destruction of critical infrastructure, and limited access to basic services. With the death toll and rates of displacement on the rise, humanitarian organizations fear that the upcoming winter season is expected to exacerbate these harsh […]

Christ’s parables were never delivered in a vacuum. They were always provoked by the circumstances, discussions, and debates that surrounded Him. That kind of contextual background information is especially critical concerning the parable of the vineyard.

Jesus made a regular habit of upending established social conventions. The Lord spent much of His earthly ministry illustrating the sharp contrast between the world and His heavenly kingdom. One of those key teaching moments is found in the preface and epilogue to Christ’s parable of the vineyard.

We all love to be on the receiving end of a good deal—at least until someone else finds a better one. The perception of inequality and unfairness fosters bitterness, envy, and resentment—attitudes that the flesh thrives on, even among believers. And one of Christ’s parables plays to the heart of that inclination.

Have you ever considered the stark contrast between Judas Iscariot and the thief on the cross? One was a close disciple of Jesus Christ and gave three years of his life to the best, most intensive religious instruction available anywhere. But he lost his soul forever. The other was a hardened, lifelong criminal who was still mocking everything holy while being put to death for his crimes. But he went straight to paradise forever.

Scripture isn’t shy about the unpopularity of the gospel. The message of the cross is called “foolishness” and a “stumbling block” (1 Corinthians 1:23). Christ Himself is called “a rock of offense” (Romans 9:33). Jesus simply told His followers that the world would hate them (John 15:18–20). But what makes the gospel so repulsive to the world?

As protests and riots raged across the country and around the globe, many Christians have pondered how God’s people should respond. In many ways, this discussion dominates the church today, but not all of the proposed solutions line up biblically.

What does a holy, God-honoring life look like? To answer that question, we need to consider one particular altercation between Jesus and the Pharisees.

In the wisdom of His divine design, God has placed restraints within us and within the structure of society to mitigate the effects of man’s corruption and hold back the full chaos into which the world repeatedly devolves. And when these restraints are carefully maintained, life can be enjoyable. But when they’re assaulted, diminished, or destroyed, life quickly becomes difficult and miserable.

We rightly shudder at the eternal consequences of sin, and the perpetual punishment that awaits unrepentant sinners. But we would do well to also consider the temporal cost of sin. We need to recognize how it pollutes, perverts, and corrupts—and particularly its destructive influence on the sinner.

God’s love for sinners is a well-documented historical fact. Its verification doesn’t hinge on the consensus of theologians, nor does its validation rest on something we feel. The apostle John points us to the cross as the consummate and undeniable proof of divine love.

God’s love for His own simply has no parallel in human experience. It is a powerful, immutable love that extends from eternity past to eternity future. It is a love that is not deterred by our race’s sinful rebellion against God. Because of this love, God pursues and redeems us even when we are morally and spiritually reprehensible and unworthy of His love in every way.

Someone has said that God plus one equals a majority. The truth is that God alone makes a majority. If every creature in the material and immaterial universe combined to oppose God together, still He would not be defeated. He is infinitely greater, and holier, and wiser, and more powerful than the aggregate of all His creation.

Would God redeem sinners at the cost of His own Son’s blood, then cast those same blood-bought believers aside? Having brought us to salvation at so great a price, would He then withhold any grace from us? Won’t He finish what He started? Romans 8:32 provides us with a clear and emphatic answer.

Why do bad things happen to good people? The fundamental problem with that common question is that it’s back to front. The right approach is to ask why good things happen to bad people. That question reflects an accurate reading of Scripture and an honest evaluation of ourselves.

Election is the highest expression of God’s love to sinful humanity. Some people hate this doctrine. They fight against it, try to explain it away, or claim it’s not fair. Some even claim it is a form of tyranny, or that it is fatalistic, or that it violates the human will. But in reality the doctrine of election is all about the eternal, inviolable love of God.

God is love. His mercy is over all His works. He manifests His love to all. But the highest expression of His love is manifest to those who by sheer grace He lovingly draws to Himself.

"God told me." "The Holy Spirit laid it on my heart." "The Spirit is compelling me." Those phrases and others like them are frequently thrown around the church today without giving many people pause. In fact, it seems the Holy Spirit’s primary role is laying burdens on believers and compelling them to deliver specific, timely messages to the church.

We’ve all had strange dreams from time to time. Sometimes the details are so confused and convoluted you can scarcely believe your mind concocted them in the first place. And no matter how vivid the dream appeared, you likely wouldn’t base something as insignificant as your lunch order—much less your life—on those bizarre mental images. Sadly, the same is not true for many professing believers in the church today.

You have undoubtedly heard people say things like, “God is calling me to the mission field,” or “God led me to attend this college,” or “We feel God wants us to get married.” Perhaps you have even said such things yourself. Christians who use expressions like those often mean they have had an impression or a strong feeling that they interpret as a disclosure of the divine will.

If God is still speaking to us today—even if only through mental impressions and still, small voices—shouldn’t we consider those messages to as relevant as anything written in Scripture, if not more so? That very issue was hotly debated during the Great Awakening. It was one area where Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield did not (in the beginning) see eye to eye.

If you rely on internal, subjective messages and promptings from the Lord, what prevents you from imagining the input you want from Him? Moreover, what reliable, objective mechanism exists to keep you from misinterpreting your own imagination as divine instruction?

If God is still speaking to His people today—particularly through mental impressions and premonitions—how can believers exercise discernment when it comes to interpreting and applying these divine messages? Put simply, how is following the private, subjective “leading” of the Lord any more reliable than gazing into a crystal ball?

Go with your gut. That might be good advice when shopping for shoes online, but it’s not a reliable means for interpreting or understanding God’s Word. Too many people in the church today trust the inclinations of the upper abdomen to be the final arbiter that determines both when God is speaking and what He is saying.

From the very beginning, the battle between good and evil has been a battle for the truth. The serpent, in the Garden of Eden, began his temptation by questioning the truthfulness of God’s previous instruction.

I remember listening to a Christian radio station when a caller asked, “What should I look for in a church?” The host responded by saying, “The thing I look for is fellowship. That’s the most important thing in choosing a church.” That may be a good feature of a church—but that is not the right answer.

“Preach the word!” (2 Timothy 4:2, NKJV). To the church today, those words may sound unusual as a pastor’s primary job description. We are used to all kinds of other “ministry” endeavors fighting for position in a long list of pastoral responsibilities. Even for those who affirm the primacy of preaching, the kind of preaching they want is purely practical—thus, doctrine (which is presumed to be utterly impractical) is the mortal enemy.

How would you describe a pastor’s job? Previously, we considered Paul’s exhortations to Timothy to preserve and preach sound doctrine. Paul did not charge Timothy with political advocacy or social change. He didn’t tell him to find ways to give back to the community. He called him to “preach the word” (2 Timothy 4:2).

Right doctrine is essential to right living. It is impossible to live a faithful Christian life without knowing biblical doctrine. Doctrine simply means “teaching,” and there is no way that even the most sincere believer can conduct a life pleasing to God without knowing what God Himself is like and what sort of life God demands of His people. Those who set biblical theology aside also set aside sound Christian living. And this happens more often than you might think.

Physical diseases have symptoms, or marks, by which they may be diagnosed. In fact, that is how we become aware that we are sick: We identify something unusual about our health. We recognize the telltale signs that something is wrong. The same is true of false teaching. Those infected by it will manifest certain characteristics.

Grace is not merely poured out in the moment of salvation; it is evident throughout His eternal plan of redemption. After all, He chose those whom He would save before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4). Theologians refer to this precious truth as the doctrine of election, and it has been a major point of debate and division in the church.

Everything that God does He chooses to do, and His choices are free from any influence outside Himself. Therefore, the doctrine of election fits into this fuller comprehension of a sovereign God. That is election in its broadest sense, and it is evident on nearly every page of Scripture.