Proof The Bible Is True

I am not a hobby shopper. Some women salivate at every sale sign and peruse the racks and shelves for entertainment. But for me, shopping is like having my teeth cleaned—a necessity that must be endured. I might still be wearing last decade’s styles if God had not infiltrated my aversion to stores, taken the pain out of purchasing—and transformed my understanding of prayer. It all started with an orange carpet stain. My daughter, who was in elementary school at the time, accidentally spilled juice on the carpet in our family room. Discovering the dried stain days later, I shot [More]

Growing up in the United States, there is a common belief that the very nature of prison itself is so awful that it would inspire in criminals a conviction never to return, and therefore to stay on the “straight and narrow.” This perspective, though, doesn’t account for the reality that numerous factors – education, access to jobs, a stable family life, and a sense of purpose – impact recidivism (the rate at which people return to prison). In fact, a sense of purpose – faith – may be the most important among these factors that influence change. And faith is [More]

With many new movies portraying the life of Jesus on the big screen, including Risen, which is released February 19th and The Young Messiah on March 11th, some viewers may overlook the impact and role that women have in the great commission that Jesus gave. One of the most prominent women around Christ’s ministry here on earth is Mary Magdalene, who has a poignant scene in Risen. Here are five things women can learn from this important biblical figure. Read More: 5 Things Women Can Learn From Mary Magdalene

Last week I wrote a column noting that the Bible is being unconstitutionally banned in the public schools far too often – and even being treated like asbestos, to borrow a line from Christian attorney Jordan Lorence. A reader responded to that article negatively, raising a common objection that the founders supposedly intended a secular government,…

A producer and actor in the movie God’s Not Dead says the sequel, set to hit theaters in a few weeks, will challenge Christians to stand strong for what they believe – while they still can. David A.R White, founding partner in Pure Flix Entertainment, said they were amazed by the impact of the first film after the opening weekend almost two years ago. Box office receipts for that weekend totaled in excess of $9 million. “All of Hollywood ended up calling that following Monday and saying First of all, who is Pure Flix? And what is ‘God’s Not Dead,'” [More]

In Richard Wurmbrand’s time (and in many communist countries still), persecutors did all they could to hide their persecution of Christ’s followers. Communists even gave Richard a different name in prison in an effort to hide him from the world and from Christians trying to find and help him. Communists in China have told us for years that there is no persecution of Christians there, that raids on house churches aren’t about faith but about government policy and Christians’ refusal to register their meetings. Hide, deny, obfuscate: the old-school persecutor’s playbook. Radical Islam is different. They WANT you to know [More]

Dr. Jason Peters and VOM Radio host Todd Nettleton just returned from meeting Christians and delivering aid in northern Iraq. This week they’ll share about the Christians they met, many of whom have been displaced by the advance of ISIS over the past 18 months. They’ll also talk about some of the ways VOM is helping these Christians, including the launch of a new effort inviting American believers to prepare a medical first-aid kit to give to these displaced Christians. They’ll share other ways VOM is helping Christians, and the story of a displaced Christian who is experiencing joy and [More]

Many pastors struggle or have struggled with pornography and even more youth pastors struggle with it. The Barna Group released the findings this week, based on an online study including 432 pastors and 338 youth pastors. In the study, 57 percent of the pastors admitted to a current or past struggle compared to 64 percent of youth pastors. Fourteen percent of pastors said they are dealing with it currently compared to 21 percent of youth pastors. Read More: Pastors and Porn: The Struggle is Real | CBN.com (beta)

The Carolina Panthers head to Super Bowl 50 hoping to raise the Lombardi Trophy for the first time in franchise history.   They’ll be led by electrifying quarterback Cam Newton, whose big passes and quick footwork have made for one of the highest scoring offenses in the NFL.   Meanwhile, on the other side of the ball, the team’s defensive captain is making strides of his own off the field.   Cherry Starr, the wife of iconic NFL quarterback Bart Starr, informed the team their linebacker, Thomas Davis, is the 2016 winner of the prestigious Bart Starr Award, exemplifying outstanding [More]

The American church has a problem. It’s one part fear, one part confusion and one part apathy. Pastors, priests and rabbis have long swallowed the false notion that all things religious and all things political are somehow mutually exclusive – that never the twain shall meet. Leading up to Ronald Reagan’s landslide presidential victory in 1980,…

VOM’s Todd Nettleton was back yesterday for a second hour on The Eric Metaxas Show, aired nationally on Salem Radio. While Monday’s interview focused on the history of VOM and the incredible testimony of VOM founders Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand, the time yesterday was devoted to current cases of persecution, and specific ways that VOM is responding to help and encourage our persecuted family. Listen: Persecution Blog: Nettleton Back for Second Day with Eric Metaxas Radio

VOM’s Todd Nettleton was a guest yesterday on The Eric Metaxas Show, which airs nationally on Salem Radio. The two discussed the history of VOM and the life and impact of VOM’s founders, Pastor Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand. Metaxas identified Richard Wurmbrand’s book, Tortured For Christ, as one of the books that had most impacted his spiritual life. Listen: Persecution Blog: Radio Host Eric Metaxas on Impact of Richard Wurmbrand

I didn’t know what to write. I sat at my computer on the verge of tears. My hands hovered over the keyboard, throbbing in pain. My diary was a happy place, a file I opened up only to type in cheerful thoughts and small miracles I’d witnessed – but I didn’t have any of those now.   I had a migraine and my fibromyalgia was acting up. The pain was so bad I hadn’t been able to eat more than a few bites of breakfast before I felt nauseous. Days like this, there just wasn’t much I could do, the [More]

Worst. Birthday. Ever. The second my husband was out the door, I collapsed in a heap on the living room sofa and cried my eyes out. He’d gone off to work without so much as a “goodbye” or “I love you.” Not even a “happy birthday.”   Our seven-year marriage was over. That much was clear. We’d just come home after a long weekend in San Francisco, where we’d intended to celebrate my 41st birthday with friends. We were trying to work through our problems. Maybe a mini vacation was just what we needed. But he’d ignored me the entire [More]

It was before dawn when I felt someone pulling at the bed sheets. “Too early, go back to sleep,” I mumbled. The tugging continued. I cracked open my right eye. The blurry figure of my five-year-old son, James, climbed beneath the covers. Strange, I thought. He never asked to sleep with his dad and me before, and now he was too big to fit comfortably in our bed. I wanted to shoo him away. But a voice in the dark argued against me–“Keep him with you, it’s only an hour.”   Was that my husband, Ed? I turned towards the [More]

I’m a CSI, a crime-scene investigator, for Los Angeles County and it’s a 24-hour-a-day, 365-day-a-year job. Even on Christmas Eve. I went to bed that night hoping to sleep until morning, when my three daughters would rush in, giddy and impatient to open their gifts. But at midnight the phone rang. “We need you at a crime scene,” the dispatcher said.   There had been a home burglary in a poor area of the city. “It can’t wait until the morning,” the deputy at the scene told me when I called for details. “You’ll understand when you get here.”   [More]

My wife, Mary Ellen and I have been married 53 years, and we always try to spend Thanksgiving with our kids. Some time between the turkey and the pumpkin pie, we’ll share the story of the first Thanksgiving that Mary Ellen and I spent together and how it could have turned out a whole lot differently. If I hadn’t answered the call.   It was Thanksgiving eve, 1959, and I was in my dorm at Miami University in Ohio, about to set out on a long drive to pick Mary Ellen up from her school, the College of Wooster, three-and-a-half-hours [More]

I sat at the kitchen table to read the paper, a quiet moment in a stressful morning. A familiar face smiled up at me from the obituary page—Eleanor, a grandmother figure I’d befriended in church. Everyone knew her as a deep and caring person, someone who would listen to your problems, pray for you, and know exactly the right thing to say to put you at ease. If only I could talk to Eleanor now. I felt like a terrible mother and I needed a friendly word.   My only son, Michael, and my two other girls didn’t give me [More]

 I drove slowly down the road, peering through the frozen rain striking my windshield. My 12-year-old son, Eric, shivered in the passenger seat while the car warmed up. I should have headed straight home after church, especially in this weather. But we had gone to visit a friend in Grymes Hill, a neighborhood in Staten Island, New York. By the time we left, the sun had set and a sleet storm had begun.   My friend’s townhouse was at the top of the hill and the way down was steep. There were patches of black ice everywhere along the winding [More]

For the first few days after Bob Fu was arrested for his Christian work in China, his prayers were pretty simple: “Lord, get me out of here!” He even prayed that God would punish his interrogators for persecuting God’s children! But as days passed, Bob saw that God had a ministry for him in prison, and his prayers changed. Instead of praying only to be released, he asked God to use him while he was in prison. And God answered his prayer. Today Bob is the president of the China Aid Association, a bold advocate for China’s Christians and author [More]

“For more great teaching by Bro. Hagin click here.”  Admin THE LORD ENLIGHTENS US and guides us through our spirits (Prov. 20:27). If that be the case—and it is—then we need to become more spirit conscious. We need to become more conscious that we are spirit beings, not just mental or physical beings. We need to train our spirits so they will become safer guides. One thing which has held back the Christian world as a whole is that we are more physical-conscious (body-conscious) and more mental-conscious (soul-conscious) than we are spirit-conscious. We have developed the body and the soul, [More]

“Unsure about how to witness, this may help.”  Admin IN 1988 in Scotia, New York, Scott Isley felt an unusual tug on his heart to share the Good News door-to-door in his neighborhood. But he had never shared the Gospel with anyone, and he was afraid to do it. So he talked with his pastor, expecting him to share comforting words of wisdom. When his pastor heard what he and his wife wanted to do, he was ecstatic, but he had no idea how to help them. His response did not calm the Isleys’ fears. Scott and his wife, Laurie, [More]

VOM’s Kids of Courage resources help parents and educators teach children ages 5 to 13 about persecuted Christians. The resources provide opportunities for children to serve and pray for their suffering brothers and sisters around the world. The following interview, which will be shared with children on VOM’s Kids of Courage website, www.kidsofcourage.com, includes good advice for future missionaries of all ages. Bethany H., a VOM volunteer, would like to be a missionary someday. For a school project, she interviewed VOM’s Dr. Jason Peters (pictured). Dr. Peters often travels to meet with persecuted believers around the world. You can read [More]

The story of Wang Ming-dao, one of twentieth century’s most famous Chinese Christians who suffered for his faith, is full of powerful victories and devastating defeats. He was a contemporary of John Sung and Watchman Nee, and had an outstanding ministry as a pastor and evangelist. He developed his theology midst strong resistance, persecution, and suffering. He wrote a series of sermons from which an elementary theology of persecution emerges. Wang’s book of sermons, A Call to the Church, clearly articulates what it means to be a disciple of Christ. Like Bonhoeffer’s The Cost of Discipleship, Wang also had a [More]

There are some Christians who are so focused on the end times that they almost talk about the Antichrist more than Jesus Christ. Not only is my focus absolutely not on the Antichrist, but I’m not even worried about him. It is true that the Bible paints a dreadful picture of this individual whom Paul calls…

Burnout, lack of support and church conflict are why hundreds of former pastors say they quit church. According to a new study by Lifeway Research, 63 percent say they have spent more than 10 years in ministry before these crucial elements drove them to leave the church. “Almost half of those who left the pastorate said their church wasn’t doing any of the kinds of things that would help,” said Ed Stetzer, executive director of the Nashville-based research organization. “Having clear documents, offering a sabbatical rest, and having people help with weighty counseling cases are key things experts tell us [More]

“Another brother who needs our prayers.”  Admin A Canadian pastor serving a life sentence in North Korea for subversion told CNN he spends eight hours a day digging holes at a labor camp where he has not seen any other prisoners. Hyeon Soo Lim, a South Korean-born Canadian who was the head pastor at one of Canada’s largest churches, has been held by the North since February. Lim, who is in his 60s, was sentenced to hard labor for life in December, accused of attempting to overthrow the North Korean government. Read More: Pastor Digging Holes in Labor Camp Desperate [More]