I think everyone would agree that having debt is not a good idea. Obviously, with large ticket items like homes and cars most of us are going to have to go into debt to purchase these needed items. I think we would also agree that if we borrow, we should pay back what we owe.

The Bible has things to say about this topic and mostly from a personal point of view. Here are a couple scriptures to think about on this topic.

Exodus 22:14: "If anything is borrowed, it should be paid back. If what is borrowed is lost or injured, full restitution must be made."

One of the many issues I have with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS) (Mormons) is their use of extrabiblical books they consider equal to the Bible. Mormons consider the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price to be equal to the Bible. Now, they do accept the Bible, too, but they believe parts of the Bible may have been lost or removed, so that is how they can resolve some contradictions between what the Bible says versus their other books of scripture. But I'm not going to get into that in this short blog. What I want to focus on here is the Mormon idea that their spirits existed prior to them being born on earth.

For a Christian, the most important goal that can be attained is entering the Kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33). But with any goal you need to set up a plan with specific practices to achieve the goal.

An old saying states, "A journey of 1,000 miles begins with one step." In other words, to accomplish your goals you must complete several smaller tasks in order to achieve the ultimate goal. Let's look at achieving the goal of getting into the Kingdom. As we look at this goal, we will see the major points we will need for achieving any goal.

In the history of the world, one thing that is inevitable is that all great powers will decline. Egypt, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, Spain, France, the United Kingdom, and, most recently, the Soviet Union. Is the United States next?

A new study by Rand (RAND Corporation is an American nonprofit global policy think tank), commissioned by the Pentagon's Office of Net Assessment and published in May 2024, makes some startling admissions. The Rand study, titled "The Sources of Renewed National Dynamism," looks at what has led to "the relative decline in U.S. standing."

The recent rash of protests against Israel's prosecution of the war in Gaza is evidence of a greater change that will have future implications. Previous Palestinian terror tactics against Israel and Israel's response have never elicited protests in the United States to the degree we are seeing on college campuses now. This could be in part due to the degree of slaughter Hamas perpetrated and now Israel's counter-response. The number of dead is much greater in the most recent actions.

The Bible refers to a change in predator behaviour. Lions start to act like sheep. What does this change mean? Why does God call his people sheep? Are sheep stupid? Does God think of you like a sheep?

Could sheep behaviour be Godly behaviour? Could sheep behaviour indicate how the Kingdom of Heaven will operate? How will the millennium operate? How should the church operate?

Tom, an Australian sheep farmer, will explore these questions and other points about sheep from the biblical perspective.

One area of supposed Bible discrepancies pertains to numbers. We will investigate one today.

Look at these two scriptures pertaining to the same event.

2 Samuel 8:4: "And David took from him a thousand chariots, and seven hundred horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen: and David houghed all the chariot horses, but reserved of them for an hundred chariots" (KJV).

1 Chronicles 18:4: "And David took from him a thousand chariots, and seven thousand horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen: David also houghed all the chariot horses, but reserved of them an hundred chariots" (KJV).

Both of these scriptures pertain to David defeating Hadarezer and then taking booty from him.

One of the great debates among Christians, philosophers, agnostics, atheists, and other believers in religion is the validity of the Bible. Many Christians would argue that the Bible is the inspired word of God. But even among Christians, there is disagreement. This is a deep subject, but I don't have time to fully develop it here. I just want to provide a little information to support the Church of God International's contention that the Bible is the inspired word of God.

In December 2023, two major Christian church groups began officially blessing same-sex couples.

The Church of England began their practice on December 17, 2023. In February the Church voted to allow clergy to bless the unions of same-sex couples who have had civil weddings or partnerships. The words used for the blessings, known as prayers of love and faith, were approved by the church's House of Bishops on December 12, 2023.

Not to be outdone, the Vatican announced on December 18, 2023, that Catholic priests may bless same-sex couples. The announcement states that the blessings in question must not be tied to any specific Catholic celebration or religious service and should not be done at the same time as a civil union ceremony.

Throughout my years in the Church of God, I have heard different ideas about the following scripture (Matthew 28:19):

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, (KJV)

“Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: (ASV)

“having gone, then, disciple all the nations, (baptizing them -- to the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, (YLT)

The Greek word used here for “in,” “into,” and “to” is eis.  The word is a primary preposition and indicates the point reached or entered of place, time, or (figuratively) purpose.

As we enter another election cycle next year in the United States (US) European nations are taking note. There is some concern in Europe over a possible new Trump presidency. This is due to the fact unlike previous presidents, Trump has made statements about pulling out of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

“It would be extremely stressful if America pivoted away from Europe, and that’s the worry with Trump,” a top European diplomat stated. “Every foreign ministry is thinking about this.”

You have probably heard the famous refrain from the story The Tale of Two Cities, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times….” This phrase fits perfectly into the use of technology in our world today. Technology has done great good for society. One obvious example is more ways to communicate with people. Facebook is one example where people can keep track of their friends’ and relatives’ lives in a greater degree. But we could also argue that the time used to put up and read content on Facebook could be better utilized.

One of our primary concerns for having issues with worldly holidays like Halloween is the belief that these days are used to obfuscate and hide the true holy days of God. Halloween is a great example of this with its timing right after the time of the Feast of Tabernacles and Last Great Day.

Many argue about what is the harm in letting kids go out and gather candy from neighbors. On its face this does not seem like a problem since we are not worshipping God on this day and obviously most of those who celebrate are not worshipping any false gods consciously. But by putting so much money and energy into days like Halloween our culture makes it easy for people to miss God’s plan and holy days.

On the Last Great Day Palestinian Hamas forces struck Israel with a devastating terrorist attack. Over 1,300 Israelis lost their lives during this surprise attack. Indications are a wider war will now ensue between Israel and Hamas. Israel has pounded sites in Gaza over the past week killing even more Palestinians. As with any war, what this will lead to is anyone’s guess. But let us take a closer look at what we can learn from the latest significant flare up in the Middle East.