Monthy Newsletter
Revival or Apostasy?
April 12, 2024
Knowing that we are in the last of the last days, with an imminent Rapture a very real hope, our thoughts often (and indeed should) turn to the signs that Christ said would herald the nearness of His return. The signs that are most widely cited include “wars and rumours of wars...[when] nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom...and...famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes...these are the beginning of sorrows” (Mt 24:6-8). Unquestionably, these specific “sorrows” have been both prominent and accelerating since Israel again became a nation in 1948. Since that time, the intensity and frequency of these signs have increased like the birth pangs of a woman approaching her time of delivery, exactly as Christ foretold. However, the first sign that Christ gave has been largely overlooked and His solemn warning neglected: * And Jesus answered and said...Take heed that no man deceive you. * For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.... * And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.... * For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. (Mt 24:4,5,11,24) [Emphasis added.]
Heaven’s Cure for Our Troubled Hearts—Part Two
April 1, 2024
“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” —John 14:1-6 I believe that the great miracle that the unsaved world wants to see today is not the healing of a leper, not giving sight to the blind or hearing to the deaf. The great miracle that the unsaved want to see today is the miracle of a transformed life—people who've been saved from sin and defilement and corruption. They're new creatures in Christ Jesus, and they're really different persons! “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). And we're going to come to that just a little bit later in the chapter.
Heaven’s Cure for Our Troubled Hearts—Part One
March 1, 2024
As I read these verses of Scripture, I can't help thinking of the vast number of people who will be in heaven singing the praises of the Lord Jesus for all eternity because of verse 6—how the Holy Spirit of God used that verse to bring light to darkened souls. They came to Christ depending on Him and Him alone for their soul’s salvation. I think of people going through trials, and difficulty, and trouble—pain, sorrow, tears—and I think of the comfort that these verses have brought to them.
The Further Flight from Reason
February 1, 2024
“Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD….” —Isaiah 1:18 Two years ago (February 2022) we published a TBC article titled "The Flight from Reason." At that time, certain things were taking place that made you wonder if the world and the church had indeed taken leave of their senses, or, in the church's case, a huge slipping away from God's truth (Hebrews 2:1), verging on complete irrationality. Reason, even at the level of just plain common sense, has ceased to be the criterion of everyday living. That was certainly obvious in the realm of politics. Although the mantra of the various left-leaning agendas claimed it was for the good of society, the "good" was either short-lived or quickly destructive. Gaining control over the populous was their main goal, and the objective was to impose a certain ideology on the masses by whatever means. For Bible-believing Christians it became necessary to enter into the political realm as voters when the promoted agendas dealt with moral issues such as abortion and the legalization of mind-altering drugs. We certainly have a responsibility as US citizens to affect the outcome of what our government attempts to adopt, especially regarding the consequences related to our children. However, that's not the primary concern of this article. It's the effect that the seeming abandonment of reason is having on the church.
The Wide Gate Is Booming—Part Three
January 1, 2024
Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. —Matthew 7:13-14 Each part of this three-part series began with the above scriptures because we believe they capture the options the church and the world face. What's found through the "strait gate" are numerous instructions that make up the truth of God's Word. Although that gate is open to all, only those who are born again of the Holy Spirit choose to enter therein. Yet still retaining their old nature, believers can be enticed by the sins of the world. Twice in Proverbs (14:12; 16:25) we find, "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death," indicating that believers can still slip into the errors of the wide gate/broad way. William MacDonald in his Believer's Bible Commentary calls the wide gate the way of a "life of self-indulgence and pleasure." Simple observation reveals that such an attraction would be the case for a majority of Christians whether they are professing or true believers. Obviously, that's more attractive than the difficulties that accompany the exhortation of "denying self" found in Matthew 16:24. What is overwhelmingly clear and increasing exponentially is that the instructions of the "strait gate" are being abandoned by the church in wholesale fashion.
The Wide Gate Is Booming—Part Two
December 1, 2023
Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. —Matthew 7:13-14 As we pointed out in Part One, those who have chosen to enter through the "strait gate" are those who are born again, which can only take place by putting their faith in Jesus Christ, who paid the full penalty for their sin. Furthermore, "strait is the gate, and narrow is the [only] way which leads unto life." That life, of course, is eternal life.
Defying the God of Israel
November 1, 2023 • T.A. McM
Our main website: http://www.thebereancall.org Store: store.http://thebereancall.org Download our app: http://www.thebereancall.org/app In-depth research on a variety of Bible topics: https://http://www.thebereancall.org/topics Sign up for our email updates: https://http://www.thebereancall.org/subscribe Abraham is called “the Friend of God” (James 2:23), an expression used of no other person in the Bible. As a result of that relationship, God made an “everlasting covenant” with His special friend (Genesis 17:7,13,19; 1 Chronicles 16:16-18; Psalm 105:8-12; 118:9, etc.) that extended to Abraham's descendants for all time. This covenant involved (1) the promised land and (2) the promised Messiah. Only in the Messiah could God fulfill His pledge to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: “in thee [and in thy seed] shall all families [or nations] of the earth be blessed” (Genesis 12:3; 22:18; 26:4; 28:14). As for the land, God’s promise was clear: “For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever” (Genesis 13:15); “...the LORD made a covenant with Abram,... Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river...Euphrates” (Genesis 15:18); “...all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession…” (Genesis 17:7-8). Abraham had several sons: Ishmael through his wife Sarah's Egyptian maid, Hagar; Isaac through his wife Sarah; and six others through Keturah, whom he married after Sarah died (Genesis 25:1-2).
The Wide Gate Is Booming—Part One
October 1, 2023
Although the Word of God is timeless, I'm continually amazed yet very thankful at how it speaks to what's going on now, meaningwithin our very hour. These two verses from the gospel of Matthew are prime examples, solet's start with an understanding of them. To enter in at the strait gate—or narrow way—is to enter the Kingdom of God, which can only take place when one is born again. And when that takes place, a believer receives the gift of eternal life, the consummation of placing one's faith in Jesus for paying the full penalty for sin. "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit" (1 Peter 3:18).
“They Have Forsaken the LORD”
September 1, 2023 • Dave Hunt
On our website: https://http://www.thebereancall.org/content/they-have-forsaken-lord-0 Featured Products: https://store.http://thebereancall.org/shop/category/featured-august-352 Our main website: http://www.thebereancall.org Store: store.http://thebereancall.org Download our app: http://www.thebereancall.org/app In-depth research on a variety of Bible topics: https://http://www.thebereancall.org/topics Sign up for our email updates: https://http://www.thebereancall.org/subscribe Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward. — Isaiah 1:4 Most of us fail to grasp the depths of depravity into which the United States—and the world––are rapidly sinking, provoking a merciful and patient God to judgment. The evidence is overwhelming. Yet we’re blinded to the truth like the proverbial frog in the pot that is slowly, by small degrees, being brought to a boil. Deceit is everywhere, and lies pass for truth. The major promoter of abortion calls itself Planned Parenthood. By what perverted logic can a husband and wife who deliberately murdered in the womb what would have been their baby be called its “parents”? Shouldn’t the organization that inspired and assisted in this foul deed rather be called “Planned No Parenthood”?d
God’s Plan for the Clueless
August 1, 2023
When I speak to young Christian adults, whether they are in the workplace or in college, a message that I hope encourages them concerns God's willingness to guide their lives if that is their desire. I use His involvement in my own life throughout my 78 years as an example. The following is an abridged version of God’s gracious guidance, much of it well before I came to know Him personally. I was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., and baptized Thomas Aloysius McMahon in the Roman Catholic Church. In my early grade-school years, my family moved to Apple Creek, Ohio, where my dad was a psychiatrist at the state mental health facility. Our home was on the 2,000-acre grounds of the institution. That aspect of my background came to light during the times when Dave Hunt and I were both speakers at conferences. Dave enjoyed mentioning to the audience that “Tom grew up in an insane asylum, so you really need to be Bereans in checking out what he says.” They thought he was joking until I admitted that he was correct on both accounts. My psychiatrist father was a director of a large mental institution and our family lived on the grounds. My education was mostly under Catholic instruction, including elementary school, military school, and high school, as well as a brief time in a Catholic fraternity. I enjoyed my Catholic upbringing and looked upon many of the nuns and priests in my life as extended family members. Those fond memories remain.
Toward the Prize
July 1, 2023
Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. —2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? —Revelation 13:3-4 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. —Revelation 13:8
Mysticism and the Coming World Religion—Part Three
June 1, 2023
Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. —2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? —Revelation 13:3-4 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. —Revelation 13:8
Mysticism and the Coming World Religion—Part Two
May 1, 2023
Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. —2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? —Revelation 13:3-4 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. —Revelation 13:8
Mysticism and the Coming World Religion—Part One
April 1, 2023
Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. —2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? —Revelation 13:3-4 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. —Revelation 13:8
What a Sovereign God Cannot Do - March Newsletter
March 1, 2023
One of the most common expressions one hears in Christian circles, especially for reassurance when things aren’t going well, is that “God is in control, He’s still on the throne.” Christians comfort themselves with these words—but what do they mean? Was God not “in control” when Satan rebelled and when Adam and Eve disobeyed, but now He is? Does God’s being in control mean that all the rape, murder, war and multiplied evil is exactly what He planned and desires?