As I age, words take on newer meanings. The words stay the same, but the conditions and applications change. When I now think of Easter, I no doubt remember Passover. As a kid, I remember perhaps being in third or fourth grade, and my daily ritual was to go to school and then after school in Detroit, I would walk to Hebrew school. (In Miami Beach I would also walk to the synagogue, and it was across the street from my school. There were basketball courts in the park between the two schools, and I honestly can’t remember if I […]

It is time for the church, the Bride, to come back to a revelation of first love.  I write this with affection and value to you, church of South Florida, the eklesia. I thank the Father for you, who has stood firm and stayed planted in a dry and weary land where at times it seems there is no water. You, church of South Florida, have endured. This is no small thing. Unity across borders, boundaries and denominations has strengthened you. The Father is so proud. Unity will always command His blessing.  However, beloved, in the midst of enduring, in […]

These are very trying times. But the ultimate problem is the threat of death. Despite all of life’s difficulties, Jesus has taken the sting out of death. After a bee stung a boy one day, his young brother was frightened as the insect continued hovering around him. But his father told him not to worry – there was only one stinger in that bee, and his older brother had already received it. Jesus is our older brother, and He has taken the sting of death upon Himself. As the Apostle Paul would say, “Oh death, where is thy sting?”   […]

“The end of all things is near. Therefore, be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray” (1 Peter 4:7). Peter wrote these words for the persecuted believers in the cities and rural areas who lived in the Roman provinces of Pontus, Galatian, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia (1:1-2), the area which is the modern-day Turkey. These gentile Christians broke from the immoral lifestyle and idolatry of their communities, and in response, they experienced the dishonor of being physically and verbally abused (4:1, 3-4). The situation of women and slaves was especially precarious since they were expected to follow the […]

“O Lord, How Long Shall I Cry, and You Will Not Hear?” (Habakkuk 1:2). This question, asked by Habakkuk, was born out of a “burden” that consumed him. He faced a moral dilemma: how could a holy God — who had called Israel the “apple of His eye” (Deuteronomy 32:10) — now allow the pagan Babylonians to besiege and ultimately destroy the city of Jerusalem and take away the Jews into captivity? If we are honest, most of us have felt like Habakkuk. We, too, have been burdened by the seeming inactivity of our God. We too have bombarded the […]