How do you recapture your "first love" for God?

The Bible warns about Christians losing their first love. What can we do to prevent this?

Jesus Christ praised the church in Ephesus for their works, labor, patience and perseverance (Revelation 2:1-3). But He warned, "Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love" (Revelation 2:4).

Jesus also warned Christians in the end time, "Because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold" (Matthew 24:12). This is in stark contrast to the true love Christ said would characterize His Church: "By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13:35).

What is "first love," and how can seasoned Christians recapture it? How can we have the kind of love Jesus had and not let it grow cold? Here are some biblical tips.

A new Christian typically experiences a "first love" for the truth, eagerly studying God's Word. What we were learning was so exciting, we would burn the midnight oil to learn more. Christ says the Ephesians had begun with an excitement and love for truth, but internal betrayal and spiritual battles had eroded much of their enthusiasm.

So Christ told them, "Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works" (Revelation 2:5).

It is possible to recapture the first love. With prayer and study, the former love for God and His truths can be rekindled.

There was a time when David found he had drifted away from God. He no longer felt that former joy he'd had. He repented and fervently prayed, "Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit" (Psalm 51:12). David was reconciled with God, stirred up God's Spirit and went on to serve Him faithfully and zealously for the rest of his life.

If we return to a diligent study of the Scriptures and ask God to restore a spiritual hunger for His wonderful truths, God will hear and answer us (Matthew 7:7-8). Then as we study it will be like God is speaking directly to us, and we will be uplifted by the hope that has motivated the faithful down through the centuries. This love for the truth can help us not fall for the "lawlessness" that abounds in the end time (Matthew 24:12). Staying close to God and stirring up His Spirit will also help us avoid allowing the lawlessness of others to drag us down.

God wants us to continue assembling together and considering "one another in order to stir up love and good works" (Hebrews 10:24-25). Fellowshipping with God and our fellow Christians can help us keep our love from growing cold.

America Drowns in a Sea of Debt—What Does It All Mean?

America's debt load is staggering and growing worse by the minute. How did the nation that was the world's biggest lender only a few decades ago become the world's greatest debtor today?

In this day and age, computers bring the world to our door. With a few clicks of a computer mouse, one can watch a real-time clock that shows the growth of the U.S. national debt. The numbers climb at a shocking pace. It's scary to watch how quickly the debt piles up—$48,000 per second, $4.1 billion per day.

The beginning of 2011 saw the U.S. national debt rise to just over $14 trillion, an amount of money incomprehensible to the average person. It's roughly equal to projected U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the worth of everything produced in the United States in one year.

In per capita terms, it adds up to more than $45,000 for every man, woman and child in the United States. More realistically, perhaps, the average U.S. taxpayer is on the hook for $127,000, or about 2 1⁄2 years of average household income.

Any country's national debt is simply the combined total of its budget deficits, the difference between what the government spends and what it takes in. The last time the United States ran a budget surplus was fiscal year 2000. The stated surplus of $230 billion for that year pales, however, when one realizes that the federal government borrowed billions from other revenue sources to achieve the stated surplus.

Since that time a perfect storm of economic factors have combined to create the present situation. Falling revenues from the recessions of 2001 and 2008-2009, combined with wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and higher spending on homeland security, rapidly plunged the government back into a deficit mode. By fiscal 2008 the budget deficit reached $455 billion, which skyrocketed to $1.7 trillion in fiscal 2010 as the Obama administration resorted to deficit spending to stimulate the economy while maintaining spending levels on existing programs.

What stuns most observers is the speed at which the debt has grown in the past decade. In historical terms, it took from the founding of the United States in 1776 to 2004 for the accruing debt over that long span to reach $7.6 trillion. (The debt would rise during times of war and be paid down during peacetime. Still, the only previous time in U.S. history that the debt approached total GDP was 1944, at the height of U.S. involvement in World War II, but it dropped far lower after the war.)

By January 2009, however, the debt had grown to $10.6 trillion. At the current growth rate of $4.1 billion per day, the debt level will reach $15.4 trillion by the end of this year. That means that in well under a decade the United States will have doubled the amount of debt accumulated in the previous 228 years combined!

A staggering amount of annual interest

Of course, the United States must pay interest on the money it borrows. For fiscal 2008, that interest amounted to about $220 billion, and climbed to more than $383 billion in fiscal 2009. That's more than $1,200 for every man, woman and child in the country—and again, just for interest and just for one year alone!

Several government and private sources predict the annual interest will grow to more than $700 billion by fiscal 2019. By comparison, the entire U.S. defense budget for the current fiscal year is $664 billion. So in plain terms, America will soon be spending more just paying the interest on the national debt than it now spends on national defense! The federal government is obligated to pay this interest; any default, or even failure to make debt payments on time, would seriously damage the government's credit rating in world financial markets.

Mid-January 2011 saw the U.S. Congress girding for a major fight over the debt ceiling, which stood at $14.3 trillion, an amount that will be surpassed by March. A default on that debt would be, in the words of Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, "an event that has no precedent in American history."

Default would force the U.S. government to drastically raise the interest rate it pays to those who buy its debt in the form of treasury bills, notes and bonds in order to attract buyers, which would increase annual interest that must be paid—that is, if the government could continue selling its securities at all. The economic and financial tidal wave this would set off in world markets could make the 2008-2009 financial meltdown pale by comparison.

A July 2010 report by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) spells out the wrenching effects of such a financial crisis. Higher interest rates needed to attract buyers of government securities would choke economic growth, while forcing the U.S. Treasury to pay additional hundreds of billions annually in interest payments.

The Federal Reserve would likely react by printing more money, fueling inflation, which would create additional pressure on interest rates. The meltdown of 2008-2009 would repeat itself, as more major financial institutions would fail due to collapse of their financial bases.

Throughout American history the U.S. Treasury has found willing buyers for its debt. But beginning in 2008 China, the largest foreign holder of U.S. debt, began signaling a growing unease over the amount of debt it holds. A Jan. 14, 2011, Wall Street Journal article revealed that many in the financial world, including foreign governments, are starting to get worried. Moody's Investors Service said in a mid-January report that the United States needs to reverse its expansion of debt if it hopes to keep its current Aaa credit rating.

Said Moody's senior analyst Sarah Carlson, "We have become increasingly clear about the fact that if there are not offsetting measures to reverse the deterioration in negative fundamentals in the U.S., the likelihood of a negative outlook over the next two years will increase." The same article quoted the head of Standard & Poor's (or S&P) France, Carol Sirou, who told a Paris conference that the firm wouldn't rule out lowering the outlook for the U.S. rating in the near future.

America in a financial hammerlock

Fueled by its booming economy, China is now, as mentioned, the world's leading foreign holder of U.S. national debt, having surpassed Japan in that regard in September 2008. A November 2008 Washington Post story cited Beijing's growing sway over the U.S. economy, noting that a decision by China to move out of U.S. government bonds, for economic or political reasons, could lead a herd of other investors to follow suit, which would drive up the cost of U.S. borrowing.

This gives the Chinese considerable leverage over the U.S. economy, should they ever choose to use it. The New York Times reported in early 2009 that China is concerned about the Obama health-care plan, and rising U.S. debt, because they finance so much of it.

Other observers have noted the growing influence of China in U.S. mortgage markets. Increasing Chinese reluctance to invest in U.S. private mortgage bonds could have long-term effects on mortgage interest rates if lenders are forced to pay higher rates themselves for mortgage capital.

"This is a sign of the growing inter-dependence between the Chinese and U.S. economies, but also a sign of a relationship that is not healthy in the long term," said Eswar Prasad, an economics professor at Cornell University and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington.

From largest lender to largest debtor

More and more Americans are awakening to the reality of America's rising national debt, which is by far the largest in the world. How, many ask, did the world's greatest economic power get into this situation?

It wasn't so long ago that America was the world's greatest creditor. In the aftermath of World War II, certainly in the memory of millions, the United States led the world financial system in creating the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. These institutions, formed to help a world recovering from the nightmare of World War II, helped in generating tremendous prosperity in regions humbled and impoverished by war.

But in just over two decades the United States has gone from being "banker to the world" to the largest debtor nation on earth. The financial world is beginning to express its alarm. However, you may be amazed to discover that this very situation was prophesied more than 3,000 years ago!

Believe it or not, the Bible has quite a bit to say about America's debt situation. Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 are known as the "blessings and curses" chapters. Here God Himself warned that foreign powers would gradually achieve dominance over the people of Israel if they rejected His laws and turned their backs on Him.

It seems ominously prophetic of today's situation, where America has gone from the world's leading creditor to its leading borrower. Note the warning: "The alien who is among you shall rise higher and higher above you, and you shall come down lower and lower. He shall lend to you, but you shall not lend to him. He shall be the head, and you shall be the tail" (Deuteronomy 28:43-44). It's no wonder that this reads so much like today's headlines when we discover the surprising truth that the majority of Americans are descendants of those same Israelites to whom God gave this warning!

The United States is traveling headlong down an economic path leading to enormous problems, if not outright destruction. Sadly, as Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 show, these national problems are symptoms of a greater problem—the deep spiritual sickness that afflicts a nation that is increasingly turning its back on and denying the God who blessed it so greatly in earlier years.

The question we must all face is: Will the nation wake up in time to take the corrective action needed? Will you?

What's Behind the Turmoil in Egypt?

Recent headlines have been filled with accounts of riots, protests and demonstrations in several Middle Eastern countries. What's behind them? What does it all mean? Does Bible prophecy provide any clues?

When 26-year-old produce-stand vendor Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire Dec. 17, 2010, in Sidi Bouzid, Tunisia, fatally injuring himself in an act of protest against the government, he dropped a match into the tinderbox that is the Middle East.

Some have likened his action to that of Gavrilo Princip, whose assassination of Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914 ignited the flames of World War I and set in motion a chain of events that would ultimately reshape the world.

Since Mohamed Bouazizi's self-immolation, the president of Tunisia has fled the country, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has been forced from office, and sometimes bloody protests have broken out in Egypt, Jordan, Yemen, Algeria and other Arab nations. In some cases panicked governments shut down Internet and cell phone communications nationwide to slow the spread of antigovernment demonstrations. In others, tanks, armored personnel carriers and thousands of troops patrolled city streets to maintain control.

Where will things go from here? It's anyone's guess. Things could calm down temporarily, or they could grow much, much worse.

What's behind the growing unrest?

Mohamed Bouazizi saw little hope for his future. Frustrated at being unable to find a decent job, he could only find work manning a produce stand on a city street.

His desperation is shared by millions more not only in Tunisia, but throughout the Arab world where increasingly angry citizens see little opportunity to improve their lot while their rulers—often essentially dictators for life—enrich themselves and their families, friends and associates.

Their resentment is also often directed at the West—and the United States in particular—whom they see as subjugating the Muslim world, polluting it culturally and spiritually, while supporting puppet rulers and the often-hated state of Israel.

This feeds right into the hands of Islamic radicals and fundamentalists, who are always ready to stir unrest if it means opening the door to gaining more power for themselves in support of their goal to establish a worldwide community of Muslim believers under Islamic rule.

Chief among such groups is the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamic group that originated in Egypt and wields considerable power there—so much so that it is likely to hold sizable influence in any elected government that takes shape in the post-Mubarak era. Spokesmen for the Muslim Brotherhood have already renounced Egypt's peace treaty with Israel, which would essentially return the two countries to a state of war.

The Muslim Brotherhood has given rise to various terrorist organizations. The charter of Hamas, which rules Gaza with an iron fist, says it "is one of the wings of the Muslim Brotherhood in Palestine." There are also links with the groups responsible for the 1997 massacre of 58 tourists at Luxor, Egypt, and the 1980 assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat for signing a peace treaty with Israel. The 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Osama bin Laden's right-hand man Ayman al-Zawahiri were members of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Could we see another Iran?

It's very difficult for Westerners to grasp the religious fervor that drives events in many Middle Eastern countries. Because few in the West take religion seriously, it's hard for them to fathom the deep religious beliefs that motivate so many people there. It also makes it difficult to understand the huge cultural differences, much less bridge them.

Those of us in advanced Western democracies would naturally sympathize with the demands of demonstrators in Egypt, Tunisia, Jordan and Yemen for greater rights and freedoms and a larger say in their governments and leaders. Most human beings rightfully yearn for such things.

But as former U.S. President George W. Bush learned—and as President Barack Obama may be learning now—"instant" democracy is a myth. Suddenly granting democratic self-rule to people steeped in a culture of being told what to do, sorely lacking in democratic ideals, used to looking to strongmen as saviors and divided over age-old antagonisms can sometimes create far more problems than it solves.

We need only consider the Gaza Strip, which in its first democratic election in 2006 swept the terror group Hamas into power. Its first election was also its last. We could also look at Iraq and Afghanistan, where attempts to institute democratic institutions after the ouster of strongman rulers like Saddam Hussein and Mullah Omar have proved bitter disappointments.

Like the citizens of Gaza, Iraqis and Afghanis have often looked to religious figures to lead them, and that has often only fostered further problems and divisions.

Another example we would do well to heed is Iran. The parallels between what is happening in Egypt today and events of the 1979 Iranian revolution are sobering. Leading up to that 1979 revolution, dissatisfaction among students and liberal-leaning members of Iranian society brought widespread protests much like those seen recently in Egypt. It wasn't long before vast public demonstrations brought the toppling of the pro-Western shah of Iran. Abandoned by his supporters in the West, he fled the country in disgrace.

For a time—very brief, as it turned out—it appeared that Iran might actually have a progressive, democratic government. But barely a month after the shah's departure, the Ayatollah Khomeini's followers took over and a fundamentalist revolution was in full swing. Iran quickly became a radicalized religious regime.

Now, three decades later, Iran is run by Ayatollah Khomeini's ideological offspring—including President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose efforts to develop nuclear weapons have antagonized much of the Western world and inspired fear in many of his neighbors.

Why is Egypt so important?

As noted earlier, the goal of many Muslims is to establish a worldwide community of believers under an Islamic theocracy.

Egypt would be the grand prize for Islamic revolutionaries. With 80 million people, it is the Arab world's most populous country. After Israel, it also has the region's greatest military capability. It also controls one of the world's key shipping choke points, the Suez Canal, through which up to 2 million barrels of oil pass per day to hungry Western markets.

With its storied history and cultural legacy, Egypt holds a special place in the minds of Muslims worldwide. If Egypt were to turn from its secular government and embrace Islamic fundamentalism on a national level—and polls show that many of its people lean in that direction—it would be a huge boon to the revolutionary cause.

And make no mistake, the same methods that brought revolutionaries into power in Iran are very much at work in Egypt and other parts of the Middle East today. They first spread dissatisfaction and unrest, leading to chaos and uncertainty, causing the people to cry out for solutions and stability, after which they step in as the solution to the very problems they themselves created —and a totalitarian state is born. The only difference is that this time the authoritarian state is religious in nature.

Of course, it doesn't stop with just one country. If Egypt—the Arab world's most powerful and populous country—were to fall to such revolutionaries, it would greatly embolden similar movements in other nearby states. Like falling dominoes, one can easily envision the toppling of Arab monarchies and strongmen in Libya, Algeria and Morocco to the west and Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq to the east and northeast.

In a matter of a few weeks to a few days, the entire Middle East as we know it could be radically transformed. Rather than one terror-exporting Iran eagerly pursuing nuclear weapons, America and the West potentially could be faced with a dozen or more like it!

If this sounds too far-fetched to be true, remember that events like those leading up to the expulsion of the rulers in Tunisia and Egypt are also already taking place in Jordan, Algeria and Yemen!

What are the prophetic implications of these events?

The writers of The Good News have long urged our readers to closely watch events in the Middle East. And with good reason, for the Middle East will be at the center of events that in the near future will lead to the end of this age of human misrule and the establishment of the soon-coming reign of Jesus Christ.

But it will not be pretty! From the Middle East will flow events that will create chaos and turmoil on a scale unparalleled in human history. Jesus Christ Himself said of this time: "It will be a time of great distress, such as there has never been before since the beginning of the world, and will never be again. If that time of troubles were not cut short, no living thing could survive; but for the sake of God's chosen it will be cut short" (Matthew 24:21-22, Revised English Bible, emphasis added throughout).

The 11th chapter of the prophetic book of Daniel describes a ruler rising from the lands of the Middle East "at the time of the end" (verse 40). This individual—apparently the leader of an end-time alliance of Muslim nations (and remember that a primary goal of Islamic fundamentalists is to unite all Muslims under a central Islamic rule)—is referred to in this verse as "the king of the South."

Daniel's prophecy spans many centuries, from the time of the Persian Empire to the time of the end and Jesus Christ's return. In this chapter the terms "king of the South" and "king of the North" originally referred to two of the successors of Alexander the Great—two of his generals who, at Alexander's death, claimed portions of his empire to the south and north of the Holy Land (and thus the terms "king of the South" and "king of the North").

But over the many centuries spanned by this long prophecy, the kings of the South and North, as well as the territories over which they ruled, changed. Alliances shifted. Kingdoms, empires and dynasties rose and fell. For lack of space, we won't go into those many details. You can find the basics covered in our free booklet The Middle East in Bible Prophecy—we hope you'll request or download your free copy.

As spelled out in this booklet, the end-time king of the North is the leader of a European-centered alliance of nations—a new emerging global superpower that soon will dominate the world stage. He and the end-time king of the South—again, apparently the leader of an alliance of Islamic nations—will come into major conflict.

A coming clash of civilizations

Notice Daniel's prophecy: "At the time of the end the king of the South shall attack him; and the king of the North shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter the countries, overwhelm them, and pass through" (verse 40).

This king of the South attacks the king of the North, which provokes a retaliatory invasion into the Middle East. "He shall also enter the Glorious Land [the Holy Land, generally modern-day Israel], and many countries shall be overthrown; but these shall escape from his hand: Edom, Moab, and the prominent people of Ammon" (verse 41).

Edom, Moab and Ammon are largely the people of modern-day Jordan, so it appears that the king of the North and his forces will occupy Israel yet stop short of Jordan.

But notice what also happens in this invasion by the king of the North: "He shall stretch out his hand against the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape. He shall have power over the treasures of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt; also the Libyans and Ethiopians shall follow at his heels" (verses 42-43).

Libya is immediately west of Egypt; Ethiopia is to the south. The king of the North clearly invades the region and ends up controlling Egypt, Libya and Ethiopia as a result of this retaliatory offensive—and perhaps more of North Africa will be involved.

How are we to make sense of these events?

Until the rise of militant Islam, none of this seemed remotely possible. But with the Iranian Revolution and the oft-stated goal of uniting believers under the banner of Islam, we now see the increasing likelihood of some sort of Islamic movement sweeping across the nations of the Middle East and uniting Muslims against the West.

To them, Europe remains a grave threat to Islam. Even today, Islamic radicals like Osama bin Laden repeatedly refer to Western influence in the Middle East as a continuation of the Crusades, which they view as an attempt to exterminate Islam that is still ongoing.

Other Muslim figures openly talk of capturing Europe for Islam. Many would prefer that this come through peaceful immigration and high birthrates (and Europe is wrestling with the problem of millions upon millions of Muslim immigrants and their burgeoning progeny). But they are prepared for the assimilation of Europe to come through war and jihad if necessary.

In today's current atmosphere—with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad threatening the West and pursuing nuclear weapons, with Islamic fundamentalism and radicalism spreading, with conflict growing between Islam and the West, and with the possibility of secularized Arab governments falling to Islamists—suddenly this clash of civilizations and another open war in the Middle East doesn't sound so far-fetched at all.

Yes, we definitely need to keep a close eye on the Middle East. It's unclear how the current turmoil will affect Egypt. Perhaps peace and calm will win out temporarily. Or things could turn very bad very quickly.

Either way, even if it doesn't happen now, these recent events show just how volatile the situation is in many of these countries and how quickly circumstances could change at any time—perhaps leading into the very events foretold by Daniel under God's inspiration.

As Jesus Christ tells us in Luke 21:36, we are to diligently "watch therefore, and pray always[,] that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man." Let us make sure that we are so doing!

The Spiritual Reality Behind The King's Speech

The movie The King's Speech highlights the very personal struggle of Britain's King George VI to overcome a speech impediment. Behind the film is the historical reality of the man's deep religious faith, a conviction that enabled him to lead the British Empire during its time of greatest trial.

In the last week of 2010 my wife and I went to see the film The King's Speech, the Oscar-nominated movie that tells the story of the struggle of Britain's King George VI with a speech impediment and of his therapist, Australian Lionel Logue.

I was so inspired by much of the movie that I searched among my books for one I've owned for a few years but had never read. The Reluctant King, by Sarah Bradford (1989), tells the fascinating story of this remarkable monarch, a man who was decidedly not born to be king and who very reluctantly ascended the throne in December 1936 following the abdication of his elder brother.

George VI was born in 1895, when his great-grandmother Queen Victoria was still very much alive. He lived through the reigns of his grandfather Edward VII (1901-1910), his father George V (1910-1936) and his brother Edward VIII (1936).

He lived during a very interesting time, when Great Britain was the world's preeminent power. Since the king presided over the British Empire, with a quarter of the world's people as his subjects, his office was then the most important in the world. The abdication of his brother on Dec. 11, 1936, was a major constitutional crisis affecting governments around the world, as all the dominions of the British Empire had to agree on the change.

Although traumatic at the time, in hindsight we should all be thankful that Edward VIII abdicated in favor of his brother. Edward had gotten himself involved with a twice-divorced woman from Baltimore who was still married to her second husband.

In 1936 this was totally unacceptable, and not just to the British people. The Australian prime minister, a devout Catholic, made it absolutely clear that the king's mistress would never be acceptable to the Australian people. Similar protests came from Canada and South Africa.

Religion played a major role in the Empire

In reading The Reluctant King, I was struck by how much more religious Britain was at the time than it is now. When, as the young Prince Albert, he was sent for naval training at Osborne on the Isle of Wight, he found that "discipline was strict, but not, according to former cadets, unkindly [so], although the life was Spartan, beginning at 6 a.m. in summer and 6.30 in winter, when the boys, woken by a bugler playing reveille, were expected to leap out of bed at the first stroke of the cadet captain's gong, kneel down and say their prayers" (p. 43).

Everything was done in a hurry, "at the double ... although extra time was allowed for prayers" (ibid.) For "talking before grace," the future king was later punished (p. 52). Religion was clearly taken seriously in the Royal Navy at that time.

Another interesting passage appears on page 53: "War was very much in the air when Prince Albert ... accompanied his father on the royal yacht, the Victoria & Albert, for the great review of the Fleet off Weymouth from 7 to 11 May 1912 ... Prince Albert could not have failed to be impressed by the appearance of what was then the largest and most modern war fleet in the world, equipped with the latest huge dreadnoughts and battle-cruisers and even a submarine ..."

Naval supremacy had enabled Britain to be the dominant power in the world for well over a century when this review of the fleet took place. It was to serve the British well in World War I, which began two years later.

Is it possible there was a connection between Britain's naval supremacy, its superpower status and its many victories over ambitious European powers and its devotedness to prayer—the outward form of its strict Christian beliefs?

In contrast to a century ago, today religious belief is far rarer among members of the British military. I asked my nephew, who serves with the Royal Air Force, how many men in his unit hold any religious beliefs. His reply? "Absolutely no one"!

This is a huge shift from England's historical experience.

On the eve of the Battle of Trafalgar against Napoleon's naval forces in 1805, Britain's Admiral Nelson led the sailors in prayer, asking God for victory against the combined fleets of France and Spain. Nelson then led the Royal Navy to a great victory, ensuring Britain's naval supremacy for more than a hundred years.

A man of faith leading a religious nation

The British people became truly thankful for their new King George VI when he led them through the dark and threatening days of World War II.

Whereas his elder brother, who had abdicated, was seemingly sympathetic to Hitler and even met the dictator on one occasion, King George would not allow himself to be intimidated by Nazi threats. In spite of the danger, he and his wife and two daughters remained in London throughout the war when most other European leaders had fled their own countries. One reason for this was the king's faith.

As The Reluctant King explains: "The Coronation is the single most significant ceremony of a sovereign's life, transforming him or her from an ordinary mortal to a powerful symbol, half-man, half-priest, in a solemn ritual whose history goes back over a thousand years and whose significance is far older.

"No man or woman could fail to be affected by it; for George VI, whose interest in ritual and sense of history was very strong, it was to have an extraordinarily strengthening, confidence-giving effect. For both him and the Queen the religious significance of the ceremony, in which they were to dedicate themselves before God to the service of their people, was very strong.

"Cosmo Lang [Archbishop of Canterbury], an intrusive presence throughout, who saw this as an occasion for asserting the cause of Religion over the Worldliness represented by the late King [Edward VIII], held a private meeting with them at Buckingham Palace on the evening of the Sunday before Coronation Day, at which they all knelt in prayer.

"[Lang wrote:] 'I prayed for them and for their realm and Empire, and I gave them my personal blessing. I was much moved and so were they. Indeed there were tears in their eyes when we rose from our knees. From that moment I knew what would be in their minds and hearts when they came to their anointing and crowning.'

"During the ceremony itself, a kind of religious exaltation came upon the King, he later privately told Lang, as the Archbishop noted in an unpublished passage, 'that he felt throughout that Some One Else was with him'" (p. 212)

Harold Nicolson, a then-well-known diplomat and politician, wrote at the time of the king's coronation in May 1937, "There is no doubt that the King and Queen have entered on this task with a real religious sense" (p. 205).

Bound by "the cause of Christian civilization"

Early in World War II, in a speech to the peoples of the British Empire, the king "issued a rallying cry ... which was to be the most famous he ever made ... [that] 'true peace is in the hearts of men, and it is the tragedy of this time that there are powerful countries whose whole direction and policy are based on aggression and the suppression of all that we hold dear from mankind ...

"'I believe from my heart that the cause which binds together my peoples and our gallant and faithful Allies is the cause of Christian civilization'" (p. 309).

In another memorable speech he proclaimed, "Let us then put our trust, as I do, in God and in the unconquerable spirit of the British people" (p. 325).

U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt wrote to King George VI after meeting Prime Minister Winston Churchill on board a British naval vessel, expressing that "he wished ... that the King could have been present at Divine Service on 'your latest battleship'—the Prince of Wales—attended by hundreds of British and American sailors together" (p. 338).

During a time of numerous military setbacks for the Allies in 1942, the king called for a national day of prayer (p. 342). The following year, as the Allies started to see the war turning in their favor, the actor Leslie Howard, who starred in the enormously popular film Gone With the Wind, stood on the steps of London's St. Paul's Cathedral and repeated Nelson's prayer on the eve of the Battle of Trafalgar. Prayer was very much a part of life in the Royal Navy during the time of Britain's naval supremacy.

National enthusiasm for the Bible

None of this was a surprise for the British people at the time, for the country had been a praying nation for four centuries, ever since the religious fervor that followed the break of Henry VIII from the Catholic Church and the consequent freedom to publish and read the Bible. Henry lifted the ban in 1537, just a few months after the courageous English Bible translator William Tyndale was sentenced to death by an ecclesiastical court for smuggling Bibles into England.

Historian Benson Bobrick explains how Britain played a major role in spreading the Bible to much of the world: "Only in England was the Bible in any sense a 'national possession' ... Englishmen carried their Bibles with them—as the rock and foundation of their lives—overseas ... Beyond the shores of Albion [Britain], it fortified the spirit of the pioneers of New England, helped to shape the American psyche, and through its impact on thought and culture eventually spread the world over" (Wide as the Waters, 2001, p. 12).

How long did this enthusiasm for the Bible last? "It did not cease for 350 years. 1900 was the first year in which religious works [at least in England] did not outnumber all other publications" (Jacques Barzun, From Dawn to Decadence, 2000, p. 10).

This year, 2011, marks the 400th anniversary of the translation and publication of the most influential book of all time, the King James Version of the Bible (known in England as the Authorized Version). Few are aware that the King James Bible was the culmination of a struggle that had gone on for three centuries!

In the 14th century John Wycliffe translated the Bible at a time when there was no printing press or religious freedom. After his death the Catholic authorities declared him a heretic, exhumed his remains and burned them.

His crime? Like Tyndale after him, translating the Bible into the common English language, a grave threat to the established religious order. Wycliffe's favorite scripture was Philippians 2:12: "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." This concept—that one was responsible for his own salvation without having to go through the church establishment as an intermediary—was to revolutionize England and its future colonies, both religiously and politically.

It wasn't until the Protestant Reformation, 150 years after Wycliffe, that people were free to read their Bibles. Various translations soon appeared, with differences resulting in religious conflicts. So King James I of England authorized an official translation, the King James Version, which was published exactly four centuries ago. The British people then took that translation out into the world with great fervor.

From devotion to disobedience

King George VI, the reluctant king, reigned at the end of England's enthusiasm for the Bible. It was soon to change after his death.

Although his daughter, Queen Elizabeth II, kissed the Bible at her coronation service in 1953 and promised to uphold its laws, successive British governments have progressively rejected the laws of God and replaced them increasingly with the laws of man—with the resultant breakdown of the family and consequent social and economic problems. It's not surprising that national decline has coincided with this rejection of godly values.

The title of Jacques Barzun's book sums it all up: From Dawn to Decadence. Here, the Protestant Reformation marks the dawn of modern Western civilization, when people enthusiastically embraced the Bible and sought their own salvation through adherence to their religious faith and obedience to many of the laws of God. Decadence is the final, modern period, with the rejection of all those values and the embrace of antiChristian ideas.

George VI would not have been surprised to hear this concept. He, his father, his grandfather and his great-grandmother Queen Victoria all believed that the British Empire was the fulfillment of ancient biblical prophecies foretelling that Joseph's son Ephraim and his descendants were to become a promised "multitude of nations" (Genesis 48:19). Ephraim's brother Manasseh was to "also ... become a people, and he also shall be great"—a prophecy fulfilled by his descendants in the United States.

In the April 6, 1996, issue of The Independent there appeared a facsimile of a letter written by George VI in 1922, before he assumed the throne. In the letter, George VI wrote: "I am sure the British Israelite business is true. I have read a lot about it lately and everything no matter how large or small points to our being 'the chosen race'"—those chosen to play a major

prophetic role in human history.

In Genesis 48:16, the patriarch Jacob, otherwise known as Israel, blessed Joseph's two sons and said, "Bless the lads; let my name be named upon them"—meaning that biblical prophecies about "Israel" in the end time relate to the British and American peoples. (The Jews in Bible prophecy are identified as Judah, one of the 12 tribes descended from Israel, and not to be confused with the other 11 tribes.)

In Deuteronomy 7, we read of manifest blessings to be given to the modern Israelites, promises fulfilled right up until the time of George VI. We also read in chapter 28, beginning in verse 15, of the negative consequences for disobedience, for turning away from God—prophecies increasingly being fulfilled today. In fact, they read very much like today's headlines that document the troubles plaguing the major English-speaking nations.

With increasing setbacks besetting the English-speaking peoples—economic, military, social and even climatic—the time has come for national repentance, for another day of prayer like the one called for by King George VI in the dark days of 1942.

His and his people's focus on drawing close to God was a major factor in the Allied victory over Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan and the resulting freedoms we have since enjoyed. But our progressively distant relationship with the God who established and made the major English-speaking nations great is the most important factor in those countries' current decline and the seemingly insurmountable problems that threaten to overwhelm them.

The Bible—Miracle of Miracles!

The year 2011—the 400th anniversary of the King James Version of the Bible—is a perfect time to celebrate the "book of books" and its numerous translations. Let's reflect on the many miracles, over a span of several thousand years, that had to happen to make the entire Word of God available and affordable in many languages!

The Bible has probably had a greater impact on the world than all other books combined! The history of the Bible is amazing and fascinating. Let's consider just a few of the major highlights.

Many amazing steps took place to produce, preserve and propagate the Good Book. And it has been translated into many more languages and distributed in many more places than any other book. All this has required many miracles!

What do we mean by "miracles"?

Many miracles are not overtly and conspicuously spectacular or even immediately apparent. Seldom are there "fireworks" that make a miracle obvious to all. God usually chooses to work invisibly and quietly behind the scenes, steering events to bring about the results He has predetermined—often in surprising ways.

The Creator and Lawgiver does not break His laws, but neither is He confined by His laws. God created nature and all that is natural, but God also frequently does things that are supernatural or outside the normal operations of the universe.

Also, anytime God intervenes in the affairs of men, even when He is working within His laws, we call it miraculous or providential.

Although God is masterminding and orchestrating all His creation, it's rather amazing how much freedom He allows human beings to have. He doesn't make us into His puppets. "The spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets," His Word tells us (1 Corinthians 14:32, emphasis added throughout).

How God allows freedom of choice and still determines ultimate outcomes is something that is more than we can fully comprehend!

The miracle of divine revelation

God "created man in His own image"—the capstone of His creation (Genesis 1:27). God made man with amazing mental and spiritual capacities, including the ability to learn languages. God's purpose is to have a personal relationship with each individual.

With the creation of Adam and Eve, God began to increasingly communicate His plan and purpose to humanity "by the mouth of His holy prophets" (Luke 1:70). "Holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit" (2 Peter 1:20-21).

The Ten Commandments hold a special place in God's revelation because God not only spoke them but also inscribed them on stone tablets with His own finger (Exodus 24:12; 31:18; 34:1, 28).

But God told Moses to write the rest of what God was revealing to him (Exodus 17:14; 34:27).

In the greater sense, God is the Author of the entire Bible, but He has used many human writers to record His revelation—about 40 in all!

The realization that Almighty God openly reveals His plans to us human beings is breathtakingly inspiring! What an honor! In fact, God has revealed some important matters to His prophets and apostles that even His angels had been wondering about (Ephesians 3:1-12;

Colossians 1:24-26; 1 Peter 1:10-12).

With the completion of the Bible, God has revealed all the spiritual knowledge that is essential for mankind to know.

The miracle of unity and perfection

In a sense, the Bible is a library of books composed by about 40 writers with different cultures, personalities, occupations and writing styles, living in 10 different countries, at different times over a span of about 1,500 years! One would think that under such circumstances countless contradictions and conflicts would be inevitable.

However, miracle of miracles—in spite of the Bible's great diversity, there is perfect unity! It is consistent and coherent all the way through. With merely a cursory reading, the Bible appears to have a few internal contradictions and discrepancies, but a closer examination shows complete harmony. As Jesus Christ Himself put it, "The Scripture cannot be broken" (John 10:35).

With mere men this would be impossible, "but with God all things are possible" (Matthew 19:26).

The miracle of biblical languages

Language is amazing. No one can fully explain how human beings can learn and speak languages.

And here is an intriguing question: When God was communicating everything that became the Bible, how did He decide which languages to use?

The scriptures that make up what we call the Old Testament were revealed and written mostly in the Hebrew language. The exceptions are the few sections written in Aramaic (i.e., Ezra 4:8–6:18; 7:12-26; Jeremiah 10:11; Daniel 2:4–7:28). The scriptures that make up the New Testament were written in Greek.

Why did God use primarily one language (Hebrew) for a long time and then switch to another language (Greek)?

We can't be sure of the answers until Christ returns, but many Bible scholars and others have voiced their speculations. They are fascinating to consider. We do know this: God doesn't do anything haphazardly. Each language has its special strengths, and God had good reasons for choosing the ones He did.

A crucial point is this: In Old Testament times, God was dealing primarily with one nation, Israel, the nation He "chose" to be a model nation (although they largely failed at that). Hebrew was their national language.

In New Testament times, God was ready to spread His truth to all the world. After Alexander the Great conquered much of the civilized world, Greek (specifically, the koine or "common" Greek) rather quickly became the universal language. This, in turn, enabled Christ's followers to "go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation" (Mark 16:15, New International Version). The importance of this factor can't be overemphasized.

The miracle of translations

God desires for all people to read His Word, and that requires His Word to be translated into the various spoken languages of people around the world.

Nehemiah 8:8 says of Ezra and the Levites who were teaching the gathered people of Judah, "So they read distinctly from the book, in the Law of God; and they gave the sense, and helped them to understand the reading." Not only were the teachers here helping the people to have spiritual understanding of the Scriptures, but they were also translating the Hebrew Scriptures into Aramaic for those who had come out of the Babylonian captivity and did not understand Hebrew very well.

There is abundant proof that God is in favor of translating His Word into all other languages. For example, a team of scholars in Alexandria, Egypt, translated the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek by 132 B.C. That translation, known as the Septuagint, was the most popular version of the Scriptures in Jesus' day. When the apostles were writing what became the New Testament and referred to the Hebrew Scriptures, they were quoting a Greek translation. That translation was evidently the Septuagint, at least much of the time.

As far as is known to history, the first translation of the entire Bible, both Old and New Testaments, was into Latin by Jerome. Later known as the versio vulgata ("common version") or Vulgate, it was finished in A.D. 405. It was to be the dominant Bible for the next thousand years.

For a while, the Vulgate enabled more people to read the Bible. But with the passage of time, a self-serving clergy, bent on maintaining power over the people, soon began to prevent the common people from owning or even reading the Bible. That contributed in part to the Middle Ages becoming "the Dark Ages," because without Bible knowledge, people are usually not highly motivated to seek other knowledge.

During the Middle Ages, the Bible was regarded as something to revere rather than read, and Latin was promoted as the "holy" language. Hebrew was ridiculed as the language of the Jews, and Greek was frowned on because the eastern Greek-speaking church had split from the Roman church.

But, thankfully, religious Jews realized that the Hebrew Scriptures were "the oracles [or sayings] of God" and meticulously copied and preserved them (Romans 3:2). Greek-speaking Christians copied and preserved the Greek Scriptures.

When the Byzantine Empire was conquered by the Muslims (climaxed by the fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans in 1453), many Greek-speaking people fled westward. This contributed to the European Renaissance and revival of interest in Greek, including the Greek Scriptures and their translations into other languages.

One more point is critically important. There have always been people who consider one language to be holier than all others. For example, some people advocate that we speak only Hebrew names for God. If all the Bible had been written in only one language, they would have a stronger argument. But the Bible was written using three languages.

God is calling people out of "every tribe and tongue [language] and people and nation" (Revelation 5:9). This requires the Bible to be translated into many languages!

The miracle of survival and preservation of the Scriptures

Over the centuries, Satan the devil has incited and inflamed every imaginable plot to extinguish the light of God's truth. The prophets and other messengers of God were usually persecuted and often killed. Satan tried to have Jesus killed from the time He was a baby before finally accomplishing that end when Jesus was 33.

Soon after the beginning of the New Testament Church, "a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered" (Acts 8:1). However, this worked for good to spread God's Word. "Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word" (Acts 8:4).

Another way persecution has worked for good is this: The willingness of Christians to suffer and even die for their beliefs has been a powerful witness to others!

The earliest persecution of Christians was primarily by Jewish religious leaders who felt their influence jeopardized by the growing new movement. Later persecution was primarily instigated by the pagan Roman rulers who viewed Christianity as a threat to the established order since it required allegiance to a higher power. And later still, after a paganized form of Christianity became the official state religion of the Roman Empire, persecution was largely on religious grounds—to exterminate differing views and teachings.

For hundreds of years leading up to the late Middle Ages, religious leaders frequently confiscated and burned Bibles. People were often put to death merely for having a portion of the Bible in their possession.

The Scriptures survived not only because of God's divine protection, but also because of the faith and zeal of His people. They knew they had "the pearl of great price" and were willing to risk their lives to protect, preserve and propagate it (Matthew 13:46). Their zeal to make copies and distribute them made it difficult for enemies to find and destroy all the copies.

"The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever" (Isaiah 40:8).

The miracle of printing

The next major step was the invention of modern printing by German inventor Johannes Gutenberg. His invention of movable type, which allowed information to be disseminated widely at relatively low cost, is considered the most important event of the modern period. Gutenberg's printing press and technique played a key role in three major intellectual advancements—the Renaissance, the Protestant Reformation and the scientific revolution.

Gutenberg's first major project was the printing of the Latin Vulgate Bible, completed probably in 1455. Imitations of his invention quickly spread around the world.

The single most important effect of the invention was to enable mass production of Bibles, which soon greatly lowered the cost of owning a Bible. Once the Bible was more widely available, the flames of the Reformation were unquenchable!

The miracle of English and the English translations

English is a remarkable language in many ways. It has absorbed an amazing number of words from other languages, making it extremely versatile, expressive and colorful. Some would say it has adopted many of the "best" words of other languages.

For example, after the Norman conquest of England in 1066, English absorbed many Norman French words. Later, the far-flung British colonies and the major roles of Britain and America in international trade and foreign wars brought them into contact with many other languages.

In the 15th to 17th centuries, a combination of remarkable factors began to converge to fulfill major Bible prophecies and to enable Christ's followers to, as earlier noted, "go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation" (Mark 16:15, NIV).

There was Gutenberg's revolutionary invention of movable metal type around 1450, as we've seen.

Ambitions to find new trading routes and to preach the gospel led to Christopher Columbus reaching America in 1492. That led to rapid exploration and colonization around the world. It was also a significant step in the fulfillment of Bible prophecies that were fulfilled by Britain becoming a great empire and the United States becoming a great superpower. (Read the "The Spiritual Reality Behind The King's Speech")

By 1500 modern English was developing as an improvement over Middle English. The Protestant Reformation is commonly considered to have begun with Martin Luther in 1517. But John Wycliffe (1324-1384) has been dubbed the "Morning Star of the Reformation." He and his followers, called Lollards, translated much of the Bible from Latin to English, greatly whetting the appetites of the English people to read the Bible in their own tongue.

William Tyndale (1494-1536) stands as perhaps the greatest of all English translators. He produced English translations of the entire New Testament from the Greek and much of the Old Testament from the Hebrew. Tyndale's translations were accurate, beautiful and excellent, so much so that about 80 percent of the 1611 King James Version is Tyndale's wording.

A bittersweet fact is that in the same year that Tyndale was executed for translating the Bible into English (1536), King Henry VIII granted permission for the distribution of English Bibles. That quickly resulted in more English Bibles, including the Coverdale Bible in 1535, Matthew's Bible in 1537, the Great Bible in 1539, the Geneva Bible in 1560 and the Bishops' Bible in 1568.

English Queen Mary I, a fervent Catholic known as "Bloody Mary," reigned from 1553 to 1558. Notice that the only English Bible coming together during that time was the Geneva Bible—produced in Geneva, Switzerland.

Ironically, Catholic Mary fueled the Protestant Reformation in England! The English were so horrified by the gory persecution that many then rejected Catholicism.

After Mary, the Protestant Queen Elizabeth I reigned from 1558 to 1603. She outlawed all Catholic services even though three-fourths of her subjects still professed Catholicism. In trying to appease everyone, she incorporated both Catholic and Protestant elements into the Anglican creeds and worship. It was the Puritans who most strongly objected to this. They wanted to "purify" Christianity of all Catholic elements.

In 1603, on the death of Queen Elizabeth, James VI of Scotland assumed the throne as James I of England. On his trip to London to receive the crown, he was intercepted by a delegation of Puritan ministers with a list of grievances against the Church of England. The king responded by ordering a high-level conference to address "things pretended to be amiss in the church."

The conference took place in January 1604 at Hampton Court, one of the royal palaces. The Puritan delegation was led by Dr. John Rainolds, who proposed a purer English translation of the Bible.

King James liked the idea for a number of reasons. One was that the most popular English Bible was the Geneva Bible, and the king wanted England (and himself) to have the prestige of a popular Bible that would be truly English, translated on English soil. The king also hoped a new Bible would help to unite Puritans with other Protestants as well as the Scots with the English.

The translating began with a team of 54 scholars. They finished their work in 1611, giving the world what we usually refer to as the King James Version.

Officially called the Authorized Version, it quickly rose to be the most popular English translation. Not only was it a highly accurate translation, but the English fell in love with its rhythmic and beautiful wording. The widespread reading, reciting and quoting of the KJV greatly influenced not only English literature but also spoken English from then on.

However, most will be surprised to learn that the English of the KJV was more Elizabethan rather than the common English during the reign of King James. For example, thee and thou were already falling into disuse, as well as the third-person singular verb ending -eth. But the King James translators chose to retain much of the wording from previous English translations.

Furthermore, the "King James Version" has undergone several revisions since 1611 to correct minor errors and to update spelling. The principle revisions were in 1613, 1629, 1638, 1653 and 1762. Today's standard edition is that of 1762.

This writer has a copy of the 1611 version. Here is a passage from "The Newe Teftament of our Lord and Sauiour Iesvs Christ": "Distributing to the necessitie of Saints; giuen to hospitalitie. Blesse them which persecute you, blesse, and curse not. Reioyce with them that doe reioice, and weepe with them that weepe" (Romans 12:13-15).

By 1700, the popularity of the KJV had eclipsed all other versions. Since then, many other English translations have been produced, but none even approached the popularity of the KJV until the publication of the Revised Standard Version in 1952. It was the 1978 New International Version that finally dethroned the KJV as the most popular Bible version. At some point between 1986 and 1988 it began outselling the KJV. However, the popularity of the KJV has continued to remain high for a very long time.

The miracle of "spreading the gospel"

Jesus said, "You shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth" (Acts 1:8). He also proclaimed, "This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come" (Matthew 24:14).

Clearly, God's plan calls for the effective preaching of the gospel all over the world in the end time to prepare the way for Christ's second coming. A parallel to that is the way the preaching of John the Baptist prepared the way for Christ's first coming.

In the last few centuries, it is the zealous English-speaking people, usually with their beloved King James Bibles, who have been most responsible for the fact that "the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly" (Acts 6:7).

This has been largely enabled by the far-reaching British Empire and the global power of the United States of America. A major reason that the United States has been blessed with wise laws, individual freedom and great success is that its founding fathers looked to the Bible for guidance. But the main reason Britain and America were blessed with great power is that God fulfilled His promises to bless the descendants of Joseph (Genesis 48).

Joseph's father Jacob prophesied great blessings for the descendants of Joseph, including their being "a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a well; his branches run over the wall" (Genesis 49:22). Truly their "branches" have reached all over the world! (To learn more, read our free booklet The United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy.)

Why did God plan to greatly bless these nations? It was not because of some kind of favoritism. One reason God enabled these nations to be powerful was so they could and would carry the Word of God to all the world!

The miracles of worldwide transformation and personal transformation

The world is a much better place—in many, many ways—than it would otherwise be because of the influence of the Bible. This is thoroughly explained in two fascinating books by Dr. D. James Kennedy: What If Jesus Had Never Been Born? (1994) and What If the Bible Had Never Been Written? (1998).

Likewise, you and I are much better people than we would otherwise be to the extent that we, with the essential help of God's Holy Spirit, internalize and live by the transforming Word of God.

When the apostle Paul wrote to the young evangelist Timothy, he commented on how Timothy had been supremely blessed "that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus" (2 Timothy 3:15).

Then Paul reminded Timothy, "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work" (verses 16-17).

The longest chapter in the Bible—Psalm 119—was written in praise of God's Word. It tells us, "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path" (Psalm 119:105).

May you diligently study and drink in God's Word so that it may always be a lamp to your feet and a light to your path!

The Holy Spirit

“...Be filled with the Spirit.” Ephesians 5:18

Who is the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit is God and is present here on earth in the lives of believers in Jesus Christ. There is one God in 3 persons — God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

When you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit comes into your life. But it is up to you to ask the Holy Spirit to fill you and control your life. Do you want to live a Christian life all by yourself, with no help from God? You will struggle and be disappointed. But God has given you His power — His Holy Spirit — to fill you and help you overcome obstacles in your life.

You can ask God to fill you with His Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is your Comforter and will help you and lead you and guide you in your life. Don’t try to live life by yourself — ask God to help you and give you power and His love and His joy. The fruits of the Holy Spirit in your life are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Wouldn’t you love to have a life like this? You can by being filled with God’s Holy Spirit. Give Him control of your life.

So, this week, let us pray and ask God to

• Fill you and control you and empower you with His Holy Spirit
• Bless and protect our staff and volunteers at Global Media Outreach
• Give you His power and His love to share with those around you

May God bless you!

What's the Difference Between Various Bible Versions?

The English language has changed substantially over the four centuries since the King James Version of the Bible was first published. Many people find it increasingly difficult to understand the words and may be put off by the KJV's foreign-sounding words. We can be thankful, however, that many newer versions exist that are much more up-to-date in their wording. But this raises another issue: Which of these many versions is best for reading and studying the Bible? How do they differ? The following is excerpted from our free booklet How to Understand the Bible:

More than 60 English-language versions are available. We can divide them into three broad types: word-for-word, meaning-to-meaning (also called thought-for-thought) and paraphrased. Usually a particular Bible version will explain, on its introductory pages, which approach was used in preparing it.

Word-for-word translations

The word-for-word versions most accurately follow the Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek texts. Generally speaking, the King James Version and its modern counterpart, the New King James Version, are word-for-word translations. They are readily found in most bookstores or on the Internet.

How trustworthy is the King James or the New King James Bible we have today? Other manuscripts discovered since the King James Version was translated show it to be extremely reliable. For instance, when the King James Version is compared with what was found in the Dead Sea Scrolls, "the King James Bible is 98.33 percent pure [in terms of comparison]" (Norman Geisler and William Nix, A General Introduction to the Bible, 1974, p. 263).

In the New Testament the sheer bulk of thousands of texts (4,500 Greek manuscripts) means that many minor variations among the manuscripts will be found. The King James Version, for example, is based on the majority of the authoritative Greek texts.

About 98 percent of the known Greek manuscripts agree with the basic text of the King James Bible. Even the variations that do exist rarely affect the basic meaning in the remaining 2 percent of those manuscripts. The text of Scripture has been preserved and transmitted over the centuries remarkably well.

The Old Testament books are equally trustworthy. Although a few textual errors are to be found in some of the manuscripts used in translating the King James Bible, comparisons with other Bible versions can easily clarify most problems.

As an expert on textual criticism remarked: "If any book from ancient times has descended to us without substantial loss or alteration, it is the Bible. The Bible is the best-attested book from the ancient world! This has prompted Sir Frederic Kenyon to say: ‘The number of manuscripts of the New Testament, of early translations from it, and of quotations from it in the oldest writers of the Church, is so large that it is practically certain that the true reading of every doubtful passage is preserved in some one or other of these ancient authorities. This can be said of no other ancient book in the world'" (Neil Lightfoot, How We Got the Bible, 1963, p. 120).

Meaning-for-meaning versions

The accuracy of a version is obviously of utmost importance. Although the King James Version contains some mistakes, to establish sound doctrines the first choice of versions should be a more literal edition such as the King James or New King James Version.

What about the meaning-to-meaning versions? They can be valuable in putting the Scriptures into more understandable wording. For example, the New King James Version of Hebrews 2:17-18, describing why Jesus Christ came to live among mankind as a flesh-and-blood human being, reads: "Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted."

The New International Version, a meaning-to-meaning translation, has: "For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted."

The latter explains the point more clearly for most readers today, although the former is a more direct translation of the original language. So, when the text is not clear, many times a modern meaning-to-meaning translation can help. The Revised English Bible, Good News Bible and New Living Translation are other popular meaning-to-meaning translations.

A meaning-to-meaning translation is also helpful in conveying the point of ancient figures of speech—idioms—that would not make sense to us in modern language. Consider the modern American idiom "kick the bucket." This phrase may not be around centuries from now, and someone translating it then might need to use the word "die" instead—a meaning-to-meaning rendering rather than a literal one. Ancient Hebrew and Greek had such expressions as well, and in such cases a meaning-to-meaning translation is very helpful.

In general, meaning-to-meaning versions use more up-to-date language and thus are easier to understand—although, again, they are not the best choice for establishing doctrine because they at times involve some interpretation of what the original writers intended to say.

Paraphrased Bibles

Paraphrased Bibles, such as The Living Bible or The Message, also can be useful. Their goal is to make the Bible even easier to read in modern language. We should be cautious in working with these, however, because the authors exercised considerable "poetic license" in interpreting biblical terms and passages according to their own personal religious ideas.

Paraphrased versions can be consulted to better grasp the story flow but should not be relied on exclusively to establish doctrine. They should be considered inadequate sources for accurately determining the meaning of any text.

Which version of the Bible should you buy? The King James Version, although both accurate and popular, is increasingly difficult to understand simply because the English language has evolved considerably over the 400 years since its publication.

The meanings of some of its words have changed over time. Many readers find the archaic language distracting and difficult to follow. For this reason material produced by the United Church of God, publisher of this magazine, most often uses the New King James Version. This version, while retaining much of the beauty of the original King James wording, is more readable and is still usually faithful to the original text.

Modern translations like those mentioned above are helpful for comparing and clarifying the meaning. Many people find a parallel Bible, which contains two or more versions side by side on the same pages, to be helpful. Indeed, even apart from that it's best to consult multiple versions in studying the Bible, but one will likely be your primary version.

Regardless of the Bible version you choose, the most important factor is that you actually use it. A Bible should be considered an investment in which a little more expense up front will pay off in the long run. Consider buying a version with wide margins that will allow you to add notes from your personal study over the coming years. Although more expensive, a higher-quality, leather-bound Bible will last years longer than a hardbound or paperback volume and should become a lifelong companion.

Many Bible versions are now available as part of Bible software packages or for free viewing on various Internet sites. With these, you can compare between different versions nearly instantaneously.

Earthquakes: A Sign of the Return of Jesus Christ?

The nation of Japan is still reeling and trying to recover from the worst natural disaster in its history. The massive earthquake, which struck just northeast of Japan's main island on March 11, has been registered as the fifth most powerful on record. The entire main island of Japan is reported to have moved an incredible eight feet. Even the rotation of the earth was affected. The loss in human life and property from this 9.0-magnitude quake and the resulting tsunami waves that followed is almost beyond calculation.

A disaster of historic proportions

Many people around the world watched vivid scenes of massive destruction as walls of water carried away buildings, vehicles, boats and entire villages and towns. The knowledge that thousands of people were dying made it heart-rending to watch. This massive quake followed a similar one off the coast of Indonesia in 2004, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake in Haiti in 2010 and a smaller one just three weeks ago that caused great damage in New Zealand.

Hundreds of smaller earthquakes occur around the earth every day, but most are deep below the surface and affect unpopulated areas. When large quakes occur near cities or send huge waves across the oceans, the results can be catastrophic. This latest one in Japan certainly classifies as a catastrophe.

Earthquakes to signal Christ's return?

When a disaster affects much of the world as this one has, people ask, "Is this a sign of the return of Jesus Christ and the end of our age?"

When asked about what to look for as a sign of his return, Jesus Christ spoke of "the sea and the waves roaring"(Luke 21:7, 25). He was prophesying that there would be great storms and tumult on the world's oceans and seas. He was likely referring to hurricanes, typhoons and tsunamis that unleash unusually destructive power on the earth. While there have always been storms and earthquakes, Jesus foretold that they would increase in magnitude and occurrence before the last days.

In response to the same question, Jesus warned that other causes of death and destruction—such as wars, famines and disease—would also increase during the end time.

"For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places" (Matthew 24:7, emphasis added throughout).

Disasters to come at the time of the end

Are these the sign that the return of Christ is imminent? The answer is no. Jesus followed by saying, "All these are the beginning of sorrows" (verse 8). Far worse suffering and destruction will take place as the end of this age draws near, but most of the world will not be prepared for it and will be taken by surprise.

Speaking of this same time, the prophet Jeremiah warned, "Behold, a whirlwind [tempest in some translations] of the Lord has gone forth in fury—a violent whirlwind! It will fall violently on the head of the wicked. The anger of the Lord will not turn back until He has executed and performed the thoughts of His heart. In the latter days you will understand it perfectly" (Jer. 23:19-20).

He then adds, "Thus says the Lord of hosts: 'Behold, disaster shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the farthest parts of the earth. And in that day the slain of the Lord shall be from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth...'" (Jeremiah 25:32-33). Jeremiah explains throughout his book that the reason for these disasters is that mankind has rejected God and has filled the world with evil and violence. Men will continue to defy their Creator (Revelation 9:21), so God will send additional plagues on the earth in order to convince humanity to listen to Him.

The heavenly sign of Christ's return

But are these the sign that Jesus is about to return? While they are indications of the times in which we live, the actual "sign" of the return of Jesus Christ to this earth takes place in the sky above the earth. Notice what Jesus told his disciples:

"Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory" (Matthew 24:29-30)