Last week we left our story with Queen Esther inviting her husband, the King of Persia, and his second in command, Haman, a descendant of the Amalakites, to a second banquet. Here, Queen Esther would make her request to the king. Haman did not have any idea that the queen was herself Jewish and related to Mordecai, the Jew. Although the decree to kill all the Jews had been set for a certain date and Haman was invited to a second banquet with the queen and king, he could not be happy because of his hatred towards Mordecai. Haman’s wife and friends suggested he have gallows built specifically to ..read more

Queen Esther had a difficult decision to make which was a matter of life and death not only for herself but for her people. She had hidden her identity as a Jew and now a proclamation to kill all Jews had been decreed for a certain date. After fasting for three days and nights she made a decision to go into the inner courts of the king and wait to see  if she would be killed or given permission by the king to approach him. She said in a message to Mordecai, her uncle, “I will go to the king, which is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.”  She went in faith and with courage. Th ..read more

Last week we left the story of Esther with a death sentence over the Jewish people. The wicked Haman had talked the King of Persia into signing a proclamation that on a certain day all the Jewish people would be killed, including women and children, young and old. Haman allowed his hatred for Mordecai, the Jew, to include every person who was of the Jewish race. Little did Haman know that Queen Esther was also a Jew. She kept her identity a secret because her uncle told her not to reveal it. She was orphaned as a child when both her parents died, and was adopted by her Uncle Mordecai. When the ..read more

The midterm elections have been completed and you may be happy or upset at the outcome. Did you know that the Bible is full of stories containing lies, conspiracies and politics? In Ecclesiastes 1:9, the verse reads, “There is nothing new under the sun.” Although we have made technological advances and man’s knowledge has increased over time, the nature of man is still influenced by good versus evil, light versus dark, and God’s love versus Satan’s hatred towards mankind. In the book of Esther one man’s hatred towards another almost caused the slaughter of the Jewish people. During the reign o ..read more

One of my favorite holidays is Thanksgiving with friends and family. It’s the one day that most Americans take time to celebrate around a table, give thanks to God, and spend time catching up with each other. It’s also the day that many Americans see as “turkey day” without any thoughts of thanksgiving to God. Throughout scriptures in the old and new testaments we see verses of giving thanks to God for His loving kindness, tender mercies, His goodness, His faithfulness, and awesome grace. (Psalms 106:1;I Thess. 5:18). King David in the book of Psalms wrote songs and verses  giving thanks ..read more

The story of Jacob, the son of Isaac, and the grandson of Abraham is very interesting because when he was born, he was holding on to his twin brother’s heel who came out of the birth canal first.  Jacob’s name means supplanter (someone who replaces or overthrows a thing or someone) as in the case of Jacob replacing his brother Esau in the birthright and receiving the first-born blessing from their father Isaac. Jacob was known as a deceiver, a trickster, because of how he obtained the birthright and how he deceived his father for the blessing that should have gone to Esau. We can safely s ..read more

The Apostle Paul wrote most of the New Testament in letters to the various churches such as the churches in Ephesus, Corinth, and Thessalonica. Although Paul was not one of the twelve disciples, he met Jesus on the road to Damascus. Before he met Jesus, his name was Saul, Saul of Tarsus. As Saul, he was a highly educated Jew in the law, the scriptures, and was also a Roman citizen. Saul was a religious leader who knew the scriptures, kept the law, and thought that followers of Christ were the enemy of God. He was responsible for hunting down Christians and having them killed. After he had an e ..read more

The four gospels in the New Testament give a different point of view of Jesus and His ministry on earth before He ascended into the heavens. However, each gospel showed Jesus doing good, healing the sick, performing miracles, and even raising the dead. There are more than 25 recorded accounts of Jesus healing the blind, the lame, the diseased, the demon possessed and even the dead. In most instances people asked and begged Him for healing. On other occasions He was moved by compassion. Jesus saw a sorrowful mother grieving over her son and He raised him from the dead during the funeral process ..read more

Jesus spoke in parables and gave illustrations to help people understand the relationship between God and man. In the book of John Jesus says, “I Am the True Vine” and He goes on to say that His Father God is the vinedresser or gardener of the vineyard. We, His children, are the branches that are supposed to bear fruit. The vine is the lifeline of the plant and the branches grow from the vine. The role of the branches is to bear fruit and become more fruitful. Jesus said that the branches that bore no fruit would be cut off and those that bore fruit the Father would prune or cut back so that t ..read more

The Bible is full of prophecies from the old testament beginning in the book of Genesis and ending with the book of Revelations. The common thread throughout the Word of God is the story of Jesus Christ coming to redeem or pay for the salvation of mankind. When man sinned death was introduced and man’s authority was given to Satan, God’s enemy. When Jesus came, He paid the price for man’s salvation on the cross and all who believe in Him and receive Him as savior have eternal life, a free gift. Along with salvation, man can take back his authority over Satan and do the works of Jesus through f ..read more