In May the United States braced itself for the inevitable carnival that would surround the execution of Timothy McVeigh for his role in the 1995 bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. Then suddenly the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) revealed that - oops! - it had failed to turn over 3,000 pages of evidence to McVeigh's attorneys during the discovery process at McVeigh's trial.

"So, where are we?" This is perhaps the most cogent question that could be asked about the Middle East after a year of peace process go-arounds, collapses, violent attacks and reprisals: all of which ended a decade of "no-war."

Luke, Volume II, commonly known as "The Book of Acts," completes the "Pentateuch of the New Testament." Regarded by many as the most exciting and relevant book for the current believer, it is, indeed, one of the most rewarding and instructive.

Over the last several months, we have been talking about faith-faith in the "night seasons." Faith, we said, is accepting a situation that we cannot fully understand, and no longer being troubled by it. This kind of "naked" faith is developed through night seasons-times where God teaches us by depriving us of the natural light we have always been used to (our seeing, feeling and understanding), so that we will learn to walk by faith.

It is very clear that pornography cannot be viewed as a passive, inconsequential behavior. This is a tragic sin against God, against you and the Body of Christ, and it has to be exposed. Light expels the darkness and this sin can no longer be swept under the carpet, especially in the Body of Christ.

The whole purpose of the "dark night of the soul and spirit" is to bring us to an intimacy with our Lord that we have never before experienced.

"Finishing Well" is the name of the game. Here was a rich, young ruler - a 1st century "yuppie" if you will - who, although getting off to a rather problematic beginning, finished well, indeed.

Satan wants you to think contrary to the character of God and to the Word of God. His tactics are to accuse God and others. He wants to persuade you to act independently of God, to walk according to the flesh rather than the Spirit.

For decades the planet has been awash in doomsday environmental propaganda proclaiming the imminent demise of earth due to environmental calamity, which only drastic action (and large amounts of government money) can avert.

The ultimate invasion of the Middle East by "Gog and Magog" is well known to most Biblically informed observers. The invading forces of Magog - recognized as referring to Russia by most authorities - are wiped out by "hailstones of fire" from the heavens, which also cause an earthquake felt around the world.

Continuing our series on the Dark Night of the Spirit, this period of confusion and darkness has often been described in a variety of emotional ways.

U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham announced recently that the country's energy problems were having a negative effect upon the U.S. economy. "This nation's last three recessions have all been tied to rising energy prices - and there is strong evidence the latest crisis is already having a negative effect," Abraham said.

The recent controversy between the U.S. and China over the emergency landing of an American surveillance plane on the island of Hainan has highlighted the strained relations between the two giants in recent years.

The interpretation of Scripture is called hermeneutics. Our approach to hermeneutics will always be influenced by our worldview, our own culture, and the presuppositions we bring to the task.

Agape [God's Love] is a new way of loving. It's a way of loving that is totally opposite from the way the world teaches and is probably completely opposite from the way you have been used to, even as a Christian. God's Agape Love is not just for women, nor is it just for married people.

For many, the Gospel according to "the Beloved Physician" is the most readable and complete account of the life of Christ. It gives us many features omitted by Matthew and Mark: 20 miracles, of which six are in no other Gospel; and 23 parables, 18 of which we find nowhere else.

The Second Epistle of John is among the most neglected books of the New Testament. It, like his third epistle, is simply a short personal letter from the Apostle. There is little doubt that the Apostle John was the author, but there are a number of conjectures as to whom it was written: someone called "the Elect Lady."

This month we celebrate Easter. Whoops! Why do we label our most holy holiday with its pagan obfuscation? It is at this time that we celebrate the very Gospel itself: "...how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; that He was buried; and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures."

In the late 19th century, Charles B. Huleatt, an Egyptologist, acquired three small fragments of papyrus that were unearthed in Upper Egypt and subsequently bequeathed them to his Alma Mater, Magdalen College, Oxford, in 1901.

The announcement of the completion of human genome mapping has brought some interesting - if not amusing and contradictory - responses from the scientific community about what the map tells us. These differences reveal the growing chasm in the scientific community over the subject of origins and the "end of science."