For centuries, there has been much speculation and accusation about who the great harlot, or "mystery, Babylon," is in Revelation 17. Because of verse 9, "Here is the mind which has wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits" (Revelation 17:9), the Reformers nearly universally agreed that this was a reference to the seven hills that Rome is built upon, and therefore was a reference to the Roman Catholic Church. Reformers later said that she was called ...

As we covered previously, the primary work of the kingdom is restoration. It is God's nature to restore that which has fallen, and when He does, He will make that which has been restored better than before, just as the "new creation" is even greater than the former. The restoration that we are called to accomplish now is helping to prepare the way for His kingdom. Because the church is the primary vehicle for the restoration of the earth, the church needs to be restored first. Therefore, we must have a vision for a complete restoration of the church,...

As one friend of mine recently pointed out, history must be very important or every evil dictator would not be so determined to change it. This is an interesting point, as there does seem to be a drive in every evil leader to rewrite and change history. This should compel those who love the truth to be even more determined to protect and maintain an accurate history, regardless of whether it makes Christians look good or bad. Truth is our most important commodity, and those who love the truth will be defenders of the truth.

It is true...

We took a seeming diversion last week to briefly address The Da Vinci Code and the fallacies it asserted about the Bible and church history. In these times, we can expect an increasing onslaught of such attempts to sow into the minds and hearts of people, and at the very least, cause them to doubt the validity of the Scriptures. Of course, The Da Vinci Code goes far beyond that and actually promotes paganism, secret societies, and other forms of demonically inspired worship, but there is an obvious reason why the...

As we are in a place of looking at some of the ways that church history effects us today and because there are so many questions about the book, The Da Vinci Code, which makes many assertions about church history, I think we need to address some of these questions before proceeding. (NOTE: This is basically covered in a recent Special Bulletin also posted on this website.)

The Da Vinci Code may be a well-written suspense thriller, but for historical accuracy it is hard to imagine one that has so...