The doctrine of God is the key to understanding all other Bible truth. The knowledge of God is the key to salvation, to sanctification, and to service. Without God, there is nothing else. Without the truth of God, there is no other truth. Without knowing God, we have no real knowledge of anything else. We must give ourselves to a greater understanding of this great doctrine.

To most Americans of today, Hanukkah is nothing more than the Jewish answer to Christmas. What can we learn from this feast that Jesus Himself honored by his attendance?

According to today's Wall Street Journal, the United States had its largest outbreak of measles for nine years in May of 2005. Indiana reported 34 cases in one outbreak (there were only 27 cases among all U.S. residents in 2004). Interestingly, all but one of the patients were out of the same church and 20 of these were home-schooled children. A 17-year-old girl in the church had taken a mission trip to an orphanage in Romania, had contracted the measles there, and had attended a church-wide gathering the day after she returned to the States. Most of the children who caught the measles had not been vaccinated.

The following is an excerpt from Soldiers in Training by Brother Daryl Coats.

"Kapparot, which is from the same Hebrew root as Yom Kippur and literally means "atonements", is a custom which aims to awaken the drive toward repentance while engaging in charity on the eve of Judaism's central day of prayer.

Both polls and anecdotal evidence point to the same result: Bible-believing churches are losing their teenagers to the world. Teenagers who grow up in churches are leaving church and going to the world as soon as they get a chance. One statistic states that only 4% of the teens in evangelical churches stay in church. If that is anywhere close, that is an astounding figure. Churches have drawn the teens with entertainment and fun, but this will not keep them. Probably, the greatest contributing factor is the home. If the home is not solidly Christian--to the point of serious separation from the world--then the teens will learn their values from the world. We must work harder to exhort parents to be godly parents and then teach them how to do it.

Today's "Knoxville News-Sentinel" has an article on how skulls have become a big fashion statement. What used to be reserved for the underground and Goth kids has become mainstream. Skulls are everywhere. The fashion designers use them because of their connection with poison, danger, pirates, and death. Although most popular with the young, they can give an edge to older fashionistas who want to look tough. Isaiah 65:4 tells us of those "Which remain among the graves, and lodge in the monuments, which eat swine's flesh, and broth of abominable things is in their vessels." The Maniac of Gadara who was delivered by Jesus Christ also had "his dwelling among the tombs" (Mark 5:3). We have a generation that is given to death. They dwell among the tombs and need to be delivered from the evil one.

Several hospitals are becoming a religious smorgasbord. Ranging from Shabbat elevators for Jewish people to bloodless surgery for Jehovah's Witnesses, hospitals are attempting to cater to various religious groups.

In Bridgeport, West Virginia, the High School recently settled a case that had been brought against it by the Americans United for the Separation of Church and State and the ACLU. The school agreed to take down a portrait called the "Head of Christ" that had been on the wall outside the principal's office for 37 years. In the same school, one classroom had a portrait of Buddha and another had a two-foot statue of Buddha. These were not opposed and will be allowed to remain. One reason the school officials decided to surrender their rights out of court was the fact that, if they had lost, they would have had to pay the legal costs of both sides. This is established by federal law and it is one of the reasons so many schools quickly give in when they are sued. A bill to change this law passed the House in September. However, it seems unlikely that the Senate will be passing the bill anytime in the near future.

According to an article in Thursday's "Wall Street Journal," earlier this year on the day Muslims celebrate the willingness of Abraham to sacifice his son on Mt. Moriah (a son they claim was Ishmael), 25,000 sheep in Brussels, Belgium, had their heads turned to Mecca and were sacrificially killed by having their throats slit so that they would die from the shedding of their blood. Many of the Muslims will be eating their sheep for lunch that same day. Although home slaughters are illegal in Belguim, Muslims now make up over 15% of the one million people in the city of Brussels.