by Pastor Joseph Cortes The war in the Middle East appears to be entering another very dangerous chapter. While much of the world continues to watch Israel, Iran, Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria, another major conflict is developing on the Arabian Peninsula. Yemen’s internationally recognized government has announced a large military campaign aimed at retaking territory controlled by the Iranian-backed Houthis. Reports indicate that more than 100,000 Yemeni troops could eventually be mobilized, with Saudi Arabia expected to provide significant air support. Yemeni President Rashad al-Alimi has declared that the offensive will continue until territory controlled by the Houthis has been recovered. This is not being described as a small military action. It could become one of the largest campaigns Yemen has seen in its modern history. The Houthis have controlled Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, since 2014, and previous attempts to remove them have failed. They have developed a hardened fighting force, and their influence has expanded far beyond Yemen itself. Most importantly, their position near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait gives them enormous strategic importance because this narrow waterway connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and is one of the world’s critical shipping routes. This means Yemen is no longer simply a civil war that can be ignored as a distant regional conflict. What happens there can affect Saudi Arabia, Iran, Israel, international shipping, energy markets, and eventually the involvement of much larger military powers. The United States has reportedly declined, at least for now, to participate directly in offensive military action. However, American intelligence and targeting information are expected to assist the operation, and direct U.S. involvement may still become possible if the conflict grows worse. Once again, we are reminded of the words of Jesus: “And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled” (Matthew 24:6). Notice what our Lord said. He did not tell us that wars would not come. He told us not to be troubled when they did. That distinction matters. The believer should not be surprised when nations shake. We should not allow every headline to throw us into fear. Scripture has already warned us that the world would experience turmoil. Our confidence has never rested in peaceful governments, stable alliances, military strength, or diplomatic agreements. Our confidence rests in the One who sits upon the throne.

A Church That Must Know the Word by Pastor Joseph Cortes One of the greatest dangers facing the evangelical church today may not be persecution from the outside, but biblical illiteracy on the inside. We live in a remarkable time when Christians have more access to the Bible than perhaps any generation before us. We can carry dozens of translations on a phone. We can listen to Scripture while driving, working, exercising, or resting. We have Bible apps, websites, podcasts, audio Bibles, commentaries, sermons, and study tools available almost instantly. Yet having access to the Bible is not the same thing as knowing the Bible. We can have the Word of God in our hands and still fail to have it deeply rooted in our hearts and minds. Many believers know favorite verses and familiar Bible stories, yet struggle when asked to explain the larger message of Scripture. They may know the names of Abraham, Moses, David, Peter, and Paul, but have difficulty placing biblical events in order or explaining basic Christian doctrine. Even more concerning, many Christians find it increasingly difficult to distinguish between something Scripture actually teaches and something they have simply heard repeated by culture, social media, religious personalities, or popular tradition. That should concern every believer because our spiritual lives cannot be built upon what sounds biblical. They must be built upon what God has actually said. The prophet Hosea recorded God's sobering words: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6). Biblical illiteracy is not simply about failing to answer Bible trivia questions. This is far more serious than not remembering the name of a king or knowing where a certain event occurred. A lack of biblical knowledge leaves believers vulnerable to false teaching, spiritual deception, cultural pressure, and compromised theology. When we do not know the truth clearly, almost anything can begin to sound like truth. This is why knowing Scripture is so important. If believers do not know what the Bible teaches, how will they recognize when someone twists it? If we do not understand the Gospel, how will we recognize a false gospel? If we do not know the character of God revealed in His Word, how will we recognize false ideas about God? If we do not know sound doctrine, how will we recognize teaching that slowly moves us away from it?

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The Beautiful Masterpiece God Sees by Pastor Joseph Cortes Have you ever stopped to think about how our Heavenly Father sees us? Many years ago, I preached on the precious blood of Jesus Christ and how God looks upon those who belong to Him. The more I think about it, the more amazed I become. Without the blood of Christ, I would not even want to imagine how God would look upon sinful humanity. But because of what His only begotten Son accomplished at Calvary, everything has changed. The blood of Jesus Christ has made possible something we could never accomplish through our own efforts. It has cleansed us, made us righteous before God, and opened the way for us to have fellowship with our Heavenly Father. While thinking about this, I began looking for a piece of artwork that would help illustrate what I was trying to explain. Years ago, artists sometimes painted on thin canvases that allowed the paint to bleed through to the other side. If you turned one of those paintings around, you would see something entirely different from the beautiful picture on the front. The backside might be covered with blotches, stains, overlapping colors, and strange pathways where one color ran into another. There would be no real beauty to admire. You might not even recognize what the artist was trying to create. But turn that same canvas around, and suddenly everything changes. What appeared to be a confusing collection of colors becomes a beautiful work of art. The painting might be something you treasure, perhaps even something priceless. It is the same canvas, the same paint, and the same colors, yet the difference between the front and the back is remarkable. Now I want you to think about that painting in relation to your life as a believer in Jesus Christ. The backside of that canvas represents our sinful condition, our imperfections, our failures, and everything about us that could never measure up to God's perfect righteousness. If we were judged according to our own goodness, we would have nothing to offer Him. Scripture makes that clear. But here is the wonderful truth I want you to understand. When our Heavenly Father looks upon those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ, He sees us in light of what His Son has accomplished. He does not look upon us as condemned sinners trying desperately to make ourselves acceptable. He sees us through the righteousness of Christ, secured by His precious blood.