It's not unusual to read stories about people who pay off their home mortgage more quickly than scheduled. One man spoke about how he cut down his spending, choosing not to eat at restaurants or to buy fast food. He said he was offended by how [...]

The ancient city of Sardis was located at or near the end of a royal road, which ran 1700 miles away to the palace of king Artaxerxes. That's where Esther lived and Nehemiah. Sardis is famous for the first gold coins ever used. The gold came [...]

When a British adventurer succeeded in trekking solo across the frozen sea from northern Canada to the North Pole, things got complicated after he lost a ski when he fell through thin ice. Jesus spoke of thin ice when he addressed the church of [...]

If you form the dough into cookies and then dip the tops of them in sugar before you bake them, you'll end up with sugar-coated cookies. Nothing at all healthy about them but people like them and the reason is, and I'm quoting the recipe [...]

Jesus is very direct with the church of Thyatira about their sins, but then he speaks to those who are following him faithfully. He says, "But hold fast what you have till I come", Revelation 2:25. There might be times when you feel your [...]

The longest of the letters to the seven churches in Revelation is the one to Thyatira, in which Jesus states his displeasure with the church, allowing certain sins to go unchecked. Jesus believed it was the church's responsibility to take a [...]

When John wrote to the seven churches, paganism was rampant throughout the Roman Empire. Gods such as Apollo, and Diana, and Bacchus, and Neptune were worshiped. Among the ruins of the ancient city of Pergamon is the temple of Trajan, a Roman [...]

You notice in the letters to the seven churches in Revelation that Jesus affirms and chastises most of the churches. To the church at Pergamos Jesus says as he does to each of the churches, "I know your works", and then he points out [...]

Jesus letter to the church Smyrna takes on a new relevance when you consider where the name "Smyrna" comes from. It's based on the word myrrh, one of the gifts brought to baby Jesus by the wise men. It was used as a perfume for [...]

How do you encourage a group of people who are about to go through a time of incredibly difficult trial? Jesus told the church of Smyrna: they were going to go through tribulation, but in doing so, described himself as, "The first and the last [...]

John Bradshaw : Welcome to "Line Upon Line," brought to you by It Is Written. This is where we answer your Bible questions. We love to receive them. If you have one you'd like to submit, we invite you to email it to us. Email address [...]

John Bradshaw : Welcome to "Line Upon Line," great to see you. Thanks for taking time out of your day to spend some time with us as we answer your Bible questions. We have a great deal of fun doing this; we appreciate you getting [...]

This is It Is Written. I'm John Bradshaw. Thanks for joining me. Welcome to the Philippines and to Manila, the nation's capital, 1.8 million people call the city of Manila home, and almost 13 million live in the metropolitan area, placing [...]

John Bradshaw : Welcome to "Line Upon Line," brought to you by It Is Written. This is where we get to answer your Bible questions. Now, if you have a Bible question you'd like to submit, please do, and keep in mind that if the [...]

John Bradshaw : Welcome to "Line Upon Line," brought to you by It Is Written. I'm John Bradshaw, with me, Wes Peppers. This is where we get to answer your Bible questions. We appreciate you sending them and hope that you're [...]

This is It Is Written. I'm John Bradshaw. Thanks for joining me. Although military combat has historically been the domain of men, many women have seen action on the front lines. It's said that somewhere between 400 and 750 women fought in [...]

Today the ruins of the biblical City of Smyrna have been swallowed up by the bustling city of Izmir on turkey's West Coast; two thousand years ago, there was a thriving Christian community there. Jesus tells that church they'll suffer [...]

In Revelation, Jesus tells the church in Ephesus they're in danger of losing everything, spiritually speaking, but that they can retain their standing with God. Jesus says, "Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and [...]

The letters to the seven churches in Revelation aren't for the faint of heart. The messages were to real churches in real locations, in what's now Western Turkey. Ephesus was an important city located on the Aegean Sea, and Jesus warned [...]

In the first of the letters to the seven churches in Revelation, Jesus commends the church in Ephesus, then he says he has something against the Ephesian church because the believers there, "Have left your first love," Revelation 2:4. Now [...]

Reports from Argentina said a rubbish dump was closed after locals began finding 100$ bills there, as much as $75,000 in all. Seems the money was in a closet discarded after its owner died. Free money, and people come running in the hope that [...]

It's interesting to see what passes for sophistication. People who drink in wine bars are seen as fashionable and chic, nightclubs are trendy hot spots. Many high-profile celebrities move from one partner to another, clocking up notches on [...]

People forget, don't they? It's hard to know how you could forget something like this, but they did. God told Solomon that if the time should come that there was no rain, well let's look at this. 1 Chronicles 7:13 and 14, God said, [...]

So, God has Elijah confront king Ahab, and tell him there won't be any rain for three and a half years. How desperate would things be after a drought that long? Would people suffer? Oh yes, they would. So why would God be so tough? People [...]

Well, that had to be uncomfortable. A report said the once famous actor was dead, reports apparently from the man's wife and management team. But although he was in decline and died a couple of days later, at the time he was very much alive. [...]

Temptation is a fact of life. You can put yourself where you're less likely to be tempted, but temptation will find you. It has the ability to wear you down. At first you might be strong in the face of a certain sin, but if you're not firm [...]

A lot of people are looking for stability, many lives are marked by insecurity, that person with rent to pay who just lost their job, people taking a step forward and then slipping right back to where they started for various reasons. Illness can be [...]

In 1956 a judge in Florida threatened Elvis Presley with jail time if he didn't tone down the suggestive nature of a stage act. Seems almost quaint today, but at the risk of sounding terribly old-fashioned, the judge had a point, not that [...]

John Bradshaw : This is "Line Upon Line," brought to you by It Is Written. I'm John Bradshaw, with me, Wes Peppers. Welcome, Wes. Wes Peppers : Thank you, Pastor John, good to be here. John Bradshaw : And this is the program where we [...]

This is It Is Written. I'm John Bradshaw. Thanks for joining me. Standing at the side of an enormous memorial a little more than 30 miles from the Spanish capital, Madrid, is the world's largest cross. It's almost 500 feet tall, 150 [...]

This is It Is Written. I'm John Bradshaw. Thanks for joining me. You wonder how it can happen. I mean, we're a long way into the 21st century now, and yet the problem is as bad, in fact, the problem is worse now than it's ever been [...]

John Bradshaw : Welcome to "Line Upon Line," where we answer your Bible questions. "Line Upon Line" is brought to you by It Is Written. I'm John Bradshaw. With me is Pastor Wes Peppers. Great to have you, Wes, thanks for [...]

John Bradshaw : Welcome to "Line Upon Line," brought to you by It Is Written. I'm John Bradshaw, with me, Wes Peppers, and together we get to answer your Bible questions. Are you ready to go? Wes Peppers : We're ready to go. [...]

John Bradshaw : Welcome to "Line Upon Line," brought to you by It Is Written. This is where we get to answer your Bible questions. You know, we can't answer them if you don't send them. So if you have a Bible question, send it [...]

John Bradshaw : Hey there, and welcome to "Line upon Line," brought to you by It Is Written. I'm John Bradshaw. It's my good fortune to have sitting next to me Pastor Wes Peppers. Wes, thanks for being here. Wes Peppers : Good [...]

John Bradshaw : Hey there and welcome to "Line Upon Line," brought to you by It Is Written. This is where we get to answer your Bible questions. These are questions that have been submitted by viewers of It Is Written programs. [...]

Some years ago, a financial advisor wrote that "If you can't afford to buy a house, just stop buying lattes". His theory was that if you took the money, you fritted away, and invested that money, you'd get ahead. The idea, [...]

If you had less than stellar parents, the good news is that you don't have to repeat their mistakes. You might inherit their hair color or eye color, but while you might be naturally predisposed to acting like them, you don't have to be [...]

Youth, young people, kids, yeah, they're an easy target, and that's because they have more energy than experience; they're still learning. Growing up is an actual thing, and that road isn't especially easy. So the question is, do [...]

Leaders have a great amount of influence, but followers also have power, and they really ought to use it. It's mystifying, but it's true that, "It came to pass when Rehoboam had established the kingdom and had strengthened himself, he [...]

The split in Israel that divided Israel and Judah happened when Rehoboam became king right after Solomon's death. The people asked King Rehoboam to lighten their burdens. Solomon had worked them severely and taxed them unreasonably, but they [...]

Have you ever done something we have really sort of blown it, and it needn't have happened? Let's be honest, of course you have. Something you said, a rash act, something you did under pressure or in the heat of the moment. It might have [...]

If anyone was qualified to speak to young people about their life and faith, it was Solomon. He wasn't a young man when he wrote Ecclesiastes, which is why he could write with clarity. He understood young people have it rough, they're [...]

Imagine you're the third King in Israel's history, the son of a mighty man. You've given incredible wisdom, and you become very powerful. And then you blow it, turning your back on the God who appeared to you twice, trashing [...]

When king Solomon married the daughter of the Egyptian pharaoh, it seemed like a good strategic move. The Bible says he made affinity with Pharaoh. It was good in terms of international relations, but you read later that, "When Solomon was [...]

Think of Solomon and his fall from grace, and you'll think naturally enough about his 700 wives and 300 concubines. But it's almost never the case that there's just one weakness, because when you open the door to sin you open the [...]

John Bradshaw : Gabriel, thanks so much for joining me. I appreciate you being here. Gabriel McClover : Yeah, my pleasure. John Bradshaw : A moment ago I said you've dedicated yourself to bettering the lives of others. Quickly, how? Gabriel [...]

How do you go from being the king of God's people, to being a train wreck. Solomon was called by God to the throne of Israel, and right from the start he was a model King. When given a chance to ask for anything he wished, Solomon asked for an [...]

I'll tell you what sin does: sin drew King Solomon away from God, it led him into idolatry and degrading practices. But this is what Solomon said sin led him to, we get this straight from the horse's mouth. After saying that he turned [...]

When my friends land wouldn't sell, he increased the price three times, and then it sold for much more than he originally asked. In 2010 an Italian Village, two hours from Rome, attracted 40.000 visitors a year, but when an entrance fee was [...]