About these Blog Posts

Going forward I plan to use blog posts to tell you about miracles my husband and I have either witnessed or experienced firsthand.

Some of these blogs are former site pages (including at least one former sermon) that should have been blog posts instead of site pages.

Blogs prior to 2025 are old blog posts from a defunct website.

Margot Armer

Experiencing Miracles

Originally preached on February 27, 2016 at Shalom Hebraic Christian Congregation.

We live in perilous times.  We don’t know what the future holds.  But we do know this: God hasn’t changed. The God of the Bible is the God of today. The miracles of the Bible still happen today. I got saved because I witnessed miracles, and today God wants me to tell you about some of the miracles I’ve seen.

I believe God wants all of us at Shalom to begin to operate in the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and the working of miracles is one of those gifts. But before I talk about miracles, I want to make it very clear to you that in God’s sight miracles are not the measure of a person’s ministry. So today I’m going to use an extreme example to prove to you that miracles are not the measure of a person’s ministry.

I want to talk for a moment about Judas Iscariot.

As you know, Judas was one of the 12 apostles. We know Judas was a bad guy.

We know Judas betrayed the Lord. We know that even before Judas betrayed the Lord, he was a thief: when Mary anointed Jesus’ feet we read in John 12, verses 4-6 that “. . . Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, "Why wasn't this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year's wages." John goes on to tell us that “Judas did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.” 

So we know that Judas was a thief, but what we don’t know is when the other 11 apostles learned that Judas was a thief. I suspect it wasn’t until after the Resurrection, because what we do know is that at the Last Supper, when Jesus told the 12 that one of them would betray Him, they didn’t automatically assume it would be Judas. Instead, we read that “they were very sorrowful and began to say to him one after another, “Is it I, Lord?” (Matthew 26:22).

What does this have to do with miracles?

Well, in Matthew 10 [verse 1] we learn that when Jesus sent out the 12, He “gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction.”

It seems to me that if Judas had never worked a miracle, If he had never cast out evil spirits or healed every kind of disease and every kind of affliction, in short, if Judas wasn’t a miracle worker right along with all the rest of the apostles, then the other apostles would have noticed that they were working miracles and Judas wasn’t, and they wouldn’t have had any doubt about who the traitor was going to be.

I have already said that miracles are not the measure of a person’s ministry. The Bible tells us that Moses and Elijah and Elisha did a lot of miracles. It also tells us, in John 10:41, that John the Baptist did no miracles. And yet Jesus said, in Matthew 11:11, “ Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist.”

In God’s sight, John the Baptist went before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah, because he brought back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. He didn’t work Elijah’s miracles, but he and Elijah both did something that was far greater in the sight of God. They spoke the Word of God in power.

God doesn’t see the way man sees. Man looks at the outward appearance--miracles included--but God looks at the heart.

Turn with me to Matthew 7:21-23. Matthew 7:21-23. This is where Jesus said:

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

We know that in the end times the coming of the lawless one will be based on Satan's working, with all kinds of false miracles, signs, and wonders, The King James says with all power and signs and lying wonders.

The devil always has a counterfeit. But a counterfeit is always a copy of the real thing. God has the real thing. The real thing is referred to in the Bible as the working of miracles.

The working of miracles is one of the gifts mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12. First of all, please notice that the working of miracles is called a gift and not a payment. It’s not something you earn. It’s not a reward. And it’s not a merit badge.

We understand the difference between a gift and a payment when it comes to the gift of salvation. You cannot earn salvation. You can only receive salvation as a gift. Ephesians 2:8 says, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

We understand that salvation is a gift. We get that. It fits in with our theology.

What I want you to understand today is that, like salvation, the working of miracles is also a gift. It is a gift and not a payment. It is a gift and not a reward.

You can’t earn it, and it isn’t a merit badge. I hope we can get that too.

The gifts of the Spirit are empowered by the Spirit, and it is the Holy Spirit Who decides which gifts we get. But salvation is a gift that is promised to everyone who asks for it.  Romans 10:13 says that "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." Nobody has to go to hell, because everybody can call on the name of the Lord and be saved. So once you realize Who Jesus is and you ask Him to save you -- if you call on His Name, you will be saved.

However, in my opinion, we don’t get to decide which gifts we get. We are told to covet earnestly the best gifts, so we can certainly pray that we will receive a certain gift, and we know that our God is a prayer answering God. But in the end, it’s the Holy Spirit Who ultimately decides which gifts we get and how strongly we will move in them.

Please turn to 1st Corinthians, chapter 12. First Corinthians 12, beginning in verse 4 says this:

4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. 7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.

I should add, by the way, that once we have those gifts, they’re ours for life. 

The Holy Spirit doesn’t take His gifts back. That’s one reason why we sometimes see powerful gifts--genuine gifts--moving through backslidden men or women of God. Here’s chapter and verse for that. Romans 11:29 says that “the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.” 

God never changes his mind once you accept His call, and God never takes back the gifts of the Spirit once you have received them. So if there happen to be any backslidden preachers within the sound of my voice, the gifts haven’t left you and the calling hasn’t left you.  It’s time to pick yourself up, get right with God, and no matter what the religious world would say to you, it’s time to get back in the ministry.

The gifts of the Spirit move through ordinary human beings. The great men of the Bible were ordinary human beings. In Acts, chapter 14, when Paul and Barnabas were in Lystra, Paul healed a cripple. The crowds were so impressed that they wanted to worship Paul and Barnabus with sacrifices. But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their garments and rushed out into the crowd, crying out, 15 “Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men, of like nature with you.

In 1980 and 1981 I went to a school of ministry founded by healing evangelists Charles and Frances Hunter. Ruth Holloway, who works here at The Nathaniel Center, also attended that same school and she also used to work in the office of Hunter Ministries*. Ruth and I can both tell you that we witnessed numerous miracles in the Hunters’ services as well as in their everyday lives. We can both tell you that whatever other people used to think, the Hunters thought of themselves as ordinary human beings.  They didn’t consider themselves to be super-saints. One of their favorite sayings was, “If Charles and Frances can do it, you can do it too.” God works through ordinary human beings, and God can work through you. 

My mother and I lived in Pittsburgh back when Kathryn Kuhlman held monthly miracle services there. People used to come from overseas--mainly Germany and Scandinavia and Switzerland--to stay at our house so they could attend her meetings.  Some got healed, and some didn’t, but I can tell you that Kathryn Kuhlman did in fact have miracles in her services -- spectacular miracles. But despite all the miracles that happened in her services, I can’t tell you how often I heard Kathryn Kuhlman say, “I have no healing virtue.” She would explain it this way: “I know that I have no healing virtue. Believe me, without the power of the Holy Ghost I am sunk."  Not everyone who went to her services got healed.  Some of the people we took to her services got healed and others didn’t. But Kathryn never tried to explain why some people received their healing and others didn’t. She believed that it was up to God.

So miracles are real. And they are done by people like us. James 5, verses 16-18 says this: “The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. 18 Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.” 

Sometimes miracles happen because we pray, and sometimes miracles happen because we use the Name of Jesus. Let’s look at what Peter said when the lame man was healed in Acts chapter 3.  In verse 12 Peter said, “Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk? Peter used the occasion to preach about Jesus, and then in verse 16, Acts 3:16, Peter said “And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.

So Peter and John had no power to make the lame man walk.  Peter said that it was not by his own power or piety that the miracle happened. Similarly, I personally have no miracle-working power, but I have been blessed to witness some amazing miracles. 

The summer after I graduated from the Hunter’s school of ministry they had a summer school that included a number of foreign students.  My mother and I invited two of those students to come to lunch with us. I planned to serve a small eye of round roast beef -- about the smallest eye of round I’ve ever seen, just enough to feed four people.  It was hot, our air conditioner wasn’t working as well as it should have, the oven was on, and I was already frazzled when the students showed up. Instead of coming by themselves, those two students had invited the whole class!  It wasn’t a large class--I would guess there were maybe 20 to 25 of them, I don’t really remember.  But I lost it. By this time the roast was out of the oven and on the counter, and I said “Humph! I suppose I’m going to have to lay hands on this roast--and I smacked the roast--and command it to multiply in the name of Jesus!” And I didn’t think I was praying. So far as I knew, I was venting. I made more salad, I cooked more vegetables, I made more of everything I could make more of, but it was still just a four person roast.  And then I started to carve.  I got to about the middle of the roast, and then the roast just didn’t get any smaller.  Some people had seconds. There were leftovers. It was totally inconspicuous. I’m not sure anybody noticed except for my mother and myself. But even without really meaning to, I had in fact used the Name of Jesus, and the roast had in fact multiplied. The lesson learned is this: it was not through my own power or piety that the roast got multiplied, any more than it was Peter’s power or piety that made the lame man walk. In both those cases, it was the Name of Jesus, and if you are a believer you have just as much right to use that Name as I do.

The Bible tells us that in the last days perilous times will come and men’s hearts will be failing them for fear.  We live in times when we will need to have faith in God.  We are going to need to be able to believe God for miracles. We are going to need to know that miracles do happen, and that they can happen for us. 

Let me tell you about weather miracles. I have seen God do miracles during various storms on numerous occasions.  I prayed for protection during Hurricane Ike.  During that hurricane, a huge tree fell on my house without causing any damage to the roof, and a smaller tree fell on my car. The next morning I wasn’t able to lift the tree off the car, but I was able to back out from under it, and the car had sustained no damage where the tree fell. During the night, a large mirror had fallen off the wall and onto the tile floor right next to where I was sleeping.  It didn’t wake me up, and the mirror didn’t shatter. 

During an earlier hurricane while my mother was still alive, our neighbors called to tell us to get away from the back of our house because a tree was about to fall on it.  Don’t ask me why, but my mother and I went to the back of the house, looked out the sliding glass door, and sure enough a tree was leaning in our direction, about to fall.  We commanded it to fall somewhere else in the Name of Jesus.  So the tree stood back up, stood straight for a minute, and then fell at about a 45 degree angle to its original direction.  It then landed between our house and the next one without doing any damage to either house. 

In another weather-related miracle, a friend of mine needed to drive to Dallas to visit her sister, who was living in a home for mentally disabled people in the Dallas area. The weather was very hot, and the air conditioner in her car wasn’t working. Her mechanic had taken a part out of the air conditioner and had left it sitting on the counter while he ordered a replacement. It didn’t occur to me to tell the air conditioner to work.  Instead, I prayed Psalm 121:6 over her, the verse that says “The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.” Well, she started driving, and it got so hot that she reached over and absent-mindedly turned the air conditioner on--and it worked! And it kept on working the whole time she had that car, without ever needing that replacement part.

When my mother and I lived in Coraopolis, Pa, we hosted a double wedding in our backyard. We prayed for good weather because there was no way all the wedding guests would have been able to fit in the house. The weather forecast was not good.  During the wedding, one drop of rain fell on my mother’s nose.  She looked up to see that even though it was sunny where we were, it was raining in a complete circle around our property.

But the biggest weather miracle I’ve seen was at Greater Pittsburgh Church of the Brethren, the first church I attended after I got saved. On one particular Sunday, it was raining so hard and so horizontally that the water was coming through the leading in the stained glass windows.  One of the elders’ wives grabbed me and told me we had to pray or the rain would ruin the carpet.  We rushed to the porch, where she commanded the rain, which was still torrential, to stop in the name of Jesus. It stopped instantly. There was just a very brief moment while the drops that were already in mid-air fell to the ground, and that was it. It was a miracle of Biblical proportions.

I’m not going to tell my husband’s testimony for him, but before we were married, my husband also experienced a miracle of Biblical proportions, where in answer to prayer Will went from making minimum wage one day to making $250 an hour the next--and that job lasted (although not at that rate) for the next ten years. I say it’s a miracle of Biblical proportions because it reminds me of the story of four lepers in Elisha’s time, where the city went from famine to abundance overnight.

Well, Brother John Osteen used to say, “Blessed are the short-winded, for they shall be invited back.” So I know I need to close.  I’ll close with this. The last part of 1 Corinthians 12 says this, beginning in verse 27.

27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. 28 And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? 31 But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.

As we very well know, Paul’s more excellent way is the way of love.  The very next thing Paul says is this:

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. (1 Cor. 13:1-3)

I believe in miracles. I got saved because I witnessed miracles. Miracles are important. We live in perilous times, and the ability to believe God for miracles may determine whether our natural bodies live or die. But let’s keep the main thing the main thing. And--as Pastor Philip preached a couple of weeks ago--the main thing is--the greatest of these--is love.

Margot Armer

*Ruth Holloway has gone home to be with the Lord, and Shalom now meets at Words of Life in Atascocita.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version© (ESV©), Copyright: 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers ©. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

“If Charles and Frances Can Do It, You Can Do It Too!”

In 2020 Stephen Strang wrote an article called Remembering How Healing Evangelists Charles and Frances Hunter Impacted the World for Jesus.  He said:

Do you remember the "Happy Hunters"? I know I do. I was 25 years old when I first met Charles and Frances Hunter, both of whom were healing evangelists for the Lord with a passion for walking in the Spirit's supernatural power. I first saw them at an event they hosted in Kissimmee, Florida. That night, I watched my friend, Gene Lilly, get healed of multiple sclerosis. The Hunters' ministry made such an impact on me that I wrote about them in one of the first articles I ever did for Charisma back when I founded the magazine in 1975.

I remember the Hunters too.  In 1980-1981 I attended the very first year of the Hunters’ school of ministry, and my mother and I bought a house that was practically next door to Hunter Ministries, where the school was held. During the years we lived almost next door to Hunter Ministries I had the opportunity to see many healing miracles in the big blue dome where the Hunters held their healing services when they were in town.

One summer--I think it was the summer right after I graduated--the Hunters started a summer school, and I invited two of the summer school students to lunch.  Summers are very hot in Texas, our air conditioner wasn’t functioning very well, and I don’t do well in hot weather, but I went ahead and cooked the very small eye of round roast I’d bought for the occasion.  Lunch was almost ready when the two students arrived--along with their entire class.  I said, “Hmph!  I suppose I’m going to have to lay hands on this roast (whereupon I smacked the roast) and command it to multiply in the name of Jesus!” I didn’t think I was praying.  I thought I was venting.  I went ahead and made the largest salad I could make with what was in the refrigerator, cooked whatever frozen vegetables I had in the freezer, put the food on the counter between the stove and the living room and and started to carve the roast.  And carve.  And carve.  By the time everyone’s plates were full, about half of that very small roast was left. God had multiplied the roast, and I think my mother and I were the only two who noticed.  We still had leftovers after everyone else had gone.

The roast beef miracle wasn’t the only Hunter-related miracle I’ve experienced.  Around the turn of the century, there was a lump in my left breast.  My doctor ordered a biopsy.  According to the biopsy, there were two kinds of cancer cells in the lump--a bad kind and a not-so-bad kind.  He ordered a lumpectomy.  I got lots of prayer.  One of the pray-ers was Frances Hunter.  (I stopped by her office.) After the surgeon did the lumpectomy they biopsied the tissue they’d removed, and no cancer cells were found.

Both Charles and Frances are with the Lord now.  Their daughter, Joan Hunter, took over the leadership of Hunter Ministries after the passing of her mother in July 2009. (She also leads her own ministry, Joan Hunter Ministries.)  

One of Frances Hunter’s favorite sayings was “If Charles and Frances can do it, you can do it, too!”  If you want to know how Charles and Frances did it, their 14-video teaching series How to Heal the Sick is available free of charge on YouTube.

Margot Armer

The Power of 4

Christians have always known that God’s Word is vitally important to their spiritual well-being, but it is only recently that a number of scientific studies have revealed that people who read the Bible most days of the week behave very differently from people who don’t.

I trust you have a Bible--Most Americans do--but sadly enough even though most Americans own a Bible, few Americans actually read the Bibles they own.

According to research released by Barna, “Today, about one-third of all American Adults report reading the Bible once a week or more. The percentage is highest among Elders (49%) and lowest among Millennials (24%).”

I wish Barna had asked those American Adults how many of them read or listened to their Bibles four times a week, because reading or listening to the Bible four times a week turns out to be a tipping point.  Research done for the Center for Biblical Engagement  by Arnold Cole, Ed.D. & Pamela Caudill Ovwigho, Ph.D. demonstrated that those who read the Bible at least four times a week are much less likely to engage in behaviors such as pornography, getting drunk, and engaging in sex outside of marriage.

Pamela Ovwigho said, “We have discovered through our research large behavioral differences between Christians who read or listen to the Bible at least four days a week and those who engage with scripture less often.”  Their research revealed that “The ‘Power of 4’ can be simply stated this way: The life of someone who engages scripture four or more times a week looks radically different from the life of someone who does not. In fact, the lives of Christians who do not engage the Bible most days of the week are statistically the same as the lives of non-Christians.

She also said that the study had been controlled for differences in gender, age, church attendance, prayer habits, small group participation, and “most other factors you would think would matter.” 

Praying is good. Attending church or synagogue is good. Volunteering is good. But none of those things will affect the way you live your life as much as reading or listening to the Word of God. And the Center for Bible Engagement has actually identified the tipping point. We now know you need to read or listen to the Word of God at least four days a week if you want your Bible reading to impact the way you live your life. I’m praying that you will.

Margot Armer

The Talmuds Are NOT Bibles

I come from a secular Jewish background, so I used to think that when Jewish people told me they were “learning Torah,” they meant that they were studying the Bible.  It was only later in life that I discovered they were actually studying the Talmud. 

There are actually two Talmuds--the Jerusalem Talmud and the Babylonian Talmud, both of which are based on the Mishnah, which was compiled around 200 CE by Rabbi Judah the prince. Each Talmud consists of the Mishnah (which is the same in both Talmuds) plus a Gemara--a commentary on the Mishnah.  The Jerusalem Talmud was initially published in four volumes and the Babylonian Talmud consists of 73 volumes, but when people tell you they are “learning Torah” they are probably talking about studying the Babylonian Talmud.

Lawrence H. Schiffman is a highly respected Orthodox Jewish scholar.  In From Text to Tradition he writes that after the destruction of the Second Temple, there was, and I quote, “a fundamental change in Jewish study and learning” and that “The fundamental change was that the oral Torah gradually evolved into a fixed corpus of its own which eventually replaced the written Torah as the main object of Jewish study and guide for religious practice, at least for rabbinic Jews.”  

In “Judaism today is not biblical Judaism” Rabbi Israel Drazin summed up Schiffman’s book by saying, “It tells how and why Judaism accepted the hegemony and authority of the Babylonian Talmud over that of the Bible. It is the history of Judaism from Temple to house of study and synagogue, from Torah to Talmud, from priest to rabbi, from holy text to tradition.”

In Matthew 15:3, Jesus asked the Pharisees and scribes why they disobeyed the commandment of God because of their tradition.  Coming soon:  a blog on the importance of obeying God’s commandments.

Margot Armer

Always Be Thankful—A Thanksgiving Day Book Review

Here in America, today is Thanksgiving Day.  It’s certainly a good start, but I believe every day should be Thanksgiving Day.  Paul put it this way: Always be joyful. Always keep on praying. No matter what happens, always be thankful, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus (I Th. 5:16-18 The Living Bible).

If anyone can teach you how to be thankful all the time, it’s Merlin Carothers (1924-2013). Merlin is with the Lord, but his books are still available.

I became a believer in 1971 after seeing a number of undeniable miracles.  My mother had a group of Jesus People living in her house, and her friends and neighbors were getting healed in the meetings those Jesus People held.  I’ve lived a life filled with miracles ever since, and I owe a number of the miracles I’ve seen to the teachings of Merlin Carothers. God told Merlin this: “I want you to tell everyone who will listen to be thankful for every detail of their lives, and I will open the windows of heaven and pour out more blessings than they can ever ask or hope for” (Power In Praise, p. 43).

Back in 1976 Merlin Carothers’ book sales set a record when he was the first author to have three books simultaneously listed on the National Christian Bookseller Association’s top ten bestsellers list.  His books have been translated into 59 languages and have sold over 19 million copies. I suggest starting with his first two books, Prison to Praise and Power in Praise: How the Spiritual Dynamic of Praise Revolutionizes Lives. As Foundation Of Praise points out, “His unique concept of praising in all things brings results that can only be termed miraculous.”

Prison to Praise is Merlin Carothers’ autobiography and his personal testimony about the life-changing power of gratitude. Merlin Carothers was already a convicted felon when he served as a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne during three major campaigns of World War II and then as a guard to General Eisenhower.  Throughout his time in Europe, his extracurricular activities involved gambling, black marketeering, and “a considerable amount of drinking.” His combat record, however, was excellent, and he received a presidential pardon signed by President Truman. He became a Christian shortly after returning home from Europe, attended college and seminary and became a Methodist pastor before volunteering for the U.S. Army chaplaincy where he served as a Lt. Colonel in Korea, the Dominican Republic conflict, and in Vietnam.

Power in Praise builds on the foundation laid in Prison to Praise and is filled with real-life stories, practical advice and biblical teachings to help you harness the power of praise in your own life.

You owe it to yourself to read these books, and I hope they prove to be as much of a blessing to you as they are to me.

Margot Armer

Why Jesus Won’t Come Today

Jesus could very well come for me today.  (I am in my eighties.)  But I’m not expecting Him to come for everyone just yet.

The very last verse in the Christian Old Testament says this:

Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of Yahweh comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.” Malachi 4:5-6 (WEB)

The Christian Bible explicitly speaks about three Elijahs:

1. The original Elijah

2. John the Baptist

3. The Elijah who “is coming “before the great and terrible day of Yahweh (Malachi 4:5).  This third Elijah “will restore all things” (Matthew 17:11).

So far as I know, Elijah Number Three hasn’t appeared on the scene so far.  He may be out there somewhere, but it seems to me that right now the hearts of the fathers and the hearts of the children are looking much worse than they did when I was growing up. 

Here’s what we know about Elijah Number Three and the Day of the Lord:

1. He will show up BEFORE the great and terrible day of the LORD

Malachi 4:5-6: "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the LORD comes. He will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction."

2. There Will Be Signs in the heavens BEFORE the Day of the LORD

Joel 2:31: "The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the LORD come."

3. There Will be Cosmic Disturbances

Isaiah 13:10: "For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be darkened at its rising, and the moon will not shed its light."

This was partially fulfilled at Jesus’ Crucifixion, but at that time the sun was darkened at noon rather than “at its rising” (Matthew 27:45 WEB).

4. Earthly Destruction

“Yahweh’s word which came to Zephaniah, the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah, the son of Amon, king of Judah. I will utterly sweep away everything from the surface of the earth, says Yahweh. I will sweep away man and animal. I will sweep away the birds of the sky, the fish of the sea, and the heaps of rubble with the wicked. I will cut off man from the surface of the earth, says Yahweh.” (Zephaniah 1:1-3 WEB)

"The great day of the LORD is near, near and hastening fast; the sound of the day of the LORD is bitter; the mighty man cries aloud there. A day of wrath is that day, a day of distress and anguish, a day of ruin and devastation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of trumpet blast and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the lofty battlements." (Zephaniah 1:14-16 WEB)

5. God's Ultimate Rule

Zechariah 14:9: "And the LORD will be king over all the earth. On that day the LORD will be one and his name one" (WEB).

Come quickly, Elijah!

Margot Armer

Learn Biblical Hebrew and/or Biblical Greek

I’ve been using Alef with Beth for a while now, and it only occurred to me today that I’ve never heard Beth use a single word of English--and it has never bothered me.  As she puts it, “we teach Hebrew through Hebrew.”

Alef with Beth Biblical HEBREW Videos

Biblical Hebrew Lessons 1-50 in Order (in Biblical Hebrew)

How to Use Aleph with Beth Videos to Learn Biblical Hebrew (in English)

Video Playlists

Aleph with Beth Quizzes

All Resources (Lesson Scripts, Quizzes, Grammar, Vocabulary, Worksheets, etc.):

Hebrew Alphabet Practice: find this PDF download here.

Alpha with Angela Biblical GREEK Videos

Find the first Biblical Greek video HERE.  The other Alpha with Angela Greek videos are listed in her right-hand column.  Angela’s teaching philosophy is similar to Beth’s--she teaches Greek using Greek.

Margot Armer

It’s Time to Use Your Gifts

We read about the gifts of the Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12.  I personally believe that at least one gift is given to every born again believer.  First Corinthians 12:7 (WEB) says “But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the profit of all.” (1 Corinthians 12:7 WEB)

Notice that these demonstrations of the Spirit are gifts, not merit badges. They aren’t something we learn or earn.  They aren’t something we achieve through good behavior or lose through bad behavior. Like salvation, they are gracious gifts from God, and Romans 11:29 says “the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.” (WEB).

Let me ask you this: are you using your gift(s)?  Since the gifts of the Spirit are irrevocable, it’s not a case of “use it or lose it,” but a gifting may be dormant for a season.  If your gifting is dormant at the moment, it is your responsibility to fan it into flame. As Paul wrote Timothy, “For this cause, I remind you that you should stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. (2 Timothy 1:6 WEB)

Margot Armer

What Would Corrie ten Boom say?

Yesterday afternoon (US time) the Times of Israel ran a story headlined “Dozens detained in Amsterdam as pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel protesters again defy ban on demonstrations.”  

According to TOI, it was the demonstrators who were accusing Israel of genocide.

On November 7, hundreds of Israelis huddled in their hotels after 10 Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer fans were injured. “Many said that Dutch security forces were nowhere to be found, as the Israeli tourists were ambushed by gangs of masked assailants who shouted pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel slogans while they hunted, beat and harassed them….Police said the attackers were mobilized by calls on social media to target Jewish people.”

TOI said that last Thursday’s violence was carried out by local Arab and Muslim gangs, and “Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof termed the attacks an incident of ‘unadulterated antisemitism’. Police said the attackers were mobilized by calls on social media to target Jewish people.”

Amsterdam is only 16 miles away from Haarlem, Netherlands, where Corrie ten Boom’s family had “The Hiding Place” during the Nazi holocaust.  In Corrie ten Boom’s day, the antisemites were the Dutch and German Nazis.  These days, they are pro-Palestinian Arab and Muslim gangs, and apparently not the native Dutch themselves.

Please ask God to guide and protect all Jews and all lovers of Israel—especially those located anywhere in Europe.

Margot Armer

Lost In Translation 2: The Biblical Distinction Between Soulish and “Spiritish”

This is the second of two very geekish posts.  I promise to be way less geekish starting Thursday.  So let’s look at what’s been lost in translation.

Last week I mentioned how much I’ve been enjoying David Bentley Hart’s The New Testament: A Translation.  Jude 1:19 is what Dr. Hart calls his “acid test” for any new Bible translation. (His own translation of Jude 1:19 reads this way: “These are those who cause divisions, psychical men [psychikos men], not possessing spirit.”)  

In 1 Th 5:23, Paul says, “May your whole spirit [pneuma], soul [psyche], and body [soma] be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (WEB). To change these nouns to adjectives, change the endings.  The Greek words for spiritual, soulish, and bodily are pneumatikos, psychikos, and somatikos.  

I have now noticed--thanks to Dr. Hart--that Jude 1:19 isn’t the only Bible passage to mention “psychical” men.  Dr. Hart’s translation of 1 Corinthians 2:14 says this:  “But a Psychical man does not receive the things of God’s Spirit; for to him it is folly, and he is unable to know them, since they are discerned spiritually.”  And his footnote on this verse says: “here is the first appearance of an antithesis, crucial to Paul’s larger argument, especially in chapter fifteen, between “psychical” life (which comes from psychē or, in Latin, anima: hence also “animate” or “animal” life) and “pneumatic” or “spiritual” life (which is of a radically different nature).” 

In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul says:

Thus also the resurrection of the dead: it is sown in perishability, it is raised in imperishability; It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; It is sown a psychical body, it is raised a spiritual body.ad If there is a psychical body, there is also a spiritual. 1 Corinthians 15:42-44 (The New Testament: A Translation)

And in his footnote Dr. Hart explains:

The distinction is between a σῶμα ψυχικόν (sōma psychikon) (a body literally “ensouled,” “animated,” or “animal,” given life by psychē, the “soul” or organic “life-principle”) and a σῶμα πνευματικόν (sōma pneumatikon) (a body that is of a “spirited” nature, or constituted from or made to live entirely by deathless spirit, pneuma). As is even more clear in the succeeding verses, this is also a distinction between earthly and heavenly origin; and, as is clearest of all in v. 50, resurrection for Paul is not a simple resuscitation of the sort of material body one has in the fallen world, but a radically different kind of life. 1 Corinthians 15:44 (The New Testament: A Translation--italics added)

Paul finishes his discussion of our present earthly bodies by saying this:

So it has also been written, “The first man Adam came to be a living soul,” and the last Adam a life-making spirit. But not the spiritual first, but rather the psychical, the spiritual thereafter. The first man out of the earth—earthly; the second man out of heaven. As the earthly man, so also those who are earthly; and, as the heavenly, so also those who are heavenly; And, just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly man. And I say this, brothers: that flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God; neither does perishability inherit imperishability. (1 Corinthians 15:45-50 (New Testament: A Translation)

My take on all of this is as follows: We don’t know what the heavenly man is going to be like, but we di know it’s going to be good. So like Paul, I am praying this: “May our whole spirit [pneuma], soul [psyche], and body [soma] {including mine!!!} be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Th 5:23 WEB).

Margot Armer

Lost In Translation: The Biblical Distinction Between Soulish and “Spiritish”

I have been thoroughly enjoying David Bentley Hart’s The New Testament: A Translation, and I want to thank Olive Tree Bible Software for making it available electronically, unlike all the other Bible software programs I also love and use. If you only want to read Dr. Hart’s translation (as opposed to, say, reading it in parallel with a Bible commentary) it’s available from Amazon as a Kindle book, an audio book, and/or an audio CD.  And in case you’re worrying about Dr. Hart’s academic credentials, don’t.  His publisher is Yale University Press. 

Fair warning: I confess to being a bit of a Bible geek.  If you’re not a Bible geek, I suggest you skip this post and the one that follows it on Monday.  After that, I promise to try to be less geeky.

Mark Twain famously wrote that “a camel is a horse designed by a committee.” Like Mark Twain, Dr. Hart doesn’t like committees—especially when it comes to all the committee-driven decision-making that goes into arriving at most new Bible translations. It turns out that Dr. Hart judges all other New Testament translations by looking at Jude 1:19.  He says: “A sort of “acid test” for me is Judas [or Jude] 1:19, a verse whose meaning is startlingly clear in the Greek but which no collaborative translation I know of translates in any but the vaguest and most periphrastic manner.” 

Dr. Hart himself translates Jude 1:19 this way: “These are those who cause divisions, psychical men, not possessing spirit.”  

The Greek word for soul is psychē, and it is Jude 1:19 that (when translated correctly) makes a distinction between people who are “soulish” or psychical, and people I will now start calling “spiritish” (people Jude describes as “possessing spirit.”)  “Spiritish” is my bad--don’t blame it on Dr. Hart.  Dr. Hart says this:

Despite its long history of often vague and misleading translations, this verse [Jude 1:19] clearly invokes the distinction between psychē and pneuma (soul and spirit) as principles of life, and between “psychics” and “pneumatics” as categories of persons. There is most definitely no reference here to the Holy Spirit: given the construction of the sentence, the absence of the definite article alone makes this certain; and the reasoning of the sentence makes it all the more so. 

And then he adds: “See 1 Corinthians 2:14 and 15:44-47, along with my footnotes, as well as my remarks on the words psychē and pneuma in my postscript.”  

I think we’ll do that next week.  It’s going to be another blog that only a Bible geek could love. I have every intention of behaving myself after that.

Margot Armer

I Had Lunch with Corrie ten Boom

My cousin Sukie once asked me who I’d choose to have lunch with if I could have lunch with anyone. I said I couldn’t think of anyone, whereupon Sukie said that she would like to have lunch with Corrie ten Boom. I felt really bad about telling her I’d already had lunch with Corrie ten Boom.

Back in the early seventies my mother and I attended Pittsburgh Church of the Brethren. Its pastor, Russ Bixler, was one of the pastors involved in putting together the annual Greater Pittsburgh Charismatic Conference. He asked for volunteers. My mother and I raised our hands. Our assignment—and we did choose to accept it—was to pick up a speaker named Corrie ten Boom at the airport, take her and her nurse to their hotel, and provide whatever transportation they needed. We were happy to do it, and we were also thrilled to be able to buy them lunch.

Our assignment didn’t last long—several bigwigs were eager to help us with our “chore.” But I can tell you two things that were on Corrie ten Boom’s mind:

(1) Corrie ten Boom did not believe in the Rapture. She had just come back from Africa. While she was there, some Christians were murdered. Within a week after she spoke, half the Christians in that African church were murdered. She felt that Christians in America were too busy singing “I’ll Fly Away” and eren’t being prepared to stand on verses like James 1:12, “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.”

(2) Corrie ten Boom also said Christians needed to stay away from the occult, especially from secret societies like the Masons. I can’t remember much about what she said on this one, but in my own defense, it was over half a century ago.

Margot Armer

A Christian Witch Story

Some people are living under a curse because of their own sins. 

Other people are living under a curse because of their ancestors' sins. 

Still others are living under a curse because someone has actually pronounced a curse on them. 

Back in the late seventies I was working in the advertising department of a store named Joske’s, and I used to get my hair done in their beauty salon because I got an employee discount.  One day I was having my hair done. I was witnessing to my hairdresser, and he was witnessing to me.  Only his religion was Wicca. He told me he was a witch, and he also mentioned that he could put a curse on me so that I would turn black and die.  He didn’t say he would--he just said he could. And since he was doing my hair, he had just laid hands on my head. 

Well, as soon as I got back to my office, I prayed.  I reminded God that the Bible says the curse causeless shall not come. I reminded the devil that I was a blood-bought child of God. I did NOT curse the witch who had said he was able to curse me.  Romans 12:14 says “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.” I’m pretty sure I didn’t bless that hairdresser--this happened decades ago--but I am sure I didn’t curse him. And the following day, he simply didn’t show up for work.  His boss tried to call him, but didn’t answer his phone.  And in the following weeks he never did show up to collect his back pay.  As far as his boss knew, he had simply vanished. And I always wondered if he had tried to curse me, and it had boomeranged on him.

Margot Armer

Even Christians Can Have Demons

As Halloween approaches, I want to remind you of the dangers of the occult. The Bible tells us the source of occult deception: “The great dragon was cast out, that ancient serpent called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world. He was cast down to the earth, and his angels were cast down with him” (Revelation 12:9 MEV).

The devil deceives the whole world, not just a part of it.  In other words, we North Americans aren’t any more immune to deception than people who live in China or India or Africa or South America. The whole world is in trouble. We need to realize that the spirit world is real, that evil spirits exist, and that while most curses are self-inflicted through involvement in the occult or in other sins that we commit ourselves, Christians can also suffer from curses that are brought on by other people.  Curses brought on by other people would include curses placed on believers by people who practice witchcraft OR by curses believers inherit because of the sins of their ancestors.

The good news of the Gospel is that if you are willing to repent of your own sins and the sins of your ancestors, and if you are willing to repent of any involvement in the occult, then there is a cure for almost every curse and almost every case of demonization.  In fact, at the moment I can only think of one case in the Bible in which God didn’t heal a believer of demonization, and that was the apostle Paul: in 2 Corinthians 12:7-9 (MEV) Paul writes, “And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me, lest I be exalted above measure. I asked the Lord three times that this thing might depart from me. But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”

The apostle Paul was demonized by a messenger of Satan, but please note that Paul’s thorn was only in his flesh. I hope the apostle Paul will forgive me for using the word “only” about something that tormented him like that.

To learn more about deliverance (getting rid of evil spirits) start here.

Margot Armer

Simchat Torah / Shemini Atzeret

Sukkot lasts seven days. The day after Sukkot is called Simchat Torah and/or Shemini Atzeret. (Shemini Atzeret means Eighth day of Assembly; Simchat Torah means Joy of Torah.)

Simchat Torah is the day immediately following Sukkot--an eighth day on which Jews are no longer required to live in sukkahs.  For today’s rabbinic Jews, Shemini Atzeret is also the day on which Jews finish reading through the Pentateuch and start reading again in Genesis. 

In the Bible, Jews are commanded to “rejoice in your feast” during Sukkot, and while today’s Jews do rejoice during Sukkot, their rejoicing reaches a climax during Simchat Torah. Last year, however, Simchat Torah fell on October 7. Early that morning, on the very day Israeli Jews should have been rejoicing, Hamas started the Israel-Hamas war with a land, sea, and air assault during which whole families were burned alive, men and women were raped, and the Geneva Conventions were totally ignored by the invaders.

This year, Simchat Torah starts tonight.  I’m praying that this year’s Simchat Torah brings Israelis only joy.

Margot Armer

How To Have Peace In Perilous Times

“Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.”
(2 Peter 1:2 NIV 1984)

If you want grace and peace in abundance, then this is how the Bible says we get it.  We get grace and peace through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 

How then do we receive the knowledge of God?

We get to know God the same way we would get to know anyone else.  We get to know God by spending time with Him in prayer, by talking to God, and by asking Him to talk to us. We get to know God by hanging out with Him.  We get to know God by reading His Word. We get to know God by asking Him about Himself.

In Exodus 33:11 the Bible tells us that the LORD spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.

And in verse 13 we read that Moses asked God:  “Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight.”  

I’m paying that for me, and I’m also praying that for you.

I’ll finish with this.  As the expression goes, this is last but not least.

The Apostle Peter said in 2 Peter 1:3-4,

“According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”

Do you really want to know God? You will need to know His Word. We can get everything we need--we can get all things that pertain unto life and godliness--through the knowledge of Him. And how do we receive the knowledge of Him? We claim the exceeding great and precious promises that He has given us in His Word. 

Margot Armer

Sukkot Is Going To Change

Today is Day One of the seven-day biblical holiday of Sukkot, also known as the Feast of Ingathering, the Feast of Booths, the Feast of Temporary Shelters, and the Feast of Tabernacles. (A sukkah is a booth or temporary shelter. Sukkot is the Hebrew plural of sukkah—the English equivalent would seem to be sukkahs.)

Deuteronomy 16:13-15 commands the children of Israel to rejoice during Sukkot: “You shall rejoice in your feast . . .you shall be altogether joyful.”  

The Bible doesn’t tell us how to build a sukkah. The very complex specifics of sukkah construction followed by today’s Jews are derived from the Talmud, especially in the tractate Sukkah, which contains elaborate instructions on how a sukkah should be built. The Bible itself doesn’t give us any specific instructions about how to build a sukkah, but it does tell us that during Sukkot all native Israelis must live in temporary shelters for seven days: 

You must live in temporary shelters for seven days; every native citizen in Israel must live in temporary shelters, so that your future generations may know that I made the Israelites live in temporary shelters when I brought them out from the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.ʼ” Leviticus 23:42-43 (NET)

Today, Sukkot isn’t just celebrated by native-born Israelis―many American Jews and some American gentiles also celebrate Sukkot. (I don’t know what happens in other countries.)  Most Americans don’t travel to Jerusalem in order to celebrate―they build their sukkahs here. But according to Zechariah, a day is coming all the nations―or perhaps representatives from all the nations―will be required to travel to Jerusalem to attend Sukkot to worship the God of the Bible and to celebrate Sukkot:

Then everyone who survives of all the nations that have come against Jerusalem shall go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Booths. And if any of the families of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, there will be no rain on them. And if the family of Egypt does not go up and present themselves, then on them there shall be no rain; there shall be the plague with which the LORD afflicts the nations that do not go up to keep the Feast of Booths. This shall be the punishment to Egypt and the punishment to all the nations that do not go up to keep the Feast of Booths. Zechariah 14:16-19 (ESV)

To which I can only say (in Aramaic) Maranatha!

Margot Armer

Miracles Don’t Validate a Ministry

According to Jesus, ““Not everyone who says to me, ʻLord, Lord,ʼ will enter into the kingdom of heaven - only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. On that day, many will say to me, ʻLord, Lord, didnʼt we prophesy in your name, and in your name cast out demons and do many powerful deeds?ʼ Then I will declare to them, ʻI never knew you. Go away from me, you lawbreakers!ʼ” Matthew 7:21-23 (NET)

How is it possible that people can prophesy in Jesus’ name, cast out demons in Jesus’ name, do miracles in Jesus’ name, and actually call Jesus Lord, and still not enter the kingdom of heaven?  It’s possible because the gifts of the Spirit are exactly that—they’re gifts.  Gifts aren’t earned.  If they were earned, we’d call them wages—as in “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). Sinners earn death by sinning.  But just because someone is able to heal the sick, cast out devils, and foretell the future doesn’t mean that person is necessarily a man or woman of God.

So how do we tell the good guys from the bad guys?  Jesus says we will know them by their fruit: “In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree is not able to bear bad fruit, nor a bad tree to bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will recognize them by their fruit” (Matthew 7:17-20 NET).  And what constitutes good fruit? We find this in Galatians 5:17—“the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23 NET).

In 1973 Kathryn Kuhlman told Christianity Today “I resent very much being called a faith healer, because I am not the healer. I have no healing virtue. I have no healing power. I have never healed anyone. I am absolutely dependent upon the power of the Holy Spirit.”  I know how she felt. I’ve been a believer for over half a century now, and during that time God has allowed me to experience many miracles. I’ve seen food multiplied.  I’ve experienced divine protection. I’ve been transported in the spirit.  I’ve seen God heal cars. I’ve seen God heal people.  I’ve seen one storm stop in an instant. Can I do any of these things by myself?  I can’t.  Do these things happen every time I pray?  They don’t.  But I believe God wants me to let you know He really, truly still works miracles today.

Margot Armer

Impossible Things

In Through the Looking-Glass, Alice in Wonderland told the White Queen “One can’t believe impossible things.”  The Queen told Alice, “I daresay you haven't had much practice.  When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” 

Through the Looking-Glass is fiction, but the White Queen had a point.  Believing impossible things takes practice. The more miracles you see, the easier it is to believe God will give you a miracle the next time.

Here’s what Jesus told us to do:

“Have faith in God. I assure you: If anyone says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, all the things you pray and ask for — believe that you have received them, and you will have them. And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven will also forgive you your wrongdoing. Mark 11:22-25 (HCSB)

The more often we see impossible things happen, the stronger our faith becomes.  I came to faith in Jesus in Pittsburgh in the seventies because I saw the impossible happen--and I saw the impossible happen not just in Kathryn Kuhlman’s services, but also when Jesus People in their teens and twenties prayed for my mother’s friends and neighbors. Once you’re convinced that miracles happen today, it’s a lot easier to believe your miracle will happen.

One last thing:  when you’re praying for a miracle, it’s important to forgive everyone for everything they’ve ever done to hurt you. “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you don’t forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. (Matthew 6:14-15 WEB)  Over the years, I’ve seen a number of people instantly healed right after they forgave someone who had hurt them badly.

Think about this:

Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Until seven times?”

Jesus said to him, “I don’t tell you until seven times, but, until seventy times seven. Therefore the Kingdom of Heaven is like a certain king, who wanted to reconcile accounts with his servants. When he had begun to reconcile, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. But because he couldn’t pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, with his wife, his children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. The servant therefore fell down and knelt before him, saying, ‘Lord, have patience with me, and I will repay you all!’ The lord of that servant, being moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt.

“But that servant went out, and found one of his fellow servants, who owed him one hundred denarii, and he grabbed him, and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’

“So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will repay you!’ He would not, but went and cast him into prison, until he should pay back that which was due. So when his fellow servants saw what was done, they were exceedingly sorry, and came and told their lord all that was done. Then his lord called him in, and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt, because you begged me. Shouldn’t you also have had mercy on your fellow servant, even as I had mercy on you?’ His lord was angry, and delivered him to the tormentors, until he should pay all that was due to him. So my heavenly Father will also do to you, if you don’t each forgive your brother from your hearts for his misdeeds.” (Matthew 18:21-35 WEB)

Margot Armer