Just as in the days of the Old Testament, we live in a time with many competing gods, philosophies, and religions. So how do we publicly identify which God we serve?

Pastor Paul Torres urges us to examine our own selves to confirm our core beliefs before the emergencies that will test our souls inevitably come.

In this special one-hour message, Pastor Paul Torres unveils the true evil behind the pretty face of Halloween and tells us not to get involved.

They say that 90% of life is just about showing up. When the people of God came back from captivity in Babylonia, they immediately ran into intense opposition from enemies in the land who did not want them to rebuild anything, including the Temple. But God and even the King of Babylon had given them permission to do so. Yet after years of opposition, many gave up and started working on their own houses and lives. So when we keep showing up and we keep getting defeated, at what point is it okay to quit? In this message from Ezra chapter 5, Pastor Paul tells us that in order to know what to do first, we have to decide on our priorities. And interestingly enough, the church is not our first priority.

When everything is against us, how do we keep from losing hope?

Some Christians think that if we obey God’s will in our lives, everything will go smoothly. Doors will just open and people will line up to help us. While that may be true in some cases, it’s not necessarily a sign of God’s favor. In fact, opposition to our plans might be a sign that we’re on the right track—because the Enemy will raise a fight. And God will use that opposition to make us stronger, more determined, and more dependent on Him. In today’s message, we’re continuing to look at the story of the return of God’s people from Babylon, and the first steps they took to rebuild. The Enemy wanted nothing of them in the land, and he immediately raised a storm of opposition to try to thwart their plans to rebuild the Temple and the city of Jerusalem. So how do we know if opposition is coming from the Enemy, or from God?

When the people of God returned to the land, they received some unwelcome offers of help from the people who had been moved there. Why didn't they just accept the offer graciously?

Entering into a study of Ezra chapter 3, we see how the people of God prioritized building the altar of God and reestablishing the worship of the LORD over practical matters - and what that means for us today.

Pastor Paul continues examining the background of the return to the land in the book of Nehemiah.

In Romans 15:4 it says that “everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.” Now, there are some passages in the Scripture that may seem arcane or a bit dry. Today in “Daily Manna Weekend” we are looking at one of those passages in the book of Ezra. What do all these lists of names mean? Why are they in the Bible? Yet as with all of Scripture, when we dig into the list, startling truths begin to emerge. We see that once again, there are no accidents in Scripture. God has a specific reason for every person, and every name in these genealogies proves His miraculous providence, control of history, and prophetic power