Hello! I am Jon Paulien and I’m glad you came to this page to check out my work. I am a New Testament scholar and Professor of Religion at Loma Linda University. On this website you will find a collection of my articles, commentary on Revelation, and links to my blog, videos, and other resources. Make sure you check the articles link above regularly to see the latest postings. In my hand above is an exact replica of p52, the earliest extant New Testament manuscript fragment, containing portions of John, chapter 18. Centered above my head is a replica of ancient Greek pottery. At either end above are two sets of books from, and about, my favorite spiritual author, Ellen G. White. I hope you enjoy the site.

Daily Devotional For August 6, 2026

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And the serpent spewed water like a flooding river out of its mouth as it pursued the woman, in order that he might cause her to be swept away by the flood. Rev 12:15.

           The mouth of the serpent reminds the reader of the temptation in the Garden of Eden. While the devil certainly seeks to hinder the church by force, his most effective weapon is often deception. The attacks and the temptations come from unexpected directions.
           The bomb went off shortly after noon and shook the entire building like an earthquake. The offices of Cantor Fitzgerald in the North tower of New York’s World Trade Center went dark. No one knew what had happened, but within minutes the 700 employees calmly headed for the stairs. The stairway quickly became a traffic jam, as 20,000 workers on lower floors were also evacuated that cold February day, but the Cantor Fitzgerald people didn’t panic. Some of them lashed their ties and belts to the wheelchairs of handicapped people and carried them down the 105 flights of stairs. Others helped those who had difficulty walking until the firefighters, on their way up, took over around the 25th floor. Everyone made it out safely.
           It was 1993 and a terrorist bomb had exploded in an unoccupied van in the Trade Center’s underground parking garage. Six people died in the explosion and the incident was taken as a warning to be better prepared the next time. Cantor Fitzgerald and the other tenants of the World Trade Center invested heavily to safeguard themselves against future incidents.
           Among the security improvements: stairways were rebuilt to make it easier for firefighters and police to enter. Security at ground level and below was tightened. Cantor Fitzgerald and other businesses prepared detailed disaster-recovery plans. And life went on. Somewhere in the consciousness of those who worked at the World Trade Center was the belief that terrorists, like lightning, would not strike the same place twice.
           No doubt the security improvements saved lives on September 11, 2001, but to a tragic extent, these defenses were erected primarily against the strategies of the past. No one fully foresaw the horror and destruction that was to come. Cantor Fitzgerald lost more than anyone, 658 employees died when the first plane struck the North Tower a few floors below, trapping them with no hope of rescue. For them the disaster recovery plan had no meaning.¹
           Just as terrorists look diligently for undefended targets, Satan studies us with great diligence, seeking points of weakness. In our own strength and wisdom we will be as helpless as the residents of the World Trade Center.

           Lord, help me to “let go and let You” be my defense against temptation today. Give me divine discernment to make the right choices and to give You free reign in my life.

¹ Howard Lutnik, “The Foreshadowing of 9/11,” Time, March 31, 2003, A67.