Zechariah starred in a one-man play...about as far "off Broadway" as you could get! Prophets were sometimes known to use visual aids, but Zechariah's play had props, costumes...and 2 acts. It was a drama about good and bad shepherds, and rebellious sheep. In one performance only, God was spelling out for Israel exactly what was going to happen to them, and why. We're in Zechariah 11, but we'll start with a quick summary of chapter 10. Here's Pastor Jim with a theatrical Right Start.

Listen to Right Start Radio every Monday through Friday on WCVX 1160AM (Cincinnati, OH) at 9:30am, WHKC 91.5FM (Columbus, OH) at 5:00pm, WRFD 880AM (Columbus, OH) at 9:00am. Right Start can also be heard on One Christian Radio 107.7FM & 87.6FM in New Plymouth, New Zealand.

Zechariah made some wild predictions! Imagine someone today predicting that China and America would fall from world dominance. That's what it must have sounded like to Zechariah's audience when he prophesied the fall of Egypt and Assyria. But of course Zechariah was right about that because the prediction came not from him, but from the Lord of history.

Listen to Right Start Radio every Monday through Friday on WCVX 1160AM (Cincinnati, OH) at 9:30am, WHKC 91.5FM (Columbus, OH) at 5:00pm, WRFD 880AM (Columbus, OH) at 9:00am. Right Start can also be heard on One Christian Radio 107.7FM & 87.6FM in New Plymouth, New Zealand.

Leaders bear a heavy responsibility. God expects His shepherds to feed the sheep, not eat the sheep! All of us sheep are accountable for our own thoughts, words and actions. But leaders will answer for the trust that is placed in them: I mean the trust of the flock, and the trust granted them by the Good Shepherd. When we open Zechariah again today we'll see some bad leaders, and how God deals with them; and we'll look at one good Leader.

Listen to Right Start Radio every Monday through Friday on WCVX 1160AM (Cincinnati, OH) at 9:30am, WHKC 91.5FM (Columbus, OH) at 5:00pm, WRFD 880AM (Columbus, OH) at 9:00am. Right Start can also be heard on One Christian Radio 107.7FM & 87.6FM in New Plymouth, New Zealand.

Are the "times of the Gentiles" drawing to a close? Jesus prophesied that Jerusalem would be "trampled under foot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled." And those "times" have stretched to a couple of thousand years, so far. But is this phase of God's plan almost complete? We've been studying Zechariah; today Pastor Jim will "zoom out," to get a broader prophetic picture. In fact we'll start off in the New Testament - Luke, chapter 21 - for today's Right Start.

Listen to Right Start Radio every Monday through Friday on WCVX 1160AM (Cincinnati, OH) at 9:30am, WHKC 91.5FM (Columbus, OH) at 5:00pm, WRFD 880AM (Columbus, OH) at 9:00am. Right Start can also be heard on One Christian Radio 107.7FM & 87.6FM in New Plymouth, New Zealand.

Peace is a righteous goal...when it comes at the right time. Every person of good will yearns for "peace." The question is, at what price? Peace built on oppression, injustice, and rebellion against God will crumble. A true, global peace will only be possible when the righteous King, Jesus, sits on the throne of the world. And we have prophecies assuring us that it will happen.

Listen to Right Start Radio every Monday through Friday on WCVX 1160AM (Cincinnati, OH) at 9:30am, WHKC 91.5FM (Columbus, OH) at 5:00pm, WRFD 880AM (Columbus, OH) at 9:00am. Right Start can also be heard on One Christian Radio 107.7FM & 87.6FM in New Plymouth, New Zealand.

Zechariah wrote a term paper on Alexander the Great, almost 200 years before Alex was born! One of the reasons we can have complete confidence that biblical prophecy will be fulfilled, is that much of it has already been fulfilled. Take Zechariah's predictions in chapter 9 of his book. Some of these words pertain to the time of the end, one was accomplished by Jesus, and one seems to fit neatly with the career of Alexander.

Listen to Right Start Radio every Monday through Friday on WCVX 1160AM (Cincinnati, OH) at 9:30am, WHKC 91.5FM (Columbus, OH) at 5:00pm, WRFD 880AM (Columbus, OH) at 9:00am. Right Start can also be heard on One Christian Radio 107.7FM & 87.6FM in New Plymouth, New Zealand.

Gentiles in the Kingdom of God? Oh, my! Paul should have given a "trigger warning" when he told first-century Jews that God was offering reconciliation even to the Gentiles. As soon as he said that, he needed a "safe space." But Zechariah had promised this, 500 years earlier. In fact, several Hebrew prophets had made it clear that God's plan would bring salvation to all nations and races. Today we open Zechariah, chapter 9, and find some prophecies that have already been fulfilled in astounding detail. Here's Pastor Jim.

Listen to Right Start Radio every Monday through Friday on WCVX 1160AM (Cincinnati, OH) at 9:30am, WHKC 91.5FM (Columbus, OH) at 5:00pm, WRFD 880AM (Columbus, OH) at 9:00am. Right Start can also be heard on One Christian Radio 107.7FM & 87.6FM in New Plymouth, New Zealand.

If God is always the same, why does He change the way He deals with people? The Almighty is "working His plan," as we might say - working out His agenda on the earth. So from time to time we can expect a dramatic shift in His interactions with a group of people. We'll see a stellar example of that today in Zechariah, chapter 8. And we'll look toward the final goal of all God's activity with the nation of Israel.

Listen to Right Start Radio every Monday through Friday on WCVX 1160AM (Cincinnati, OH) at 9:30am, WHKC 91.5FM (Columbus, OH) at 5:00pm, WRFD 880AM (Columbus, OH) at 9:00am. Right Start can also be heard on One Christian Radio 107.7FM & 87.6FM in New Plymouth, New Zealand.

God's patience is enormous...but not infinite. If we sinful human beings can get mad at injustice, imagine how God feels about ongoing rebellion against what's right. In the first chapter of Zechariah we saw the Lord "very angry," and now in chapter 7, He describes feeling "great wrath." This is not the God of popular myth, but the real one, compared in the New Testament to "a burning fire."

Listen to Right Start Radio every Monday through Friday on WCVX 1160AM (Cincinnati, OH) at 9:30am, WHKC 91.5FM (Columbus, OH) at 5:00pm, WRFD 880AM (Columbus, OH) at 9:00am. Right Start can also be heard on One Christian Radio 107.7FM & 87.6FM in New Plymouth, New Zealand.

It's much easier to give God some repetitious religious ritual, than to give Him our will! You'll remember that a prophet had told the first king of Israel, "to obey is better than sacrifice," but many kings and many catastrophes had passed into history when Zechariah had to relay the same message - again. Some pious folk had brought a question to the religious elite, and God answered it.

Listen to Right Start Radio every Monday through Friday on WCVX 1160AM (Cincinnati, OH) at 9:30am, WHKC 91.5FM (Columbus, OH) at 5:00pm, WRFD 880AM (Columbus, OH) at 9:00am. Right Start can also be heard on One Christian Radio 107.7FM & 87.6FM in New Plymouth, New Zealand.