As the new school year begins, may I offer a word of instruction and encouragement to our parents and grandparents? It is quite common for me to hear people complain about how they were reared by overly-protective parents, but this often leads to an over-reaction, which is also...
As we prepare to begin our series of messages from the book of Acts on August 5th, let me challenge each of us about various ways we can start a spiritual conversation with others. One of the best ways to be on mission for the Lord is to start each day in prayer and meditation in...
A Spirit-controlled church of the Lord Jesus Christ is not only the hope of the world but it is also the mightiest instrument in the hands of a holy God! But for this to occur properly in our congregation, we must become more and more like the proto-type found in the book of Acts, rather...
George A. Buttrick was a former chaplain at Harvard from yester-year. He ended his career as a professor at my Alma Mater before passing away in 1980. When students would come into his office and say, “I don’t believe in God!” his standard reply was, “Sit down...
General Douglas MacArthur left a spiritual legacy to his son, Arthur—a father’s prayer he wrote in the Philippines during the desperate, early days of the war in the Pacific. Major General Courtney Whitney, MacArthur’s biographer and confidant, said that the family...
In speaking of false prophets, Jesus said that we will be able to recognize them by their fruit (Matthew 7:15-20). This causes many people to conclude that if an individual’s ministry is bearing good fruit, then they must be good. After all, are they not bearing good fruit...
This year, May 28th is set aside as “Memorial Day” in our country. Although many often see this day as little more than the first day of the summer vacation season, it has its roots in the time of national mourning following the American Civil War. It was first known as...
As I think back to my mother when I was a child, and as I have watched our three children and eight grandchildren relate to my wife, I have observed all of the following in action: a barber and beautician, fashion consultant, chairperson, mechanic, teacher, veterinarian, equipper, interpreter...
There is a thin line that a Christian must walk between relevance and compromise, between being “in” the world and being “of” the world. With this in mind, I am growing increasingly concerned about a major trend within churches and among church leadership that I...
“…moreover, it is required of stewards [managers of what God has entrusted to each of us] that one be found faithful” (I Cor. 4:2]. With this text before us, how would you answer the following questions? If your car starts seven out of eight times, would you consider it...