How People Find a Church

(from LifeWay Research, as appeared in Facts & Trends) Resources “Unchurched” would likely use if looking for a church and “Church Switchers” did use to find a new churchUnchurched – February 2008 study; defined as people who have not attended a religious service in the past six months.Church Switchers – December 2006 study; defined as […]

Volume 08, Issue 09

As we move toward Memorial Day and the celebration of the 4th of July, you might find these stories alarming, sad and most of all indicative that we are living in a postmodern, post-Christian culture. Our failure to be salt and light has resulted in society now dictating we stay in the shaker and leave […]

Do You Know?: James Montgomery Boice

James Montgomery Boice (1938-2000) was a successful inner city pastor and articulate spokesman for the Reformed faith in America and around the world. He was the pastor of Philadelphia’s historic Tenth Presbyterian Church (1968-2000) and his teaching continues to be aired on The Bible Study Hour radio and Internet broadcast. In 1996 he brought The […]

Desperate Marriages

Moving Toward Hope and Healing in Your Relationship – Gary Chapman. Northfield Publishing. “When you said, ‘I do,’ you entered marriage with high hopes. You dreamed that your marriage would be supremely happy. You never intended to be miserable. Millions of couples are struggling in desperate marriages. But the story doesn’t have to end there. […]

Close Calls

What Adulterers Want You to Know About Protecting Your Marriage – Dave Carder. Moody Press. “Dave Carder has spent more than 30 years counseling husbands and wives trapped by infidelity, and he knows that the vast majority of these heartbroken people never saw it coming. In Close Calls, he reveals what adulterers want you to […]

Contrary Winds

On January 13, 1997, Steve Fossett began an adventure with high expectations of becoming the first person to circle the globe in a hot-air balloon. After three days, he had already crossed the Atlantic Ocean and was flying at 24,500 feet eastward over Africa. However, as he was approaching the country of Libya, he faced […]

Be Careful What You Ask For

In recent months, I’ve been on trips to North Carolina (twice), Florida, Tennessee (twice), Oklahoma, and a few other places that I can’t recall at the moment. Most of these trips have been by car. In April, I put enough miles on my Acura to have to change the oil after only 16 days. Add […]

P is for Plagiarism (Part 1): Warren Wiersbe

Sunday after Sunday, the minister preached his way through a book of sermons that he was certain nobody in his congregation had ever seen. However, one man in the church owned a copy of the book and had read it. As the man left church one Sunday, he said to the minister, “That was a […]

Three Perils of Christian Discipleship

by Vance Havner Luke 9:57-62The uncounted costs (vv. 57, 58)The unburied corpse (vv. 59, 60)The unforsaken circle (vv. 61, 62) 2ProphetU2ProphetU is an online magazine/website, started by Warren Wiersbe and Michael Catt, to build up the church, seek revival, and encourage pastors. […]

"If Christianity is to receive a rejuvenation, it must be by other means than any now being used. If the Church in the second half of this century is to recover from the injuries she suffered in the first half, there must appear a new type of preacher. The proper, ruler-of-the-synagogue type will never do. Neither will the priestly type of man who carries out his duties, takes his pay and asks no questions, nor the smooth-talking pastoral type who knows how to make the Christian religion acceptable to everyone. All these have been tried and found wanting.

Another kind of religious leader must arise among us. He must be of the old prophet type, a man who has seen visions of God and has heard a voice from the Throne. When he comes (and I pray God there will be not one but many), he will stand in flat contradiction to everything our smirking, smooth civilization holds dear. He will contradict, denounce and protest in the name of God and will earn the hatred and opposition of a large segment of Christendom. Such a man is likely to be lean, rugged, blunt- spoken and a little bit angry with the world. He will love Christ and the souls of men to the point of willingness to die for the glory of the One and the salvation of the other. But he will fear nothing that breathes with mortal breath." - A.W. Tozer

Preachers

"When we go to God with a request that He modify the existing situation for us, that is, that He answer prayer, there are two conditions that we must meet: (1) We must pray in the will of God and (2) we must be on what old-fashioned Christians often call "praying ground"; that is, we must be living lives pleasing to God.

It is futile to beg God to act contrary to His revealed purposes. To pray with confidence the petitioner must be certain that his request falls within the broad will of God for His people.

The second condition is also vitally important. God has not placed Himself under obligation to honor the requests of worldly, carnal or disobedient Christians. He hears and answers the prayers only of those who walk in His way...(1 John 3:21-22; John 15:7)....

The truth is that God always answers the prayer that accords with His will as revealed in the Scriptures, provided the one who prays is obedient and trustful. Further than this we dare not go." - A. W. Tozer

Prayer

Getting to Know the Unchurched

(LifeWay Research, as seen in Outreach Magazine, March/April 2008) 86% “I believe I can have a good relationship with God without being involved in church.”78% “I think Christianity today is more about organized religion than about loving God and loving people.” Which of the following sources would you consult if you were seeking inspirational guidance?32% […]

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