Evangelistically Speaking
written by: Michael Catt Southern Baptists like to brag about being a denomination of 15 million plus. We are (in our opinion) the biggest and the best. Truth be known (and we all know it) we are probably closer to 8 million. If all our churches cleaned up their rolls, the picture would be more
How Do You Feel About Praise Choruses?
written by: Michael Catt I remember when I was pastoring in another state, one of the elderly deacons came to me and said, “When are we going to stop singing those little ditties?” I asked him what he was referring to. He mentioned the song and I reminded him that the song was taken directly
The Call To The Ministry
written by: Warren Wiersbe How can I determine whether I am called to the ministry, and how important is the assurance of a special call? The work of the ministry is too demanding and difficult for a man to enter it without a sense of divine calling. Men enter and then leave the ministry usually
B is for Biography Part 3
written by: Warren Wiersbe American evangelist Dwight Lyman Moody and British expositor G. Campbell Morgan were close friends, and it’s one of the ironies of preaching history that Morgan was “discovered” in the United States and Moody in Great Britain! In fact, it was Moody who brought Morgan to the States to minister at the
What Kind of Vessel Are You?
written by: Michael Catt In Second Timothy Chapter two, Paul wrote these words to a young minister named Timothy. “Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work” ( 2 Timothy 2:21, NASU). Other translations read: “a vessel unto
Eutychus: Take One Tablet
written by: Warren Wiersbe An unsuspecting archaeologist named Harvey Jenkins has made the find of the year at a dig near the ancient city of Nippur. It is a clay tablet with an inscription that has been deciphered as a dispensational chart. Fortunately, the tablet has the date 1863 B.C. stamped on it, so there
B is for Biography Part 2
written by: Warren Wiersbe Mark Twain said that a “classic” was a book everybody talked about but nobody read. You can apply that definition to classic sermons, especially “Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God” by Jonathan Edwards. On more than one occasion, I’ve heard people attack the sermon as “brutal”or “barbaric,” and then
God’s Significant Squares of Real Estate
written by: Michael Catt Several years back, I got an email from my friend, Tom Sanders. I pulled it out the other day and read it again. It stirred my thoughts and hopefully, it will stir your mind and heart to action. Quoting Tom, “I think that somewhere in the big scheme of things, there
M Is For Maverick (Part 1)
Certain people in history say or do something special or different and as a result they become eponyms. An eponym is a person whose name is in the dictionary because that name has a special meaning based on something significant in a person’s life. For example, the word “doily” comes from the Doily family in
Baseball and the Baptist
When the choir enters the service, it’s time to play ball. Too late now to run to the concession stand. Your only hope is that “the game” doesn’t go into extra innings. Batter Up The minister of music moves into the box (pulpit) and waves his arms around (he’s loosening up). He plans to send
Making Family Traditions
Christians have done an admirable job of cooperative training of our children. We have banded together to organize Sunday schools, Vacation Bible Schools, midweek clubs, membership classes, camps, and Bible clubs. However, in our keenness to adopt the schooling model for Christian education, we often overlook the great value of non-formal means of passing on
Prayer Lighting the Night with Joy (Part 1)
Nehemiah served as the cupbearer to the king in the court of Artaxerxes. One day, preoccupied with bad news from home, he was caught by the king wearing a sad expression on his face. This exposure filled him with great fear. “So the king said to me, ‘Why is your face sad though you are