Success Afield
– Joey Hancock A great read for any outdoorsman. Hancock takes his experiences from outdoor sports and finds the biblical principles within. 2ProphetU2ProphetU is an online magazine/website, started by Warren Wiersbe and Michael Catt, to build up the church, seek revival, and encourage pastors.
O Shepherd, Where Art Thou?
– Calvin Miller In his classic narrative style, Miller writes of a misguided minister who trades pastoral care for the fairway at the country club. Miller emphasizes that, regardless of church size, the pastor is still responsible to tend the flock. 2ProphetU2ProphetU is an online magazine/website, started by Warren Wiersbe and Michael Catt, to build
Prayer – Lighting the Night With Joy (Part 2)
Paul understood that joy was the result of consistent companionship with Jesus. There was no need for him to give into the fear of failure or the despair of abandonment. When he prayed, his problems shrank in His Presence. Lloyd-John Ogilvie, Chaplain to the U.S. Senate, wrote in Discovering God’s Will: “Knowing God’s will in
My Students Plan to Change Your Church
This week I opened each of my courses by handing out slips of paper asking students to answer one question: What is the most important change you want to make in the church when you get on staff? I did this before saying anything else. I just compiled their responses. Of course this is not
When God Takes Over
While many talk of revival in the church, few in fact want it. We say we want a visitation of God, but when He shows up, we reject it. God didn’t show up and behave Himself. He didn’t act like we told Him to. That’s what we hate about revival—God takes over. Those who have
M Is For Maverick (Part 2)
That Maverick Paul In his unconverted days, rabbi Saul of Tarsus did what any other devout Jew would have done: he promoted and protected the Jewish faith and persecuted the Jesus movement. Sensible Jews all knew that Jesus of Nazareth had been crucified and that the disciples stole the body from the tomb and hid
Preparing Sermons (Part 1)
by John R. Stott (condensed from Between Two Worlds) I. Choose Your Text It is best to rely on expository book studies for the steady diet of your people. However, the following may be occasions for special sermons: –Special calendar occasions–Christmas, Easter, etc. –Special external circumstances which are in the public mind –Special needs discerned by the preacher or
"The story of Easter is the story of God's wonderful window of divine surprise."
- Carl Knudsen"Tomb, thou shalt not hold Him longer;
Death is strong, but Life is stronger;
Stronger that the dark, the light;
Stronger than the wrong, the right;
Faith and Hope triumphant say
Christ will rise on Easter Day."
- Phillips Brooks"O chime of sweet Saint Charity,
Peal soon that Easter morn
When Christ for all shall risen be,
And in all hearts new-born!"
- James Russell Lowell"If Easter means anything to modern man it means that eternal truth is eternal. You may nail it to the tree, wrap it up in grave clothes, and seal it in a tomb; but "truth crushed to earth shall rise again." Truth does not perish; it cannot be destroyed. It may be distorted; it has been silenced temporarily; it has been compelled to carry its cross to Calvary's brow or to drink the cup of poisoned hemlock in a Grecian jail, but with an inevitable certainty after every Black Friday dawns truth's Easter morn."
- Donald Harvey Tippet"On Easter Day the veil between time and eternity thins to gossamer."
- Douglas Horton"Easter is not a passport to another world; it is a quality of perception for this one."
- W.P. Lemon"There is a stage in a child's life at which it cannot separate the religious from the merely festal character of Christmas or Easter. I have been told of a very small and very devout boy who was heard murmuring to himself on Easter morning a poem of his own composition which began 'Chocolate eggs and Jesus risen.' This seems to me, for his age, both admirable poetry and admirable piety. But of course the time will soon come when such a child can no longer effortlessly and spontaneously enjoy that unity. He will become able to distinguish the spiritual from the ritual and festal aspect of Easter; chocolate eggs will no longer seem sacramental. And once he has distinguished he mustput one or the other first. If he puts the spiritual first he can still taste something of Easter in the chocolate eggs; if he puts the eggs first they will soon be no more than any other sweetmeat. They will have taken on an independent, and therefore a soon withering, life."
- C. S. Lewis
Easter
The Truth About Lying
(adapted from an article on page B1 of the Atlanta Constitution, Saturday, January 28, 2006) Andrea Simakis writes, “As members of the greatest consumer culture on the planet, Americans are inundated by less-than-sincere sales pitches goading us to buy….” We live in a world of spin, hype and lies. James Frey lied about elements of
Worship in Ancient Israel
– Walter Brueggemann Guides the reader through themes, central texts, prayers, festivals and practices in ancient worship. 2ProphetU2ProphetU is an online magazine/website, started by Warren Wiersbe and Michael Catt, to build up the church, seek revival, and encourage pastors.
The Complete Book of Who’s Who in the Bible
– Philip Comfort & Walter Elwell An alphabetical guide of Biblical profiles. 2ProphetU2ProphetU is an online magazine/website, started by Warren Wiersbe and Michael Catt, to build up the church, seek revival, and encourage pastors.
The Complete Book of When and Where
In the Bible and Throughout History – E. Michael & Sharon Rusten Focuses on major events that shaped the religious consciousness of the world. 2ProphetU2ProphetU is an online magazine/website, started by Warren Wiersbe and Michael Catt, to build up the church, seek revival, and encourage pastors.