The Necessity of Burdens
Dr. Thomas Lambie was an American-born missionary medical doctor, noteworthy for becoming the first American missionary in Ethiopia and for his devotion to Christ. During his first term in Ethiopia, he learned a valuable lesson that would impact his life and service as a missionary until the day he died. Near one of the villages
Two-Stage Marriage
Marriage in America is changing into a two-stage process, and whether we like it or not the church will have to react or respond to this significant social change. The engagement of Prince Edward and Kate Middleton only highlighted the change that a Pew research study presented in a quieter way: Marriage is becoming a
You Deserve a Break Today
Okay, I know your deacons will never go for it. I know the little old lady with the ingrown toenail expects you to be at her outpatient surgery. I know all the excuses about “the devil never takes a day off.” Forget all that and hang with me for a moment. First of all, Jesus
Claim Your Inheritance! (Part 2)
Praise and worship please the Lord.“I will praise the name of God with song and magnify Him with thanksgiving. And it will please the Lord better than an ox or a young bull with horns and hoofs” (Ps. 69:30-31). The Lord is not a celestial egotist who thrives on compliments; that’s not the point at
The Holy Spirit Helps Us
I got on my Harley the other day to go get the cobwebs out of my mind. It’s amazing how clear my mind can be when I feel the rush of wind in my face and there’s nothing between me and the clouds but God’s clean air and a bird now and then. As it
Are You Ashamed?
During the 1920s and ‘30s, the most notorious gangster was Chicago’s Al “Scarface” Capone. Capone was known as the leader of organized crime while running Chicago’s gambling, prostitution, and bootlegging empire. So great was his power that he claimed he “owned” Chicago. Few men were able to stand in his presence without trembling fear in
Stages of Outrage
In my reading I’ve noticed the church seems to go through stages in its outrage against evil. Mostly I’ve been studying the history of alcohol. I can’t forget other issues completely, but the stages in the alcohol outrage seem to provide the most accessible template for examining this issue. Here are the five stages history
We Can’t Be Caught Asleep at the Wheel
I’m reading a fascinating book right now, The First Heroes by Craig Nelson. It’s the story of the famous Doolittle Raid on Tokyo, America’s response to the attack on Pearl Harbor. As I’ve read this book and studied a little about the beginning of World War II, I’ve discovered that America, for the most part,
Claim Your Inheritance! (Part 1)
If you want to abandon your ministry inheritance on earth and lose your rewards in heaven, then follow the bad example of the people of Israel when they arrived at Kadesh Barnea, the gateway into the Promised Land (Num. 13-14). Instead of claiming God’s promises that He would defeat all their enemies and give them
Missing the Obvious
The Pharisees and Sadducees came up, and testing Jesus, they asked Him to show them a sign from heaven. But He replied to them…“Do you know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but cannot discern the signs of the times?” And He left them and went away. (Matthew 16:1-4) Blindness is amazingly comprehensive.
The Cloister Gospel
James McDonald has written about the “Five Distortions of the Gospel in Our Day.” He describes the shallow substitutes for genuine New Testament proclamation and evangelization as the “cake mix gospel” in which key ingredients (e.g. repentance) are left out; the “cultural gospel” in which the main focus is to appear to be relevant; the
The Danger of Drifting
On October 31, 1983, Korean Airlines flight 007 was on the last leg of a flight from New York City to Seoul, Korea with a stopover for refueling in Anchorage, Alaska. Unknown to the crew, however, the computer engaging the flight navigation system contained a one-and-a-half-degree routing error. At the point of departure, the mistake