I’m in my second home-city this week – Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. I first came to this beautiful city more than thirty years ago to lead a collegiate retreat. Then for eighteen years I brought a class of Southwestern Seminary students to Vancouver every summer on an Urban Evangelism practicum. Today, I am on the…
God doesn’t lie. That’s why not everyone who arrives in heaven will hear “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21, 23). Those who receive that welcome will be those who have done well; those who have served faithfully and good. As sure as I am of this truth, I am likewise sure that last…
For twenty-two years, my annual assignment was to coordinate the training and placement of approximately 100 Seminary student, hope-to-be preachers into small churches located outside of the Bible-belt for the purpose of conducting spring-break revival meetings. The most difficult part was not the training of the students; it was knowing where to place them. So…
Requirements are easy to identify in the world of education. Teachers make assignments. Students understand what is required. They are fairly easy to identify in the medical world. Doctors examine you and tell you what is required for you to do or take or undergo. In the athletic world coaches develop a game plan and…
It’s not what you know but who you know that makes a difference. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard that advice repeated. Still, how many times have you and I seen that proven to be true – in business, education, athletics, military, church, etc. The Old Testament people knew what to do to…
Today is Valentine’s Day – a day to think about things of the heart. We speak of loving someone “with all our heart.” Hallmark will make several million dollars selling cards with hearts on them. Many floral arrangement with include hearts along with the flowers. Some of us broke teeth on candy hearts given to…
It started two weeks in advance and escalated all the way to Super Bowl Sunday. It began again early on Sunday and continued right up to game time, resuming during half-time. It seemed that every former player, coach and want-a-be was sharing Super Bowl opinions, theories, observations – on talk show panels, in interviews, and…
“What one generation tolerates, the next generation will embrace.” So said John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement. Years later, a sociologist enlarged the statement by saying, “What one generation despises, the next generation tolerates, and the third generation accepts as the norm.” Without citing illustrations, of which there are many, let me just…
It was one of those Saturday nights. The events of the week had created a scenario wherein my body was too tired and weak to sleep. Nor was my mind in very good shape either. I tossed and I turned but I did not sleep. To make matters worse, I had to preach twice the…
Southern Baptist trained, he obviously did not fit in as pastor of a Southern Baptist church, so in 1955 he went independent, maintaining the name “Baptist” since it provided some sense of credibility and acceptance in his conservative city. However, the “church”, consisting of mostly members of the pastor’s large family, is not affiliated with…