Category: CHURCH & MINISTRY
What We Will See Next
You may wish to know what is next in this world. Let me tell you what is about to come with certainty: Men and women “will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.” Though that statement was made by a man named Paul who...
O Come, Let Us Ignore Him: Singing Carols About the Jesus You Won’t Love
There we are, sitting in the large public music hall listening to Handel’s “Messiah.” We’re feeling a bit claustrophobic before we start, our coats draped over our shoulders or chairs, and our bulky sweaters surrounding us like woolen nests. We’re heating up nicely as they sing,...
The Elderly Mr. Phipp: A Brockton Dialogue
James, the youth: Is affection necessary for true spirituality? I mean, can’t a man be Christian, yet cold as a stone emotionally? Mr. Brockton: Affection cannot be separated from true religion. James: But are we to strain to be affectionate toward God when it is not...
The Church on the Corner
They are everywhere. Some are picturesque brick or stone buildings with beautiful stained-glass windows. Others are white, wood-sided buildings with crosses on top of steeples. Many are big, but most are small. Some are in crowded cities, but most are in small towns. A sign out...
May I Participate in the Lord’s Supper?
Who should participate in Lord’s Supper when it is offered in the church meeting? Though there are some differences between churches on this question, many leaders agree on the following statements as requirements from the Bible on this important practice. Is not the cup of blessing...
Mother Teresa Leona: A Brockton Dialogue
James, the youth: If a person shows all the outward signs of being a Christian, should we assume the person is truly a Christian? The elderly but wiser Mr. Brockton: Not at all. The evidence for being a Christian will undoubtedly be seen in every true Christian, but the appearance...
Every Believer Not a Missionary
Several years ago, before Eastern European Communism was dismantled, I interviewed the leader for the Hungarian Baptists in his office in Budapest. He related the story of Johann Gerhard Oncken and his influence on workers in Hamburg after the great fire there in the 1800s. Oncken...
Robert Chapman: Famous for Love
Early in Robert Chapman’s ministry, his friends were not impressed with his preaching. They told him to give it up. Chapman replied: “There are many who preach Christ, but not so many who live Christ. My great aim will be to live Christ.”1 Chapman did become...
Methodical Love
They loved her. The rest of the world remembers Frances Ridley Havergal for writing such great hymns as “Take my Life and Let it Be,” “Like a River Glorious” and “Count Your Many Blessings,” but to her fourteen students, she was just Miss Havergal, the dear...
Hard Work: The Spurgeon Way
Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the renowned preacher of London in the 1800s, was not only a gifted leader, but was a hard worker. By the time most pastors write a few emails, wrestle with the dates for VBS and read the junk mail, Spurgeon would have completed...
