Category: CHURCH & MINISTRY
When Your Preacher is Not John Piper
Many who have had the privilege of hearing John Piper1 preach in person would testify that it felt like a monumental event. His preaching is a powerful combination of truth and passion, leading to convicted and exhilarated listeners. After the sermon, certain hearers might leave wondering...
The Whisperer, The KJVer, and Other Types of Group Prayer Participants You Don’t Want to Be
My first opportunity to pray in a group came when some of my fellow students and I were standing in a circle, holding hands. The leader told us we could either pray or squeeze the hand of the person next to us. I was a squeezer...
The Reluctant Mother: Amy Carmichael
We can’t always identify life-changing moments as they occur. When a little Indian girl named Preena crawled into Amy Carmichael’s lap and called her “Amma” (or “mother” in Tamil) for the first time, neither of them could have known that this simple act would change both...
Mixed-Up Churches: Aiming for Multi-Cultural Glory
Is it better to have Caucasian churches, Black churches, Korean churches, Farmer churches and Rock-driven churches, or to mix them up? Recently I read an unambiguous advertisement for a church in our city. It read, “We sing the old hymns.” That was it. Contrary to what...
Herbert Brown: The Anointed Stutterer
James Alexander Stewart was experiencing enormous success as an evangelist. By the age of 20, he was so sought after that he was preaching four or five times a day. He also filled his hours with evangelism in the streets and in homes. This was too...
Do We Really Need the Local Church?
The down-the-street local church is not the only show in town anymore. We are able to enjoy faith-building messages, listen to the latest Christian music, and explore the rich diversity and variety found in the most noted Christian gatherings, all on our computer or mobile device....
Is Church Attendance Still Important?
“On one occasion, Faraday lectured to a distinguished panel of scientists. The Prince of Wales (after Edward VII) was present. For an hour Faraday held his audience spellbound as he demonstrated the nature and properties of the magnet. His lecture closed with a demonstration that...
Seriousness In Children and Teens
It is increasingly obvious that children and young people in many evangelical churches are anything but serious about Christ. There are notable exceptions, but in many churches a cursory look at the behavioral signals put out by the young people reveal a profound disinterest. On the...
When the Bible Isn’t Boring Anymore
“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” -John 10:27 Jesus Christ knows His sheep, and His sheep know Him (John 10:14). They don’t “know” one another in the sense that they were merely introduced sometime in the past, but they...
When Nobody Misses You
Below is the obituary of 79 year-old Dolores Aguilar, recorded in the Vallejo, California Times-Herald (August 16-17, 2008), submitted by one of her daughters. Dolores Aguilar 1929 – Aug. 7, 2008-08-22 Dolores Aguilar, born in 1929 in New Mexico, left us on August 7, 2008. She...
