During the course of each school year dozens of inquiries come across my desk regarding men who are being considered by churches and mission boards. I am supposed to rate those individuals according to qualifications that are specified in the reference form. Without exception, each inquires as to the abilities of the person being considered,... Continue Reading

“The most committed (and often the most obstinate) defenders of contemporary worship is rapidly becoming the older generation. While their influence remains in many places, it is waning. Within a few short years, contemporary worship will have lost its original impetus and driving force.”   Contemporary worship is in decline. Some months ago T. David... Continue Reading

“If you find a great thought in Calvin, the best thing to do is to turn it over in your mind, polish it, reduce it to something manageable and add to it for the benefit of those to whom you preach. There is no need to feel as though you must quote and cite every... Continue Reading

“The Sunday sermon is therefore the moment in the week when the people of God together meet the word of God and and so the role of preachers of God’s word to God’s people is one of immense worth and unique importance. In our weekly sermon God’s people gather around God and hear him speak to them through... Continue Reading

This is not so much for a lack of prison ministries, in which evangelical Christians have specialized and sometimes excelled, as much as it is a missed opportunity for ministry after prison. “Why is it that the same vans that come to the prison on Wednesday and Sunday nights to take us to Bible study... Continue Reading

“Make sure the the session (the board of elders) are collectively agreed on what changes need to be made for the health and growth of the church. This is essential. Spend sufficient time discussing, analyzing and deliberating on what changes need to be made.”   No one likes change. Change frequently becomes a platform for anxiety... Continue Reading

Religious schools, hospitals, charities, publishing houses, and broadcast organizations are all exercises of religion and must function by religious standards, which focus on obedience to God, or they should not exist at all. This means that practically they should be free from antidiscrimination laws, which pursue a far different ethic of egalitarianism and quality of... Continue Reading

One way of overcoming the scandal is to start a church library that not only caters to children and popular Christian materials, but also to books and resources that encourage Christian intellectual engagement.  Why not start the kind of library that Ron Maness had built at Community Bible Chapel in Richardson, Texas?   God calls... Continue Reading

Its true that, because of the varying gifts in the body of Christ, some missionaries will add more mercy and compassion components to their ministry than others:  believers have different gifts.  That is not my concern.  My concern is that we are allowing corporate social action missions—something we see no example of in the NT—to... Continue Reading

Visiting your congregation does not hinder evangelism, it enables evangelism.  A pastor is required to feed the sheep so that they can be equipped for works of service including evangelism.  The best evangelism is church based.  That means the people of God living out their lives for God in the community and pointing people to... Continue Reading