Then there was a major uptick in the use of the actual phrase “ask Jesus into your heart” in the 1970s, perhaps as children’s ministry became more formalized and leaders looked for very simple ways to explain to children what a decision for Christ would entail.

"It's simply impossible to preach the Gospel without words. The Gospel is inherently verbal, and preaching the Gospel is inherently verbal behavior." --D. Lifton

Every medium, and the totality of the media environment, affects, for good or ill, our relationships with God, others, the church, and God’s world; and they affect the way we perceive each of these.

Spurgeon went on to say, “It is in the pulpit that the fight will be lost or won. To us ministers, the maintenance of our power in the pulpit should be our great concern.”

Individual pastors can establish contact and relationships with pastors in other areas of the world today through social media. There are some difficulties and sacrifices associated with it but I can tell you I have been immeasurably blessed personally through my experiences in doing this

Any time a society attempted to place Christ in the center, they subtly turned the idea of Christ into an idol. Think of the “holy Roman Empire” and all of the resulting nations. A Christ who favors any nation besides the distinct Kingdom of God is not the Jesus of the New Testament. There’s a... Continue Reading

We need to think in terms of two phases of making disciples, rather than distinct tasks of evangelism and discipleship. In fact, if many of us reflect on how we were “evangelized,” it could be better described as being discipled in the context of a loving family or community of believers until we publically confessed trust in the gospel we had seen lived out in others.

Hammett took issue with BioLogos “not recognizing that the image of God in Scripture seems rather clearly linked with something immaterial in the human constitution (whether it is called soul or spirit) that could not have come into being by evolutionary processes.”   EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the fourth story in a series of Baptist... Continue Reading

However much the history of that nation has contributed to our freedom to worship God, the fact remains that God is God, and the nation to which the flag points is not. And when it comes to worship, there are only two realities: God, and everything else. In worship, only God counts.

First time guests desire to find a place to sit as quickly as possible. They feel awkward otherwise. Is your worship center more than 80 percent full? If so, the guests perceive it is completely full. Are your members trained to move to the middle of pews or seat rows so guests don't have to climb over them? Are their ushers or greeters available to lead guests to seats?