A parishioner in one state wants to tactfully suggest that his minister shorten the sermon, while a preacher in another state inquires how to make his sermons more effective. Both invite my opinion on the subject. * * * I am instinctively sympathetic toward preachers, having personally delivered two sermons each Sunday for about 20 years and still enjoying the pleasure of preaching from time to time. The truth is that a few listeners are bored by a sermon of any length and they need our love and prayers. However, preachers also need to remember the truth discovered by an … [Read more...]
Archives for November 2013
FOOTBALL FROM FUDGE
I have never been much of a sports fan--except for a time in high school when I rooted for the Athens (Ala.) Golden Eagles, our town's home team (my private Athens Bible School did not particpate in intramural sports.) Thinking back more than half a century to those mighty Golden Eagles, an Old Testament verse comes to mind--the one that says "There were giants in the earth in those days; mighty men which were of old, men of renown." High school giants, I'm tellling you, with names like Mott Dollar, brothers Terry and Jerry Daniels, and Baxter Booth. Just saying the names conjures waves of … [Read more...]
telling the ‘big story’
Today, Christian theologians from all over are calling for a "big picture" story that takes the spotlight off us and shines it directly on God's enomous plan to redeem the whole world! In my book, THE DIVINE RESCUE, I tell what Max Lucado calls "'the sweetest of stories' -- God's relentless pursuit of his fallen people." With this book, says Max, "the drama is captured on paper." John Michael Talbot, the beloved Franciscan singer, calls THE DIVINE RESCUE "scholarly, heart-warming, and approachable for the average Christian." Meanwhile, author-poet Calvin Miller, whose books include THE … [Read more...]
rules for rich folks
As we approach this Christmas season--indeed, as we live any day in any year--are there guidelines, principles, or maxims from God to direct our shopping and to guide our giving? Indeed there are, including a healthful cluster of instructions found in 1 Timothy 6:17-19. We might have overlooked them, because they are directed to "those who are rich" and we assumed that meant someone else. However, we need to know that the rich person in Timothy's world, and in most of the world ever since, is any person who is wearing clothes and who owns other clothes they are not wearing. It is anyone who … [Read more...]
CHARISMATIC PURITANS?
California fundamentalist pastor John MacArthur recently sponsored an anti-charismatic conference. His promotion of the event included MacArthur's blanket condemnation of Pentecostals and charismatics in general. Not only are charismatics the fastest-growing element in the global Church, they (and their sympathizers) are some of the most highly-respected evangelical pastors, teachers and other leaders today-- including Gordon Fee, John Piper, Francis Chan, Mark Driscoll, Matt Chandler, Wayne Grudem,and Donald A. Carson. But we are very close to the scene. How, we might ask, would the 17th … [Read more...]
COMMUNITY OF THE RESCUED
The following is an edited excerpt from Edward's latest book, The Divine Rescue: The Gripping Drama of a Lost World and of the Creator Who Will Not Let It Go, scheduled for pre-release at Pepperdine University Bible Lectures on May 4-7, 2010. For more details, click here. Jesus himself envisioned a community of faith, a fellowship of the Rescued, created by his intervention on their behalf. As we read Jesus' words in the Gospel of Matthew, a picture of that community emerges, and this is what we see. These people are famished for the Creator’s approval, and they will be satisfied with … [Read more...]
THIS DOCTOR’S SWORD IS CHARITY
The calm serenity we experienced in Guatemala last week, described in the previous gracEmail, is a rather rare and recent blessing. Surrounded by picturesque lakes, volcanoes, Mayan ruins and exotic flowers and birds, we would never suspect that for many Guatemalan families violence and terror remain an all-too-recent memory. Only 12 years ago the country was still embroiled in a bloody civil war that raged for 36 years and resulted in more than 200,000 dead or missing. An official investigation attributed 93% of the atrocities to government security forces. Even in peace times, most of the 13 … [Read more...]
GUATEMALA R&R
White clouds sparkled in the sunshine as the Boeing 800 aircraft descended from five miles high and Guatemala City came into view. This city of one million souls, some very rich and most very poor, spread over the lush green mountains and valleys below in this homeland of the ancient Mayans. We would take buses one hour from this capital city to Antigua, an ancient town of 5,000 feet elevation surrounded by volcanoes and a favorite vacation place of my employer Mark Lanier and his wife Becky. Through the years they have become benefactors to residents in this ancient village of stone walls and … [Read more...]
TRAVEL MERCIES
October 2004 -- The last two weekends have found wife Sara Faye and myself, by choice and by planning, far from our Houston home. Two weekends ago we indulged a perennial craving for Autumn color -- a treat the eyes miss here on the Texas Gulf Coast -- by flying on Thursday to Nashville, Tennessee then driving for the weekend to Asheville, North Carolina. There in the forest-covered Appalachians we toured the Biltmore Estate, the 250-room mansion and grounds built in the 1890's by George W. Vanderbilt and now visited by approximately one million people each year. Along the way we spent a day … [Read more...]
MINISTRY REPORT — NASHVILLE
April 2003 -- This past weekend I enjoyed a blessed Spring weekend in Nashville in the beautiful hill country of Middle Tennessee, where I was privileged to speak at a two-night gospel conference sponsored by Engedi Ministries. Engedi is a relatively new interdenominational ministry focusing on helping Christians understand the wonder and assurance of their salvation. The name comes from an oasis in the desert near the Dead Sea where a beautiful waterfall provides clear, cool, clean, refreshing water for weary travelers through the desert. Dr. David Lawrence is the principal teacher for Engedi … [Read more...]