All Blog Posts (1,475)

A lot has been written on social media recently about sermon plagiarizing – preaching someone else’s sermon, although one of my preaching professors told us if you preach another’s sermon it is called plagiarizing, but if you combine parts of several sermons, it is called research. My pastor-father used to say, “When better sermons are written, I’ll preach them.” Sometimes they were and sometimes he did. A friend began his Chapel sermon at Southwestern Seminary by saying, “If you like this…

 

                                                                                                           Hubble Telescope image  March 15, 2021 





As I watched the four creatures, I saw something that looked like a wheel on…

In John 17:19 Jesus said, 

“And for their sake I consecrate myself, 

that they also may be sanctified in truth.”

Don’t these words sound strange? Jesus said He was sanctifying Himself for our sake. I…

My father sent me to the market that morning. I was in no hurry. He left at the same time to sail for Athens on business. My mother and sisters left the week before to visit family in Troas. They took the house servants with them. I was the only one left at home. As I came near the market I saw a group of my friends going somewhere…

                                               She played fast and loose with life, she never considered tomorrow,

                                                      and now she’s crashed royally, with no one to hold her hand.

                                                      “Look at my pain, O God! And how the…

Have you forgotten the sins of your ancestors, sins of kings and queens of Judah,

and the sins you and your wives committed in Judah and Jerusalem?

To this very hour you have shown no remorse or reverence.

No one has chosen to…

This week I want to write on the conclusion of John 15:7-8. In many ways these are the most important words in these verses, as I suppose I can say about everything I have written on this passage. 

“If…

Yesterday was Father’s Day. In spite of having had skin cancer surgery on my forehead on the preceding Monday and having spent the week with swollen eyes and nose, using ice packs for ten minutes every hour, taking pain killers on a regular basis, and sleeping with my head elevated, I preached my morning sermon. It was not that the congregation especially needed my sermon, but it was that I needed to preach on Father’s Day. When I was fifteen years old, I was involved in a Saturday night…

If you return and give up this mistaken tone of distrust and despair,

           then I will give you a settled place of quiet and safety,

                       and you will be My minister.                     

                  JEREMIAH 15:19 THE AMPLIFIED…

It only takes a few pages (maybe only paragraphs) to determine whether this is a book you eagerly…

The two men walked along the road by the sea on their way from Smyrna to Pergamum. The older man’s step was quite as spry as the younger. The elder was Jewish. The younger man was obviously Greek. Despite the differences in their backgrounds and ages they carried on a lively conversation as they walked. John often used their travels to plant his life and all that he knew of Jesus into the life of Polycarp. As they walked Polycarp asked a favorite…

Giants Causeway - Ireland 





 

So, Jeremiah, if you’re worn out in this footrace with men,

what makes you think you can race against horses?

And if you can’t keep your wits during times of…

The cover of one of my earlier books shows ripe fruit overflowing a plate. Fruitfulness is certainly at the heart of God’s purpose for prayer in our lives. In John 15:7,8 Jesus spoke to this in a wonderful promise.

“If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By…

Theos was tired and footsore when he came to the little fishing village on the coast of Asia. He had been sent by Timothy, the bishop of the church in Ephesus, to find Mary, who was with a group ministering somewhere along the road to the north. He doubted if he would find a place to eat and spend the night in this village, but he might find the evangelistic team here. In keeping with his assignment, he approached a stooped old man on…