It’s Christmas Eve in Gulf Shores and I can’t tell you where people are, but I can tell you where they aren’t. They aren’t anywhere near Gulf Shores. A teeming resort in the summer, the whole area is virtually deserted at the moment. Yesterday when I went shopping late in the afternoon, the mall was …
I am writing this note from a condo a few yards from the beach in Gulf Shores, AL. This particular area, a region that starts here and goes east into Florida—to Pensacola, Fort Walton Beach, Destin and then on to Panama City, is affectionately known at the Redneck Riviera. The beaches here are sparkling white, and outside …
I received this note from Brent Finchum, a missionary serving with Word of Life in Birmingham, AL: Just wanted to tell you that I preached from an outline you prepared this last Sunday. It was called What God Wants for Christmas from Micah 6:6-8. Thank you for putting these tools on the KBM website. It was a great starting …
I have just posted the online version of this week’s sermon:Out of EgyptI included a link to some online paintings of the flight to Egypt that I forgot to include when I sent out the email sermon yesterday.
I don’t know if you heard, but I was just named Person of the Year by Time Magazine. No kidding. You would think that in a year filled with international tension that they would have chosen someone like President Bush or the president of Iran or that crazy guy who runs North Korea. Or you might think they would have g …
Tonight CNN presented a two-hour special called After Jesus: The First Christians. The program traces the beginnings of the Christian religion from its days as a sect within Judaism to its recognition as a favored religion by Emperor Constantine in AD 313. It attempts to grapple with a question that is both historical and t …
Until last week I had never paid any attention to Jay Bakker, the son of Jim Bakker and Tammy Faye Messner. Then someone sent me a link to a CNN article called What the Hell Happened to Christianity? It turns out that Jay is the pastor/founder of a church called the Revolution, with branches in Atlanta, New York and Charlot …
1) Do they celebrate Christmas in China? The answer is yes and no. The Chinese (especially in the larger cities) recognize the holiday and enjoy the bright lights, gift-giving and the part about Santa Claus but do not understand the message of the birth of Jesus. 2) Mark has posted some new pictures from his recent birthday …
This weekend Tom and Fay Phillips came through Tupelo on their way to Arkansas. When they arrived late Saturday afternoon, Tom and Dudley immediately became lifetime friends, so much so that Dudley decided Tom’s lap was the ideal place for a nap. They both seemed to enjoy it. We told Fay that they need a basset hound …
Yesterday I read Preparing Expository Sermons by Ramesh Richard, a professor at Dallas Seminary and the leader of Ramesh Richard Evangelism and Church Helps (RREACH). This book has many virtues, foremost among them brevity and a crystal-clear structure. Dr. Richard proposes a seven-step method he calls Sermon Sculpture. The …