Last Sunday Todd Wilson, senior pastor of Calvary Memorial Church in Oak Park, IL, preached a powerful message on persevering in your faith from Colossians 1:21-23. He began with an illustration about how hard it is to climb Mt. Everest and then applied it to the Christian life. He challenged his hearers to take seriously the big “if” i…
Last week I mentioned that we were in the throes of a massive housecleaning, reorganizing and downsizing project. The process continued over the weekend, and as of tonight we are almost finished. Already we have thrown away bags and bags of unneeded and unused clothes, books, and assorted paraphernalia from the last 35 years. Along the way we&rsquo…
Recently George Barna released some new research showing that Christianity is no longer Americans’ default faith. For a long time most people assumed that being born in America meant that you were raised with a Christian background. That is, even if you didn’t go to church, you were raised in and around the Christian faith. That was you…
Most Christians struggle with doubt at one time or another. Doubt is not sinful but it can be dangerous. It can also be a spur to enormous spiritual growth. It’s what you do with your doubt that matters. Here are seven simple suggestions about how to handle your doubt.1. Admit your doubts and ask for help.Tell the Lord about your struggles. G…
This morning in Sunday School Mike Ferris led a discussion regarding the Second Coming of Christ from 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. He pointed out that our focus ought to be on the fact of Christ’s return, not on the timing because no one knows when he will come back. The lesson dovetailed nicely with the pastor’s sermon on the same topic, t…
Starting next Tuesday (January 13), I’m going to be on the air live on American Family Radio. For over a year I’ve been taking part in a monthly program on AFR called “Fire Away” where we discuss various hot topics and invite calls from listeners across America. AFR has just launched a brand-new format on 126 stations called…
This week we’ve been doing some major housecleaning that started when we decided it was time to get things organized. In our particular situation, there is really no demarcation between our home and the ministry because, as I like to tell people, the “world headquarters” of Keep Believing Ministries is in my office at home and in …
We have just uploaded a new podcast called Life on the Edge. In it I argue that being saved doesn’t mean being safe in the world. Being truly saved means being so safe in God that you are willing to risk everything for the sake of the Kingdom. The message, which was originally given to college students, challenges all of us to stop playing it…
Millions of people have watched the amazing feats performed by Penn and Teller, magicians extraordinaire. What you may not know is that Penn Gillette, the vocal one of the pair, is also an outspoken atheist. Recently a Christian gave him a Bible as a gift after a performance. Instead of being offended by this sort of old-fashioned evangelism, he wa…
Over the holidays I had several AOL subscribers ask if I had stopped the weekly sermons. The answer is no, I haven’t stopped, but AOL has been blocking them since the middle of November. That means that over 600 people (out of 5200 on the subscriber list) aren’t getting the sermons at all. We have tried several things to get the sermons…