It’s hard to know what to say about your 59th birthday. What exactly does it represent? Does it have a deep meaning? After pondering the matter I have drawn a few tentative conclusions:1. I can’t stay up as late I could 20 years ago.2. You’re definitely not young when you are 59.3. I was going to say I run slower now but that&rsqu…
A few years ago–about eight years ago, I suppose–I received an email out of the blue from a man named H. B. Charles, Jr. who wrote to ask me a question about something I had written about preaching. I didn’t know him or the church he pastored, Mt. Sinai Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles. Through an email correspondence we b…
After the service last night several of us went out to eat. During the meal Pastor H. B. Charles, Jr. shared the story about a man named John Kavanaugh who went to India to spend some time serving in Calcutta with Mother Teresa. The trip came at a turning point in his life when he was seeking God’s direction for the future. It seems that when…
For many years I’ve turned to J. C. Ryle’s Expository Thoughts on the Gospels when I wanted to study a text from the gospels. Ryle, an evangelical Anglican who served in the late 1800s in Great Britain, had an uncanny ability to get to the heart of each passage. More than that, he knew how to find the “preachable truths&…
Today I’m flying to Los Angeles to take part in the Fall Church Institute at Mt Sinai Missionary Baptist Church. When I received this invitation a few months ago from Pastor George Hurtt, I was glad to accept because he asked me to speak on one of my favorite topics–expository preaching. I’ll be leading a workshop on preachin…
Recently Pat Robertson made news when he declared that divorcing a spouse with Alzheimer’s is justifiable because it is “a kind of death.” The simplest thing I can say is that he didn’t get that teaching from the Bible. The very concept of Christian marriage rests upon a vow to be faithful “in sickness and in health.&r…
Word of Life Florida Hudson, Florida I’m writing this note, hurriedly, with about 30 minutes left before it’s time to leave for the airport. In a few minutes Stu Page will pick me up and I’ll start my journey home.Earlier today I gave my final two lectures on James to the 170 students at Word of Life Bible Institute, Florida c…
I’m pleased to announce the release of our newest free ebook. You can download my book And When You Pray: The Deeper Meaning of the Lord’s Prayer in Kindle, Nook, and PDF formats. Click on the link to download your free ebook. Please note that the free version is only available at the KBM website. If you go to…
Where were you when you heard the news ten years ago today? And what do you remember about that day?I was in my basement office at home, preparing for the staff meeting that would start at church at 9 AM. Around 8:30 AM Marlene called to say, “Turn on the TV. A plane has hit the World Trade Center.” I remember watching the unfolding sto…
For the last several weeks I’ve been immersed in the little book of James in preparation for teaching it next week at Word of Life Bible Institute in Florida. It’s been a new adventure for me since I last taught the book on Wednesday nights in the Pastor’s Class that met in the Dining Room at Calvary Memorial Church in Oak Pa…