Here are some pictures from our visit to Pontiac (IL) Bible Church. I first met Brian Bill in May 1989 when I was a visiting preacher at Calvary Memorial Church in Oak Park. After I became the senior pastor, we served together on staff for three years and developed a friendship that has continued to this day. Seven-and-a-ha …
We have just posted a new sermon on Caiaphas, the high priest who plotted to kill Jesus:Caiaphas: Close But Not Close EnoughHere’s an excerpt:Caiaphas was so close to the truth. So close but not close enough. He was a religious leader who ought to have known that everything in the Old Testament pointed to Christ. His …
Yesterday the world learned that Elizabeth Edwards’ cancer has returned. What started in late 2004 as breast cancer and then went into remission, has come back, this time as cancer in the ribcage. The condition is treatable but not curable. Put simply, this means that, barring a miracle or some unforeseen accident or …
First it was the “Da Vinci Code,” then it was the “Gospel of Judas,” and now it is the “Lost Tomb of Jesus.” We seem to live in a time when skeptics and doubters and outright opponents of the Christian faith are making front-page news. There are many ways of responding to the current wave …
Here is a six-part sermon series called Faces Around the Cross. Please feel free to use this material in any way that might be helpful as you prepare to preach and teach or simply to strengthen your own heart as we walk with Christ to the cross. The Man Who Would Be KingCaiaphas: Close But Not Close EnoughDoubters …
Here are two sermon series that are particularly appropriate as we prepare for Holy Week. Preachers, pastors and Bible teachers (and anyone else for that matter) are welcome to use this material in any way that might be helpful to you. Seven Last Words of Christ:Forgiving the UnforgivableLast-Second SalvationFinal Wor …
This Sunday I’m speaking at Pontiac (IL) Bible Church in both morning services. This is a treat for me on several levels. When we moved to Oak Park in 1989, Brian Bill was one of the pastors on staff at Calvary Memorial Church. I knew immediately that he was a gifted leader. I can remember telling him early on that pa …
Several weeks ago I wrote about the problems that some people have receiving the weekly email sermons. In almost every case it happens because various companies use anti-spam filters that mistakenly regard the sermons as spam. Over the weekend we learned that Bellsouth has flagged the sermons as spam and has placed them in …
We have just posted a new sermon on the website:Why We Don’t Have to Win Every ArgumentHere’s an excerpt:When I lived in Dallas in the 80s, I became friends with Oliver Price, director of the Bible Prayer Fellowship. He wrote a document called Forgotten Secrets to a Live Prayer Meeting. The subtitle tells you wh …
In general, a sense of humor in the pulpit is not a bad thing. Sometimes humor by itself helps to release tension. And a funny story often helps us see a truth in a new way. We’ve all heard sermons where the preacher made us laugh and then came the “zinger” that flew in under the radar, sort of “a spoonful of sugar ma …