Once again I am writing this column with the results of the presidential election still undecided. It occurs to me that although a week has passed, we don’t seem to be any closer to a solution-though of course the whole matter may be settled by the time you read this, but I’m not hopeful in that regard. Despite th…
Sermon Series: Ponder This - 2000On November 7 the American people will elect a new president and vice president, 435 members of the House of Representatives, and one-third of the Senate. In addition, there are thousands of statewide and local races that will be decided on that day. How should Christians approach their responsibilities in the coming electi…
Sermon Series: Ponder This - 2000This week my cousin Barbara sent me an e·mail containing a list of aphorisms called “Things I’ve Learned.” She got it from a friend in Florida who got it from somewhere else. I’ve taken a few from the list I received and I’ve added a few of my own. I’ve learned that ·You can do something in an instant that will give you…
Sermon Series: Ponder This - 2000Not long ago I was asked what happens to the people who either follow other religions or who die without ever hearing about Jesus Christ. It’s an important issue because even if you take the most optimistic numbers possible, that is, if you add up all the people who might be remotely related to any group related to Christia…
Sermon Series: Ponder This - 2000Many years ago (almost 20, to be exact) I took a night course called “Advanced Apologetics” from Dr. John Warwick Montgomery at a place called Melodyland School of Theology. I’m not making up that name. The school met in a big church building located right across the street from Disneyland. At that time I was pastoring a sm…
Sermon Series: Ponder This - 2000“The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned” (I Corinthians 2:14). Two nicely dressed people knocked on our door, a man and a woman who said they were from the local Kingdom Hal…
Sermon Series: Ponder This - 2000A few days ago Senator Joseph Lieberman came to Chicago to meet with a group of local religious leaders. A day earlier he was in Detroit speaking at an inner city church called Fellowship Chapel. During his remarks in both places he made headline news with his emphasis on the important role religious faith plays in the Amer…
Sermon Series: Ponder This - 2000Last week David Steinhart, pastor of Forest Park Baptist Church, shared some insights on humility from a tape on leadership by Dallas Willard. Humility is a quality that is hard to define and even harder to develop. Very few people would admit to praying for humility even though the Bible instructs us to humble ourselves un…
Sermon Series: Ponder This - 2000Q: Name a good book you’ve read recently. A: Stonewall by John Dwyer. Q: Name two more. A: All the Best by George Bush; The Gold of Exodus by Howard Blum. Q: Do you read lots of books? A: I read parts of lots of books. I don’t read very many books all the way to the end. Q: Why is that? A: It must be a character f…
Sermon Series: Ponder This - 2000In a recent interview, Christopher Matthews asked Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush a thought-provoking question: “Can good people be gay?” The answer came back without hesitation: “Sure, absolutely.” Case closed, at least for a politician seeking the White House who wants to round up as m…
Sermon Series: Ponder This - 2000