Friday Scattershooting

January 7, 2011

News and notes from everywhere . . .*I have set out to use the new edition of Operation World in my prayer times this year. I highly recommend the book for anyone who wants the most up-to-the minute glimpse of what God is doing around the world.*"Snow Expected in Region This Weekend.” That’s the Friday headline in the Tupelo paper….

Plan B Living

January 6, 2011

(Over the years I have posted this article several times because its message is timeless. I’m posting it today as a good word for the first week of a new year.) Some time ago I heard the following statement on the radio and thought it was worth passing along: “The key to success in life is how well you adapt to Plan B.” Th…

Year in Review–A Baker’s Dozen

January 5, 2011

In the last few days we’ve been wrapping up a very eventful year at Keep Believing Ministries. So what did we do in 2010? Rather than write a long letter, I decided to list a Baker’s Dozen that will give you a quick snapshot of where we’ve been and what God has been doing through this ministry. In 2010 we . . . Completed the…

Questions for a Pulpit Committee

January 4, 2011

I have a friend who will soon be interviewed by a pulpit committee for the position of pastor. He wrote to a few friends asking for some “killer questions.” Here are a few of the suggested questions:1. What’s the elephant in the room that no one wants to address?2. When people in this community hear the name of this church, what d…

Distant Heartbeat

January 3, 2011

The first time you listen, it sounds like an old-fashioned train chugging down the tracks. The engine beats with a constant rhythm. You can imagine the pistons pushing power to the drive shaft that turns the wheels that move the locomotive down the track while white clouds billow from the smoke stack.It’s not a thump. It’s deeper and st…

The Best Time to Plant a Tree

January 2, 2011

“The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The second best time is today."Lots of people make resolutions at the start of a new year. Unfortunately the best intentions in the world easily get laid aside once we have to go back to work tomorrow. Life has a way of intruding on our desire to make a new start. We want to be better …

Safer Than a Known Way

January 1, 2011

On Christmas Day 1939, King George VI of England gave a brief radio address to his troubled nation. England was already at war with Germany. Soon all of Europe would be plunged into the horror of brutal, unrestrained warfare. Hoping to calm the troubled hearts of his countrymen, the king offered words of encouragement as the storm clouds gathered o…

Unlovely Orthodoxy

December 31, 2010

“I think unlovely orthodoxy, unbeautiful Christianity is a tragedy. We have pugilistic Christians; we have acrobatic Christians; we have athletic Christians; we have big-domed, learned Christians. We have all kinds of Christians, but where are the beautiful ones, those who shine with inner beauty? I am looking for them, and I pray that God wi…

No Hopeless Cases

December 30, 2010

If you follow this blog, you know that we talk quite a bit about our little “gospel book” called An Anchor for the Soul. I’ve often told people that the book itself can do nothing. By itself it’s just ink and paper with a glossy cover. But when the Holy Spirit moves, lives are changed.Last year at Christmas, a friend gave a …

A Weblog Review of 2010

December 29, 2010

Since this is the last week of 2010, I have been taking stock of the past year and thinking about all that has happened. It’s certainly been eventful for us personally and for our ministry. Here are some of the monthly highlights from the KBM weblog: JanuaryBrit Hume Doubles Down Brit Hume reaffirms his conviction that Tiger Woods needs Jesus…