Since Monday I’ve been speaking on the of “Outrageous Grace” from the book of Jonah at Pinebrook Bible Conference. After I finished my final message tonight, it occurred to me that I left one important detail hanging in the air.Did Jonah ever repent?We know that when God told him to go to Nineveh (in modern-day Iraq), he boarded a…
Seventy-seven years ago a young man named Percy Crawford started a camp on land just east of Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. In the years that followed Pinebrook Bible Conference became one of the major stops on the Bible conference circuit in the 30s, 40s and 50s. Jack Wyrtzen preached here. Billy Graham met Cliff Barrows here. George Beverly Shea sa…
This morning I’m on my way to northeastern Pennsylvania, to a town named Stroudsburg, located in the Poconos, right on the Pennsylvania-New Jersey border, not that far from Scranton, a town made famous in recent years as the locale for the sit-com “The Office.” But Stroudsburg is important to me for another reason. About five-and-a-…
I met a pastor several years ago who shared a thoughtful insight with me. Sometimes in our attempt to reach out to the prodigals we know, we can intervene too soon. Do remember what happened to the prodigal son in Luke 15? After he had wasted all his inheritance in wild living, he ended up feeding the pigs. As Eugene Peterson puts it, “He was…
The latest news on the culture war front comes from North Carolina. It seems that Pastor Ron Baity of Berean Baptist Church in Winston-Salem was named an “honorary chaplain” of the North Carolina House of Representatives. Although he had been invited to lead in prayer for an entire but that invitation was rescinded after he refused to o…
We had our usual fun time at the Keep Believing board meeting on Monday night. We started with a pizza supper punctuated with lots of laughter that continued throughout our meeting. Because our board is spread out, we don’t see each other very often so when we do, we always laugh a lot. It’s wonderful to be part of a group where you are…
Most people recognize the name Christopher Hitchens even if they can’t quite place him. Besides being arguably the most famous atheist in the world, he also wrote the bestselling book God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything. A few days ago the New York Times published his review of a book by Philip Pullman called The Good Man Jesus …
Would you comment on predestination versus free will?How much time do we have? Not enough to cover this vast subject. The question implies that predestination (which the Bible unquestionably teaches–see Romans 8:29 and Ephesians 1:5) and free will somehow oppose each other. But as Spurgeon pointed out when asked how he “reconciled&rdquo…
I’m a modest person and I don’t even like undressing at the doctor’s office. If God is always watching us, and angels are always with us, does this mean when my spouse and I are having sex that we have an audience?The short answer is yes. This is part of the doctrine of God’s omnipresence. Read Psalm 139 and you will see how…
Last week I spoke at Cannon Beach Conference Center in Cannon Beach, Oregon. On Friday morning we had a question and answer session based on questions we had received from the audience. During the Q&A time, contemporary Christian musician Clay Crosse served as moderator. This turned out to be one of the best sessions of the week.We have posted …