Before my first message on Saturday morning at the Men for God rally, I was sitting by myself on the bleachers in the rear of the meeting area. It was a good place to relax while waiting for the service to begin. Up walked a student from the Bible Institute who wanted to know if I was nervous. “I always get nervous before I preach,” I r…
Saturday NightBangor, MaineI am writing this note from my hotel room in Bangor, Maine. We finished the final session of the Men For God Rally in New Brunswick around 4:30 PM and then drove two hours to Bangor. First things first. I want to say thank you to Barry Beebe, president of New Brunswick Bible Institute, for inviting me to speak at the rall…
Kay Yow, coach of the North Carolina State University women’s basketball team, died last Saturday after a long battle with recurring breast cancer. During her long career as a coach, she won over 700 games, including leading the U.S. women to an Olympic gold medal in the 1988 Summer Games. In 2000 she was inducted into the Women’s Baske…
I am writing this note from the Lehman Strauss Cabin on the campus of New Brunswick Bible Institute. The cabin is named for the famous Bible teacher of the last generation who came many times to NBBI to teach the students. He donated money for this very nice guest house built on the hillside above the main part of the campus. This morning I speak t…
Check out the advice H. B. Charles, Jr. received from his father about preaching. It’s called If You Can Keep From Preaching, Do It!. Here’s a sample:If preaching is something that you can get into and out of when you want to, it’s a sign that the Lord did not really call you. So if you can choose whether you are going to preach o…
There is one final thing necessary in preparing for the ministry. You might state it in a dozen different ways because it has to do with what happens inside your heart. Here’s how it comes out for me.Get to know the character of God.Nothing is more important than that. As I look back over my own pilgrimage, I am sure that I did not appreciate…
15. Get out of debt if you can.These days it’s possible to accumulate $30,000-$60,000 in debt by the time you graduate from college. You could double that when you add in three or four years of seminary. You owe it to yourself and to the ministries you serve not to start with a heavy load of debt hanging over your head. That may mean taking f…
I’m doing live radio this morning on AFR Talk Radio from 11 AM-12 Noon Central Time. To listen live, click on the link and then click on “AFR-Talk.” You can also watch the video stream live….
8. Travel.In earlier generations travel was expensive and difficult. Today it’s no big deal to go online, book a ticket, and fly to Spain or China or Kenya or Chile. Tom Friedman is right. The world is flat, and the future belongs to those who have multicultural experience. So take a semester and study abroad. Build an orphanage in Ecuador. G…
Twice in the last week I have been asked what advice I would give to a young person preparing to go into the ministry. The question is so broad that it defies an easy answer. So much depends on the person, their background, and their sense of God’s calling. I don’t think there is a one-size-fits-all answer to that question. But when you…