From Spokane to Lynchburg

September 14, 2008

Today I am making a cross-country trek that starts in Spokane, Washington and ends in Lynchburg, Virginia….

Photos from the Moody Spokane Retreat

Here are a few photos from the Moody Bible Institute Spokane Fall Retreat. Nearly 275 of us (students, faculty and family members) gathered at a beautiful conference center called Clearwater Lodge, about an hour north of Spokane. We all enjoyed the music of Elizabeth Hunnicutt who came from Minneapolis to lead worship. Because our group was so larg…

A Note From Pastor Peter in China

I have written before about my friend Peter who pastors a house church in China. In the last few months, we have been working with Peter to establish “Keep Believing China” to provide Chinese-language translations of sermons on the Keep Believing website. So far Peter has translated over 100 of my sermons in Chinese. He keeps the Bible …

If You Lose Your Cool, You Can’t Win

September 13, 2008

Several times this week I started to write something about the presidential race, but I haven’t been able to do it properly, mostly because I find myself getting irritated by the comments I read on the Internet and the statements made by certain members of the media. To be honest, more than once this week I’ve found myself getting angry…

777 Miles

September 12, 2008

This is hardly earthshaking news, but yesterday when I finished my bike ride, I noticed that the odometer read exactly 777 miles. That’s how far I’ve ridden this year.…

Twenty-Nine Months—and Counting Our Blessings

Last weekend we made a very quick trip to Chicago for a Keep Believing board meeting. It turned out to be a most encouraging time as we considered what God has done starting with the beginning of the ministry in May 2008. Since then we have achieved tax-exempt status with the IRS, adopted a logo and a key statement ("Our Name Is Our Mission&qu…

Next Stop: Spokane, Washington

When you travel as much as I do, you learn certain lessons early, one of the most obvious ones being that if you start in Tupelo, MS, it’s going to take you a while to get almost anywhere. That’s definitely true today because while you read these words, I’m in the air on my way to Spokane, Washington. There is no simple way to mak…

New Podcast—Asymmetric Spiritual Warfare

September 11, 2008

Earlier today we posted a brand-new podcast called Asymmetric Spiritual Warfare. It seems appropriate that this podcast should come on 9/11 because the treacherous attack that occurred seven years ago is the classic modern example of asymmetric warfare. Although the War on Terror didn’t start that day, our understanding of it changed forever …

Blogspotting

September 10, 2008

Bruce Smith has a new weblog called Religion and Politics Report. Seth Godin explains the #1 most overlooked secret of building trust. Godly people laugh a lot. Milton Stanley has an excellent collection of expository links. Evidently the world didn’t end today. Michael Hyatt wonders Whatever Happened to Modesty?Stands to Reason offers resour…

How I Find Sermon Illustrations

September 8, 2008

A friend from Australia wants to know my method of sermon illustration. He mentioned that he uses three systems:1) A manual system for filing illustrations.2) A seed box of this and that—it hasn’t proved very helpful.3) A program called “Biblical Illustrator” that has not been kept up to date.Here are my general comments:1) …