Spreading the Word in Turkey

March 25, 2008

Early this morning we received this note:Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ!!! I cannot thank you enough for the encouragement that I have found through reading your weekly sermons. I have even been able to print a few and pass them on to other English speakers in need of support/counsel/encouragement here in …

What If

We have just posted a new sermon called What If. Here’s an excerpt:Sometimes I hear well-meaning Christians say something like, “Even if it’s not true, it’s still better to be a Christian. Think of all the things you gain by being a Christian. You have Jesus in your heart.” No, you don’t! …

Let’s Go to the Holy Land in 2009

Some of you will remember that Marlene and I led a very successful tour to Israel in January 2007. We had so many people who said, “We want to go with you next time,” that we promised to lead another tour in two years. I am happy to report that plans are underway for a Holy Land tour in 2009. Yesterday Marlene spent an hour …

The Absent Are Safe Here

March 24, 2008

This weekend I listened to a podcast sermon by Haddon Robinson in which he told a story about Robertson McQuilkin, former president of Columbia International University. He put up a plaque in his living room that said, “The Absent Are Safe Here.” That meant that neither he nor his wife would speak unkindly about those not p …

Twenty-Two Words

Abraham Piper (son of John)Writes a blog calledTwenty-two words.Every post contains onlyTwenty-two words.Very cool.Check it out.

“Christ is risen!” in 59 languages

March 23, 2008

Since the early days of the Christian church, believers around the world have greeted each other by saying, “Christ is risen!”, to which the other person responds, “Indeed Christ is risen!” This morning I found a Greek Orthodox website that offers transliterations of this traditional Easter greeting in 59 languages:English: …

Did Jesus Descend Into Hell?

March 22, 2008

The Apostles’ Creed contains the phrase, “He descended into hell.” This is widely taken to be the answer to the question, “Where did Jesus go between his death and resurrection?” Christians have debated the phrase, the question, and what happened to Jesus after his death and before his resurrection. Here are two sermo …

Silent Saturday

The four gospels do not tell us much about what happened on the Saturday between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. We know that after Jesus died, the disciples stayed behind locked doors for fear of the Jewish leaders (John 20:19). Their fear was well-founded because on that Saturday, the chief priests and the Pharisees met wi …

Download Today’s Interview on WMBI

March 21, 2008

Today I spent an hour on WMBI radio in Chicago tracing the events of Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Nancy Turner (host of “This the Day!”) and producer Mark Breta came up with the idea of reliving the day Christ died and the morning of his resurrection. They invited me to paint word pictures of the key events, interspersed …

Passion Week Locations

Check out this interactive Google map of the events of Holy Week. (HT to Brian Bill.)