The Missing Gospel at Funeral Services

Several years ago I wrote an article for P&D about the ministry of funerals for unbelievers. In this article I would like to focus on a growing, and disturbing, tendency at funerals. Our small town (population ~18,000) has three funeral homes. Over the thirty years my wife and I have lived here I have officiated…

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FBFI 2023: Nathan Mestler – "I Will Build My Church" (podcast)

During our recent Annual Meeting held at Faith Baptist Bible College in Ankeny, Iowa, our theme was “Reclaiming the Great Commission.” Our featured message for this podcast comes from Nathan Mestler, President of International Baptist Bible College & Seminary in Chandler Arizona. I Will Build My Church You can find it at our podcast, here.…

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The Old-Fashioned Revival Hour

As a teenager I used to listen to a local Detroit radio station that broadcast reruns of old time radio shows. I enjoyed the comedy of Abbott and Costello and Fibber McGee and Molly. Adventure and mystery shows like The Shadow, The Lone Ranger, and The Green Hornet were personal favorites. Today such “theatre of…

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Pastoral Preaching

[Note: the following comes from messages given by Ken Brown at the Michigan Expositor’s Summit a couple of years ago. — Editor] The Preacher’s Task If you were on your deathbed and had a final instruction to leave to your successor, what would it be?  2 Timothy 4 is the last chapter of the last…

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Forgotten on Earth, Remembered in Heaven

Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Roosevelt are men not only conspicuous in the pages of American history; their images are carved into the stone face of Mt. Rushmore. The record of the lives of some men makes it nearly impossible for them to be forgotten by future generations. But there are countless other great individuals whose…

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Why the Dearth of Young Preachers? (Part 2)

As part of a study on why it is becoming increasingly difficult for churches to find young pastoral candidates, the president of Barna Research, David Kinnaman noted, “There are now more full-time senior pastors who are over the age of 65 than under the age of 40.” A shortage of young gospel ministers is not…

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Pastoral Preaching

There are several factors that affect how a pastor views, and therefore goes about, his work. Most would readily agree the pastoral office is a vocation (from Latin, vox, voice) and thus a calling. But a calling to what? Many answers are offered to that question and, in turn, result in widely different ways of…

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A Purposeful Church Schedule including Inductive Journaling

“What shall I cry? (Isaiah 40:6). That is the question which comes before every preacher’s mind as he prepares the sermons he is to deliver each Sunday. What am I supposed to talk about? How am I ever going to get a message together? Maybe you have heard about the pastor who never prepared his…

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FBFI South Regional Fellowship – Audio Sessions

“Committed to Service – Devoted to Prayer” was the theme of our 2022 South Regional FBFI Fellowship at the WILDS in Brevard, North Carolina. Our goal was to challenge ourselves to complete abandonment to the will of God for our lives and our ministries. And, to realize that without prayer we are unable to discover…

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Preaching with Power, Redux

My recent article, “Are We Preaching with Power?,” kicked up some responses at Sharper Iron. The discussion was positive (a rarity on the internet), and it prompts this expansion of the theme. To review, the passage that prompts this thinking is Acts 24, where Felix becomes frightened when Paul preaches on righteousness, self-control, and the…

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