In language meant to be clever in the context of his times, Walter Rauschenbusch wrote, “Eschatology is usually loved in inverse proportion to the square of the mental diameter of those who do the loving.”1 In reality, though, eschatology is usually loved in proportion to the believer’s love of Christ. If we don’t love…
Read MoreI will celebrate my 61st birthday soon. I have been a senior pastor for 37 years. That is right. I planted Northwest Valley Baptist Church when I was 24 years old. I wish I knew the things then that I know now. I would dearly love to start ministry all over again with my present…
Read MoreAlan and Nancy Cole are members of the faculty at Faith Baptist Bible College in Ankeny, Iowa. They have been married for thirty- two years and have two grown sons. Earlier this summer, Alan and Nancy and one of their sons sat down with me to talk about the article they co-wrote for our magazine. We…
Read MoreIn Ephesians 6:1-3 God commands children to obey and honor their parents and fathers to discipline and instruct their children in the Lord. A child who obeyed generally lived a long life, a promise first given to Israel in Exodus 20:12. The sons of Eli the priest serve as dire examples of lives cut short…
Read MoreEven if they don’t want to say so. Yesterday’s post from Forrest McPhail, “Sending You Good Vibes,” brought this to mind. The way I hear or see that idea is often in this form: “thoughts and prayers,” or sometimes just “thoughts are with you,” as if one would think the individual has the mental power…
Read MoreSocial media can provide serious insight into people’s lives. Obviously, social media has a very selective approach to communication, as we post only what we want others to see, but even with all its limitations, social media still provides a window into the soul of its users. Those of us who post on social media…
Read MoreJames made a comparison of earthly wisdom to wisdom that is from above (James 3:17). It is understandable that James spoke of a wisdom that is “from above” when he described how Christians should live. After all, believers are in the world but are not to be of the world. Yet his audience was characterized…
Read MoreThe simpleton, the fool, and the scorner are the bad boys of Proverbs, and I mean that in no endearing sort of way. We sometimes use these words that we see in Proverbs interchangeably and understandably so. These guys are the bad guys in the book of Proverbs. They are the ones that mothers hope…
Read MoreDuring our recent Annual Meeting held at Faith Baptist Bible College in Ankeny, Iowa, our theme was “Reclaiming the Great Commission.” Besides the preaching sessions, our speakers and other leaders conducted several outstanding Workshop sessions, most of which we recorded. We offer them along with the audio of the main messages. Sandra Capon conducted a…
Read MoreIn the previous post we introduced the following: Ministries need unity in vision, mission, philosophy, and doctrine for the work of the ministry to flourish without being impeded by the turmoil that comes from a mixed multitude of people who fundamentally disagree on any one of these four categories. In this post we’ll pick back…
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