FrontLine
Preaching the Gospel from Prophetic Literature
An approach to preaching NOW about the Future Stephen J. Hankins Introduction I began my Christian journey during an era of eschatological sensationalism, characterized by books such as The Late Great Planet Earth by Hal Lindsey and punctuated by Christian “B” movies about the rapture and other future cataclysmic events, allegedly foretold in Revelation. (As…
Read MorePreaching the Gospel
Matt Recker It seems strange to say that a missing element in much preaching is Jesus Christ and His gospel of grace, but I believe it is so. Even in my own experience, I have found that I can preach on Christian living, worldliness, the decaying culture, church growth, or a host of other topics…
Read MoreThe Evangelist and His Ministry
Phil Shuler Enough books have been written about the earthly ministry of our Lord to fill the average library, but the ministry of Christ beyond His death, burial, and resurrection can be pretty well summed up in John 16:7–11. In John 14:16 Christ explains why He must ascend unto His father, but he promises to…
Read MoreSermon and Song: A Vital Duet
Kurt Woetzel Does your church have a “good spirit” about it? That question has a measure of Scriptural basis. Christ said, “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23). One of the practical functions and purposes of music in the church…
Read MoreA Good Soldier of Jesus Christ (2)
Mark Minnick [From yesterday’s introduction:] It would be hard to find any preachers of the last two centuries any more acquainted with outright warfare for Christ than Charles and his brother John. Their earliest journals are not only almost monotonously replete with references to it, but often the entries nearly spurt blood. Here are samples…
Read MoreA Good Soldier of Jesus Christ (1)
Mark Minnick We have a full thirty of them in our church’s hymnbook: songs by Charles Wesley. But it would take nearly eight hymnbooks of equal size to hold all the church songs Charles wrote. They amount to over six thousand, ten times those of Isaac Watts. So it’s understandable that we might envision that…
Read MoreMinistering among Illegal Immigrants
David Shumate Those with opportunities to minister to immigrant groups are often confronted with the question of illegal immigration. This social and political problem often complicates what would otherwise be a straightforward ministry response. Although the problem most often involves people from Latin America, it is an issue that applies to other groups as well.…
Read MoreThe Enigma of Evangelicalism
Lessons from a Godly Compromiser Layton Talbert Biography is surely one of the most interesting and engaging forms of literature. It is also one of the most instructive forms of revelation folded into the larger genre of historical narrative. The biography of Jehoshaphat reveals a remarkably timeless and complex personality with a great deal to…
Read MoreMissions-Minded
Chuck Phelps Our loving Heavenly Father was so missions-minded that He “sent His only begotten Son” (John 3:16). When Christians consider the matter of missions they consider a matter dear to the heart of God. The power of the American passport and American purse is a tremendous responsibility sadly forgotten by many American Christians. “According…
Read MoreShifting From “Come” to “Go”
Kevin Schaal As I pored through hundreds of decision cards I could not help but weep. It’s an experience that is hard to describe and even harder to believe for laborers in North America, but in the Philippines things are different. Student Movement for Christ International (SMCI), a Fundamental student evangelistic organization in the Philippines,…
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