Just as I was finishing up work for the day, I got an email from a very friendly producer at CNN wondering if I would be interested in contributing to a story they are working on. Intruiged, I said that I might just be. She called me a few minutes later and it turns out…
It is time, once more, to reach into the feedback files and answer a question sent to me by a reader. In fact, this question has been sent in by a lot of readers, so I thought I would answer it here once and for all! The question usually goes something like this: How do…
Pursuing God – A Seeker’s Guide is a book for those who are drawn to God and yearn to understand more about Him. Intended as a tool for evangelism, it is written in a warn and conversational style. Over sixty pages, author Jim Elliff, president of Christian Communicators Worldwide, leads the reader through the all-important…
This is the fourteenth of thirty-one articles examining the book of Proverbs. Today we come to chapter fourteen as we near the half-way mark of this study. “A scoffer seeks wisdom in vain, but knowledge is easy for a man of understanding. Leave the presence of a fool, for there you do not meet words…
A couple of weeks ago I was browsing through my pastor’s library and remarking on the number of people who lay claim to “the next Reformation.” Over twenty years ago, Robert Schuller told us it would be a Reformation of self-esteem and more recently his protégé Rick Warren that it will be one of purpose.…
Brian Flynn is the founder and director of One Truth Ministries and leads “Now Age” seminars before churches and groups around the United States. But long before he felt such love and concern for the church, he was a psychic medium who hated Christianity with every fiber of his being. Running Against The Wind is…
This is part thirteen in my 31-day study through the book of Proverbs. The purpose of this study is to learn what God has to say in this book about wisdom and discernment. Yesterday I learned that I need to be willing to face correction and be willing to correct others. I also learned that…
I don’t get sick. That’s why it’s such a surprise that I have been on my back almost the entire week. I literally don’t think I did a single work-related activity this entire week. It’s pathetic (and a bit scary because I am self-employed and my ability to pay the bills is directly tied to…
This is part twelve in my 31-day study through the book of Proverbs. The purpose of this study is to learn what God has to say in this book about wisdom and discernment. Yesterday I learned that God is the source of wisdom and justice and in order to please Him I need to exhibit…
As you may know, Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Community Church and author of The Purpose Driven Life has begun to write a monthly column for Ladies Home Journal. This ought to be an exciting opportunity for a professed Christian, for this space is generally reserved for articles dealing with “spirituality” which equates to New…
This is the eleventh of thirty-one articles covering the book of Proverbs. Chapter eleven of Proverbs continues the theme of contrasting the righteous and the wicked. Though not every proverb uses these words, most of them adhere to this theme. “Dishonest scales are an abomination to the LORD, But a just weight is His delight.”…
There is little reason to describe the author’s purpose in writing Testing The Claims of Church Growth, for the title makes it self-evident. My initial interest in this book was based on the description which says, “For 13 years prior to entering the ministry, Rev. Rodney E. Zwonitzer was a high-level corporate marketing executive for…
This is day ten in our thirty-one day study of Proverbs, and today we reach the heart of the book. Chapters 10 through 22 of Proverbs contain mostly single-sentence proverbs and form almost half of the book. There are occasionally longer constructs, but generally verses are not interconnected. They may build on a common theme,…
George Muller is known as a man who lived by prayer. During the course of his life he believed he had seen some 50,000 answers to prayer. He fed, clothed and housed over 10,000 orphans during his life and distributed millions of tracts, books and Bibles. He also supported missions organizations and spoke to Christians…
“If there is a hell, Hitchens is going there for this book.” So said the New York Press in respose to The Missionary Position, subtitled Mother Teresa in Theory and Practice. Written in 1995, during the height of Mother Teresa’s popularity, this book was Hitchens’ attempt to debunk the myth that was, and remains, Mother…
One of my greatest passions in life is for history. When I was young I was more likely to be seen reading non-fiction than fiction, and it was natural that when it came time for post-secondary education, I elected to take history as my major. One aspect of history I particularly enjoyed was examining historical…
This is day nine in this thirty-one day journey through Proverbs. This chapter provides one final call for wisdom, contrasted with the call of folly, before the book turns to the Proverbs of Solomon which will extend nearly to the end of the book. Chapter ten begins to provide the short, contrasting statements for which…
When my son is well-rested he lives in a violent world. He dresses in armor and runs around smiting the bad guys. Because he is only five (he turned five on Saturday) and does not yet feel shame about having people watch him in his activities, so he plays loudly and energetically. I overhear the…
In past days I have been spending quite a bit of time reading about the nature of worship. Here are some quotes that speak of worship, and more specifically, music as worship: “Wherefore that much more ought we to take care not to abuse it, for fear of fouling and contaminating it, converting it to…
Never have Christians tried to be so relevant, and yet never have they been so terribly irrelevant. How could this happen? It is this question that Os Guinness addresses in Prophetic Untimeliness, which claims to be “A Challenge to the Idol of Relevance.” Guinness says that the goal of the book is to explore how…