In addition to being a college professor and preacher, I have the privilege of teaching self-defense skills to people in my community on a weekly basis through my self-defense company, Peaceful Warrior, LLC. Although most people we encounter in life are law-abiding and peace-loving people, there are folks who might intend us harm. We could […]
On Nov. 5, 2017, First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, Texas, experienced a tragedy that is the nightmare of every pastor and church member. Devin Patrick Kelley killed 26 people in and around the church and wounded 20 others. Immediately after this horrific mass murder, attention focused on church security and safety — and rightly […]
On Christmas Eve in 1914, British soldiers witnessed strange lights in the German trenches across from them. They then began to hear what sounded like singing. As the singing grew louder, the soldiers discerned that the Germans were singing the Christmas carol “Silent Night.” The Brits’ voices rose to join the Germans in their caroling. […]
Some of you remember the Cold War, the “peaceful” conflict between the United States and the former Soviet Union, which occurred after World War II and lasted into the late 1980s and early 1990s. My family had a front row seat to the conflict. My father was the senior enlisted soldier for Army intelligence in […]
Last month, I introduced some statistics regarding the lack of personal evangelism conducted by members of American churches. This month, I’ll focus on how we can help our churches and church members become more involved in personal evangelism among the unchurched. A recent study on evangelistic churches reveals that 85 percent of their senior pastors […]
It’s been an exciting few days here at the Amplify Conference at Wheaton College. Ed Stetzer designed this inaugural conference “to lead the conversation in evangelism and then implement the renewal of evangelism in our local churches.” I attended on behalf of Anderson University and at the invitation of Dr. Stetzer to serve as a […]
In the past decade I’ve noticed a rising aversion to mentioning any national holidays in worship services. Increasingly it seems that pastors do not want to preach sermons in any way related to the nation for fear that they might be worshiping the country and not God in their worship services. While I commend any […]
I still like the movie “Field of Dreams.” I must confess that I get choked up every time I watch the end of the movie where Ray (played by Kevin Costner) asks his dad, “Hey, Dad! You want to have a catch?” Early in the movie, Ray hears a mysterious voice: “If you build it, […]
About 300 years ago, George Whitefield and John Wesley led a great Evangelical Awakening in the United Kingdom. However, last month, on a study-abroad trip to England and Scotland, I was reminded of the need for change within churches as we witnessed large cathedrals that no longer functioned as churches, but instead served as museums […]
Last night I experienced a first on social media. A person claiming to follow Jesus Christ questioned my salvation. This individual did not know me nor anything about my beliefs — other than the fact that I differed with him regarding a political issue. A third person who also commented on the Facebook thread said […]