Jesus.  He is the source of our salvation.  You would think the message of scripture is so plain that there would be no debate here.  Jesus is “the way, the truth and the life.” (John 14:6)  There is no other name under heaven through which mankind can be saved (Acts 4:12).  By a”single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.” (Hebrews 10:14) We need to…

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Jesus. Love. God. All great one-word messages for the church. Hard to argue against those.

If I had one word for the church, though, it would be something else. Yes, we need Jesus. Yes, we ought to be defined by love. Yes, our allegiance has to be to God above all other powers. I don’t disagree.

As for me, I’d sum up our most basic need with one word. Mission. Most…

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My oldest son is in his Junior year of High School, and every day his mom and I are reminded of our responsibility to get him ready to be a productive member of society. We have tried to teach him all of the things that people need to know, like how to change the oil in his car or cook…

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Adolf Von Schell was a World War I German officer who wrote a book about his experiences leading his troops in 1933 called Battle Leadership. The book is an extremely helpful read on the psychology of leadership in tense situations.

The first chapter in Von Schell’s book in entitled “Battlefield Psychology” and in that chapter he shares two successive stories…

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My first thought was “Christ and him crucified” but Paul does it better than I ever would.

I would preach knowing and loving God. On a recent flight I was reading Richard Rohr’s book The Divine Dance and in it he makes the distinction in believing in God and knowing God. It didn’t hit me well when I first read it but the more what he was saying sunk…

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Shortly after the discovery of fire and just before the end of the last ice age, I was a student at Harding. In one of our ministry classes, we were supposed to write a book review on a certain preaching textbook. I remember in my paper, critiquing the fact that the author used the term “pastor” when referring to the “minister.” Ugh, I had so much yet to learn.

October…

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If you had one message to share, what would it be? If you could assemble any group of people, your choosing, and preach just one message…what would it be? Would you assemble all those who don’t know Jesus and preach the Gospel? Would you gather your closest few friends or family members and tell them something difficult? Would you gather up your congregation, your denomination, or all Christians in…

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