There has never been a better time to be a Bible Teacher than today. This is true on several levels. For one thing, we have incredible tools at our fingertips that make Bible Study so much easier. Word studies that used to require Greek training, expensive books, and...

I believe that two of the great skills that we can learn in this life are first to treasure our friends, but more than that, to learn to be a friend who is a treasure to others. A few days ago I had a no-good, terrible, full-of-frustration day. Probably the bottom...

There is an old saying that goes, “We are going to teach our way out of this problem.” Here is what he means. Suppose you have a giving problem in your church. You are not meeting budget. You are not able to meet expenses. You have bills that are unpaid. You have cut...

The fourth mistake Elijah made is that he exaggerated the negative. He said, “I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too” (v. 10). Elijah held a little pity party for himself: “Everybody’s against me.” But the fact is that almost nobody was against...

I have heard this stat for years: 75% of churches are plateaued or declining. Here is the latest: Based on our research of 557 churches from 2004 to 2010, nine out of ten churches in America are declining or growing at a pace that is slower than that of their...

We desperately need an army of Effective Bible Teachers. What is an Effective Bible Teacher? An Effective Bible Teacher teaches so that people live according to the Bible. Effective Bible Teachers create doers of the Word and not hearers only. Effective Bible Teachers...

My first pastor often cited Oswald Chambers’s My Utmost for His Highest, and I eagerly read that great book as a young Christian. But at the time I didn’t know enough to disagree with his statement: “Joy should not be confused with happiness. In fact, it is an insult...

LEADERS SOMETIMES MAKE audacious statements and then lead people to fulfill them. Leaders turn their convictions about what must happen and their vision about what can happen into what does happen. When they do, the world is changed, often dramatically, with results...

The Old and New Testaments are filled with the promises of the second coming of Christ. In the Old Testament, there are 1,845 references and a total of seventeen Old Testament books that give it prominence. Of the 216 chapters in the entire New Testament, there are...

How we are behind the closed doors of our own private castle is how we really are. That’s the real you and the real me. We can fabricate an image for our work associates and friends, but when the shades go down, the man we really are comes out of the shadows. We trap...

The waiter brings the meals steaming hot from the kitchen and places them dramatically on the table. He looks at each diner expectantly, hoping to see expressions of delight. Before he leaves, he pronounces the inevitable benediction: “Enjoy!” Many seem to think...

We have just released a new Bible Study based on Ermin Lutzer's book, God's Devil. Here is an excerpt: GOD USES SATAN TO REFINE THE OBEDIENT Sometimes God chooses the scene of our battles with Satan. Does Satan wish to tempt Job to discredit the faith of this man of...

About a hundred years ago, Christians in this country anticipated that the twentieth century would be the greatest century the world had ever known. They were filled with unbridled optimism, and their slogans showed their positive spirit—slogans like “ever onward and...

The words from which I wish to address you, you will find in the Epistle to the Galatians, the third chapter, at the third verse; let us read the second verse also: “This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of...

A Person The Holy Spirit is a person. He grieves (Eph. 4:30); intercedes (Rom. 8:26–27); testifies (John 16:12–15); speaks (Mark 13:11); creates (Gen. 1:2; Luke 1:35); has a mind (Rom. 8:27); and can be blasphemed (Mark 3:28–29).2 (Of course, the Scriptures are also...

The relationship between joy and happiness in these passages refutes two common claims: (1) that the Bible doesn’t talk about happiness, and (2) that joy and happiness have contrasting meanings. In fact, the Bible overflows with accounts of God’s people being happy in...

All believers must live their Christian lives in the context of an unholy world. Some face extraordinary temptation as they live in the midst of a flagrantly sinful atmosphere. The student in the university dormitory or the man or woman on a military base or aboard...

The third mistake Elijah made is that he blamed himself for negative events that were not his fault. Elijah said, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death...

In the early verses of the Olivet Discourse, in Matthew 24, “Jesus answered and said to them: ‘Take heed that no one deceives you’ ” (verse 4). As we look to the future, this word from our Lord ought to be etched in our own hearts. As the day of His return approaches,...

In the pursuit of holiness Christians are often called on to perform duties that appear unreasonable and even absurd to an unbelieving world. A Christian farmer in Kansas is a case in point. When wheat is exactly ready to be harvested, it is important that the work be...

We have just released a new Bible Study based on Ermin Lutzer's book, God's Devil. Here is an excerpt: GOD USES SATAN TO JUDGE THE UNCONVERTED Now that we know that Satan is limited by God’s power, we might think that God would confine his role to relatively few...

Jesus Referred to the Future Often First, Christ referred to the future often as He ministered to His disciples and to others. For example, in the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24:25), Jesus said, “See, I have told you beforehand.” He is letting His followers know ahead...

Everyone is looking for just the right logo. Companies spend millions of dollars to find a little icon that will communicate what they offer in a memorable and compelling way. Nike’s logo is a little checkmark-looking symbol we call a swoosh. It is actually a stylized...

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a Lutheran pastor in Germany during the rise of the Nazi party under Adolf Hitler. He was very active in the resistance movement against Nazism and was eventually arrested and hanged in 1943 for his efforts, just before the end of World War II....

The more we sin, the more we are inclined to sin. John Owen expressed it this way, in his quaint seventeenth-century style: “Repeated acts of the consent of the will unto sin may beget a disposition and inclineableness of the will unto a proneness and readiness to...

Some of you may be old enough to remember singing—perhaps in Sunday school or at summer camp—that old song that starts out like this: “I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart.” “Where?” “Down in my heart!” “Where?” “Down in my heart!” Do you know why we...

Nineteen-year-old Joey Prusak was on duty at the Dairy Queen counter in Hopkins, Minnesota, when a blind man placed an order. As the man paid, a twenty-dollar bill slipped from his pocket and fell to the floor. The woman behind him quickly snatched up the bill and...

In all that has been said so far about our responsibility for holiness—the necessity of conviction and commitment, perseverance and discipline, and of holiness in body and in spirit—the activity of our wills is always implied. It is the will that ultimately makes each...

It was the bottom of the sixth inning. The Montreal Expos’ most feared hitter, Tim Raines, was at the plate. The pitcher glared at the catcher and checked the runner on first base. Then, kicking high, he pushed off the rubber and threw as hard as he could. It was the...

Listen The Golden Rule of Evangelism: Evangelize the Same Way You Want to Be Evangelized I’m a classic example of a loud introvert. I do a lot of up front public speaking, and I’m great for funny stories at parties. But I need a lot of quiet time alone to recharge and...