“I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:28). Aren’t daily devotions like this one supposed to be encouraging? Why would I bring up pornography in a devotional? Because it’s the number one problem in the church today. Consider these tragic statistics from the … Learn More
Have you ever heard someone say that they are against organized religion? Or perhaps they regard organized religion as having brought harm to society? After all, hasn’t religion been a cause of wars and suffering? There’s no denying that some organized religion, like Islam, has brought suffering and has been spread through wars. But that is the exception rather than … Learn More
Here’s an interesting excerpt from an article pulled from LiveScience.com on the effects of religion on children, and by intimation, the home. Kids with religious parents are better behaved and adjusted than other children, according to a new study that is the first to look at the effects of religion on young child development.The conflict that arises when parents regularly … Learn More
Have you seen those memes on social media about the one true religion? They usually go something like this: “Out of the thousands of religions that exist, the only one you were exposed to as a child is the only ‘true’ religion? What an amazing coincidence!” Reality check. All over the world, people are abandoning their ‘true religion’ for Jesus … Learn More
Recently, my friend Dave wrote to me about divorce and gay marriage. He wanted to know why churches accept the divorced (though God hates divorce) but don’t accept gay marriage. Here is my response. Dave: Divorce was permitted, Jesus said, because of hardness of heart (Matthew 19:8). The Bible does not speak, specifically, about gay marriage. But we can make … Learn More
In his book, Church History In Plain Language, author Bruce Shelly gives four reasons why Christianity grew to such an extent in its early history that it became the dominant religion of the Roman empire in little more than 300 years after its founding. As I read through what Shelly identified it occurred to me that these same traits are … Learn More
If you are involved in ministry, whether personally on your free time, or professionally, you are doing the most important work in the world. That is not an exaggeration. Many times after our ministry in Mongolia separated from Eagle TV and became AMONG Mongolia I had been called by representatives from Eagle TV asking to use our ministry airtime for … Learn More
Pastor, do you want to send a short-term team to a foreign country? Do you want your people to engage globally for the Gospel? Then here are five principles to follow when putting together a short-term team. I promise that if you follow these principles you’ll have a better chance at fulfilling your ministry goals and your short-term team will … Learn More
American society is in decline. There’s no denying the obvious. It doesn’t matter if we examine our political influence or our spiritual history, there is no denying that America is in decline. America will eventually go the way of all nations. That is not to be pessimistic, it is simply an historical observation. Those who care deeply for their country … Learn More
I recently read an article in Christian Ministry Magazine about the television work of Joel Osteen and Phil Cooke. For those unfamiliar, Joel Osteen pastors the largest church in the United States with some 40,000 attendees. Phil Cooke is widely know in television and movie circles as an excellent producer who helps bring Christian TV productions up to Hollywood standards. … Learn More