Organizing Resources for Biblical Counseling, Part 2

A few weeks ago I made a case for organizing your biblical counseling resources (or any other discipling and teaching resources you use in caring for others). I had at least one request for the complete list of categories. So here it is. Most of the folders just have the articles and homework ideas sorted […]

Organizing Resources for Biblical Counseling

I don’t have OCD. Really. I don’t. (And denying it doesn’t mean that I do have OCD.) I just like things organized. So my personal library is organized by the Dewey Decimal System. I have more than 20,000 file cards (both printed and digital) of preaching illustrations organized by topic and biblical passage. I have […]

Bible Reading Plans for 2021

Every day I make plans for what I will eat that day; rare is the day when I don’t get three meals (with an occasional snack or two along the way) and an adequate amount of caffeine and liquids. I am dependent on food and water, so I make plans to take it in regularly. […]

Sermon: What We Want from the Word

What We Want from the Word Psalm 119:129-136 December 27, 2020 What did you want this week? That’s a fitting question for a week when there is much gift giving. What gifts were you anticipating giving? What kinds of gifts were you hoping to receive (or not receive)? Where did you want to go (or […]

Bible Reading in 2020

The Bible is the instrument of transformation in the life of the believer. Jesus asked His Father, “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth” (Jn. 17:17). When the believer is transformed, it is because of and through the Scriptures being used by the Spirit of God in his life. The Spirit of God […]

Writing sabbatical begins today

Today, due to the generosity and encouragement of the GBC elders, I begin a one-month writing sabbatical. I have been anxious to get started on this project. For the past two weeks, most mornings when I awaken, I am thinking about aspects of the project — structure, chapters to include, and books to read to […]

Read your Bible in 2017

A new year will be upon us in two short weeks. And you may already be thinking about how you want to increase your Bible intake — reading, study, and memorization — in the new year. As we do every year, we are publishing several Bible reading plans for 2017. Our church will be following […]

Reading Habakkuk (redux)

This is a repost of a blog from last year; since our Bible book of the month is Habakkuk, I thought it would be helpful to post this again. One of the most repeated sentences by young children is, “it’s not fair…” As in, It’s not fair that my brother can stay up later than […]

Why read and study the Bible?

Each year our church publishes a Bible reading plan for the church to follow. And every Sunday morning we typically read at least two passages of Scripture during the worship service, in addition to Scriptures that are read during the sermon. Our Sunday School classes and instruction in AWANA are generally all expositions of biblical […]

A summary of the book of Romans

Sunday morning I began a sermon series on the book of Romans. My goal in starting a new sermon series is to provide a summary and overview of the contents and flow of the book. And sometimes that is best seen in a chart. Here is my current attempt at charting Romans (I reserve to […]

Read your Bible in 2015

The goal of every follower of Jesus Christ is to become like Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:28-29; Col. 1:18, 28). And one of the primary means God uses to transform the believer is the Word of God (Ps. 1; 1 Pt. 2:1-3; 2 Pt. 1:3; 2 Tim. 3:16-17). The believer will not grow spiritually if he […]

But it tastes good

In 1960, Dr. Stanley Garn, working for the Fels Research Institute, whose objective was to study the physical growth and maturation of children, made this not-so-stunning conclusion: “[Milk shakes], fat-meat hamburgers, bacon and mayonnaise sandwiches may be good for the undertaker and bad for the populace.” In other words, there are some things that, while […]

Reading Lamentations

The book of Lamentations is very closely associated with the book of Jeremiah, as they both deal with the destruction of Jerusalem: Jeremiah as a prophetical warning, Lamentations as a lament after the fall. The poetry is important in interpreting the book as it highly corresponds to the message, which is that although the people […]

Reading Habakkuk

One of the most repeated sentences by young children is, “it’s not fair…” As in, It’s not fair that my brother can stay up later than me. It’s not fair that dad’s piece of pie is bigger than mine. It’s not fair that I can’t watch that movie. It’s not fair that he broke my […]

Reading Joshua

This week we have been reading the book of Joshua in our Bible reading plan. The key person in the book other than God is Joshua, and it is important to remember that he was one of only two men who survived the 40 years in the wilderness due to his good report that the […]