The Best books I read in 2024

I enjoy books.  I like bookstores — new bookstores, old bookstores, used book stores, and digital (online) bookstores.  I spend a significant amount of time and money in bookstores each year.  And I read, too (though not as much as I’d like, typically). Several years ago, I began keeping track of what I read each […]

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God is a Missionary God

Israel was called to do missions and the church does missions because God does missions.  We love missions because God loves missions.  We sacrifice in giving and going and we go to risky places because God sacrificed and gave and went to a “risky” place (Jn. 1:10-11).  We long to see sinners saved by the […]

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Be Steadfast in the Gospel

Be Steadfast in the Gospel1 Timothy 3:14-16February 25, 2024 After his death, a documentary entitled Won’t You Be My Neighbor? chronicled the life of seemingly everyone’s neighbor, Mr. Rogers.  In the film, Rogers’ wife, Joanne reveals a question he asked her shortly before his death:  “Am I a sheep?”  As he approached his last moments […]

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The Best books I read in 2023

I’m a book collector.  I’m not a vintage book collector.  I don’t collect first editions.  There aren’t many valuable books (as most people value them) in my collection.  But I do like gathering books, purchasing books, and accumulating books.  I like hard backs, paperbacks, and digital books (Kindle, PDF, and audio). I collect books because […]

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Sermon: Why the Gospel?

Why Evangelism?Colossians 2January 29, 2023 All Steve wanted to do was clean his fish tank.  He had no idea of the problems that would create for him.  Here’s a report of the incident: [He] was trying to get rid of a colony of zoanthids — a relative of corals and sea anemones — that was […]

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Evangelistic grace and boldness

When Paul instructs the Colossians about evangelism — and asks for them to pray for him in his gospel efforts as well — he encourages them to be wise and gracious in the way they both conduct themselves and speak.  It takes discernment to know when to speak the gospel and it takes prayerful preparation […]

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Grab bag

Some helpful articles I’ve bookmarked recently (or not so recently): “How to Pray for Afghan Christians” (Kevin Carson) “Jesus Is Literally All They Have Left” (Randy Alcorn) “9 Things You Should Know About the Taliban” (Joe Carter) “Celebrating 50 Years Of Marriage” (Paul Tripp) “Preaching the Funeral Sermon I Once Most Dreaded” (Hershael York) — […]

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The Gospel in a few words

“…to believe the gospel is not only to accept the awesome truths that 1) God is holy, 2) we are hopeless sinners, 3) Christ died and rose again for sinners, and 4) this great salvation is enjoyed by faith in Christ-but believing the gospel is also to treasure Jesus Christ as your unsearchable riches. What […]

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Grab bag — evangelism edition

Some helpful articles I’ve bookmarked recently (or not so recently) on the topic of evangelism: “The Motivation of Evangelism” (Mike Riccardi) “Getting beyond ‘Do you believe in Jesus?’” (Jordan Standridge) “How To Share The Gospel With Roman Catholics” (Jordan Standridge) “How Do I Evangelize Someone Who Says That They Don’t Trust the Bible?” (Jordan Standridge) […]

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Sermon: What is the Gospel?

What is the Gospel? Selected Scriptures January 12, 2020 Ask the question, “What is the gospel?” (even in the church) and you will get almost as many answers to that question as there are people.  There just does not seem to be much consensus on that question. In his book, What is the Gospel? Greg […]

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