Today (01/19/2020) I taught the Bible class I attend at the Sunset Church of Christ. We are studying from a study guide by Scott Franks called, Practical Proverbs. My assigned topic was “Gossip.” Below I have reproduced the handout I provided to the class, but will first give a few guiding principles on why I developed the class topic as I did.Continue Reading
Verse of the Day Art – Free
Each day I receive a free “Verse of the Day” piece of art from the Logos and Faithlife Proclaim folks. Subscribe for yourself here: https://www.logos.com/verse-of-the-day
These images can be used in worship or teaching presentations or as “wallpaper” on your desktop, laptop or tablet.
Series Now Available on Discovering Christ in the Old Testament
A new series entitled, “A Shadow of Good Things to Come”: Discovering Christ in the Old Testament, is now available simply by clicking on the underlined link or by looking in the right-hand column of this page under SERIES.
This series of 27 messages was delivered to the Tanglewood Church of Christ in Odessa, Texas during 2006-2007. I was moved to prepare this study after reading an excellent book by Dr. John M. Oakes titled, From Shadow to Reality: A Study of the Relationship Between the Old and the New Testament, published by my good friend Toney Mulhollan at IPI Books.Continue Reading
Library Additions for November-December 2019
For years I kept in my file cabinet two lists given to me by two older ministers during the first few years of my ministry. Each was a list of the 10-20 books they considered essential for me to have in my religious library. About half the books were identical, the rest different on each list.
I believe that I eventually added every one of those books to my library. Most are still in my library after 40+ years, numerous moves, and regular “weeding out” of books that have proven unused or not useful. Here I don’t intend to provide such a list for any readers of this article (maybe in a later article I will). Instead, I want to begin with this article to more or less regularly list books I have recently added to my library, and in some cases give the reasons why. Do not consider these lists as an automatic recommendation or seal of approval for these titles or their contents. Rather, this is to let you know that my studies and personal spiritual interests have led me to add these books to my library.Continue Reading
Pick of the Week: “That the World May Know” Video Series by Ray Vander Laan
The favorite video series in my personal library is the series produced by Ray Vander Laan entitled, That the World May Know. The series now consists of 16 volumes plus two special videos.
Mr. Vander Laan is a Christian educator as well as minister in the Christian Reformed Church. Since about 1992 he has taken over 10,000 people on tours of Israel, Turkey and Egypt. These videos are shot on location during some of these tours. Not simply a tourist video of the locations, Vander Laan takes the time to explain what is being viewed and what are some of the Biblical lessons to be gained.Continue Reading
Adding Print Books to Your Study Library
Maybe because of my age (born in 1948) and the habits of a ministry covering some 50 years, I still cherish printed books. Don’t get me wrong, I have most of the latest digital Bible software with some 2,000+ volumes of resources. I also regularly buy digital versions of books for my Kindle app or Apple Books app, and have about 450-500 titles between them. But printed books are still my passion.
So when I am looking for a new reference book, commentary, or book on a special topic, I go for print most of the time. But this doesn’t mean I want to pay full retail for a new copy if a good used volume is available!Continue Reading
Pick of the Week: The Sermons of C. H. Spurgeon
One of the many great benefits of living in the Information Age is the accessibility of materials from others who have sought to preach the Gospel of Christ. By this I mean there are many books available of the sermons and writings of men of earlier generations who were effective proclaimers of the Biblical message. Of course, for those who lived more recently or are contemporaneous with us, we also may also have audio or video recordings.
Being a teacher of Christian history, I always value reading after the Apostolic and Early Church Fathers. This is no endorsement of some of their teachings, but there is still much to be gained by listening to those who lived much closer in both time and culture to the New Testament period. Men such as Ignatius, Origin, Justin the Martyr, and others still speak today through writings which have survived for 1700+ years.Continue Reading
Resource: Free Images and Photos from Wikimedia Commons
Looking back at earlier posts on this website demonstrates my fascination with photos and images that might be used in presentations or even printed materials to help illustrate Biblical subjects or events. (In fact, see here for recent articles on www.bibleplaces.com and www.freebibleimages.com.) I know many of my hearers are visual learners so they understand and retain knowledge better when it is accompanied or illustrated by photos, drawings, maps, charts, etc.
One often overlooked source of useful photos and images is Wikimedia Commons, which is part of the online encyclopedia Wikipedia. Going directly to the Wikimedia Commons site allows searching directly by subject for what images are available. Alternately, I usually go to Wikipedia itself for the subject (place, event, person, etc.) I am searching for. Any images on Wikipedia are also part of the Wikimedia Commons collection. It is important to notice the requirement to give credit for the source of any image you use; the appropriate credit statement is usually available just below the image when you click on the image to open it in a full window. The Wikimedia Commons currently lists almost 58,000,000 available images!Continue Reading
Pick of the Week: “Pictorial Library of Bible Lands” & “Photo Companion to the Bible”
I recently recommended a resource for free Bible land photographs in my article, “Free Images of Bible Lands.” These free photographs are available from www.BiblePlaces.com. Now I want to follow up by heartily recommended their paid resources!
Dr. Todd Bolen and his team offer over 17,000 high resolution photos broken down into packages based on region called “Pictorial Library of Bible Lands:”Continue Reading
Are You Preaching a Christmas Message This Holiday?
I realize that some feel uncomfortable with the idea of delivering a message this time of year which touches on the connection between the Gospel and Christmas. Perhaps they are shocked at the emphasis on spending money and buying things, maybe it’s the pagan roots of several holiday customs, or even the acknowledgement that there is actually no emphasis in the New Testament on commemorating the birth of Jesus, only His death and resurrection. I get it. I agree. But I still deliver holiday influenced sermons most years… whether Christmas, Easter, Independence Day or Thanksgiving!
Why? Let’s think primarily about Christmas for now:Continue Reading
Holiday Sale on Christian Audio Books at Christian Audio
During the Thanksgiving to Christmas “mega-holiday,” materialism and consumerism is on full display in our nation as Black Friday, Green Monday, Cyber Monday, etc. consumes retailers and media advertising… and us consumers. But there are also some very good deals for those of us working in ministry or teaching and publishing God’s Word.
If you love to listen to audio books, or are simply wanting something wholesome to listen to on that next long trip to the relatives’ house for the holidays, now is a good time to peruse the great deals at christianaudio.com. Almost their entire selection of audio books are on sale for $7.49 each. Most of the titles are normally twice as much or more on their site or on audible.com. To purchase you need to sign up for a free membership first (no cost associated with it).Continue Reading
Pick of the Week: Free Out-of-Print Books by Josh McDowell
Josh McDowell is l
egendary among writers on Christian Apologetics – defending the historical reliability of the New Testament and deity of Jesus Christ. In his 50+ years of teaching and writing, McDowell has fulfilled much the same role that Second and Third Century apologists like Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Origin, Cyprian and others did for the Early Church.
Author or co-author of over 150 books, Josh McDowell’s most popular book continues to be Evidence That Demands a Verdict. This was one of the first books on Christian apologetics I purchased early in my ministry, and one I continue to use regularly.Continue Reading