For the 1889 World's Fair in Paris, Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, who proposed a 984-foot tower, the tallest building in the world at that time, won the right to build his tower to the centerpiece of the Fair. Skeptics scoffed at his design, calling it useless and artless. Eiffel called her La Dame De Ferthe Iron Lady. Eiffel's name was on his tower, but Eiffel himself thanked...
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Over the last three years, I have looked forward to sharing my word of the year with you and hearing from you as you pursue God throughout the year. I have already had one person share his word with me!! From my previous words: Beyond, Together and Lead, to this year's word which has a little connection to our Prepare the Way Campaign, I pray that God would speak to each o...
Keep Reading Life can bring big questions: "Why do bad things happen to good people?" "Can God help me overcome depression?" "What should I do about secret sin?" I've been asked all of these questions many times. In today's sermon, we will tackle another big question: "How do I forgive grievances that seem unforgivable?" When Christ forgives, He doesn't only forgive individual sins, He...
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The bounds of love are often tested, but the male emperor penguin may win the award for enduring, sustaining love. The male penguin is responsible for the unborn chick through the winter while the mother searches for and gathers food. By the time their vigil on top of the egg is over, the penguin fathers will have gone without food of any kind for 125 days, and they will h...
Keep Reading The chief priests during the rule of Herod the Great new the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem - a little town of little significance. On one important day, they got to share that information with the King and with the Magi from the east! The wise men had come to inquire of King Herod where the newborn King of the Jews was. Herod didn't know, but the chief priests did. I...
Keep Reading Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the famous German theologian, said, ""There is no way to peace along the way of safety. For peace must be dared. It is itself the great venture and can never be safe. Peace is the opposite of security. To demand guarantees is to want to protect oneself. Peace means giving oneself completely to God's commandment." God left the security of heaven to brin...
Keep Reading We hope for all kinds of things, but when it comes to facing eternity, the word hope takes on different meaning. Musician John Mellencamp said, "I intend to make my ending good. I'm hoping it's one of those long, lingering deathbed conversions. A lot of people go, 'Oh, I hope I just die quick.' Not me. I need time to put things right." When we put our hope in Jesus, He mak...
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On November 19, 1854, General Sam Houston was baptized by Rufus Burleson, pastor of Independence Baptist and president of Baylor University. He made his commitment to the Lord during worship that day and was baptized that afternoon in Little Rocky Creek in Independence. After coming out of the water, he is reported to have said, "Well, preacher, you've baptized my pocket b...
Keep Reading We are meant to live in relationship with others. Christopher Langan was a genius with a staggering IQ of 195 (Einstein's IQ was 150). He got a perfect score on his SAT, even though at one point he fell asleep. But, Langan failed to use his exceptional gifts and ended up working on a horse farm in rural Missouri. Writer and speaker, Malcolm Gladwell summarizes his story: "...
Keep Reading An episcopal priest once addressed the introverts desire to share the gospel "Let's pretend that you are someone who might be willing, in theory, at some point, possibly, to consider maybe doing something that, while not "evangelism-type" evangelism, still could be in some way construed as a sort of sharing of hope. Kind of." If this is you, may I suggest you begin with pr...
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