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What The Bible Says Good Samaritan's Penny Pulpit by Pastor Ed Rice

What The Bible Says Good Samaritan's Penny Pulpit by Pastor Ed Rice

What The Bible Says Good Samaritan's Penny Pulpit by Pastor Ed Rice

What The Bible Says Good Samaritan's Penny Pulpit by Pastor Ed Rice

What The Bible Says Good Samaritan's Penny Pulpit by Pastor Ed Rice

Every New Year IBCA allows our men and young men an opportunity to preach God's Word for 10-15 minutes over the first few Sunday evenings. 0:15 Bob Seitz ...

Every New Year IBCA allows our men and young men an opportunity to preach God's Word for 10-15 minutes over the first few Sunday evenings. 0:15 Boaz ...

Every New Year IBCA allows our men and young men an opportunity to preach God's Word for 10-15 minutes over the first few Sunday evenings. 0:15 Michael ...

Every New Year IBCA allows our men and young men an opportunity to preach God's Word for 10-15 minutes over the first few Sunday evenings. 0:15 Lennon ...

Freedom Baptist Church Newton, NC 2016 Christmas Play.

Creation care does more than conservation. It cultivates faith formation, says A Rocha.In the world of high-energy, high-entertainment Vacation Bible Schools and summer kids camps, “Wild Wonder” stands out as an un-flashy alternative, incorporating quiet activities like bird watching and nature observation alongside music and games. Developed by the Christian conservation organization A Rocha USA, Wild Wonder’s new program explores environmental stewardship and spiritual formation in the context of the outdoors.“The main vision behind the camp is that we want kids to know they are beloved creations,” says A Rocha’s curriculum manager Flo Oakes. “We call it creation care camp, but we are God’s creations and we want kids to know that God loves us each deeply.”CT spoke with Oakes to learn more about Wild Wonder’s unique approach to discipleship in the woods.Your curriculum delves deep into theology with kids, from themes of God as the Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer to the idea of the new heavens and the new earth. What drives this theological focus?Among many Christians, there is a lingering idea that goes all the way back to the early heresy of Gnosticism. It’s the idea that earthly things—matter, stuff, our bodies, anything physical—are inferior and that the only thing to hope for is a heavenly place we’ll get to someday. I think some Christians have a hard time with environmental conservation because they’ve been taught to ask, “Well, why does it even matter? It’s just the earth.”To be clear, our motive in creating this camp wasn’t “we’re going to make a green, environmental VBS where we just teach kids how to take care of the earth.” There’s no deeper meaning in that—essentially, ...Continue reading...

Randall Stephens's history pays attention to political and cultural flash points—without losing focus on the music itself.Every few years, it seems, what some call the “mainstream media” rediscover Christian rock. Sometimes it’s treated with reverence and respect, as in John Jeremiah Sullivan’s now-classic 2004 account of tagging along at a Christian music festival for GQ. More often, it’s treated like a sociological oddity: a strange footnote in the history of American pop, a foreign culture to be explained with an anthropologist’s rigorous eye. Just this September, The New Yorker’s Kelefa Sanneh wrote a mini-history of Christian music (“The Unlikely Endurance of Christian Rock”) that took the genre seriously, but still contained whiffs of the incredulous stance preferred by many music writers: Can you believe that band you like—take your pick from among U2, Bob Dylan. Paramore, Evanescence, Switchfoot, Sixpence None the Richer, The Killers, and the list goes on—might actually be Christian?What Sanneh’s piece got right, thankfully, was its attention to just how common Christian pop music is today—how central it is, in sometimes unrecognized ways, to American popular culture. (Though when he says this would have been hard to imagine in 1969, I’m not so sure; “Spirit in the Sky” was a hit single that year, and the previous year saw the release of perhaps the most overtly religious rock record of all time, The Electric Prunes’s Mass in F Minor.)Indeed, Christian rock has had a strange and circuitous journey back to the center of American culture. Randall J. Stephens’s The Devil’s Music: How Christians Inspired, Condemned, and Embraced Rock ‘n’ Roll describes this sometimes paradoxical path. Stephens traces the roots of ...Continue reading...

There are things about Chau's story that raise questions worth our consideration.Missions, as the world has seen this month, is controversial.John Chau’s missionary journey to North Sentinel Island has captured the attention of the world. Many have written their thoughts, and I’ve done my share as well (see part 1 here and my Washington Post article here).Many hot takes were written, and people were understandably passionate. As this news has faded from its fever pitch, I’d like to think through some of the missiological questions that still need to be addressed.It is important to note that we can still appreciate Chau's passion while we also consider and discuss some of his methodology.We’re going to do that here.My guess is that many missiologists will be doing that for years to come. (Wheaton College missions professor, and former missionary working with tribes in Papuau New Guinea, had an early discussion on a recent Facebook live.)John ChauLet me first begin by saying that Chau's death is tragic and grieves me personally as a missiologist and a catalyst for missionaries. We learn from his social media, journals, friends, family, and preparation that John had a genuine passion for unreached people groups, and he was seeking to share the love of Jesus with people around the world. This is commendable and brave, especially all of his preparation in the many years leading up to this encounter.I wish that so many Christians sitting at home unengaged in God’s mission would be a lot slower to criticize.His passion is a key factor of his story that is important to note, highlight, and celebrate. It takes a brief moment of bravery to do one extraordinary action, but Chau’s deep conviction is evidenced by his years of working toward his engagement of the people of ...Continue reading...

In the midst of relational uncertainty, this season invites me to savor God's goodness.Scripture is filled with stories of people who waited. Hannah waited for an unspecified number of years before having her son Samuel. The Israelites waited 70 years in exile before being allowed to return to their homeland. The Jewish people waited hundreds of years for the promised Messiah.During Advent, we are reminded of the significance and holiness of waiting. All of us carry hopes and desires for our lives: We’re waiting for a relationship to heal, for a wayward child to return to faith, for a baby to arrive in our arms. Some waiting is definite—it has an endpoint. We experience “definite waiting” when we anticipate outcomes that we know will eventually arrive, whether it’s a verdict on a new job, a grade on a final exam, or a wedding day. Although these experiences are often laced with frustrations and the outcomes mixed, the waiting will eventually come to an end.Mary the mother of Jesus experienced definite waiting when the angel Gabriel announced that she would be “with child.” Although the process was undoubtedly difficult at times, she knew that in nine months, the promised child would put an end to her waiting. Even in her reply to the angel, we hear a level of certainty. “‘I am the Lord’s servant,’ she answered. ‘May your word to me be fulfilled’” (Luke 1:38).Some waiting, however, is indefinite.In my own life, indefinite waiting has come in the form of singleness. For years I’ve prayed to meet a godly man, not only because I desire the kind of love and companionship that marriage brings, but also because I’ve seen how good marriages can make each spouse better able to love, serve, and glorify God. My single years ...Continue reading...

Today's category: QuestionsQuestions to Ponder 3� � � � � � Why is the time of day with the slowest traffic called rush hour?� � � � � � If you're not supposed to drink and drive, then why do bars have parking lots?� � � � � � If you got into a taxi and he started driving backwards, would the taxi driver end up owing you money?� � � � � � If pro is the opposite of con, then is progress the opposite of congress?� � � � � � If it's Zero degrees outside today and it's supposed to be Twice as cold tomorrow, how cold is it going to be?� � � � � � Why do scientists call it "re"search when looking for something new?� � � � � � Why is it called a building when it is already built?� � � � � � Why is hamburger called hamburger, when it is made out of beef not ham?� � � � � � If a book about failures doesn't sell, is it a success?� � � � � � Have you ever imagined a world with no hypothetical situations?� � � � � � Why do ballet dancers always dance on their toes? Wouldn't it be easier to just hire taller dancers?� � � � � � Why is it when someone eats something that tastes bad they say "Aw, this tastes gross!" and turn to you and say "Try it!" Why would I want to try it, if they already told me what it tastes like?� � � � � � How do you know when invisible ink pens run out of ink?� � � � � � If you drop a chameleon in water, will it turn clear?� � � � � � Why do they call it a Leap Year if you ADD another day rather than subtracting one?� � � � � � Is it possible to be totally partial?� � � � � � What do you do when you see an endangered animal that eats only endangered plants?View hundreds more jokes online.Email this joke to a friend