TA-TA- BONE In Undaunted Courage, a recent retelling of the story of the Lewis and Clark expedition, Stephen Ambrose writes of the preparations made for the first encounter with the Shoshones. Lewis asks Sacagawea, a…
Sermon Illustrations
WAIT FOR THE WHITE MAN In the summer of 1805, a number of Indian chiefs and warriors met in council at Buffalo Creek, New York, to hear a presentation of the Christian message by a…
FROM COMPLEX TO SIMPLE We need to get beyond complexity to simplicity. -- Oliver Wendell Holmes Taken from Understanding Ministry in a Changing Culture, by George Barna, pg. 131
CLOTHED IN CHRIST Harry Ironside once stayed with a sheep rancher and noticed a small lamb with the appearance of eight feet. When he inquired as to what was wrong with the lamb, the rancher…
INVITE Church historian Martin Marty says that one word defines the difference between churches that grow and churches that don't: INVITE! From How to Build a Magnetic Church, by Herb Miller, Abingdon, Nashville, 1987, pg.…
A LAYPERSON'S INVITATION A pastor called on a young couple for six years. They were always pleasant and said they planned to attend, but they never did. In the sixth year, a layperson who know…
FORGOTTEN GOD Over half a century ago, while I was still a child, I recall hearing a number of older people offer the following explanation for the great disasters that had befallen Russia: "Men have…
VALUES ARE CONFUSED Some mischievous villains broke into a department store and changed all the price tags. The next morning customers found vacuum cleaners priced at fifty cents and candy bars prices at ten dollars;…
MEET THE MIRROR A loving person lives in a loving world. A hostile person lives in a hostile world. Everyone you meet is your mirror. By Ken Keyes, Jr.
GOSPEL COVENANT The good news of the Christian gospel is a covenant agreement, a contract which God offers to us. The gift of the Holy Spirit is the seal of his part of the contract;…
NEVER DID OR NEVER THOUGHT Failures are divided into two classes: those who thought and never did, and those who did and never thought. -- John Charles Salak
HUME & WHITFIELD George Whitfield swept the eighteenth century with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In one area he ministered every morning at six o'clock. People trudged through the snow to hear him preach. On…
ARITHMETIC OF JESUS How do we reconcile the arithmetic of Jesus? In Matthew 10:29 Jesus says that two sparrows are sold for one farthing, and Luke 12:6 he says that five sparrows are sold for…
GOD'S PLANS FOR US ...God has a distinct plan for each of us in sending us into this world. This plan embraces not only his original creation of us, but also the family and social…
KELLER ON SIGHT Helen Keller, at age fifteen, expressed her pity for those who have eyes yet are unwilling to see. Her many years of physical blindness had given her a spiritual insight and vision.…
JUNK FOOD IN THE CHURCH The biggest enemy of the Church is the development and proliferation of programs to meet people's needs. Everyone has a hunger for God, but our tastes (needs) are screwed up.…
REASON FOR NO REVIVAL "I can give you one simple reason why we don't have revival in America. Because we are content to live without it." By Leonard Ravenhill
A GOOD CHAPTER OF LIFE My church has begun using the Evangelism Explosion visitation program. During one visit in which I was giving the presentation, something happened that gave new life to an illustration in…
PERSONALS PURIFIED In the May 18, 1994, Calgary Sun business personals, one small ad stood out amidst such services as Erotica Video Exchange and Live XXX Shows and videos. Its message, "Bring home flowers, not…
GOSPEL UNDERMINED We all have a little doubt in us. But there are two kinds of doubt. There's the doubt that undermines our faith and the doubt that leads to and builds up the faith.…
