These are my notes from Jerry's keynote message. I'm posting them mostly for my own use, but if you benefit from them, praise God! Keynote message from the 149th Annual Meeting of the Midwest Baptist Conference by Jerry Sheveland The first seven chapters of the book of Acts tell the story of …
Preaching to Be Heard
At the Midwest Baptist Conference Annual Meetings a couple weeks ago, Jerry Sheveland, the president of the Baptist General Conference gave a seminar on preaching. In it, he shared his personal 10 Commandments of Preaching. Preaching to be Heard Jerry Sheveland Only two things are eternal …
So Dark is Europe
Phil Gottschalk has been a missionary in Europe for a number of years, and he just sent me this unbelievable email. I'm quoting it here: Here's an e-mail I just received. It is typical of what we have experienced for the past nearly 20 years in Europe. This friend is studying Dutch in Leuven, …
Make the Right Things Easy
I read this article recently where the author is talking about how to make users of your product or service happy. The basic premise of the article is that you should make the right things easy and the wrong things hard. A great illustration of this is a three pronged electrical plug. There is only …
Web Empowered Church: Update
UPDATE: Well, it appears I made a small stir by blogging my criticisms on this. In my original post from October 11 (no longer available), I think I may have made some people mad at me. In the past week or so, I've been in conversation with some people over at the Web Empowered Church forums and …
Sorry, Gotta Go!
I think this is hilarious! I just found this website called "Sorry, I Gotta Go" at sorrygottago.com and it is incredible. The whole site is just a bunch of sound effects to use when you want to get out of a phone conversation. For example, if you are talking to someone, you can pull up this website, …
Creating and Sustaining Momentum
Tony Morgan on his blog shares from his experience at the recent "Catalyst" conference, and records some comments made by Andy Stanley on how to create and sustain momentum in any endeavor. It's probably not right to quote his entire blog post, so I'll just copy the core few key points. Stanley …
Church Spam
Now, I hate spam because I hate scams of all kinds, but this actually takes the cake! A friend of mine sent me a copy of an email he received from a church he's never heard of telling him about a new sermon series. For some reason, I'm ok with direct mail (because the advertiser is paying to have …
Greg’s Story
While Jen and I were looking for a home in Lafayette, God led us to meet a man who not only would sell us a great home, but who also was to join us as one of our first ministry partners. We still can't believe the amazing ways God is working to bring us together with people who love him and are …
Busy Day
Well, I just finished one of my busiest Sundays in a long time. That's not to say it wasn't a good one. It was just busy. Presentation at Bethany This morning, I had the priviledge of both preaching and giving my church plant presentation at Bethany Baptist Church in Harwood Heights, Illinois. …
How to find a human
If this isn't just about the best resource ever. This website gives instructions for how to quickly bypass those automatic phone menu systems and get to a real human being. https://www.quickbase.com/db/bam6rdiey?a=q&qid=5 …
Encouragement from Psalm 34
Dan Martin and his wife Mary, friends of mine, have been going through some rough times recently. If you think of it, please pray for them that they know God's comfort. Today, as I was reading Psalm 34, I thought it has some incredible statements of encouragement for them and for anyone else who is …
I’m a bachelor again
Jen is gone this week because she is serving once again as an assessor at the TeAmerica Church Planter's Assessment Center in Green Lake, Wisconsin. The end result of it all is that I'm at home by myself, I'm working from home, and I'm managing the kids. So far, things are going really well. The …
Priest Hurts Children During Mass
This comes from This is True CHARISMATIC, STIGMATIC - WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE? Parents are upset with a priest at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Corn Hill, Texas, after he called about 15 children up to the altar during mass. The lesson: how Jesus suffered during crucifixion. His method: pricking the …
God’s Promises
I'd like to make this an ongoing post that I add to regularly. If you want to add a verse of promise, post it as a comment, and I'll add it to the main entry. God promises blessings to those who fear him. How great is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you, which you …
Wisdom for selecting a home
It turns out that one of the men from the Pondside group is actually the President / CEO of Lafayette Savings Bank! It's amazing how God works things out. I gave him a call, he had someone call me and in about 30 minutes this morning, Jen and I were "easily" approved for at least a $180,000 …