Did You Know?
Interesting and unusual facts about the church's first Bible interpreters

Why the Reformers Read the Fathers

Did You Know?
The rapidity of Africa's twentieth-century baptism was stunning. There's no better place to see the future of the global church.

What Gives Preaching Its Power?
Amid so many forms of communication—multimedia, music, and more—what is it about preaching, even today, that carries life-changing power?
5 leaders respond

The Habits of Highly Effective Bible Readers
What we can learn from the church fathers that will enrich our own Bible study.
A conversation with Christopher A. Hall

Origen: Friend or Foe?
By turns bizarre and insightful, Origen's allegorical forays remain fascinating reading today.
John R. Franke

Peewee Hockey Taught Me to Preach

After the Vision Statement, What Next?

Eccentric Preaching
Off-centered preachers can still be on target.
Duane Litfin

What Gives Preaching Its Power?
Amid so many forms of communication—multimedia, music, and more—what is it about preaching, even today, that carries life-changing power?
5 leaders respond

A New Road to Biblical Literacy
Following this path, I preached through the entire Bible in one year.
by Bob Bolender

Letters

Preemptive Prophecy
In the Turkish city of Kars, schoolgirls forced to abandon their headscarves are killing themselves. A poet who is also a journalist is sent to cover the story.
by Laurance Wieder

Tolkien: Man Behind the Myth
At odds with his age, he created another.
Bradley J. Birzer

On Foot
The virtues of walking
Paul Willis

Seeing the Invisible God: Part 2: Formed by Relationships

Seeing the Invisible God
Knowing God is something like knowing other people. But it is also quite different.
Philip Yancey

In Brief

Whither Pentecostal Scholarship?
The overlap between people with the Spirit and people with Ph.D.'s.
By Arlene M. SÁnchez Walsh

Best of the Best

"Weblog: Time says T.D. Jakes Is America's Best Preacher, But Not 'America's Preacher'"
"Hundreds die in Nigerian religious riots, and the Taliban's persecution of Christians escalates."
Ted Olsen

Why Serious Preachers Use Humor
Plus: Top 25 Worship Songs

Weblog: Third of Three Federal District Courts Calls Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Unconstitutional
Plus: A pastor's plagiarism penitence, The New York Times gets Christian higher ed right twice in a week, and other stories from online sources around the world.
Compiled by Ted Olsen

Mastered by Convictions
What working with John Stott taught me about preaching.
from PreachingToday.com

Reformed Protestants No Longer See Images as Idolatrous
The visual and the word go hand in hand as some pastors see possibility in connecting pictures with worship.
By G. Jeffrey Macdonald, Religion News Service

Body Politics
Amid political tensions, when is a pastor to speak out and when to refrain?
By Gordon Macdonald

Why Serious Preachers Use Humor
Plus: Top 25 Worship Songs

Fundamentally Personal
At The Shawmut River Baptist Church, worship and preaching are saturated with the familiar, the at-home.
An excerpt from Spirit and Flesh by James M. Ault, Jr.

The Subversive Art
Drawing from the prophets, the rabbis, and Jesus to confront the culture.
Interview with Rob Bell

Soul Deep
Why do we skip across the surface when we really want to go …
By Gordon MacDonald

What Gives Preaching Its Power?
Amid so many forms of communication—multimedia, music, and more—what is it about preaching, even today, that carries life-changing power?
5 leaders respond

The Subversive Art
Drawing from the prophets, the rabbis, and Jesus to confront the culture.
Interview with Rob Bell

The Colonizers
The best preachers have challenged earth to become more like heaven.
By Philip Yancey

Baptism + Fire
Suffering may build character, but ultimately it's not about us.
By Mark Galli

Mastered by Convictions
What working with John Stott taught me about preaching.
from PreachingToday.com

Sermon Workshop: Power in the Punch Line
How distilling your messages makes them more potent.
Andy Stanley

Sunday Toolkit: To Illustrate

Sunday Toolkit: To Illustrate

Weblog: Did Alabamans Really Reject the Bible Yesterday?
"Fair trade on Palm Sunday, Bill McCartney leaves Promise Keepers, and other stories from online sources around the world"
Ted Olsen

Preaching the Christmas Gospel
More than a semi-annual crack at irregular churchgoers, the Christmas sermon has traditionally invited us to worship and wonder.
An interview with John D. Witvliet

The Nativity of Christ
A Christmas sermon preached by Jerome.
By St. Jerome

The Legend of Bono Vox
Lessons learned in the church of U2.
By Scott Calhoun

Books & Culture' s Book of the Week: Diagnosing The Doctor
"A new assessment of Martyn Lloyd-Jones, preacher"
Mark A. Noll

Site Hopes to Help Pastors in a Sunday Sermon Crunch
Desperate Preachers.com is reeling in hits from pastors who want fresh ideas and a forum to discuss sermon topics.
By Ferdy Baglo

Reflections:Classic & Contemporary Excerpts

No Free Speech in Preaching
Swedish pastor sentenced to jail for blasting homosexuality.
By Lars Grip, ENI, in Stockholm

Weblog: Britain Starts Cloning
Plus: Who's going to New York, the next big movie controversy, the fundamentalist press, and other stories from online sources around the world.
Compiled by Ted Olsen

Weblog: Gen. Boykin Broke Rules, Says Pentagon Report
Plus: Crisis editor Deal Hudson withdraws from Bush campaign as exposé approaches, and other stories from online sources around the world.
Compiled by Ted Olsen

Christian History Corner: Spurgeon on Jabez
What history's most prolific preacher said, in 1871, about the Prayer of Jabez
Chris Armstrong

Christian History Corner: Spurgeon's Epiphany
The event he recounted more than 280 times in his sermons first occurred on January 6, 1850.
Mary Ann Jeffreys

Shari'ah Law to Decide Fates in Afghanistan
Attack of the 200 Clones coming soon and Eugene Rivers's model could help Cincinnati's racial tensions
Todd Hertz

Weblog: Mike Trout Says Emotional Affair Forced His Resignation from Focus on the Family
Plus: Charles Swindoll has heart attack and other news stories from around the world.
Ted Olsen

Publishing: 'Rice With Chicken' Writers in Demand
Latin American publishers join together to promote regional writers.
By Kenneth D. MacHarg | posted 7/17/00

Briefs: North America

Unlikely Candidates
What do you do when no one seems qualified to lead?
Mark Jobe

Devoted Disciplinarian
Pastor Edwards spared neither loving care nor the rod.
Richard A. Bailey

The Gift of Rebuke

Open or Closed Case?
Controversial theologian John Sanders on way out at Huntington.
By Stan Guthrie

Security Gaffes
Evangelical schools worry over post-9/11 visa rules.
By Bob Smietana

Apocalypse Without the Beasts
A high school teacher finds the sacred in all the wrong places

Reflections: Teaching and Learning
Quotations to stir heart and mind.
Compiled by Richard Kauffman

Making Disciples by Sacred Story
Biblical storytelling conveys the realities of our faith better than almost any other form of communication.
By Walter Wangerin Jr.

The Ph.D. Octopus, 100 Years On
Wilfred M. McClay

Wooing the Faithful
President Bush needs evangelicals more than ever, but it's unclear how badly they want him for another four years.
By Tony Carnes

Vision Leaks
How do you keep the church's passion for ministry from deflating?
Andy Stanley

A Discerning Spirit
Making good choices in an era of liturgical change
John D. Witvliet

Word Become Flesh
Quotations to Stir Heart and Mind
Compiled by Richard A. Kauffman

Salt-and-Pepper Politics
Choosing between candidates whose consciences are too clean.
By Andy Crouch

The Lonely Emancipator
Lincoln's legal prudence in ending the peculiar institution.
by Lucas E. Morel