"Heresy is not so much rejecting as selecting. The heretic simply selects the parts of the Scripture he wants to emphasize and lets the rest go. This is shown by the etymology of the word heresy and by the practice of the heretic. "Beware," an editorial scribe of the fourteenth century warned his readers…

Speaking to a group of students at Liberty University recently, Pastor and author Francis Chan challenged the group to live biblically and to stay culturally relevant. Reflecting on his college years, Chan said that time of his life was full of hypocrisy and was some of the worst of his life. He admitted…

When Mary Jane Ponten, who has cerebral palsy, first searched for Bible study resources for people with intellectual disabilities, she was surprised to learn that there was nothing specifically for her. Rather than be upset, she decided to write the kind of material they need to understand the Bible.…

In his book, Church is a Team Sport: A Championship Strategy for Doing Ministry Together, Jim Putman writes, “the church is supposed to be a collection of transformed individuals molded by God into a team.” --Church is a Team Sport, 66. Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Wilson Tsoi The biblical imagery…

Our teacher asked us what our favorite animal was, and I said, "Friedchicken." She said I wasn't funny, but she couldn't have been right, everyone else in the class laughed. My parents told me to always be truthful and honest, and I am. Fried chicken is my favorite animal. I told my dad what happened,…

When a young man comes to college he usually has much to unlearn. If his education has been neglected, a sort of instinctive ignorance covers his mind with briars and brambles. If he has gone to some faulty school where the teaching is flimsy, his tutor has first of all to fetch out of him what he has…

There is a new Guinness world record for the longest speech and not surprisingly, it is a sermon. Pastor Zach Zehnder of Mount Dora, Florida preached for two days five hours and eighteen minutes. Taking only rare bathroom breaks and with at least 10 people present at all times, the pastor preached from…

I have heard of a naturalist who thought himself exceedingly wise with regard to the natural history of birds. Yet he had learned all he knew in his study, and had never so much as seen a bird either flying through the air or sitting upon its perch. He was a fool, although he thought himself exceedingly…

INFORMATION AGE Stephen Covey, author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, which has sold more than 15 million copies just released another book entitled "The Eighth Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness." The reason for the sequel to the original book is the onset of the information age."We…

I was at home with Ryan one morning when I suddenly realized that it had been approximately two minutes since my little explorer had mande any noise. (When one baby-sits with Ryan, silence is definitely not golden.) I immediately began look for him, searching each room in the house, but he was not to…

\\ A man sobering up from the night before is sitting through the Sunday sermon, finding it long and boring. Still feeling hung over and tired, he finally nods off. The preacher has been watching him all along, noticing his apparent hangover and is disgusted. At the end of the sermon, the preacher decides…

The Cure In 1879, Louis Pasteur ceased his investigation of an outbreak of chicken cholera to go on vacation. When he returned, he injected some chickens with germs that were left in some flasks while he was on vacation. The chickens didn't get sick. Thinking the germs in the flasks had "spoiled," he…

Cathy Sadler received a surprise parcel from Miss Twyford, her former teacher—a photocopy of a Mother’s Day card that Sadler’s entire class had signed and given to her on Mother’s Day in 1958. After seeing the card, Sadler said she never realized how much she and her classmates had encouraged their teacher.…

In his book Teaching the Elephant to Dance, James Belasco describes how trainers shackle young elephants with heavy chains to deeply embedded stakes. In that way the elephant learns to stay in its place. Older, powerful elephants never try to leave—even though they have the strength to pull the stake…

SPIRITUAL GROWTH Vince Lombardi, the legendary coach of the Green Bay Packers used to begin his training camps each year by holding up a football and saying, "This is a football." Of course, everyone in the room knew what he was holding, they were professional football players after all, but I'm sure…

Mike Vegas ordered pizza and wings from a pizza company. He only had time to eat one slice of pizza before he left for work, so he put the rest of the order in the refrigerator to eat later. While he was at work that night, he kept getting message on his cell phone, but he didn’t pay any attention to…

I was noticing, in the life of that man of God the Earl of Shaftesbury, that his first religious impressions were produced by a humble woman. The impressions that made him Shaftesbury—the man of God and the friend of man—were received in the nursery. Little Lord Ashley had a godly nurse who spoke to…

In his book, The Present Future: Six Tough Questions for the Church, Reggie McNeal writes, “A growing number of people are leaving the institutional church for a new reason. They are not leaving because they have lost faith. They are leaving the church to preserve their faith. They contend that the church…