Dan Chambers says that we live in a “three dimensional Christian world” – Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox.[i] He says, “For those who profess to be Christians, the world asks, ‘Catholic, Protestant, or Orthodox?’ And if the answer is ‘Protestant,’ the next question is ‘Which denomination?’” The church of Jesus Christ in the New Testament was […]

(A Ministry of the Mabelvale Church) On March 11, 2013, seventeen ladies from the Mabelvale congregation met at a local Applebee’s to discuss ways to enhance the benevolent program at Mabelvale, and to utilize their skills to become more involved in the work of the church. After three hours of dinner and discussion, several ideas […]

“If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death. There is sin leading to death. I do not say that he should pray about that” (1 Jn. 5:16). This verse has always […]

A few weeks ago I ran part one of this article designed to explore ways in which evangelists and elders, pastors and preachers might work more harmoniously together in God’s kingdom and in the local church. I continue that theme with this article in the second part. A better relationship is well within the reach […]

In Bible study and sermon preparation I sometimes encounter topics scarcely addressed by writers both in and out of the Lord’s church. This conclusion is based upon the sources for study that I have at my disposal, and in thirty-five years of preaching I’d like to think those sources fairly adequate. For example, in trying […]

I guess I am in the situation which my friend Jim Faughn described, when he said, “As a preacher, I had been as close to being an elder as one could possibly be for all those years without actually being one” (Gospel Advocate, August 2008, p. 21). A preacher assumes a leadership role, but elders […]

with Phil Sanders (June 3-6) Seven years ago we hosted Phil Sanders for a gospel meeting, and now the time has come to welcome him back to the Mabelvale congregation for another such effort. The theme this year is “Preaching Jesus.” I appreciate Phil for choosing this theme, since this is what gospel preaching is […]

Orthodoxy? The word orthodox means, “correct teaching.” Orthodox religion (i.e., Greek) originated centuries this side of the Lord’s church (Acts 2). Orthodoxy in the New Testament would be “sound doctrine” (1 Tim. 1:10; 2 Tim. 4:3; Tit. 1:9, 13; 2:1); “The form of sound words” (2 Tim. 1:13), or, “sound speech” (Tit. 2:8). Conservatism? This […]

In Profiles of Faith & Courage, I asked the twenty-four gospel preachers who make up the subject matter of this book, about their debating experience, and thoughts as to why debating is so rare these days. It is interesting that many of them admitted to never having conducted a debate, and were not of the […]

Presently I have a book being published by Jeff and Dale Jenkins of the Jenkins Institute. The book is called, Profiles of Faith & Courage: Interviews with Gospel Preachers. The idea for this work was actually begun twenty-five years ago, and is just now coming to fruition. What had begun with two gospel preachers (Granville […]