After the inauguration America is going to need the church more than ever! The election is long past, but the divisions remain—and some of these divisions exist within our churches. Which leads us to a pressing question: How can we as evangelicals be unified and have a credible witness to the Gospel before the watching world? I would like to share three key steps that I think will start us in the right direction.
1. Listen Without Judging
“… be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger…” – James 1:19
Have a conversation with someone who voted differently …
As we enter 2017, millions of us will be making New Year’s resolutions that we will probably break before the end of January. Some promise themselves to lose weight, to exercise more, or to break a stubborn habit. Others, weary of broken promises, won’t make any resolutions at all.
But there is one resolution we all should make: that we will not begin a single day in the New Year without giving ourselves to God, meditating on one chapter of God’s Word, and praying “Father, glorify yourself in my life today at my expense.” For years I’ve been praying that …
This fall, Rebecca and I visited Salt Lake City to help promote KUTR, a Christian radio station that is broadcasting the gospel in Utah. We were gratified to learn that among their lineup of programs was Running to Win. We were told that many Mormons listen to the station in privacy, afraid of being accused of apostasy.
While there, we met several men and women who had been converted to Christ out of the Mormon faith, and who shared with us their experience of being a part of this cultic religion. We discovered that polygamy is still practiced more …
I considered the well-known atheist Rob Sherman a friend. We had lunch together several times, and I invited him to a debate here at The Moody Church in April of 2011, which can be viewed here and here. Regardless of who “won” the debate, I am more concerned about the eternal destiny of my friend.
On Saturday December 10, I was saddened to learn that Rob had been killed in a single-engine plane accident in Marengo, a distant Chicago suburb. Rob, a passionate pilot, was flying the plane when it crashed.
Growing up on a farm in Canada, my boyhood hero was Billy Graham, and along with him his beloved song leader Cliff Barrows. I admired Cliff from afar, but in recent years I got to know him personally and we developed a warm friendship. He and his wife Ann listened to Running to Win faithfully every morning. I found him to be humble, approachable and an encouragement to everyone he met. A few years ago he invited me to speak at his seniors retreat at the Billy Graham Cove in Asheville, North Carolina. With his eyesight now dim, the songs …
Everyone stop for a moment and take a deep breath.
On the evening of Tuesday November 8, I settled down in my easy chair expecting a relatively short evening which would end with Hillary Clinton winning the White House, but as the hours went by, the world watched Donald Trump emerge as the winner. The pundits who had often ridiculed Trump and his chances for being elected were at a loss for words. “America was in labor last night,” said one, “and it’s a boy!”
As an evangelical community, we have a message for our deeply divided nation. We …
In the midst of this contentious and frustrating political season, we need to be reminded of where our true allegiance lies. Charles Butler, our Pastor for Shepherding and Men’s Ministry, has written a post that deserves a wide reading. I personally benefited from its clarion call to civility and respect, and I know you will too. Read it, and if you agree, pass it along to your friends. ~ Pastor Lutzer
Many years ago I was visited by a rather prominent evangelical who urged me to endorse a certain political candidate. I gave him two reasons why I would not do so, and those reasons have stood me in good stead to this very day.
First, I did not want anyone to think that the Gospel was tied to a political party. If I were to endorse a candidate, people would identify Christianity with that political label, and this would be a stumbling block to those of the opposing political party. Instead of endorsements, over the years I have preached on …
My wife and I were just finishing our Reformation tour by spending a few days in Prague when media reports circled the globe about the massacre in Orlando. We were here, in part, to honor the memory of John Hus, a preacher who was burned at the stake for preaching the gospel. I shall say more about him in a moment.
Most importantly, our thoughts and prayers are for the families of the victims. Long after the news reports are over, they will be left with their loss, their grief, their sorrow and unanswered questions.
Someone has said that for many Christians, church history began with the first Billy Graham crusade. They think that as long as we derive our beliefs from the Bible, we can ignore the two-thousand year history of God’s people. Church history, they reason, really only benefits scholars and historians. What possible relevance could the past have for the present?
How easy it is to forget that we are heirs of a rich history that began in the New Testament and continues on to this present day. To study church history is to study the ways of God; it is to …
Growing up on a farm in Canada, my boyhood hero was Billy Graham, and along with him his beloved song leader Cliff Barrows. I admired Cliff from afar, but in recent years I got to know him personally and we developed a warm friendship. He and his wife Ann listened to Running to Win faithfully every morning. I found him to be humble, approachable and an encouragement to everyone he met. A few years ago he invited me to speak at his seniors retreat at the Billy Graham Cove in Asheville, North Carolina. With his eyesight now dim, the songs …
