By Rebecca Holloway Our church is reading through the Bible this year using Foundations, a study by Robby and Kandi Gallaty. (The subtitle is "A 260-Day Bible Reading Plan for Busy Believers." I think that's all of us.) As I was journeying back through the story of Joseph, which begins in Genesis 37, I was struck how much his story is like a sweeping Hollywood narrative. He’s the favorite son of his father, Israel. But his brothers hated him, so they threw him in a well, sold him to gypsies, and told their father he has died. Then Joseph is taken all the way to Egypt, and where by the providence of God, he is sold to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh's officials. The Bible tells us in the early verses of Genesis 39 that the Lord was with Joseph, and he prospered in the house of Potiphar. They soon saw how valuable Joseph was, and Potiphar put Joseph in charge of his entire household. Now apparently, Joseph was handsome, and Potiphar’s wife took notice. After Potiphar’s wife falsely accused Joseph of sexual misconduct, he was thrown into prison. Things weren’t looking so great. But as before, the Lord was with Joseph and made him successful – even in prison. The warden took notice of him and made him responsible for all of … [Read more...]

By Joe McKeever I was in a congregation of ministers in Birmingham once in the early 70s when Billy Graham entered. A shock wave moved across the auditorium. It was amazing, and I had no explanation for it. He was God’s man. No question about it. During the last years of the 1980s, I pastored Charlotte’s First Baptist Church and visited with Billy and Ruth Graham on several occasions. His sister Catherine was in my church, along with her family. Mostly, we shared a hospital waiting room while their friend and my congregant Grady Wilson was in surgery. Once I handed them a notepad and asked them to write their favorite scripture verse and sign it. That this was a presumptuous thing to do never entered my mind. Billy jotted down “Psalm 16:11” and signed that familiar name. I said, “I’m glad you wrote that because I’ve quoted that verse for years as Billy Graham’s favorite.” Ruth Bell Graham laughed and said, “My favorite keeps changing!” As I recall, she wrote Proverbs 3:8-13 and signed it. My secretary had those two notes framed and they hung in my office for years, until I donated them to a fundraiser for a New Orleans ministry. In November of 1987, the entire Graham team came to our church for the celebration of … [Read more...]

By Steve Horn Feb. 21 we learned of the passing of Billy Graham. He was a great evangelist in the sense of what might be called mass evangelism—preaching to mass crowds. I woke this morning thinking of Perry Sanders, the greatest personal evangelist I have ever known. Sharing the gospel one on one was as natural for him as talking about the weather. Feb. 22 would have been my predecessor Perry Sanders’ 90th birthday. Since this day would have been his birthday, I dug out my notes from the sermon I shared at his funeral. I hope those of you who knew him and those who have never heard his name will be encouraged today about personal soul-winning (as Bro. Perry would have called it). Here is the excerpt from the funeral message. One of Bro. Perry’s life verses has been Romans 1:16. Paul wrote: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.” I would dare say that if we gave everyone the opportunity to give one word that describes Bro. Perry, a good number of us would use the word “boldness.” Boldness is described in this life verse by the phrase, “I am not ashamed.” I think even Bro. Perry’s harshest critic … [Read more...]

By Franklin Graham My father Billy Graham was once asked, “Where is Heaven?” He replied, “Heaven is where Jesus is and I am going to Him soon!” This morning, at the age of 99, he departed this world into eternal life in Heaven, prepared by the Lord Jesus Christ—the Savior of the world—whom he proclaimed for nearly 80 years. He will be missed by our family, his colleagues, faithful ministry partners, and, yes, many around the world. But what joy he has to be welcomed by God the Father, and be reunited with my mother in the presence of Jesus who speaks peace to eternal souls. What about you? When you depart this world do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity? You can know this today. Jesus said, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). The One who comforts weary souls has given us this promise, “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me … I go to prepare a place for you … I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:1-3). Franklin Graham is president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and the son of … [Read more...]

By Greg Laurie I read the other day that $5.8 billion in gift cards go unclaimed every year. Think of all that money not utilized. Those gift cards are already paid for. They just need to be cashed in. The Bible is filled with promises from God that we all too often disregard like unused gift cards. Someone has estimated there are 3,000 promises to believers found in the pages of Scripture. I don’t know if that figure is accurate, but I do know there are numerous promises that God has given us in the Bible. For example, God says we will never be alone in life. In Isaiah 41, the Lord says: “Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand” (verse 10, NLT). And Jesus said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5, NKJV). God also promises to get us through whatever we’re facing. A while back, a young friend of mine had just received a round of chemo treatments and sent me a text asking me to pray that he could keep food down. I texted him my prayer for him. I happened to be writing down this promise from Isaiah at the time, so I included it in my text: “When you go through deep waters, I will be … [Read more...]

By Jerry Pipes Just Imagine a church or business where there is: A culture of encouragement True communication — focused on adding value to others A positive atmosphere and a spirit of adventure Members or workers who are committed to understanding first, speaking second Healthy conflict resolution And more… This new volume is born out of the book of Proverbs. It is communication according to the wisdom of Solomon. Whether Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, atheist, etc., virtually everyone recognizes the wisdom of Solomon. He is widely known as the wisest man that ever lived. So, what does Solomon have to say about communication? Below is the basic outline of the book along with key references. In future blogs we will be exploring these key points. Communication Is: Taking responsibility … being a responder not a reactor (Proverbs 15:28, Proverbs 15:1) Choosing a winning attitude (Proverbs 17:22) Understanding first, speaking second (Proverbs 18:13) Adding value to others (Proverbs 18:24, 27:17) Creating a culture of encouragement (Proverbs 15:23) All about integrity (Proverbs 19:1, 11:13) Saying only what you mean (Proverbs 12:18) Learning to duck (Proverbs 19:11) … [Read more...]

By Steve Horn I had the opportunity to address a group of pastors recently. I was asked to speak to them on the general subject of leadership. My message was simple. “Don’t Get Discouraged.” I think this is a lesson for anyone. I shared from my experiences briefly, but mostly I shared from the Bible story of Nehemiah. Nehemiah was as a great a leader as I have ever studied. Nehemiah got people who had a decades old history of inactivity to build a protective wall around Jerusalem in 52 days. How did he do that? Nehemiah was able to get them to dwell on what God had said, rather than on what others were saying. Compare Nehemiah 2:8, 2:12, 2:20 with Nehemiah 4:2-3. Nehemiah was able to direct attention to the half built wall instead of the rubble. Rubble paralyzes us, but half built walls energize us. Nehemiah discovered friends who encouraged him. I have decided not to waste my time on the people who are critical all of the time. They zap the life out of me. I call them “drainers.” I look for the “refreshers.” We have to listen to critics, but we cannot hang out with critics. We become like them. Finally, Nehemiah decided that his God was bigger than all other struggles. Here is Nehemiah’s motto: “Remember the … [Read more...]

By Gary D. Myers NEW ORLEANS (BP) – A massive pile of rocks and rubble greets the visitor to the ruins of Lachish, 60 kilometers southwest of Jerusalem. The remains of a 2,700-year-old Assyrian siege ramp, this pile of rubble and the other archaeological finds at Lachish bear witness to the trustworthy nature of Scripture. More often than not, archaeology serves as a subtle, helpful tool for the church. Archaeology provides cultural and contextual clues to help us better understand the people and places of the Bible. The finds help close the culture gap created by time, place and worldview. Certain sites and finds offer more than mere context, and that is why I love Lachish. While the archaeology of Lachish cannot prove the amazing works of God, it does offer confirmation of an important biblical account. It was during the reign of Hezekiah that Sennacherib, the Assyrian king, attacked Judah and built the siege ramp at Lachish. You can read about the events in 2 Kings 18 and 19, 2 Chronicles 32, and Isaiah 36 and 37. Tired of paying tribute to Assyria, Hezekiah rebelled and began preparing Judah for war. Twenty years earlier the Assyrians had destroyed Israel, and Sennacherib now had his sights on Judah. In 701 … [Read more...]