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Showing posts from May, 2022

CREATIVE COLLABORATION

  Two of my great loves are American history and Biblical history. The book God’s Reflections meets both of those in a timely and fascinating manner. Ronald Phillips has been teaching history and humanities for over forty years. He has provided fifty-two vignettes from American history which remind us of the heritage and exceptionalism of the country where we live. Biblical insights prompted by those brief historical accounts have been written by Ernest Schmidt, David Grotzke and Seth Grotzke, as well as Ron. Schmidt pastored for many years and also taught college, serving as past president of Faith Baptist Bible College and Seminary. David Grotzke has been a pastor for forty-five years. Seth Grotzke serves on the mission field in Spain. The book does not try to suggest that America is somehow fulfilling Scripture. I appreciate that. Instead, the themes identified in the historical accounts suggest topics which call for Biblical insight. For example, the flaws of founding fath

CREATIVE GIVING

  A friend in Wyoming wrote recently to tell me that her grandchildren will be receiving “Dare to Walk On Water” as they complete high school this month. What really excited me was her comment that she planned to work through the book with them in order to stay connected as they head off to college. What a great idea! “Dare To Walk On Water: Transformed By God” will challenge graduates to allow God to change them to be more like Jesus. “Dare To Walk On Water: Treasuring God” will challenge graduates to know and worship God to a greater degree. “Dare To Walk On Water: Serving God” will challenge graduates to engage with the church and the world in active service for God. “Dare To Walk On Water: Creative Like God” will challenge graduates to expand their interests and goals in areas of creativity. “Dare To Walk On Water: The Workbook” will challenge graduates to engage in an in-depth study of a particular book of the Bible which they choose. The entire “Dare” series can be

CREATIVE ADVERTISING

  While teaching speech and drama in Bible college I had the privilege of working with one of the funniest people I have ever met (funny in a good way.) His name was John Katsion, and he is now the producer of a weekly podcast called “The Baldhead Bible.” In order to advertise his podcast, John prepares ads for Facebook and Instagram which I always find amusing. You can see one of those with the article. When preparing his ads, John googles the Bible character in his story for that week to see what pictures might be available. When he finds one which looks like it has potential to be humorous, he says he “stares at it until something funny hits me.” When inspiration hits he adds text to the picture. John speaks often at summer Bible camps. This summer he will be at three different camps speaking for six weeks. The Baldhead Bible Podcast began with those summer sermons, but almost two hundreds episodes later he has moved beyond those initial sermons. His most recent preparation in

CREATIVE MINISTRY TO MISSIONARIES

Every once in a while you hear of an idea which causes you to hit your forehead and say, “why wasn’t this done years ago?” I experienced that reaction when hearing a presentation from Jeff and Sherry Newman. In cooperation with Baptist Mid-Missions, the Newmans are launching a ministry called “Safe Haven.” Their purpose statement includes “caring deeply for the souls of Baptist Mid-Missions missionaries, promoting spiritual strength and fruitfulness and enabling them to achieve optimal longevity and effectiveness over a lifetime of ministry.” After many years of teaching at Faith Baptist Bible College and Theological Seminary, Jeff and Sherry are uniquely qualified for this endeavor. They will coach missionary appointees, assist missionaries during their first term of service, care for career missionaries on the field and on furlough, provide advice with the spiritual challenges of transition to retirement and help churches develop a care plan for their missionaries. Seminars a