The Bible Story Family

  “God bless all the missionaries. Amen.” Prayer time was over and all of the missionaries, all over the world, in all their work, had been blessed. There is a better way. Purchase a photo album designed to hold 4x6 pictures. Collect prayer cards for all the missionaries your church supports, plus any others who visit your church. Place all of them inside the photo album so they are readily accessible. NOW – use your collection as a reminder to pray specifically for those missionaries, their fields of service, their families, and their work. Do it daily. There was a man in a church I pastored in Pennsylvania who had done this for so many years that it took him well over an hour to pray through his cards, and he did it every day. Even if you don’t match his dedication, your prayer will be more effective than “God bless all the missionaries. Amen.”

  The role of the archivist is to discover history. But sometimes an archivist makes history. An article in the Greensboro News and Record by Nancy McLaughlin on February 10, 2025, has this title: THE JIMMY CARTER WE NEVER KNEW? She reports that archivist Jim Lutzweiler has initiated a bidding war for his correspondence with former President Jimmy Carter who died December 29, 2024. “Bidding starts at $100.00,” writes McLaughlin, “although Lutzweiler says he has a minimum selling point, which he won’t say because the bidding isn’t over.” Since that article appeared, the auction has been completed. The seventy letters and memos from former President Carter sold for $21,000.00. “I have written a book about this correspondence between Carter and myself,” Jim wrote when he sent me the article. Jim’s first correspondence with President Carter dates to October 31, 2000. From there, a friendship developed through letters which included both serious and humorous conversations. Many of the i...

  I am thankful for publishers like Regular Baptist Press and Union Gospel Press who provide teaching materials for churches. It has been my privilege to write for both of those as well as other denominational presses. But today I would like to celebrate those faithful individuals in every church who supplement published materials with creative work of their own. Every church I have ever known has teachers who tell impromptu Bible stories, make up craft activities for their students, write skits for their children to perform, and stimulate learning through personal creative materials. Last week long-time friend Larry Smetak went to be with the Lord. In his obituary were these words. “He always enjoyed children’s ministries, often writing skits, plays, and tracts, including VBS with fun themes, camps, Bible clubs, and puppet skits with Vera (his wife).” May the Lord bless our churches with many more like Larry, people who use their own creative talents to minister to childre...

  I was happy to be able to work with my friend Jim Hazewinkel and his wife, Judy, with the co-writing and editing of Legacy of the Mat , the fascinating story of twin Christian brothers Jim and Dave Hazewinkel who became Olympic wrestlers and then coaches for decades. The book about their years of wrestling and coaching, featuring their eagerness to share their love of Jesus to everyone they met, was published by Westbow Press, is also available on Amazon. The eBook also became available on Amazon, which made it possible to have Legacy of the Mat audiobook permissible to offer on Amazon’s Audible.   After the book was largely finished and close to being published, Judy wrote and told me about the prohibitive cost of recording the audiobook.   One of my side interests is voice acting; I have recorded more than 1000 audio products over the years, including a few audiobooks. I have a short children's book, Why the Platypus Doesn’t Sing , also available on Audib...