FIRST-PERSON: Election day & America’s future
LAKE FOREST, Calif. (BP)--Tuesday, Nov. 2, will be the most important election day U.S. citizens have faced in 50 years. How can that be?
FIRST-PERSON: Make at least one mistake a week
LAKE FOREST, Calif. (BP)--It's not uncommon for me to remind the leaders at Saddleback Church that they have my permission to make at least one mistake a week. I tell this to staff members and to lay leaders, explaining periodically that it's OK to make mistakes -- provided they're not making the same mistakes over and over again each week.
FIRST-PERSON: Wait expectantly for God’s harvest
LAKE FOREST, Calif. (BP)--If I want my life and ministry to be fruitful, I must cultivate good roots, eliminate the weeds and cooperate with God's pruning by thanking and praising Him.
FIRST-PERSON: How small groups can impact others for Christ
LAKE FOREST, Calif. (BP)--Do you remember the story of the paralytic in Luke 5 when four men broke through the roof of a synagogue to lower their friend to Jesus? Sometimes it takes something that radical to lead someone to Jesus!
FIRST-PERSON: 4 biblical principles for spiritual warfare
LAKE FOREST, Calif. (BP)--Every Sunday when I get in my car and drive the 20 minutes it takes me to get to the church, I put on the whole armor of God, and then I do it again before every worship service.
FIRST-PERSON: Running the race
LAKE FOREST, Calif. (BP)--During the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, the last runner to finish in the marathon was an athlete from Tanzania. He’d had a difficult race, to say the least. He’d stumbled at one point and ended up bruised, bloodied -– and with a broken leg!
FIRST-PERSON: You cannot out-give God
LAKE FOREST, Calif. (BP)--God came up with the idea of multiplication.
FIRST-PERSON: Structuring to grow, not plateau
LAKE FOREST, Calif. (BP)--How do you structure a church so it just keeps on growing and doesn’t plateau? I believe there are 10 essentials you must focus on as you structure your church.
FIRST-PERSON: God’s purpose in suffering
LAKE FOREST, Calif. (BP)--"For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son. ..." (Romans 8:29, NIV).
When You Open Your Bible …
Biblical application answers two questions: So what? What now? If your Bible teaching doesn't ever answer these two questions, you haven't applied the Bible to the lives of your listeners. Many of us struggle in this area. We're taught to find the central idea of a passage, but we aren't shown how to apply this truth to the lives of our students. I've found the following three ways of applying Scripture to be very helpful.
