11/22/2013 — I’ve learned many patterns for prayer over the years – though nothing is better than the one Jesus gave the disciples in what we call the Lord ’s Prayer. But that’s another post for another day. One of those is the acronym ACTS, standing for Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving and Supplication.

It seems to me that we in the Church too often shorten ACTS to AS. We’re good at telling God He’s great and at asking Him for things. Less so at confessing our sins and thanking Him.

Shortly after Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, and days before entering Jerusalem on the first Palm Sunday, Jesus taught His disciples, and us, a lesson in thanksgiving we still need to heed.Read More

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11/18/2013 — Sometimes, I think Peter gets a bad rap.
Sure, Jesus must have gotten more frustrated with him than the other disciples. So impulsive, and not the most people-oriented person. But he remains a model for how to be sold out for Jesus. And if you’ve got that, we can work on the rest as far as I’m concerned.

I’ve been thinking about Peter this past week, as I reflect on the Worldwide Miracle, Healing and Victory Prayer Cloth service I hosted recently at World Harvest Church. It was a true mountaintop experience for myself and many others associated with this ministry. But just like Peter needed to come down from Mount Hermon after the Transfiguration, we need to move on to what’s next for us.Read More

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11/08/2013 — More than a decade ago, in 2002, the ecumenical men’s ministry Promise Keepers coined a rallying cry that inspired believers across a broad cross-section of faith expressions to one-on-one evangelism: bringing 1 million men to the cross.

It was brilliant, because it accurately quantified the evangelist’s charge: to bring people face to face with the atoning work of Jesus Christ, at which point the work of conversion and discipleship – His work – could begin. It’s important to remember that we can’t save anyone. But we can introduce our friends, neighbors, co-workers and family members to the One who can. When a broken life becomes whole again at the foot of the cross, we rightly call it a miracle. And I’ve been fortunate enough to see many such miracles over more than 30 years of public ministry.

I am looking forward to being a small part of hundreds of thousands of miracles this coming weekend, when our Worldwide Miracle, Healing and Victory Prayer Cloth service is held in Columbus, Ohio. Like the Promise Keepers of the turn of the century, we will be bringing people to the cross, and letting God do in their lives what only He can. Read More

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11/04/2013 — It’s been almost 10 years since Mel Gibson’s brilliant film “The Passion of the Christ” was released in theaters.

The movie was notable for many reasons. It showed Hollywood that films with faith-based themes could be moneymakers. “The Passion of the Christ” cost just $30 million to make but took in almost $84 million at the U.S. box office alone on its first weekend. No faith-based movie has been quite as successful since, but the quality of those films has improved greatly as producers realize a well-made film will attract men and women of faith.

“The Passion of the Christ” was important for another reason, as well: it was unflinching in the violence portrayed as Jesus was crucified. You may remember how difficult it was to watch a bloody Jesus hanging on the cross at Golgotha.

Critics recoiled at the realistic depiction of crucifixion. They said it was gratuitous. They said it was inflammatory. They even said it was anti-Semitic. What they could not say was that it was historically inaccurate, because it was not.Read More

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10/28/2013 — In doing media interviews for my new book, "The Cross: One Man…One Tree…One Friday," many Christian journalists have pointed out to me that the subject matter is something of a departure for me.

My first thought in response is that anyone who makes that statement hasn't heard me preach very much. But on the surface, I suppose it's true that my trilogy on moral issues – "Silent No More," "Culturally Incorrect" and "Living On Our Heads" – seem to come from a different place than "The Cross."

There's one important connection shared by all four books, though, and it has to do with the aberrant worldview called postmodernism.Read More

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