Church

Charles Haddon Spurgeon was called the “Prince of Preachers” for many reasons. His ministry not only shaped the city of London where he spent most of his life, he also…

In the Civil War, canons played a huge role in deciding the outcome of battles, and thus, the war itself. Each canon required up to eight men to operate and six…

Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan was founded by nationally acclaimed pastor and author, Tim Keller. Since the church’s birth in 1989, it has offered life-giving ministries in the Name of Jesus, and each weekend, thousands of people gather at the church (which meets at multiple sites across the city) to hear the Gospel.

A preacher from Eastern Kentucky was wrapping up a long sermon on temperance when he shouted, “If I had all the beer in the world, I’d pour it in the river!”

The congregation, wanting to seem spiritual, responded with a rousing, “Amen!”

“Hurt. Devastated. Crushed.” Those aren’t the typical emotions most newlyweds would use to describe their wedding day. But that’s exactly how Charles and Te’Andrea Wilson feel when they look back on their big day.

Sadly, it was a group of “Christians” who were responsible for their pain.

The Church and the military have a lot in common. Both involve large groups of people. Both have missions. Both exist for the benefit of others. Both require personal sacrifice.

But they also have one very remarkable difference.

“Begin the music, strike the tambourine, play the melodious harp and lyre.” That’s how Asaph starts the 81st Psalm in the Old Testament. But for one woman in Oklahoma, striking the tambourine is a good way to get herself struck!

Church can be a place that’s filled with distractions: cell phones with annoying ring tones, old people who cough loudly (and unceasingly), and of course, babies that cry. But what about a kid who’s smiling? Is that a disruption to worship?

In one church, evidently so.

Theodosius had a plan. He wanted all the people of his empire to worship the one true God revealed in the Bible. A noble endeavor, for sure. But there was one fatal flaw in the emperor’s strategy:

Those he couldn’t lead to Jesus…he would send to Jesus!

The first church that Fred Craddock served as pastor was a tiny, rural one near Oak Ridge, TN. During his tenure, the community exploded with laborers brought in to work at the newly developed nuclear plants. The young pastor wanted to attract the workers to his church; there was just one problem.

The church didn’t want them. At all.