Clayton Perry's review of A.R. Bernard 's new book

Clayton Perry, founder of The Nubiano Project, an online forum which covers politics, entertainment, and cultural issues, recently reviewed preacher A.R. Bernard's new book, Happiness Is... Simple Steps to a Life of Joy for BlogCritics.org.

I'm glad Clayton brought his review to my attention as it is well written and rich with detail. I rely on reviews before making a decision about what to read or watch as my time is limited. What I like most about Clayton Perry's review is that he provides ample quotes from the book.

I've had an opportunity to listen to A.R. Bernard a few times and like what I hear, yet I'm a bit reluctant to fully embrace his sermons until I've read his book and done more research about him.

Some of the criticisms I've read online suggest he's devoted to the idea of Prosperity Gospel, but I'm going to judge his preaching for myself to see if it's Biblical sound and if the Kerygma, (the birth, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ), is the overall foundation of his teaching.

I must admit that I learned a great deal about the whole notion of General Revelation from A.R. Bernard's teaching series entitled, "Maximizing Your Value." You can read a detailed article about General Revelation at Equip.org.

General Revelation is the concept that God discloses himself to mankind through His creation (nature, the universe) as pointed out in Romans 1:18-20. And as Paul points out in Romans 1:20, because God has made Himself known in a general way through nature, man has no excuse not to be aware of the presence of God.

Further, as Scripture tells us, it is only through Jesus Christ that we have a relationship with God and therefore have salvation. Knowing about God is not enough, one must "know God," and have a personal relationship with Him through Jesus. A few key scripture passages one can read regarding the nature and role of Christ is our lives are: John 3:16, Colossians 1:15-20, Romans 10:9–13 and Dr. Charles Stanley has two good articles on Salvation and The Need for Salvation.

You can read my previous posts about A.R. Bernard from and Jan. 1 and Jan. 2, 2008.

Also, be sure to check out Clayton Perry's site The Nubiano Project. Mr. Perry has a wide variety of articles and resources one can use.

Have a blessed day by telling someone about Jesus!

Your Brother in Christ,

Steven Kendall

Americans of Faith: A Forum on Faith & Politics

OnePlace.com will hold an online discussion of faith and politics today at 2pm Pacific Time and 5pm Eastern.

Presidential candidate, Mike Huckabee, will be one of the featured speakers.

Have a blessed day by telling someone about Jesus!

Your Brother in Christ,

Steven Kendall

Valentine's Day Book that Spreads the Gospel

I'm building a store online to sell my Christian-themed books and wanted to give you a sneak peak before the site launches.

You can view my bookstore online at: http://stores.lulu.com/SteveKendall

If you're looking for a Valentine's Day gift, we're offering a beautiful, full-color book of stunning pictures and romantic scriptures called Love Never Fails.

Have a blessed day telling someone that you love them and so does Jesus!

Your Brother in Christ,

Steven Kendall

ScriptureTea.com: A Refreshing Way to Spread the Gospel

Over the weekend my church kicked off a new Bible study series based on Coach Tony Dungy's book, Quiet Strength. One of the items my church distributed as a gift was a Scripture Tea bag.

I enjoy a cup of tea from time to time and thought the idea of placing scripture on a tea bag wrapper was a great way to spread the Gospel message.

These tea bags were created by Eileen Hadaway and are sold in some stores, but primarily from her Web site: www.ScriptureTea.com

On her site, Ms. Hadaway gives God the glory and credit for the product, "Scripture Tea is not about us, but about God. I have always kept myself in the background because I haven't done anything great. I was just carrying out the Lord's great idea."

I'll be sure to order boxes of Scripture Tea as gifts very soon.

Have a blessed day by telling someone about what Jesus has done for you!

Your Brother in Christ,

Steven Kendall

Bible Study Friday: Acts, Chap. 22

Today is Bible study Friday at my church, Mount Moriah Baptist Church. Our Senior Pastor, Dr. Lucius M. Dalton, is currently discussing the New Testament Book of Acts, Chapter 22. You can read Pastor Dalton’s notes online at http://mtmoriah.suddenlaunch3.com/.

Have a blessed weekend by telling someone about what Jesus has done for you!

Your Brother in Christ,

Steven Kendall

ShareYourStoryNow.org: Bible Impact Stories

The American Bible Society has a ministry Web site called ShareYourStoryNow.org which encourages visitors to write or upload a video of their brief testimony on how the Bible has impacted their lives.

The site requests the following:

How has the Bible impacted your life? We’d love to hear about:

• your favorite Bible verse (or life verse) and why it’s your favorite
• a verse you read recently and what you learned from it
• a verse that helped you through a difficult time
• another way the Bible has impacted your life

You can also subscribe to a monthly newsletter that provides encouraging stories of lives changed by God's Holy Word.

Be blessed today by sharing your story!

Your Brother in Christ,

Steven Kendall

StreamingFaith.com: Largest Online Faith-Based Portal

I recently subscribed to a weekly devotional, delivered via email by StreamingFaith.com.

StreamingFaith.com has a wide variety of video and audio resources from several ministries.

On their "About" page, Streaming Faith describes itself as, "The world's largest provider of Internet broadcast services to faith-based organizations."

I'll have to explore the site and read more of the devotionals to form a sound opinion, but from what I've seen thus far, it appears to be a site worth visiting.

Have a blessed day by telling someone about what Jesus has done for you.

Your Brother in Christ,

Steven Kendall

Dr. Charles Stanley: Investing in Eternity

Dr. Charles Stanley aired a sermon on Sunday that really inspired me, called "Investing in Eternity".

Dr. Stanley used Matthew 28:16-20, often referred to the "Great Commission," a passage where Jesus instructs his disciples and all of us to tell others about Jesus and call them to become disciples.

In the message, Dr. Stanley made a good point that many people don't really know who Jesus is, and therefore don't understand Him. They may have an impression of Jesus based on faulty assumptions. It is our responsibility, once saved, to tell others about Jesus. We don't have to do this alone, said Dr. Stanley, as the Holy Spirit is available to help us say the right things.

Stanley also pointed out that we don't need special technology to spread the Gospel as word of mouth is typically used to tell others about Christ. I agree with his point, but value the Internet as I hope to use it as a tool to spread the Gospel to the uttermost parts of the world just as Jesus told us to do as recorded in Acts 1:4-8.

An outline of Dr. Stanley's sermon can be found online at his InTouch.org site as well as a Bible study lesson on the topic and you can listen (Jan. 21-22) or watch his Sunday, Jan. 20, 2008 sermon as well.

Have a blessed day by telling someone about what Jesus has done for you.

Your Brother in Christ,

Steven Kendall

Dr. King: The Most Segregated Hour-- Sunday, 11 A.M.

In honor of the U.S. observance of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day holiday, I want to call attention to something Dr. King said after a 1963 speech at Western Michigan University: During a question and answer session with the University President, Miller, Dr. King was asked, "Don't you feel that integration can only be started and realized in the Christian church...?"

Dr. King's response in part was,

"We must face the fact that in America, the church is still the most segregated major institution in America. At 11:00 on Sunday morning when we stand and sing and Christ has no east or west, we stand at the most segregated hour in this nation. This is tragic. Nobody of honesty can overlook this."

I believe Dr. King's statement rings true over 40 years later.

I was reminded of this fact while watching a story ABC News ran on Sunday, Jan. 20, 2008, about a small, predominently Black church, Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church in Coshocton, Ohio, that decided to close its doors at once a month or so and visit a majority white church.

I applaud ABC News for doing a story on this topic and I especially praise Pastor Cliff Biggers and his flock at Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church for leading the way with this effort.

Rev. Biggers is calling for a nationwide effort for at least 1,000 churches to visit each other on June 29, 2008.

You can view this ABC News story at: http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4163537&affil=wjla

A story about Rev. Biggers and Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church can also be found online with the ZanesvilleTimesRecorder.com

There are a vast number of sites where you can read more about Dr. King. I like the biographical sketch and timeline of Dr. King's life posted by the Louisiana State University Library.

MLKDay.gov is also a good site to visit for more information on ways one can honor Dr. King's legacy.

*I also highly recommend an article from the Monday, Jan. 21, 2008 Washington Post, entitled, "The Moment That Carried This Day." In this story, writer Allison Silberberg provides a wonderful, behind-the-scenes personal account about how the Dr. King holiday came to be. Ms. Silberberg was recently a consultant on the fantastic TV program, The Jewish Americans, a multi-part series currently airing on PBS. I plan to buy the DVD of this program someday soon.

Be blessed today by learning more about Dr. King and telling others about Jesus.

Your Brother in Christ,

Steven Kendall

Bible Study Friday: Acts, Chap. 21:31-40

Today is Bible study Friday at my church, Mt. Moriah Baptist Church. Our Senior Pastor, Dr. Lucius M. Dalton, recently discussed the New Testament Book of Acts, Chapter 21, verses 31-40. You can read Pastor Dalton’s notes online at http://mtmoriah.suddenlaunch3.com/.

Have a blessed weekend by telling someone about what Jesus has done for you!

Your Brother in Christ, Steven Kendall

Parenting: Enjoying the Process with Dr. Kevin Leman

Focus of the Family is airing a three-part program, Jan. 16-18, 2008, featuring Dr. Kevin Leman, who is a family psychologist, as well as a radio and TV personality. Dr. Leman is the author of several books including, The Birth Order Book and Making Children Mind Without Losing Yours.

I listened to the Wednesday program and found Dr. Leman to be Bible based, humorous and very practical in his approach to parenting. One tip that I'll try: When a two or three year old refuses to budge when you call them, try calling them, then walk backwards and they'll usually come to you.

On today's program, Dr. Leman addresses how to handle unruly teens, among other topics.

Dr. Leman will be holding a live chat online from 1:30-3pm Eastern Standard Time today, Thursday, Jan. 17, 2008.

Be blessed today by spending time reading the Bible.

Your Brother in Christ,

Steven Kendall

FamilyLife.org: Something for everyone

FamilyLife.org is a site I'll have to explore a bit more as it contains a variety of articles and resources for Christians with regard to marriage, singles, parenting and other issues of interest to Christians.

You can also subscribe via email to several e-newsletters from FamilyLife.com including weekly tips for romancing your husband or wife--I'll be sure to sign up as I always want to keep the romance in my marriage because my wife is a fantastic, Christian woman!

Be blessed by telling someone about what Jesus has done for you.

Your Brother in Christ,

Steven Kendall

Bible Answer Man: Mormonism Week

If you don't know much about Mormons and what they believe, I urge you to tune into the Bible Answer Man show this week as host Hank Hanegraaff will feature a week long discussion of Mormonism.

You can find more info at Hank's site, equip.org, or listen online at OnePlace.com

Hank has a number of free articles on his site about Mormonism that are must reads.

By listening to the Bible Answer Man and reading some of Hank's articles, you'll soon find that Mormons DO NOT define Jesus and God the same way that Christians do and are therefore not Christians. For example, Hank points out in his article, Mormons--Can they Be Considered Christians,

"...the reality is that Mormons believe in a Jesus vastly different than the Jesus of the Bible. You see, Mormonism teaches that Jesus is just one of countless other gods--a belief known as polytheism."

In another article, "What is Mormonism," Hank Hanegraaf writes,

"Contrary to biblical teachings they also believe in more than one God, that God is a literal man, that men can become gods, that Jesus was the spirit brother of Lucifer, not to mention salvation by works and not by grace."

I urge you to learn more about Mormonism as its leaders, including Mormon Presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, seek to play down the differences between their cult and true Christianity. Romney says he believes in Jesus and accepts Jesus as his savior, but the Jesus of Mormonism is not the Jesus in the Bible that Christians believe in.

You may also want to read a ChristianityToday.com article about a Mormon scholar that Hank mentions on his show, Thomas Murphy, who argued that DNA testing disproves Mormon history and therefore the Book of Mormon, the foundation of their faith. Here's an excerpt from this article:

"The Book of Mormon details migrations of Israelites to the Western Hemisphere more than 4,200 years ago. According to the book, some of the people were Lamanites, cursed with dark skin because of sin. The current introduction to the Book of Mormon claims that Lamanites were ancestors of American Indians."

Murphy concluded, 'dna research lends no support to traditional Mormon beliefs about the origins of Native Americans.'"

Be blessed today by telling others about what Jesus has done for you.

Your Brother In Christ,

Steven Kendall

BibleStudy.org: Timeline of Paul's Life

I found an interesting timeline of the apostle Paul's life at BibleStudy.org.

I must admit that I came to this specific page through a Google search for info about Paul's life. I found the first page of the site difficult to navigate as links to topics are placed in a middle column, which one has to read carefully and scroll down to see everything. A column on the right is labeled Special Bible Studies, which is a better way of highlighting specific material.

In terms of navigation, I empathize with the owner of the site as I'm building a Web site, with many topics, that will require clean, easy to read links to specific categories.

I will continue to explore this site as it seems to hold great promise.

Have a blessed day by telling someone about Jesus.

Steven Kendall

Charles Stanley: God’s Call to Genuine Repentance

A wonderful Christian woman from my church family, Sis. Williams, told our recent Young Adult Sunday School class about the Charles Stanley broadcast from Sunday, Jan. 5, 2008 called "God’s Call to Genuine Repentance."

The broadcast was from Dr. Stanley's InTouch Ministries one of my favorite ministries as Dr. Stanley makes a lot of his material available for free online including sermon outlines and an archive of television and radio sermons.

The sermon outline for Dr. Stanley's discussion of repentance covers, "Two types of people need to repent: a) those professing to be Christian but whose lifestyle doesn’t change, and b) believers who commit the same sin repeatedly."

You can also watch the sermon online--look in the archives page for Sunday, Jan. 8, 2008.

You can listen to the message from the InTouch Web site by looking for Jan. 7 and 8, 2008 in the audio archives.

Dr. Stanley has also posted his "Life Principles Notes" about this message.

I thank Sis. Williams for sharing this resource--and I look forward to sharing her Life Principles Bible from Dr. Stanley in our Sunday School class real soon! : )

Have a great weekend everybody by telling someone about Jesus.

Your Brother in Christ,

Steven Kendall

Pastor Paul: Forgiving our Enemies

Pastor Paul Sheppard, one of my favorite preachers, besides my pastor, Dr. Lucius M. Dalton, aired a message today about forgiveness that was quite powerful. The sermon is part of a series he's airing this week called "Kingdom First Living," as his page on OnePlace.com explains, the series is about, "how God uses our challenges to set us up to experience His divine purpose."

-Pastor Paul points out that some of us believe that forgiveness means the person who hurt you gets away with it. He explains that the Greek word for forgive means to "send away." I looked up this word at StudyLight.org and the English transliteration is "Aphiemi," pronounced "Af-ee'-ay-mee." We send the offender to God so that he can bring them to repentance. If they don't turn to God, He will deal with them with His punishment. No one gets past God says Pastor Paul after he quoted Psalm 37:1-9

Sheppard goes on to explain that when you fixate on the past, and vow to hurt those who have hurt you, you can't move forward with the future God has planned for you. If we want God to forgive us, we first must forgive others and not hold grudges. "If we are to obey God," said Pastor Paul, "not forgiving others is not a choice."

There were so many great passages from Pastor Paul's sermon. Here's a paraphrase of my favorites:
--"Some of us are holding hostages in our heart--all of the people who wronged us. We act as jailers when we don't forgive people."
--"Unforgiveness is an emotion that makes one feel like they (those you don't forgive) owe me and I am gonna make them pay."
--"Unforgiveness causes you to be a warden as you lock people up in your hearts that you won't forgive. You are causing them to serve in the jail of your mind and your heart."
--God does not give us the right to exact vengeance on our enemies. God has a plan for us and where he wants us to go does not involve us bringing along prisoners in our hearts and minds. Leave all of the people who have wronged you to the Lord. He quotes the King James Version of the Bible, Romans 12:19, "Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord."

In the Contemporary English Version of the Bible, Romans 12:19 says, "Dear friends, don't try to get even. Let God take revenge. In the Scriptures the Lord says, 'I am the one to take revenge and pay them back.' "

This is a message that I will get on CD and send to friends who are reluctant to forgive others who has done them wrong. It's a lesson that I'm trying to apply in my life.

I'm slowly learning to forgive others and as a result, God will forgive me.

Be blessed by forgiving someone today.

Your Brother in Christ,

Steven Kendall

Practical Living with Pastor Dale O'Sheilds

In my local area, radio and television commercials, hosted by Pastor Dale O'Sheilds, provides a brief message about applying a Biblical principle to everyday life. Pastor Dale ends the message by saying, "Not a sermon, just a thought." The commercials are an effective, non-threatening way to reach a secular audience about Jesus Christ.

O'Sheilds is the Senior Pastor of Church of the Redeemer which has two locations in the United States: Northern Maryland and one in Wisconsin.

Dale O'Sheilds messages can be heard online at OnePlace.com and via Podcast and you can watch online. The Media Center page of Pastor Dale's church has a number of options for receiving his sermons.

Have a blessed day by reading the Bible.

Your Brother in Christ,

Steven Kendall

Chip Ingram's series on Your Work Matters to God

Last week, preacher Chip Ingram ran an interesting series entitled, "Your Work Matters to God" which you can listen to at OnePlace.com.

Look for his series dated Jan. 1-4, 2008.

You can also download notes from the series, listen to it or buy the whole thing at Chip's ministry site, Living On The Edge.

Chip does a great job of discussing our "call" from God to glorify him through our work. Ingram argues that we are called to a person (Jesus), a purpose (to become Christ-like in our behaviour) and to a people (the body of Christ, the church). Chip Ingram uses Romans 8:28-30 as his text for the first message of the series.

One quote that I wrote down from the series, "We have been called into a personal relationship with God the Father, through the work of the Son, by the power of the Holy Spirit."

Ingram also says, "A job is what I do to earn a living. A career is what I build to create a life. A vocation is what God calls me to do to fulfill His highest purposes in me and through me for His glorify and my joy." Chip goes on to point out that the Latin word that we get the word "vocation" from actually means "calling," but in today's language, vocation has come to mean other things, mostly related to a job.

Have a blessed day by growing closer to God by reading the Bible.

Your Brother in Christ,

Steven Kendall

E-sword.net: Free Bible program for your computer

Joe, of GoodNewsBlog.Wordpress.com recommends the following resource:

"...check out E-Sword at http://www.e-sword.net. You can download a free Bible program for your computer, along with several translations [like the English Standard Version (ESV)] and commentaries.

I've been using it for quite a while and it's been a great help. You can look up verses quickly and don't even need to be connected to the Internet."

Thanks for sharing this resource Joe!

Have a blessed day everybody by telling someone about Jesus.

Your Brother in Christ,

Steven Kendall

Bible Study Tools from Christianity.com

I usually don't click on Web site ads, but saw an ad for Christianity.com's Bible Study Tools and gave it a try. You can find this site at: Bible.Christianity.com

I like what I see so far as the site is well organized and allows one to explore a number of topics that someone who is new in their Christian walk, or a seasoned Saint, should be interested in reading.

Have a blessed weekend by thanking God for waking you up this morning.

Your Brother in Christ,

Steven Kendall

P.S.
Thanks so much to Kristie for catching my initial error with Christianity.com's address.

ChristianHistory.net

My mother-in-law recently shared a stack of Christian History pamphlets with me that were sent to her by a friend. I wrote down the Web address of the material and it took me to Christianity Today's site ChristianHistory.net

This site has a ton of material that I eagerly look forward to reading soon.

Have a blessed day by sharing the love Jesus has for everyone.

Your Brother in Christ,

Steven Kendall

A.R. Bernard, Sr.: Christian Cultural Center

I recently started listening to the Rev. A.R. Bernard, Sr., founder of the Christian Cultural Center in Brooklyn, New York, as his radio broadcast was added to a station in my area.

I don't know much about Rev. Bernard, other than what I've read online at CBN.com and his Web site, but I like his teaching style thus far.

I'm a bit cautious when it comes to listening to the radio ministry of preachers who are new to me. My pastor, Dr. Lucius M. Dalton, has taught my church that preaching should be based on the Kerygma, a preaching style from the New Testament that should include, among other things, information about the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The jury is out for me, so I'll listen a bit more to Rev. Bernard to determine if he'll be included as one of my favorites.

Have a blessed day by learning more about God through the Bible.

Your Brother in Christ,

Steven Kendall

ChurchChannel.TV

Happy New Year!

As my first blog entry for 2008, I want to spotlight a channel I started watching online during the last week of 2007: The Church Channel

I don't have cable or satellite TV, so this online channel from the Trinity Broadcasting System has been a real blessing for me. I can now watch programming from a number of churches that I can't see on television, such as A.R. Bernard and former NFL player, now Pastor, Napoleon Kaufman.

I found out about this Web site after searching for online sermons from A.R. Bernard. I heard this preacher on the radio and wanted to find out more about him.

I'll blog about Pastor Bernard in a future entry, perhaps tomorrow.

Have a blessed day by telling someone about Jesus.

Your Brother in Christ,

Steven Kendall