Should We Rethink the 30-minute Sermon Lecture?

Our message should encompass both Scripture and our congregants questions. Recently, a group of pastors asked me this question: “Should we rethink the 30-minute sermon lecture in light of the many different ways classroom teaching is currently conducted?” They are part of a year-long initiative by the Center for Excellence in Preaching at Calvin Seminary to strengthen the quality of preaching. In an effort to answer this question, the group of pastors asked me to lead a preaching... Read More

Thousands enjoy Fort Lauderdale’s St. Patrick’s Day festivities

Gloomy skies did not dampen the sunny dispositions on thousands of smiling faces at the St. Patrick’s Day Parade and Festival in Fort Lauderdale, Saturday. There seemed to be more people wearing the green than there were blades of grass in the downtown area. Pompano Beach Irishman Garrett Mooney was dressed in a giant inflatable shamrock suit, and if his wife Veronica, daughter Tori, 16, and son Austin, 11, were embarrassed, their blushing was green too. “All the floats that have... Read More

Fort Lauderdale firefighters cut woman from mangled car

A violent wreck early Saturday along West Commercial Boulevard forced Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue firefighters to cut an injured woman from her wrecked car. The crash happened about 6:45 a.m. in the 1000 block of W. Commercial Blvd. Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue Firefighters work to free a trapped driver. Firefighters work to free a trapped driver. (Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue) Fort Lauderdale Fire Reescue To free the driver, crews had to slice away the car’s roof. To free... Read More

ECFA Suspends Harvest Bible Chapel’s Accreditation

Under James MacDonald, Chicago-area megachurch may have been in “serious violation” of 4 out of 7 stewardship standards, says Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. Harvest Bible Chapel had its accreditation suspended this week by the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA), after “new information” led to concerns that spending under former senior pastor James MacDonald was in “serious violation” of 4 of the agency’s 7 standards... Read More

Suspect in custody for brutal Staten Island killing of reputed Gambino family boss, NYPD sources says personal dispute could be motive

A Staten Island man, after three days on the lam, was busted Saturday for gunning down the boss of the Gambino crime family — with his homicidal rage perhaps fueled by a lingering vendetta. Suspect Anthony Comello, 24, was arrested down the Jersey Shore for the execution of reputed Mafia kingpin Frank Cali in a fusillade of gunfire outside his Staten Island home, said NYPD Chief of Detectives Dermot Shea. The truck used to lure Cali into the line of fire was also recovered in Brick... Read More