Books authored by Dr. James Dyet. Purchase on JamesDyet.com

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Where Have All the Bibles Gone?

Help me understand something. As I travel from church to church to supply-preach, I notice that very few attendees carry a Bible. Why is this? It used to be a mark of a Bible-believing church that its attendees brought Bibles to church and followed along in the Bible as the pastor preached. Because I preach expository sermons, I think churchgoers would get far more benefit from each message if they referred to the sermon text verse by verse as I preach.

So why don’t people carry Bibles to church? Has expository preaching gone the way of the dinosaurs, thereby eliminating the need to use a Bible in church? Has entertainment replaced Biblical edification? Has the believer’s confidence in the Bible diminished? Has illiteracy engulfed churchgoers? You tell me.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Clean Ducts and an Opportunity

We had our heat ducts cleaned Tuesday. The two men who did the work vacuumed out dust, gravel, stones, pieces of wood, and chunks of dry wall. Some of that debris could have KO’d our furnace’s motor if it had fallen into it. After paying for the work, I gave each man a copy of my book, All Good People Go to Heaven and Other Religious Lore. They seemed to appreciate the gift, but one of them read the back cover copy and asked, “Is this book controversial?” I told him everything I do is controversial, and the book contradicts the popular notion that a person can go to heaven if he joins a church or performs good deeds or gives to charity. “There is only one way to heaven,” I explained, “and Jesus is the way. If we put our faith in Him, we will go to heaven.”

I think both men will read the book, and perhaps they will be in heaven someday.