My friend Kap Otten, a godly young man who is serving the Lord in cool ways, recently gathered some unsuspecting people and had me speak for two hours on speaking. I presented a semester worth of material on sermon preparation in one evening. Several of those in attendance survived the ordeal. We may repeat the event if needed (interested parties should contact Kap). During my preparation for the class, I was reminded about the tremendous importance of teaching the Bible. Without the Word of God being taught, people will not grow. Consider these two quotes from famous men of God: Warren Wiersbe - "True preaching is the explanation and application of Bible doctrine, anything else is just religious speechmaking." G. Campbell Morgan, "Preaching is not the discussion of a theory or the discussion of doubt. A man has a perfect right to proclaim a theory...but that is not preaching. Preaching is the proclamation of the word, the truth..." For this week's installment of my Messages About Purpose and Strategy, I'll fill you in on what is coming up next in our pulpit. I'll be teaching a series of six messages on important choices we all must make. The series will features titles like, Get Well, Let Go, Open Wide, Dig In, Grow Up, and Trade Places. I still haven't decided on a title for the whole series. Maybe "Six Choices You Must Make," or, "Six Decisions That Will Change Your Life," or just, "Simple Life-changing Choices." I'll think about it.