This guest post is by Dennis Hester, author, intentional interim minister, and church consultant and director for www.BetterChurches.com

H. A. Ironside was influenced by the famous evangelist Dwight L. Moody. He accepted Christ at 13, and at 16 began preaching as many as 500 times in one year for the Salvation Army. He became a beloved international Bible teacher, lecture, preacher and in 1930 became pastor of the famous Moody Memorial Church in Chicago.

I was thinking today, about how precious and priceless contentment has become for me. You may long for contentment also. The following thought is from Dr. Ironside as he reflects on (Phil.4:11) “I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.”

Dr. Ironside says, “Christ is enough to satisfy the hearts of all who confide in Him and who leave everything in His hands. Such need never be cast down by seeming misfortunes.”

A Christian asked another how he was getting along. Dolefully his friend replied, “Oh, fairly well, under the circumstances.”

“I am sorry,” exclaimed the other, “That you are under the circumstances. The Lord would have us living above all circumstances, where He Himself can satisfy our hearts and meet our every need for time and eternity.”

If you are interested in knowing more about this giant of a Bible teacher and preacher visit   http://www.wordsearchbible.com/catalog/search.php?searchterm=H.+A.+Ironside

This guest post is by Dennis Hester, author, intentional interim minister, and church consultant and director for www.BetterChurches.com

Great commentaries are hide to find on the Old Testament. One trusted Biblical scholar and practical preacher that I turn to when preaching on Psalms is, Exploring Psalms by the late Dr. John Phillips. He was a master at alliteration, which many preachers use to help their Bible classes and congregations remember their messages.

Look at the way Dr. Phillips alliterates Psalm 121:3-8:

• A. The Problem of Weariness (vv.3-4),
• B. The Problem of Weakness (vv.5-6),
• C. The Problem of Wickedness (v.7),
• D. The Problem of Waywardness (v.8).

Those who love the Psalms will also love Dr. Phillips’ entire 25 volume set of Old and New Testament commentaries now on sale in memory of Dr. Phillips’ July 25^th home-going. WORDsearchBible.com is offering Dr. Phillips set of commentaries in digital format so that you can download this invaluable piece of scholarship to your computer.

Go to this link to watch the video on WORDsearch’s electronic library and Dr. Phillips commentaries.

This 25-volume commentary set is available in bookstores for $688.95. Only WORDsearch offers you this electronic library, and you’ll find it’s much easier and faster to use for your sermon preparation for just $199.95. Those who want to save over $450.00 need to make this set a priority because the sale only lasts 30 days.

This guest post is by Dennis Hester, author, intentional interim minister and church consultant and director for www.BetterChurches.com

Dr. John Phillips, a beloved preacher, theologian, author, and speaker, went home to be with the Lord on July 25^th. Dr. Phillips left an enduring legacy in the study and writing of his set of Old and New Testament commentaries. He was faithful to the Scriptures as he accurately divided the truth and was always practical with his constructive comments. With his gentle, probing applications to the Christian life, one can tell he loved the Lord as well as His Word.

And if you enjoy alliteration, so that your students or congregation can easily follow your Bible study or sermon, Dr. Phillips will be a big help to you. From his commentary on Exploring Ephesians look how he alliterates (Eph.1:7):

• (1). Redemption (1:7),
  • (a) The Person Involved (1:7a),
  • (b) The Price Involved (1:7b),
  • (c) The Pardon Involved (1:7c).

When I preach on Ephesians, I always use Dr. Phillips’ commentary. You can learn how to own this 25 volume set at tremendous savings from wordsearchbible.com. They are offering Dr. Phillips’ set of commentaries in digital format so that you can download this invaluable piece of scholarship right to your computer. Go to this link and watch the video on WORDsearch’s electronic library and Dr. Phillips’ commentaries.

Oh, by the way, this popular 25-volume commentary set is available in book form at Christian bookstores nationwide. The retail price for this set is $688.95. Only WORDsearch offers you this electronic library, and you’ll find it’s much easier and faster to use for your sermon preparation. Take all 25 volumes in this Phillips Bundle for just $199.95. Those who want to save over $450.00 need to make this set a priority because the sale only last 30 days.

Here’s how WORDsearch reached around the globe to bring this remarkable resource to you:

Thoralf Gilbrant, a Norwegian evangelical preacher, was one of Scandinavia’s most famous theologians.  Back in the 1960s he had an inspiring vision that would consume the rest of his life.  Gilbrant believed he could bring the riches of the original Bible languages (Greek and Hebrew) to every man or woman who wanted to study God’s Word.  Gilbrant sought the help of every Bible scholar he could find and published a 5-volume set called Studie Biblien in the Scandinavian languages.  It was a success in this small part of the world.

Thoralf Gilbrant

But Gilbrant’s real goal was to vastly expand the work and publish it in English, where he felt it would have the greatest evangelical reach.  So in the early 80s he came to America and enlisted the help of hundreds of Bible scholars.  With the backing of Dagengruppen, a Swedish ministry, he started a publishing company, World Library Press, in Springfield, Missouri.  In 1986, they began printing volumes of The Complete Biblical Library. Over one million man-hours went into this project.  Gilbrant’s idea was to create a library that contained ALL of one’s Bible study tools in a single resource, and do it in a way that users could study directly from the Greek and Hebrew, even without language training.

Hundreds of thousands of books were sold to eager pastors and students of the Word.  In 2001 the 39th and final book in the set was published, but like many huge reference sets, it became impractical to continue, so World Library Press closed it’s doors.  That’s when the demand for this resource really accelerated.  CBL books were being sought like collectables on the internet.  Some of the harder to find volumes like Revelation and Luke were selling on eBay for over $200 a book!  Sets were selling for over $2,000.

This is when WORDsearch got involved.  Thoralf Gilbrant had passed away a few years earlier, so we tracked down his Norwegian heirs and relentlessly pursued the rights to again make this great work available for students of God’s Word.  As soon as we secured the exclusive rights, it became a priority project to convert 23,589 pages into WORDsearch eBooks.  Now it’s available and the response has been tremendous.  Gilbrant would be proud.

We’ve spoken to some of the American publishers who ran World Library Press and they have told us, “WORDsearch has taken this far beyond Gilbrant’s dreams.  The eBook edition of this is so much faster and links to so many other works.  Thank God you were able to do this.”

Three sets are available: The 17-volume NT Set, the 22-volume OT Set, or the 39-volume Bible Lovers Set, which contains both NT and OT.  To get a better understanding of all that is in the CBL, see our short demonstration video.