We live in a “gold medal” culture driven by a self-promoting social media engine. Second place finishers in sports are unknown. So are “second place” people in life. What about the Story of God? Is it the same? Are there “big people” and “big spaces” in his Story too? Join Fran and a room of a hundred men for an early morning Bible study on eight characters who are either unknown, unnoticed or unappreciated in the Story of God. We’ll push hard against the modern Western notions of celebrity-ism, success and status as we discover over and over that God’s “upside down Kingdom” has a unique place and purpose for each of us…frequently when we’re not looking. Click on each individual session to listen. 

Message 1: Parmenas – “He Who Abides, Is Constant and Faithful”

Message 2: Leah – “Lioness With Soft Eyes and a Broken Heart” 

Message 3: Agur – “The Prayer of a Man Who Knows What He Doesn’t Want” 

Message 4: Simon of Cyrene – “Posterchild of Discipleship” 

Message 5: A Woman – “A Tale of Two Daughters” 

Message 6: Ittai – “A Portrait of True Lordship”

Message 7: Nathan – “The Gift That Keeps on Giving”

Message 8: Joseph – “The Most Under-Appreciated Man in the Bible” 

Too often, the Bible seems like it’s full of either folks we’d never want to be, or folks we could never be. No one names their son Judas or their daughter Jezebel. Even fewer parents name their sons Jesus or even Gideon. Yet the Bible tells us that Elijah was a “man just like us.” Fran takes us through a study of 17 people in the Bible who were “folks just like us.” We’ll examine Job, Adam, Eve, Paul, Jezebel and 12 others whose lives we should emulate or avoid.  Click on each individual session to listen. 

Session 1: Introduction – “Folks Like Us”

Session 2: Adam – “He Gave Us More Than An Apple!” 

Session 3: Eve – “Victim of a Virtuous Villain” 

Session 4: Israel – “The Black Hole of Ungratitude” 

Session 5: Asaph – “The Foul Fruit of Comparison” 

Session 6: Moses – “The Illusion of Indispensability”

Session 7: Elijah – “Swept Away Under The Broom Tree” 

Session 8: Jonah – “The Smallest Package in the World” 

Session 9: Jesus – “Death, The Final Frontier” 

Session 10: Joseph – “Victim or Vector” 

Session 11: David – “Two Types of Guilt”

Session 12: Abraham – “Just Visiting This Planet” 

Session 13: Demas – “I’m Not Half the Man I Used to Be” 

Session 14: Esau – “Better Dead Than Red” 

Session 15: Ezra – “Knowing God Comes From Reading His Autobiography” 

Session 16: Jonathan – “A Godly Friend From An Ungodly Home”

Session 17: Paul – “New Eyes, Not Restored Sight” 

Session 18: Jezebel – “The Intoxication of Power” 

Session 19: Reflection – “Does God Love Cracked Pots?” 

In this 90-minute workshop, Fran takes a room full of collegiate ministers on a journey from past to present, with the goal of better understanding the impact that technology is having on our spiritual lives. (listen to message)

Most Christians think of “finishing well” in terms of a race. Running well, not dropping out, not stumbling, and not being disqualified typically come to mind, using this metaphor. But, what if “finishing” has nothing to do with a “race”? What if “finishing well” has to do with something grander and more significant? Did you know that God is less concerned that we’ll fail in our Christian life than He is that we’ll succeed at things that really don’t matter? Click on each individual session to listen.

Message 1: “First Words on Jesus’ Last Words” – Unlearning some untruths about “finishing.”

Message 2: “Lessons From The Crowd and the Cloud” – Some who “finished well,” and some who didn’t.

Message 3: “The Heart of a Finisher” – Three words every believer needs to know and embrace.

One of the most powerful weapons against the unrelenting onslaught of Satan on the thoughts of God’s children, is praise. In fact, because we can only “look” in one direction at a time, when we look to God, we have to look away from everything else. Join 100+ men gathering each week to eat breakfast, fellowship, and open the Scriptures together, while Fran leads them through the deep theology of ten hymns. Each week includes a brief biography of the writer, a careful study of the theology behind the hymn, and suggestions about how to make these truths real in our day to day lives. Each session ends singing the hymn with an informed understanding of both the hymn and the Scriptures that shaped it. Click on each individual session to listen. 

Session 1: Horatio Spafford – “It Is Well”

Session 2: Robert Robertson – “Come Thou Fount” 

Session 3: Saint Francis of Assisi – “All Creatures of God and King” 

Session 4: Thomas Chisholm – “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” 

Session 5: Frances Havergal – “Take My Life and Let It Be” 

Session 6: Fanny Crosby – “Blessed Assurance”

Session 7: Martin Luther – “A Mighty Fortress” 

Session 8: Joseph Scriven – “What A Friend We Have in Jesus” 

Session 9: Charles Wesley – “O’ For a Thousand Tongues” 

Session 10: John Newton – “Amazing Grace” 

Fran addresses a roomful of men and women all ages engaged in full-time Christian ministry. Fueled by his growing passion to restore spiritual transformation to a place of priority in the Church’s preaching, teaching and ministry agendas, this series explores the weakened condition of our understanding of redemption. You will find this series theologically engaging and challenging. Without sacrificing his typical prophetic voice, Fran leads you from a full understanding of the nature of the Gospel in the Church to a hopeful agenda for its recovery.  Click on each individual session to listen. 

Session 1: “The Elephant in the Room” – revisiting the doctrine of sin 

Session 2: “What’s Really Been Left Behind” – isolating redemption’s lost piece

Session 3: “God in a Box” – the dangers of franchising the Gospel

Session 4: “The ‘Physics’ of Redemption” – understanding that God is centrifugal, not centrepital

Session 5: “Redeeming Redemption” – giving God His gospel back

This series is a provocative look at what happens when truth gets out of balance. Fran addresses the students at the world’s largest school for children of missionaries in Manila, Philippines for their Spiritual Enrichment Week. Each message examines the “heresy” that results from inflating one aspect of a biblical truth to the exclusion of the larger teaching of God’s Word. (click on message title to listen)

Heresy #1: “Christians Cannot Lose Their Salvation”
Heresy #2: “Fellowship Is The Gathering of Believers”
Heresy #3: “The Word ‘Virgin’ is a Noun”
Heresy #4: “God Judged the City of Sodom For Homosexuality”
Heresy #5: “I Can Do Everything Through Christ”

Speaking to a roomful of pastors, Fran seeks to help them understand that the world they find themselves in is radically different that a few decades ago, and how to effectively minister within that understanding. (listen to message)

The rising generation is the strategic target of a plan of spiritual genocide. The epidemic of divorce among twenty-somethings, and their exodus out of churches are indicators that more is happening than mere dissatisfaction with Christianity. Drawing on his passions for biblical identity, community and accountability, Fran speaks candidly and urgently to a college audience about becoming “oaks of righteousness” in a tumbleweed culture.  Click on each individual session to listen. 

Message 1: “Who Do I Say That I Am?” – the question of identity

Message 2: “What’s My Point?” – the question of purpose 

Message 3: “What’s My Place?” – the question of mission

At a seminary conference, Fran seeks to build a case for relational apologetics rooted in incarnational theology, rather than an evidence-based apologetic rooted in logic and “evidence.” (listen to message)

Many modern believers find themselves spinning in circles of confusion regarding what’s going on in the world. Our tendency is to focus on the news, and a never-ending barrage of details. In the process, we either lose sight of the bigger picture or give up. In this five-part series—delivered to parents at a church family conference—Fran seeks to get an arial view of the larger issues, isolate them, and then suggest some practical ways to view and engage.

Message #1 – “Understanding the Real Battle”

Message #2 – “The Goliaths of Our Day” – part 1

Message #3 – “The Goliaths of Our Day” – part 2

Message #4 – “Five Smooth Stones” – part 1

Message #5 – “Five Smooth Stones” – part 2

This series represents Fran’s all-day seminar for pastors and their wives hosted by Samford University’s Beeson Divinity School. The five messages represent Fran’s study of culture and its encroachment on the church over the past forty years. This is a provocative and prophetic look at American Christianity’s growing similarity to American culture and politics, rather than the New Testament. Click on each individual session to listen. 

Message 1: “60 Years in 60 Minutes” – an overview of American culture

Message 2: “From Candyland to Broadband” – the rise of cyberculture

Message 3: “Who Do I Say That I Am?” – biblical identity and mission

Message 4: “You Can’t Google God” – forging a theology of technology

Message 5: “The Road to the Future Runs Through the Past” – where do we go from here? 

This 10-part study into the person of Christ through the eyes of those He encountered will challenge you in fresh ways to examine your current perspective and attitude toward Jesus Christ. Fran spends time in each message unpacking insights about history and culture of the times, and provides understandable insights into the nuances of Greek words and phrases in each study. Click on each individual session to listen. 

Session 1: John the Baptizer – “I Am Not the Christ!”

Session 2: Nicodemus – “How Can These Things Be?” 

Session 3: The Samaritan Woman – “Give Me a Drink” 

Session 4: Martha and Mary – “The One Thing” 

Session 5: Simon Peter – “Do you love me?” 

Session 6: The Man Born Blind – “One Thing I Know…”

Session 7: Mary Magdalene – “I have seen the Lord!” 

Session 8: Thomas – “I will not believe unless…” 

Session 9: Andrew – “Simon Peter’s Brother” 

Session 10: Pontius Pilatus – “Behold Your King!” 

One of the most nuanced self-descriptions of Yahweh in the Old Testament is, “potter.” But because we are ignorant of the actual workflow of dirt to beauty of pottery formation, we are also missing some amazing insights into God Himself. In this 7-part series on God as Potter and us as his “work,” you will be both encouraged and empowered to worship and serve.

Message #1 – “Seeing Properly: God and Ourselves”

Message #2 – “The Divine Scandal”

Message #3 – “Seeing the Clay More Clearly”

Message #4 – “Seeing the Potter More Clearly”

Message #5 – “Containers and Their Contents”

Message #6 – “Potsherds and the Purposes of God”

Message #7 – “POTS: Tools or Emblems?”

This is a talk on teen sexuality that Fran delivered sometime between 1985-90 in chapel at the Christian high school where he taught. It was ranked as one of the “Top 100 Messages of All Time” by Focus on the Family radio. (listen to message)