Christian Living

Christian Living helps you follow Jesus in the everyday moments—at home, at work, and in your relationships. Here you’ll find practical, biblically grounded articles on spiritual growth, prayer, discipleship, character, and making wise decisions in a complicated world. Explore guidance for living with grace and truth, building healthy habits, navigating suffering and joy, and pursuing holiness without losing compassion. Whether you’re new to faith or have walked with Christ for years, these resources are designed to encourage you, challenge you, and equip you to live a life that reflects the gospel in real life.

February 7, 2017

Mark A. Taylor

Advertising My Christianity

By Mark A. Taylor What does it mean to advertise a business as owned by a Christian? Evidently quite a lot to the folks running TrustBlueReview.com. With the tag line “Connecting you to trusted businesses for 25 years,” the faith-based business directory offers consumers a way to find Christian-owned enterprises in categories from “Accountants” to “Zip Lines.” TrustBlueReview”s home page claims all its advertisers make a threefold commitment: “Proclaim Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Demonstrate their faith through active involvement in a local church. Strive to operate their business according to biblical principles.” Is this a good thing?

January 18, 2017

Christian Standard

Habits””Better Than Resolutions

By Jim Tune We”re not far into the new year, but our resolutions have already started to fade into the background. “I”m opening a gym called Resolutions,” someone quipped. “It will have exercise equipment for the first two weeks and then it will turn into a bar for the rest of the year.” We start out well, but our best intentions don”t survive the realities of life. Resolutions aren”t bad; they”re just not enough. According to James Clear, a writer on behavioral change, we should forget goals and embrace systems. “Goals are good for planning your progress and systems are

January 4, 2017

Christian Standard

True Grit

By Jim Tune Much has been written about the psychology of success. Is it talent that enables success? The right connections? A positive mental attitude? In the book Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, Angela Duckworth argues that most success stories come down to one vital element: endurance. Toughing it out. Grit. Talent, Duckworth claims, is overrated: “We inadvertently send the message that these other factors””including grit””don”t matter as much as they really do.” Duckworth writes: To be gritty is to keep putting one foot in front of the other. To be gritty is to hold fast to an

December 19, 2016

Christian Standard

Listening to “˜Granny”

By Chris Moon They call her “Granny Jean.” I suppose every town has one like her””a quick-witted older lady who overcame hardship and spent her life teaching in the schools and being a fixture in the community. You really don”t need to know her name. You just call her “Granny,” and everyone knows who it is. Everyone has had an experience with “Granny Jean.” When I came to minister with Stanton (Kentucky) Christian Church, I would see Jean Derickson working across the hall in our preschool. She”s a slender woman, probably not much more than 5 feet tall, with grandmotherly

December 18, 2016

Christian Standard

Working Women/Women’s Work: A View from the Heartland

By Susan Lawrence The sky is the limit . . . unless you live in a snow globe. My dad dreamed big for me. Dad would frequently say, “You, know, if you wanted, you could . . .” followed by yet another option for a job or hobby. I would have to live a dozen lifetimes to accomplish all he dreamed and schemed for me. Some of his ideas were a bit outlandish. Even though I knew I probably would never become a world champion downhill skier (we lived in central Illinois) or train exotic animals (farm animals were enough

December 16, 2016

Christian Standard

9 Women Who Changed the World

Faith was the foundation for each one”s courage and action. By Danielle Hance This December, images of a meek and mild Virgin Mary will fill nativity scenes and line Christmas cards. However, what many people don”t know is that the young mother with a creamy complexion and an angelic glow was quite the woman of courage. Being an unwed mother in biblical times would have put her in danger of death by stoning. And Mary”s Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55) is so passionate, powerful, and revolutionary in its message of God”s deliverance of the poor, it has even been banned in multiple

December 12, 2016

Christian Standard

Almighty Favored

By Jennifer Johnson I write a lot of small group Bible study curriculum, and in the process I work with many different churches, different pastors, and different perspectives. One of my favorite clients is a preacher in Atlanta who leans toward the “spirit-filled” side of the spectrum and often talks to his congregation about God”s favor. He encourages his church members to pray for God”s favor in their families, their business dealings, and their health. Sometimes I question the theology of those prayers. Sometimes I question whether I am brave enough to pray them. In the Old Testament we see

December 8, 2016

Christian Standard

An Incomprehensible Grace: Interview with Naomi Zacharias

By Jeff Vines Her work with abused and suffering women worldwide has spread hope and helped her experience healing herself. Naomi Zacharias blew into the foyer of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM) 10 minutes late. She had been caught in a typical Atlanta, Georgia, traffic snarl. With a large drink and a half-eaten sandwich in her hands, she was on the move. She greeted me and then escorted me to her office, making sure the door was left open to remove any question of impropriety. I was immediately impressed. I wondered if Naomi, the daughter of perhaps one of the

November 27, 2016

Christian Standard

Binge Culture

By Joe Boyd I got sucked in. I”m at a busy season of my life. I have two kids in high school, a growing business, and a church plant I”m helping to launch. I will watch a little TV at night to unwind, but I”ve successfully avoided “binge watching” something on Netflix for a few months. I know how I am. Once I get locked in, I have to finish. I don”t remember who was the first of my friends to tell me, but a few months ago someone said, “You have to watch Stranger Things on Netflix.” They described

October 3, 2016

Christian Standard

Clamped Down

By Roger Palms One day I toured the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, and was invited on board a training version of a craft that had been sent into space. I was shown clamps on the floor that anchor the feet of the astronauts. Out in space, there is no orientation of up or down. So when an astronaut wants to be stable, or to sleep, he or she is fixed in place by those clamps. Whatever seems like up to the astronaut, is up. Whatever feels like down, is down. I came away from that visit thinking that”s

September 19, 2016

Christian Standard

Why I Quit Being a Pastor to Train Elephants

By Brian Mavis I”m calling on the church, government, arts, and business to work together for the sake of kids. “Our greatest dignity as creatures is not in initiative but in response.” “”C. S. Lewis “For we are God”s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” “”Paul, in Ephesians 2:10 It”s been a great 20-plus years, but God has called me to a new challenge””training elephants. People are pretty pumped about it, but allow me to tell you the backstory before I get to the elephants. My Wife, Orphans,

September 14, 2016

Christian Standard

Christianity Is More Than

By Jim Tune I wonder how often we fall for forms of Christianity, ideas that capture us because they fit well within the borders of our comfort zone. We truncate our faith when we redefine it in ways that are less than, more than, or even outside the essence of Christianity. Thus this list of things Christianity is more than: 1. Christianity is more than religion. Many people have so long identified the words religion and Christianity that many consider them to be synonyms. Religion emphasizes systems, propositions, piety, rules, observances, and human effort. “Religion,” according to Christian author and

September 5, 2016

Christian Standard

The Eternal and Spiritual Significance of Work

By Eddy Sanders Your work has spiritual importance. I”m not writing that only to Sunday school teachers, small group leaders, elders, and preachers, but also to those with “regular” jobs. Work with spiritual and eternal significance applies to believers regardless of their job title. Yet, somewhere along the way, the divine side of work was separated from regular work and was perceived as less significant. The Old Testament scholar Christopher Wright raised this issue for me a few years ago. In The Mission of God”s People, he writes, “The great majority of believers do not get sent out as traveling

September 3, 2016

Christian Standard

The Unspoken Vocational Hierarchy

By Dennis Bakke For those of us who are followers of Christ, we know our purpose is to live holy lives and glorify God. And part of glorifying God is making known his kingdom and his ways. So how does our workplace fit into such a purpose? Should it be our primary mission field where we seek to carry out the Great Commission? Is it simply a means to provide for our families and earn enough money to support our church, missionaries, and parachurch organizations? Or is secular work””even for-profit business””the principle mission to which God calls many of us?

September 1, 2016

Christian Standard

Old Glory

By Jennifer Johnson For years I”ve heard that Grandma Moses began her acclaimed painting career at age 78. I always rolled my eyes when older people (that is, older than me) quoted that fact, assuming it somehow comforted them to think their own chance for “significance” hadn”t passed them by. Then I turned 40 and began seeing more people posting more lists of leaders and celebrities who had started their most successful ventures later in life: Henry Ford, who created the Model T at 45. Julia Child, who wrote her first cookbook at 50. Ray Kroc, who took charge of

August 26, 2016

Christian Standard

Competition and Compassion

By Joe Boyd We live in a competitive culture. We see this at every turn, but are more aware of it every four summers when two cycles converge””the presidential election and the Summer Olympics. Both, in very different ways, show us that deep in our core we can”t help but compete. Of course, we don”t need these macro-events to know this. We”ve all been to a Little League game or a dancing competition where, seemingly, the kids are having a good time but the parents and coaches are driving the competitive fervor. It can seem we grown-ups spend a lot

August 5, 2016

Christian Standard

The Summer of “66

By Victor Knowles It was the summer of 1966, and I was set to enter my junior year in Bible college in August. Three shocking events transpired that sultry summer 50 years ago. On June 6, civil rights activist James Meredith was shot while traveling in Mississippi. Fortunately, he survived. A few days later, on July 14, the city of Chicago became the scene of a horrific mass murder when Richard Speck killed eight student nurses. And just when I thought things couldn”t get worse, on August 1 an ex-Marine, Charles Whitman, barricaded himself atop the University of Texas Tower

July 27, 2016

Christian Standard

Embracing the Imperfection of Being Human

By Jim Tune Those around men like Jean Vanier usually anticipate they will do great things. He is the son of Major-General Georges Vanier, who became the 19th governor general of Canada, serving from 1959 until his death in 1967. And his early years wrote a resume that depicts greatness. In his youth Jean Vanier received an elite education in Canada, England, and France. He served admirably in World War II and was a close companion to members of England”s royal family. After resigning his naval commission, he went on to complete a PhD in philosophy from the Institut Catholique

July 17, 2016

Christian Standard

Never Give Up

By David Eubanks In the spring of 1963, while I was a professor at Johnson University, I preached for the Main Street Christian Church, McConnelsville, Ohio. It was the most productive revival I have ever held in terms of attendance growth and responses for both conversion and placing membership with the congregation. In a church running 150 on Sunday morning, the attendance increased every night to more than 300 on Friday evening, with chairs set up and down the aisles and even on the platform. The whole experience was exhilarating. There were 79 responses to the invitation, 39 of them

July 13, 2016

Christian Standard

Give Yourself a Break

By Jim Tune I heard about a pastor who took a day off. He set his e-mail to respond automatically with this message: “I”m out of the office today. I”ll respond to your e-mail upon my return.” When he returned to work, he found this e-mail: “Don”t bother. You”re a loser for taking a day off. People will probably die and go to Hell because you thought you needed a day off. Do you think God takes a day off? Are you better than God?” Of course, the e-mail was a joke. The man who wrote that e-mail is a

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