October 2, 2023
Avoiding Spiritual Jeopardy
We should treat Communion as the most important meal of our week. . . .
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.
September 11, 2023
Our Weekly Calming Device
Our Creator knows best what we need to navigate through this sin-infested world. . . .
September 4, 2023
Remembering That Day
A tragic day such as 9/11 will always be remembered when the anniversary comes around. . . .
September 1, 2023
Hope Makes All the Difference!
By Michael C. Mack Hope makes all the difference! That’s the conclusion psychologists and social scientists have come to after years of research. In his best-selling book, Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Goleman reported on what other researchers had discovered: “that hope was a better predictor of [students’] . . . grades than were their scores on the SAT, a test supposedly able to predict how students will fare in college (and highly correlated to IQ).” Hope, he says, “plays a surprisingly potent role in life, offering an advantage in realms as diverse as school achievement and bearing up in onerous jobs.”
July 1, 2023
The Power of Faith and Forgiveness
How a Senseless Tragedy Became a Witness to the Grace of Jesus
July 1, 2023
Death by Faith
By Megan Rawlings It was frigid. The winter break had seemed to last forever. I had just arrived back at the Bible college campus in the rolling hills of Kentucky. My appetite for knowledge was growing. My classes that semester were mainly general education, but the Bible classes I took over those few months truly deepened my devotion to Jesus and his Word. I entered one particular class and sat midway back, where I would appear neither as eager as the people in front of me nor as uninterested as those behind me. The professor entered the room and asked,
June 26, 2023
A Hope for the Future
With his dying words, Founding Father John Adams expressed hope for the future. . . .
June 12, 2023
He Stoops Down to Us
By Michael C. Mack A dad stops what he’s doing to bend down and intently listen to his child. This simple act conveys a powerful message: My child is important. I love this kid. I want to look into my child’s eyes and listen. This is a picture of our heavenly Father with each of us. The psalmist said, “Because he bends down and listens, I will pray as long as I have breath!” (Psalm 116:2, New Living Translation). Our Father loves us so much that he makes us his priority. He bends down. He cares. He listens. He acts. The
June 5, 2023
No More Dead Ends
Jesus shows us how to exit from all the side streets and get us home where we belong. . . .
May 22, 2023
A New Meaning to an Old Memorial
Who would claim that a national holiday would henceforth be all about him? . . .
March 27, 2023
True Champions
Through Jesus' death and resurrection, we too are champions.
March 20, 2023
Reverse the Curse
Sin’s curse has been removed by the Savior’s cure.
March 17, 2023
T-Shirt Talks Helping to Expand View of ‘Church’
The Christian Church world is bigger than Goodyear, Ariz., and Refinery Christian Church is taking steps this year to ensure their people know it. Ministry staff are wearing T-shirts from other Christian churches and are sharing about their ministries during Refinery's weekly 'giving moment' throughout 2023. . . .
March 13, 2023
Amazing Authority
Mother Teresa and Jesus both lived lives that lent authority to their messages.
March 6, 2023
Jesus’ Bucket List
Jesus had one main item on his "bucket list."
January 19, 2023
THROWBACK THURSDAY: ‘The True Standard of Dress’ (1866)
"We are always excessive when we sacrifice the higher beauty to obtain the lower one," a Mrs. Stowe wrote in 1866. "A woman who will sacrifice domestic affection, conscience, self-respect, honor, to love of dress, we all agree loves dress too much." . . .
January 3, 2023
‘Living to Serve Another Day’ . . . After a Near-Death Experience with My ‘Gravity Group’
"I know that my last day could be any day," Alan Ahlgrim writes. He and four close ministry friends nearly skidded off the side of a mountain road in Colorado not long ago. "By God’s grace, we are living to serve another day."
January 1, 2023
I May Be Wrong
By Michael C. Mack What is truth? We seek to answer that big question in this first issue of 2023 because truth is foundational for our faith, our lives, our churches. This issue is like a seminary course on biblical truth; we seek to answer the most important questions about what it is, how to discern it from untruth, how to live it out, how it affects our worldview, how it relates to grace, how to respond when people question or reject truth, and more. If you don’t usually read Christian Standard cover to cover, you’ll want to do so
January 1, 2023
7 Tips for Having That Difficult Conversation About Truth
By Caleb Kaltenbach Having conversations about truth will always be difficult. (That may be the understatement of the decade!) Whether it’s difficult conversations that address someone’s pride, selfishness, bitterness, or, well, you fill in the blank, we’ve all been the recipients and bearers of “tough love talks.” And an already difficult conversation becomes even more complicated and emotions increase dramatically when the topic centers around a lighting-rod societal issue. Unfortunately, many who are tasked with confronting another person can go to extremes when sharing truth. They might challenge a person too harshly or they might be too fearful and not
January 1, 2023
Speaking the Truth in Love
By Ken Idleman The title of this article is one of the most difficult implicit commands in Scripture: “[S]peaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ” (Ephesians 4:15). It is difficult to obey because it links in a single imperative the three most difficult aspects of life for human beings to consistently control: speech, truth, and love. Our speech often betrays our secret thoughts and our untamable tongues. Jesus said, “The things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them” (Matthew
