March 1, 2023
Grace Unites Us
My journey in the International Churches of Christ and beyond . . .
Series: Featured
March 1, 2023
What Is Grace?
By Mark E. Moore Question: What do we have to do to be saved? Every religion has its own answer to this question. Some encourage sacrifice; others, service; others, rituals of purification or meditation. What all (but one) have in common is some human effort to achieve favor with God. This may include knocking on doors with pamphlets, giving away wealth, self-flagellation, or confession and restitution. The common thread, however, is human effort to reach God’s height. Grace Is God’s Salvation Christianity alone moves in the opposite direction. Rather than us climbing upward, Christianity asserts that God moved downward. Salvation
January 1, 2023
What Is Truth?
A word study traces the Bible’s primary terms for truth—emet in the Old Testament and aletheia in the New—showing truth as lived faithfulness and embodied in Christ, with a call to “don’t adjust it; trust it.”
January 1, 2023
Grace and Truth
New Testament Theology Embodied in Jesus and Carried Out in Cultural Chaos
January 1, 2023
How Do We Arrive at Truth?
By Tyler McKenzie In his book Blue Parakeet, Bible professor Scot McKnight explains that every semester he gives the students in his Jesus class a test. Part one has 24 questions inquiring what they think Jesus is like. Here are four examples: Is Jesus moody? Is Jesus talkative? Does Jesus think marriage is old-fashioned and should be done away with? Does Jesus prefer to go his own way rather than act by the rules? This set of questions is followed by another that asks the students what they think they are like. Here’s the catch. Both parts are the same
January 1, 2023
Truth and the Bible Worldview
By Bobby Harrington and Daniel McCoy This article could well have been only a paragraph long. We could simply have written this: A “worldview” is your overall view of the world. Having a biblical worldview means that the teachings of the Bible fill in your answers to the big questions about reality. For example: Why do we exist? If you have a biblical worldview, your answer will include how God created us to bear his image and rule over his creation. What’s the source of our deepest problems? According to the Bible, our misery stems from our decision to mistrust
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
Jack Cottrell on Truth (from Our Archives)
Jack Cottrell (April 30, 1938—September 16, 2022) wrote many articles for Christian Standard over the years, and one of his favorite topics was truth. While we do not have space to include all his articles on different aspects of this important topic, we have excerpted from several of them here. We’ll let Dr. Cottrell introduce himself. In “What I Have Learned in 50 Years as a Theologian (Part 1),” published in our February 7, 2010, issue, he wrote, Since receiving my AB degree from Cincinnati Bible Seminary in 1959, I have been either preparing to teach or teaching theology (Bible
Teaching Truth: The Win for Kids’ Curriculum
We Couldn’t Find Curriculum That Met Our Children’s Ministry Needs . . . So We Created Our Own (and We’ve Made It Available to You)! By Larry Cramer My two daughters have grown up in church. Whether it’s on a Sunday morning, Sunday evening, Wednesday evening, or any other day and time, my daughters have always attended a church experience built just for them. I am speaking of Next Gen programming . . . specifically, kids’ ministry. Over the years, we have seen many changes in kids’ ministry, including changes to curriculum. While churches have many great options, as a
January 1, 2023
Prepare for Deconstruction
‘How do we hold onto truth while loving and pursuing a world that seems to question everything?’ By Brent Bramer My dad is a builder. My earliest memories as a kid were waking up early, climbing into his truck, and driving onto an empty plot of land as the sun rose. We’d walk together, and I’d listen to him talk and dream about the home he was about to build. My dad would walk the lines where the foundation would be poured. He’d try to explain and describe where the rooms would be placed, the walls would be framed, and
Class Goes On: A Tribute to the Life and Teaching of Dr. Jack Cottrell
After a long battle with cancer, Jack Cottrell, 84, passed from earth to heaven September 16, 2022. Dr. Cottrell was a respected professor of theology at Cincinnati Christian University for 48 years, from September 1967 to December 2015. He wrote more than 40 popular theological books and countless magazine articles. Several days after Dr. Cottrell’s passing, Tom Claibourne wrote the following tribute, which appeared on our website. This version, adapted with minor edits, appears in our January/February 2023 print edition. _ _ _ By Tom Claibourne During my final time around a table with Dr. Jack Cottrell at the Christian
November 1, 2022
You Don’t Have What It Takes!
A Fresh Look at the Gifts of the Spirit
November 1, 2022
Dream a Dream So Big . . .
By Jerry Harris For almost two decades, Doug Crozier has had big dreams for The Crossing, my Midwestern church home for 25-plus years. And all during that time, Doug has worked with us to remove whatever obstacles stood in the way. When the idea of a multisite church was still in its infancy, The Crossing decided to reach out into micropolitan and rural communities with a fresh approach to the gospel. Conversations with Doug gave us the confidence to push forward beyond what we ever imagined. Eleven campuses and thousands of baptisms later, the dreams we dared to imagine have
November 1, 2022
‘You Must Preach the Gospel’
The Testimony of the First-Known Somali Gospel Preacher
November 1, 2022
Baptism and Thankfulness: 4 Reasons They Are Inextricably Connected
By Dudley Rutherford Ever since I was a small boy, I have lived to honor my earthly father. Even though my dad died in March 2020, I try to honor him daily. God must have put it in my heart to have such love and respect for my earthly father that I wanted to please and honor him every day. I don’t claim to be perfect like Jesus, but our Lord also strove every day to honor and please his Father. When Jesus Christ was baptized in the Jordan River at Bethany in the Judean desert, God said, “This is
November 1, 2022
Close the Sale!
The Eternal Power of the Tried-and-True Public Invitation
November 1, 2022
Thankful . . . in All Circumstances
What the Bible Teaches Us About Unwavering Gratitude
November 1, 2022
Peace for All Seasons
By Douglas Redford (This article, reprinted here with minor updates, first appeared in Christian Standard on December 22, 1985.) During the Christmas season in 1984, an event occurred which served as a revealing commentary on the times. Bishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, an Anglican church leader, was in Oslo, Norway, to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. But the presentation was held up for more than an hour after an anonymous telephone caller told an Oslo newspaper that a bomb had been placed in the reception hall and would explode in 10 minutes. Although a careful search turned up nothing,
November 1, 2022
How to Be a ‘Cheerful Giver’ (and How to Develop More of Them at Your Church)
By Megan Rawlings I first heard of Chuck Lane from my husband’s time at Alliance Defending Freedom, where they worked together. Chuck mentored me in development (sometimes referred to as fundraising). He taught me everything I know. Fundraising is all about relationships and not being afraid to ask. It is a ministry to teach people how to be cheerful givers. Chuck’s insight was unrivaled, and his warmth was immeasurable. We talked a couple of times a month until his untimely death last year. So, to honor his legacy, I want to share with you several thoughts about giving that have
November 1, 2022
Vision Without Sight
A Short-Term Mission Trip to a Liberian Orphanage, an ‘Experiment,’ and a 6-Year-Old Blind Girl Named Princess
