Articles for tag: Abuse

December 30, 2015

Christian Standard

Empty

By Jim Tune Madeline Levine had been practicing psychology for more than 25 years when she began to observe a new category of unhappy teenager. As her book The Price of Privilege relates: “America”s newly identified at-risk group is preteens and teens from affluent, well-educated families.” Social and economic advantages notwithstanding, children of affluence “experience among the highest rates of depression, substance abuse, anxiety disorders, somatic complaints, and unhappiness of any group of children in this country.” Levine admits to being startled when a bright, socially adept, 15-year-old girl from a loving, wealthy family came into the office with the

August 24, 2015

Christian Standard

Lesson for August 30, 2015: A Plea to Return to God (Malachi 3:1-12; Matthew 7:12)

This treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson is written by Sam E. Stone, former editor of CHRISTIAN STANDARD. It is published in the August 23 issue of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Sam E. Stone  During the past three months we have seen how various Old Testament prophets took God”s demand for justice to the people. We have considered Amos, Micah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Zechariah. Though their careers spanned several hundred years, they preached a single message: the nation”s relationship to God called for faith and obedience. When the prophet Malachi came on the

May 8, 2015

Christian Standard

A Clean Break (1 Corinthians 11:20-23)

By Neal Windham Corinth is a beautiful city. Set on an isthmus dividing the Adriatic and Aegean seas, it was frequented by mariners avoiding the more treacherous waters of the Mediterranean in Paul”s day. As a result, it was a popular destination, well populated, and with a thriving economy. Remains of its stunning temple to Apollo stand in ruins to this very day, silently testifying to a distinctively pagan past. Little wonder that Paul had such a tough time with this church. It seems they were attempting to make the break with pagan society as slight as they possibly could.

January 11, 2015

Christian Standard

A Healthy Church Is a Giving Church

By Joe Putting “Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “˜Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?” (James 2:15, 16). When I was growing up in the late 1960s, my dad exposed me to every western movie available. There was nothing quite like the drive-in theater experience. At some point in nearly every film, the good guys would circle the wagons to ward off the bad guys. Though this might sometimes be necessary, a group that

July 23, 2014

Christian Standard

Hidden in a Field

By Jim Tune In 1989, the movie Field of Dreams was a blockbuster hit. Kevin Costner played Ray Kinsella, a 37-year-old man who always played it safe. He had never done a spontaneous thing in his life until hearing a voice one day that said, “If you build it, he will come.” After hearing the phrase several more times, he asked other farmers if they heard similar voices. Eventually Ray saw a vision of “Shoeless” Joe Jackson walking out of his cornfield. In the vision, Ray”s cornfield was transformed into a baseball diamond. When he actually “builds” a baseball field,

July 30, 2013

Mark A. Taylor

Choosing All the Priorities of Jesus

By Mark A. Taylor Dr. Frank Smith Jr.”s sermon, “Bear Witness Boldly,” began quietly, almost academically Thursday morning at the North American Christian Convention. With the style of a professor he set the stage and provided the background for the message he wanted to bring. By the time he had finished, though, his tone, and the reaction of his audience, was anything but quiet. In the spirit of legendary African-American oratory, his sermon ended with a driving cadence and rhythm that brought a chorus of clapping and amens from the crowd. Tucked in the middle were challenges that must not

May 2, 2012

Christian Standard

Elders, Submission, and the Rebel in Me!

By Jim Tune With so many poor models of leadership around us today, we may cringe when words like submission, authority, and rule come up. “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” With that line in the final chapter of Animal Farm, George Orwell delivered his critique of Karl Marx and the government of the Soviet Union. We know the story: animals rise up, a barnyard revolt is launched, and the animals displace the human owners of the farm and begin to run the farm for their own benefit. It was a paradise run by

February 23, 2011

Christian Standard

Radical Hospitality

By Gaye Clark I look back now and wonder what it would look like if more Christians were willing to take such a risk. Marcia”s voice cracked as she spoke. “Hello, Mrs. Clark, is your husband home? I”d like to wish him Happy Father”s Day.” I handed the phone to Jim, smiled, and said, “Your other daughter is calling.” Months before, while I sat at my computer, an e-mail caught my attention. The subject line read, “Young woman, broken and alone.” The sender was Dr. Robert Campbell, a local internal medicine specialist who had opened an inner-city clinic1 to reach

February 14, 2010

Christian Standard

NACC Women”s Conference Will Help You “˜Survive and Thrive”

By Karla McElroy Believing that faithfulness to one”s kingdom call requires welcoming all of life”s experiences as gifts from God, this year”s NACC Women”s Conference leadership team chose the theme “Survive and Thrive” to help guide the choices for speakers and topics. Here are some highlights: Thursday Main Event“”This special session for women has been expanded to include lunch, worship, and testimonies. Carol Kent, founder of Speak Up With Confidence and also a best-selling author, will be the guest speaker. Carol knows what it means to live with an unthinkable circumstance that will never change””and still to make hope-filled choices.

January 24, 2010

Christian Standard

It”s Just Like Fishing

By Rick Chromey Children”s ministry in the smaller church has the same amazing potential to grow and thrive as a mustard seed. It”s all in how you cultivate it. This practical guide provides insights that will encourage you in your children”s ministry, along with ready-to-use tools for evaluation, budgeting, and teacher training. Energize your children”s ministry! Use these innovative strategies for mega-impact with limited resources, people, and money. Energizing Children”s Ministry in the Smaller Church (item 42311) is available from your local supplier or at www.standardpub.com. “”˜Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “˜and I will make you fishers of men”” (Matthew

November 22, 2009

Christian Standard

Christians, Politics, & Ethical Speech

  by Thomas Scott Caulley When we were kids, my brothers and I argued a lot. Inevitably this degenerated into name-calling: “You dirt wad!” someone would yell. “Shut up, idiot,” was the likely response.  Our mother was tireless in her efforts to train such language out of our vocabulary. She quoted Scriptures to us. “Do unto others” and “Each counting others better than himself” were just the beginning of her repertoire, and were among the many Bible verses we boys memorized under Mom”s watchful tutelage. To this day, many Bible passages come to mind in outdated English, even though I

September 28, 2008

Christian Standard

The Earth Is the Lord’s?

By Robert F. Hull Jr. “The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it” (Psalm 24:1, New Revised Standard Version). How do we understand such an exclusive claim? What does it mean that you and I can hold title to a piece of property, when the whole earth belongs to God? What are my obligations of stewardship for the half-acre on which my house sits, and what are our common obligations to the earth that sustains all living things? COME HOME Come home with me. When native Appalachians who have

March 9, 2008

Christian Standard

Confidentiality in a Counseling Setting

By Doug McCulley As a licensed professional counselor, I know that the promise of confidentiality is important to those I am counseling””but it”s also important for legal reasons. Every new client signs a form acknowledging confidentiality will be kept except in instances where permission is received to share details, or when a client poses a danger to himself or others, or when there is a court order Counselors are required to keep records private and are vigilant to maintain confidentiality. This enables clients to be open and honest and deal with the real issues that are hindering them. At our

June 3, 2007

Christian Standard

What the Bible Says About the Body

By Paul E. Boatman The body. Artists draw, paint, and sculpt it. Exhibitionists display it. Pornographers exploit it. Oglers leer at it. Sadists abuse it. Physicians attempt to heal it. Aging adults bemoan it, at least their own edition of it. And God created it. The Bible knows little of Western society”s various obsessions with “the body,” yet it speaks prophetically and candidly to virtually every significant concern connected to the body. Avoiding Sin The Old Testament is uniformly matter of fact regarding the body. It is most clearly perceived as a physical entity, somehow entwined with God”s image, empowered

May 6, 2007

Christian Standard

Did We Lose Jesus” Tomb?

By David A. Fiensy Let”s face it. Jesus is big business. Writers and publishers have learned that producing a book on Jesus that in some way reduces his stature or revises traditional Christianity”s view of him can be a gold mine. Dan Brown”s The Da Vinci Code is only the most famous example of this genre. Others have also learned they can make millions of dollars off Jesus if the story is shocking enough. So we witness a continual discharge of sensationalist books, each new one trying to top the previous ones, each offering some scandalous secret about Jesus that

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