We have a battle to fight, but we can gain the victory if we find our strength in the Lord, if we know who the real enemy is, if we get dressed with God’s armor, and if we pray like crazy.
October 14, 2024
In the war in Revelation 12 there is heaven’s strategy and earth’s strategy. The vision of Revelation 12 is about a battle between God and Satan.
Spiritual disciplines, by themselves, do not bring about the spiritual transformation God seeks in our hearts.
July 11, 2022
This section on the return of Christ (beginning in 1 Thessalonians 4:13) is one of the longest in the New Testament. Evidently some of the believers felt as if those who had died before the return of Jesus would miss out on his second coming. Paul was writing to correct that fallacious thinking.
June 10, 2019
Dr. Mark Scott wrote this treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson. Scott teaches preaching and New Testament at Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri. This lesson treatment is published in issue no. 5 (weeks 21-24; May 26–June 16, 2019) of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ Lesson Aim: Stand strong in the power of the Lord against the forces of evil. ______ By Mark Scott The scholar Oscar Cullmann distinguished Good Friday from the Second Coming with an analogy. He likened Calvary to D-Day and the Second Coming to V-Day. D-Day was a decisive battle in WWII
May 22, 2019
Training Multiple Generations of Women to Carry Their Swords and Use Them Properly By Megan Rawlings The alarm wakes me early on a Saturday morning. A few minutes later, I grab my Bible and race out the door, headed to a Bob Evans an hour away. I pray as I drive, asking God for boldness and that my millennial heart will be content with him receiving all the glory. I walk into the bustling restaurant and sit down in a booth across from a new disciple of Christ. The waitress brings me my usual, a cup of half coffee, half
November 20, 2018
(For use Sunday, November 25) By Lena Wood Tomorrow is Cyber Monday, a day of exceptional online bargains. Nowadays you can do all your Christmas shopping from home, sitting on the couch in your robe, having coffee and scrambled eggs. No more “shop ’til you drop”; now you have the option to “plop and shop.” After buying presents for loved ones on Cyber Monday, Giving Tuesday lets you enjoy another kind of generosity that carries no expectation of material return, a chance to experience a deep principle: Giving is better than receiving. So, what should we call today, the day
November 6, 2018
By Lena Wood It’s a kind of tradition: When folks meet a veteran wearing a cap with the words World War II, Korea, or Vietnam, they often say, “Thank you for your service, Sir.” His response might be a quiet nod, a smile, or, “You’re welcome.” Now, this is a true story, and let’s imagine it happened to you. It’s Veteran’s Day and a small, older man comes to your place of business. Occasionally you greet veterans with the traditional thanks, but other employees are doing the same today, and you don’t want to sound redundant. However, this little man’s
October 30, 2018
By Lena Wood In mid-November the International Conference on Missions will meet in Cincinnati. Thousands will gather, as they have for 70 years. Friends will reconnect from all over the world. They might share an Italian meal at the hotel, a breakfast of French roast coffee and croissants, or an Asian feast at a Japanese steakhouse. Almost anywhere in the world nowadays you can partake of meals from . . . almost anywhere. If we were to have a fellowship meal here and each of you brought food from the farthest place you’d ever been, what kind of ethnic meal
September 28, 2018
E2: Effective Elders Blog Editor’s Note: Each Friday we publish a new blog post from our partners in ministry, E2: Effective Elders. We publish it here simultaneous to E2’s posting on their site. The leaders of E2 write an article for our print and online magazine every month as well. Those articles are full of wisdom and practical help for elders. Please check them out! _____ By Larry Carter Richard Baxter, a preacher who lived in the 1600s, wrote a book to help church leaders understand the nature and task of ministry. Among his many wise instructions and observations in The
February 16, 2015
This treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson is written by Sam E. Stone, former editor of CHRISTIAN STANDARD. It is published in the February 15 issue of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Sam E. Stone Today we complete this quarter”s survey of practical help for Christian living. Having considered such themes as worship, prayer, and stewardship, we now focus on the reality of the believer”s battle with the devil. William Hendriksen pointed out Paul”s emphasis on the source of power for believers: “Apart from Christ, Christians can accomplish nothing at all (John 15:1-5). They are like
April 15, 2013
By Sam E. Stone The apostle Paul founded the church in Thessalonica on his second missionary journey (Acts 17). Because he was not able to stay with the new converts as long as he would have liked, he continued to instruct them by letter. A central theme in both epistles to the Thessalonians is the topic of today”s study””the return of Jesus Christ. Return 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 Paul describes Christians who have already died as those who sleep in death. In the New Testament, death is often compared to sleep for the believer (Luke 8:52; John 11:11; Acts 7:60).
July 27, 2008
By Knofel Staton Is “Christ yes, but the church no” viable? How about, “I”ll support Christ, but not the church?” Is that really possible? The Korean War was in full swing when I graduated from high school, so I enlisted in the Air Force. During boot camp, the military career counselor told me, “Your aptitude test reveals you would make a good control tower operator; may I request that for you?” There were several things about his statement I didn”t understand: (1) I did not know I had taken an aptitude test; (2) I had no idea what the word
March 27, 2026
Rick Cherok
March 27, 2026
David Empson
March 27, 2026
David Faust