November 6, 2025
At The Solomon Foundation, we believe that ministry is all about relationships. We invest in them with both individuals and with churches. We have no desire to be your bank; we want to be your ministry partner.
March 31, 2025
Easter and Christmas are the two most recognized Christian holidays. Consider the different outcomes of Christmas and Easter by reflecting on how Jesus “came out” of, first, the womb of Mary at his birth; and second, the tomb at his resurrection.
March 2, 2025
Has your faith become complacent? Is your lifestyle a bit too predictable and comfortable? Is the Lord nudging you to do more, give more, or risk more? Don’t quit if the Lord wants you to walk a little farther.
October 9, 2023
It’s been said, “When the Lord starts blessin’, the devil starts messin.’” Right when the gospel was taking root and “the number of disciples was increasing” (Acts 6:1), an internal dispute threatened the fledgling church. . . .
Biblical archaeology goes digital in Erika Brown’s "Just So You Know" YouTube videos designed for those with little knowledge of the Bible. Brown is a PhD student studying at Lipscomb University's Lanier Center of Biblical Archaeology.
December 12, 2022
Apparently there has been some debate about the meaning of "koinonia" (Christian fellowship/community) as described in Acts 2:42 and the rest of the New Testament. I didn’t know that . . . until I listened to a recent podcast on the topic. . . .
September 1, 2022
By Michael C. Mack Never has our culture been more perplexed about how to answer the seemingly simple question, “Who am I?” It’s hardly a surprise: The more the world drifts from the Creator, the more people struggle with their identity. We lose our sense of who we are when we forget whose we are. Satan is complicit, of course, in this case of identity theft. In this issue, we address various matters of identity today. Our writers look at identity biblically, speaking truth in love, with a positive, humble attitude. And we hope our readers will have a similar
KCU's president is concerned we are inadvertently deemphasizing the biblical concept of the offering as worship.
November 20, 2020
By Quentin Mumphery We are living in unprecedented times. A global pandemic forced us to re-envision life as we know it. Centuries-old racial tension forced this nation to wrestle with its original sin. Economic uncertainty. Businesses shuttering. Political polarization. Quarantining. Social distancing. All of these things created a “perfect storm.” The church has not been exempt from the volatility and uncertainty, yet the church is called to be a beacon of light and hope. A city upon a hill. But how do we provide light in darkness when we are wrestling with these sobering realities? How is the church, the
September 22, 2020
By Megan Rawlings The Black Death was caused by bacterium and was initially spread by fleas. Starting in Asia (most likely), it spread to Eurasia and North Africa in the mid-1300s, and eventually the plague killed up to one-quarter of the world’s population in about four years. At least 100 million people died. And to think, it was spread by a pest barely visible to the eye. I will spare you the details, but the symptoms of this virus were devastating, and death usually occurred only weeks, sometimes days, after the first symptoms. It was not uncommon for the ill
September 22, 2020
By Jerry Harris The church established in Acts 2 identified two sacred observances: baptism, which was discussed in week 1 of this series (May 2020), and Communion, termed “the breaking of bread” in Acts 2:42, that this article discusses. The word sacred is used to describe baptism and Communion for a reason. These rituals are often labeled as “ordinances,” but they are much more than obligations to adhere to, for they possess an aspect of holiness that connect us to the blood of a sacrifice. This blood is connected to both cleansing and the forgiveness of sin (Hebrews 9:22), meaning
May 17, 2020
By Tyler McKenzie I was born, raised, baptized, and ordained in Restoration Movement churches. I’ve served all my years in ministry in the Restoration Movement. I married a Restoration Movement girl. I got a Restoration Movement degree. I’m Restoration Movement tried and true. But that’s not why I love our movement. I love the Restoration Movement for what it stands for. It is a movement of churches aiming to restore the dynamic life of the first church in Acts. That church is worth restoring. It’s a movement marked by the pioneering grit of Jesus’ apostles trying to establish Jesus’ church
March 20, 2020
Editor’s Note: Jeff Vines, lead pastor of ONE&ALL Church in San Dimas, Calif., shared these thoughts concerning the COVID-19 outbreak with his church. With his permission, we have decided to share it with our readers. _ _ _ By Jeff Vines I love my church, although ONE&ALL church does not belong to me. I love the people who attend, the staff who diligently make this engine run, and the executive team and elders who give so much of themselves to the cause of Christ. During this coronavirus pandemic, our leaders and servants have stepped up to lead and serve. I’m
June 22, 2019
By Wes Sebree Not even an extremely gifted communicator can rival experience as a teacher. My good friend Mike would add, “Truth is discovered, not downloaded.” In other words, truth must be experienced to take root. If these statements are accurate—and they are—we need to consider whether we want to proclaim the truth or whether we want to equip people to live faithfully. The first can be accomplished without doing the second. Additionally, equating information transfer with spiritual growth robs Christ’s body of experiencing God’s truth and love in tangible ways. This results in a subtle brand of gnosticism where
February 26, 2019
By Stuart Powell When Christians gather to partake of the bread and the cup, we have one key focus: remembering Jesus. Our Lord instructed his followers to do this. “Then he took bread, and after giving thanks he broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me’” (Luke 22:19, New English Translation). Most of us celebrate Communion in a comfortable, modern building, but have you considered how our setting compares to those of earlier generations? Paul offers a clue to this in his second letter to
September 4, 2018
By Mandy Smith We don’t know as much about Timothy as we do the apostle Paul, but we know Paul trusted Timothy deeply. Paul sent Timothy as his representative to churches he had planted. Paul listed Timothy as a co-sender of several of his letters, and the New Testament includes two letters Paul wrote directly to Timothy. In them, we get a picture of a trustworthy and incredibly faithful young leader who had an important role in the development of the early church. So it’s significant Paul remembered the source of Timothy’s faith. In his second letter to Timothy, Paul
August 27, 2018
By Gary L. Johnson The very first church was in the heart of a world capital. Thousands of people were part of “First Christian Church—Jerusalem.” In every sense of the word, FCC—Jerusalem was an urban church. Members worked and lived in close quarters, on streets teeming with thousands of people who were not fellow believers in Jesus Christ. These first-century believers were strong salt and bright light to their family members, neighbors, coworkers, and friends who had rejected Jesus. Some things never change. Many of us live in cities teeming with people who are far from God. The churches we
August 6, 2018
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. 7 (weeks 25–28; July 22—August 12, 2018) of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Mark Scott Three activities occupied center stage for the earliest church in the book of Acts. Those three activities were preaching the gospel, baptizing the converts, and planting the church. But running under the radar of those three was the collection for the saints. Jesus had taught his disciples to care for
January 19, 2018
By Michael C. Mack “If today’s church does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authenticity, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century. Every day I meet young people whose disappointment with the church has turned into outright disgust.” Dr. Martin Luther King wrote these words in his “Letter from Birmingham Jail” on April 16, 1963. Now, nearly 55 years later, his words seem prophetic. King’s letter was in response to eight white Alabama clergy members who wrote a letter asking
October 19, 2017
By Michael C. Mack As I edited this month”s articles about international missions and ministry, I noticed a trend. Most of our writers either quoted or referred to the Great Commission, namely Matthew 28:18-20, some in the first sentence or two. That makes sense. When we think about taking the gospel into all the world, we naturally think of this primary passage.  I hope this doesn”t sound sacrilegious, but we deleted that Scripture from some of the articles. Why? For one thing, we didn”t want the articles to become redundant, but also, we figure you know this verse well. I”m
March 27, 2026
Rick Cherok
March 27, 2026
David Empson
March 27, 2026
David Faust