December 21, 2025
The Time a Family Bought Me a Christmas Tree
Bryan Sands recalls the joy he experienced when a Christmas tree was given to him and how it reminds him of God's great compassion.
Articles for tag: Empathy
January 3, 2022
Jan. 9 | Application
In Romans 1, the apostle Paul lowers the hammer of God’s righteous wrath on Gentile sinners. Then in Romans 2, Paul pivots toward his Jewish readers . . .
June 1, 2020
Lesson for June 7, 2020: The Look of True Friendship (Job 16:1-5, 15-21; 6:12-17)
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 the June 2020 issue of Christian Standard + The Lookout. (Subscribe to our print edition.) ________ COMPANION RESOURCES: Application: “Down in the Dirt with Your Friends,” by David Faust Discovery Questions ________ Lesson Aim: Be a comforting friend rather than a miserable comforter. ________ By Mark Scott Karl Ketcherside said, “It’s one thing to have salt rubbed in your wound; it’s another thing to be billed for the salt.” That
May 27, 2017
The Culture of Certainty
By Joe Boyd Something has been gnawing at me for more than a year. It”s been hard to put into words, but it”s a frustration that seems ever present. I feel it when I turn on Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC. It”s there at work. It”s also present at church. Ever present. Everywhere. For lack of a better way to label it, I”m going to call it the “culture of certainty.” It just seems to me there is no room in any of our political, social, or religious conversations to be unsure, let alone to be wrong. I once heard
January 7, 2016
Searching for a Sign
By Jennifer Johnson At dinner the other night, Nina asked, “If a deaf person never hears language spoken, does he still think in words?” Interestingly, I had just talked to Chad Entinger earlier that week about these very concepts””which had blown my mind. I proceeded to blow hers, explaining that deaf people aren”t just signing everything we”re saying, the order of the ideas may be signed differently than we would say them, and there are many different sign languages just as there are many spoken ones. “But wait””everybody has trees. Why don”t they all have the same sign for tree?”
December 21, 2015
The Gift That Changed My Life
By Joe Boyd Our culture creates expectations around Christmas. One of the greatest of these is gift giving. When done out of compulsion, giving gifts can become an unhealthy habit. However, when done in love, a gift can change a life. About a dozen years ago my wife, Debbie, gave me the most transformative gift I have ever received. It changed the trajectory of my life (and hers) forever. I”m not setting you up to talk about the birth of my kids here. I am talking about a normal, regular old traditional Christmas gift that changed everything. She had no
November 20, 2015
My Thoughts on Paris
By Joe Boyd I was in New York City for business meetings the Friday night of the attacks in Paris. After returning home, my wife and I began to discuss things. I wasn”t a very good conversationalist. (She”s used to that.) I was tired from a long week at work. I was also, like so many, confused about the state of the world and afraid that things would escalate. She asked me to write what I was thinking, suggesting it might help people process. (Maybe she just wanted me to process.) I quickly jotted my thoughts down in my personal
April 18, 2015
Are You Feeling Better?
By Danielle Hance Whether we”re battling chronic illness, mourning a loved one, going through separation, or any number of other painful periods, we all need support. Unfortunately, our efforts to bring comfort often miss the mark. Like the advice offered by Job”s friends, our good intentions can sometimes do more harm then good. Not sure how to support a friend in distress? Here are some bad and better approaches. BAD: “Are you feeling better?” This question practically demands an affirmative response. People expect those who are sick to get well, not worse. This may lead sufferers to feel they are
February 25, 2015
A Little More Substance, Please!
By Jim Tune We cannot cry over a story we don”t know. That much I”m sure of. Events in Ferguson, Missouri, the Eric Garner tragedy in New York City, and other controversial stories divide and confuse. I often wish I had more of the facts behind these tragedies. Something tells me I would respond more appropriately if I knew the people””the victims, the police officers, the circumstances. Even then, as a white male and beneficiary of a host of advantages since birth, there are gaps in my experience that cannot be easily closed. Empathy is in short supply in the
October 1, 2014
At the Movies
By Jim Tune I”ve never been a television junkie. Five years ago a lightning strike took out our dish. We never replaced it. I don”t have a Netflix subscription either. I tend to be very selective about what I watch. Every summer my wife and I spend most of August at a secluded cabin on Cape Breton Island. We have a small television set there and a $30 DVD player. Most of our “media” consists of a steady diet of summer reading. However, we have allowed ourselves the indulgence of catching up on popular television series and movies. Based on
August 3, 2014
Gut Feelings
By Jennifer Johnson Scientists have told us for years there is a strong link between our feelings and the state of our stomach. The “enteric nervous system,” or ENS, in our digestive system has sometimes been called the “second brain,” and a 2013 study found that introducing different bacteria to the stomach can cause changes to our emotions. Chalk one more up for the ancient Greeks; long before today”s research, they”d coined the word splagna, which roughly translates to “compassion” but literally means one”s guts. They knew that when we feel empathy in our hearts, we can also feel it
July 15, 2014
Suffering All Around
By Dusty Rubeck (From our series “The Best or Worst Advice I”ve Ever Received.”) About 15 years ago a wise older man on one of my boards told me, “Dusty, never underestimate the level of human suffering that exists in our world.” Then he repeated it. Again and again and again and again. Obviously, he could see this young leader wasn”t getting it. Now I do. Don, wherever you are, “Thank you.” I wish I”d listened more carefully back then. I see it now. You cannot turn in any direction without running into people who are suffering unimaginable pain (physical,
April 4, 2012
A Poor Man”s Wish for His Christian Friends
By Anonymous It is normal to desire health and blessings for our friends and loved ones. Especially in these hard economic times, it is natural to wish prosperity for one another. But I can no longer bring myself to wish for that. In defiance of the Old Testament prophets and Jesus himself, our culture has equated financial prosperity with God”s favor. And, as the Pharisees before us, we seem to have similarly concluded that poverty is the mark of unworthiness. The poor do not deserve our help. Recently I have been assaulted one too many times by condescending e-mails, forwarded
