Articles for tag: Freedom

April 24, 2017

Christian Standard

The Best Sermon I”ve Ever Heard (22)

By Arron Chambers Christian leaders, some of them preachers themselves, tell us about a sermon they can”t forget””and maybe you won”t either. Tim Sutherland Tim Sutherland is a third-generation Christian church minister. (His father, Joe, taught at Emmanuel School of Religion, Johnson City, Tennessee, for many years and his grandfather graduated from Johnson Bible College””now Johnson University””in 1921.) He was baptized at Greenwood Christian Church in Canton, Ohio, in 1970. Tim was a teaching team leader for many years at Community Christian Church, Naperville, Illinois, and is currently president and CEO of Sutherland Strategic Staffing, a pre-employment assessment service. He

April 24, 2017

Christian Standard

Lesson for April 30, 2017: Protecting Love (John 10:1-15)

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 April 23, 2017, issue of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Mark Scott  John”s Gospel is rich in metaphor. A key verse in our text today is v. 6: Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them. One would think that Pharisees could understand the protecting love metaphors of gates and sheep, given their culture and biblical history. Sometimes

April 23, 2017

Christian Standard

Fear Knot

By Eddie Lowen How to untangle boldness, fear, and pride. I wonder how Pharaoh and his crew sized up Moses when he barged into their presence. Did Moses look “fresh from the farm” after decades of rural ranching? No doubt, age and circumstance had altered Moses” appearance. Those easy childhood years as adopted grandson of an earlier king were long gone. However, what Moses lacked in fashion and grooming, he overcame with boldness. True, he hedged at the burning bush. Yet something had shifted in him. His presence was amplified by another presence. Aaron went along because Moses lacked confidence as

April 10, 2017

Christian Standard

Lesson for April 16, 2017: Victorious Love (John 19:38-42; 20:1-10; 1 Peter 1:3-9)

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 April 9, 2017, issue of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Mark Scott  God”s victorious love unites with his resurrection power to bring life out of death. Out of the watery chaotic mass of the earth God brought light (Genesis 1:2, 3). Out of the death of Egyptian bondage God brought a new people (Exodus 14:30, 31). Out of the Babylonian exile God brought a remnant home (Ezra

March 28, 2017

Mark A. Taylor

Not Happy? Don”t Worry

By Mark A. Taylor Just when you think the world is beyond hope, here comes the United Nations trying to bring a smile. Did you know that Monday last week, March 20, was International Day of Happiness? Did you know it was the fourth such day, having been “adopted by consensus of all 193 member states of the United Nations” on June 28, 2012? Did you miss your local International Day of Happiness celebration? If so, I”m right there with you. Maybe Americans don”t make much of celebrating happiness, because, according the U.N.”s World Happiness Report 2017, the United States

February 23, 2017

Christian Standard

Finding JOY in the Journey

By Rick Chromey How God helped me turn temptation, trouble, and trial into blessing and beauty. Life is a carnival of temptations and troubles. We all walk wounded with hurts, habits, and hang-ups. We”re stuck in moments we can”t escape, desperately addicted to vices and voices we can no longer ignore, resist, or deny. I suffered with my pain for many decades. Life for most of us is tattooed by loss, tragedy, abuse, neglect, or abandonment. Maybe you”ve endured an affair or addiction. Maybe you suffered salacious ridicule, unjust criticism, and unfounded rumors. Perhaps you”ve been unexpectantly fired, forcibly retired, or unfairly

February 20, 2017

Christian Standard

Lesson for February 26, 2017: Christ Creates Holy Living (Galatians 5:18″“6:10)

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 February 19, 2017, issue of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Mark Scott  Jesus taught that good trees bear good fruit and bad trees bear bad fruit (Matthew 7:18). Christian freedom allows believers to bear fruit like healthy bushes and trees. Christians are to live in moral excellence. But this is not so we can look at others with moral smugness, but rather so we can serve others

January 13, 2017

Christian Standard

Helping Ministry Leaders Develop Skills, Relationships

By Jennifer Johnson This month, more than a dozen pastors in the Greater Los Angeles area will begin a journey of learning, leadership, and change as Pepperdine University (Malibu, CA) kicks off its second Communitas cohort. The program, which began as part of the Lilly Endowment, is designed to connect senior leaders who have served in ministry for 5 to 10 years and help them develop greater leadership skills; grow in their understanding of significant issues facing their communities; build networks with civic, business, and political leaders throughout the city; and develop strong relationships with each other. “Lilly discovered there

December 31, 2016

Christian Standard

These Speakers Are Writers

By LeRoy Lawson Unashamed: Drop the Baggage, Pick Up Your Freedom, Fulfill Your Destiny Christine Caine Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2016 The Scent of Water: Grace for Every Kind of Broken Naomi Zacharias Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2011 Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World Bob Goff Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2012 The Serengeti Rules: The Quest to Discover How Life Works and Why It Matters Sean B. Carroll Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2016 I had the good fortune to attend the 2016 North American Christian Convention in Anaheim, California. I can”t remember an NACC that was more upbeat, more focused

December 8, 2016

Christian Standard

An Incomprehensible Grace: Interview with Naomi Zacharias

By Jeff Vines Her work with abused and suffering women worldwide has spread hope and helped her experience healing herself. Naomi Zacharias blew into the foyer of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM) 10 minutes late. She had been caught in a typical Atlanta, Georgia, traffic snarl. With a large drink and a half-eaten sandwich in her hands, she was on the move. She greeted me and then escorted me to her office, making sure the door was left open to remove any question of impropriety. I was immediately impressed. I wondered if Naomi, the daughter of perhaps one of the

November 18, 2016

Christian Standard

A Clear Conscience

By Diane Stortz Have you ever longed for a clear conscience? A man named Saul had reason to think about this too. Before Saul became a believer, he zealously persecuted Christians””rounding them up and throwing them in prison, standing by as a crowd of angry Jews stoned and killed a young believer named Stephen. Then Saul met Jesus on the road to Damascus. Saul became Paul the apostle, one of the leaders of the early church and the writer of much of the New Testament. As Paul looked back at his life, he called himself the worst of sinners (1

November 8, 2016

Mark A. Taylor

Tomorrow

By Mark A. Taylor Here”s a theme song for every upset voter in America. With Annie in the musical of the same name, we can sing, “The sun”ll come out tomorrow.” That was Peggy Noonan’s theme in her post for The Wall Street Journal last week: “Someone is going to win Tuesday,” she said, and then with tongue in cheek added: “If trendlines that have proved reliable in the past continue, the sun will come up on Wednesday. (We claim this with a 3 percent margin of error.)” Max Lucado was looking ahead to tomorrow, too, when he wrote “My

October 31, 2016

Christian Standard

The Best Sermon I’ve Ever Heard (17)

By Arron Chambers Christian leaders, some of them preachers themselves, tell us about a sermon they can”t forget””and maybe you won”t either. Barry Cameron  Barry L. Cameron has been senior pastor of Crossroads in Grand Prairie, Texas, since 1992 when the church was averaging 188 in morning worship. Today, more than 7,500 people call Crossroads their church home. Cameron is a second-generation pastor. He and his wife, Janis, have three children: Katie, Matt, and Kelli, and a daughter-in-law, Lindley. They also have two grandsons, Will and Levi. He”s the author of the bestseller, The ABCs of Financial Freedom. He also

October 17, 2016

Christian Standard

Faith & Virtue

How and Why America Is Still Searching By Neal Windham I fear that our ability””maybe even our desire””for dialogue is gone. What does this mean for a people whose first and greatest prayer is, “Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven”? I live and dwell and have my being in a nation that”s been in search mode for better than 50 years. Long before Google, in the decade of the Kennedys and Vietnam, of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Greenwich Village and Haight-Ashbury, Americans were engulfed in a search for what it means to be a free

October 2, 2016

Christian Standard

Be the Lead Servant

By Eddie Lowen A question for church leaders: Do you make time to worry about whether or not people think you”re inclined to serve? I met the world”s best restaurant server. From the moment he approached our table, he was the personification of service. He flawlessly memorized orders. He was fast without seeming hurried, informative without being verbose. He was genuinely friendly. He succinctly offered great recommendations, anticipated all we needed, and even kept the table from becoming cluttered. But what registered with me strongest was that he enjoyed taking care of us. His final words were, “I”m glad I

September 16, 2016

Christian Standard

Lead to Freedom

By Brian Jennings When Israel returned home after 70 years of captivity, their walls lay in ruins, their memories of God”s Law had faded, and their citizens were vulnerable. Without leadership, everything might have crumbled again. Ezra and Nehemiah emerged as two of the greatest leaders in Scripture. While dozens of leadership principles ripple through this story, here are four essential ones for leading people to freedom. 1. Lead by Studying “For Ezra had devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law of the Lord, and to teaching its decrees and laws in Israel” (Ezra 7:10). The word

August 31, 2016

Christian Standard

In ALL Things, Love

By Jim Tune For as long as I can remember, our movement has gravitated toward a familiar slogan: “In essentials, unity; in opinions, liberty; and in all things, love.” Still, we often find it difficult to offer liberty when our opinions clash, and the list of essentials varies from person to person and from church to church. One might expect that familiarity with such a gracious slogan would tilt us strongly toward accepting one another”s differences and respecting the cherished convictions of brothers and sisters who see things differently. However, our movement has been as vulnerable to division, splits, and

July 29, 2016

Christian Standard

Better Than a Lesbian Lifestyle

By Roger Worsham Michelle was raised in an abusive home by an extremely narcissistic mom. When she was 9 her mom married for the fifth time. This stepfather was abusive, like some of the others, and molested Michelle from age 9 to 13. When she told her mother about the molestation, her mother refused to believe her. She told Michelle, “You are too ugly for him to be interested in having sex with you.” Later Michelle”s mom remarried again. This marriage didn”t last. Michelle”s mom stole a check from her estranged sixth husband, and he sent another woman to collect

July 15, 2016

Christian Standard

Bring It to the Table

By Nancy Karpenske “Bring it to the table.” You might hear the phrase in any one of several settings. A project manager where you work might say, “Bring it to the table.” He means you have an idea or a concern that should be examined and discussed. Until a problem is “brought to the table,” it can”t be solved. The Lord”s table is a safe place. You can bring your messiness and brokenness. You can bring your problems and worries. One of the most comforting descriptions of Jesus (although originally offered as a criticism) was, “He eats with sinners.” Sometimes

June 20, 2016

Christian Standard

We Have a Dream!

By Dudley Rutherford The idea for Dream of Destiny came to me in the summer of 2007 after I downloaded a photograph of Dr. Martin Luther King speaking to the crowd at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., during his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. Attended by some 250,000 people on August 28, 1963, it was the largest demonstration ever seen in the nation”s capital, and one of the first to have extensive television coverage. I made this iconic photo my computer”s screensaver and noticed something I had not been aware of previously. I noticed there were many Caucasians

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