January 19, 2026
Doug Redford contrasts Seasonal Affective Disorder with “Sin’s Affective Disorder,” tracing darkness back to Eden and pointing to Jesus as the Light. Communion each Lord’s Day restores spiritual order and hope in Christ’s victory.
May 1, 2023
By Rudy Hagood God desires so much more for our marriages than just staying together. God’s original intent for marriage is found way back in Genesis—before sin came into the world, and well before “honey-do” lists and such sayings as “happy wife, happy life.” The secret sauce of Christian marital union is the power of God binding us together in an intimate union that includes Yahweh. And when two become one, the One (God) empowers the two. Marital unity is restoration of the paradise God created in the beginning. It’s part of the reconciling work of God. It is the
October 10, 2022
For many of us, though, confession is the most difficult kind of prayer. Why is it so difficult? Here are four reasons . . .
April 1, 2021
I visited many churches for various reasons during 2020. In quite a few houses of worship, I experienced roughly the same thing. As the doors opened, I could feel vibrations from the percussion and bass in my chest. The smell of coffee would drift toward my nose and awaken me. The welcoming team would greet me and ask about my week with genuine interest. “Don’t forget to check in on social media!” they would say. Sign-up sheets for “groups who do life together” and other activities to “get involved” were on strategically placed tables. Finally, I’d enter the sanctuary, grab
March 22, 2021
Luke mentioned three groups of skeptical witnesses to Jesus execution. None in those three groups of people understood that Jesus chose to die willingly. Nor did they imagine they could be freed from their lethal bondage because of his sacrifice.
February 22, 2021
By Stuart Powell As a child, did you ever try to hide from your parents after a disobedient act? Did you seek sanctuary somewhere in your house? Was it even a good hiding place? Such a foolish reaction stretches back to the beginning of sin on earth. When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them
February 20, 2020
Today we conclude this two-part article from 1940 explaining the “four aspects” of Alexander Campbell’s Bible study. Today’s article covers aspects three and four. _ _ _ Alexander Campbell’s Contribution to Bible Study (Part 2) By Howard Elmo Short, B.D. (Hartford);Minister, Church of Christ, Cuyahoga Falls, O.;February 10, 1940; p. 5 . . . There is no finer contribution that Mr. Campbell has made to Bible study than this insistence upon original thinking. How often we read, leafing through, just to find the “pet” verses which prove the point we are arguing at the moment! The admonition of Mr. Campbell
February 17, 2020
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. 2 (weeks 5-8; February 2-23, 2020) of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ________ Lesson Aim: Appreciate the tabernacle as a type of the redemption and sanctification available in Christ alone. ________ By Mark Scott How should we speak of “sacred space?” On the one hand, all space belongs to God, and therefore it is all sacred. Since God is infinite, what house could be built
December 23, 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. 13 (weeks 49-52; December 8—December 29, 2019) of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ________ Lesson Aim: Live in the sure hope of God’s promises. ________ By Mark Scott Dr. James Strauss from Lincoln Christian University said, “Isaiah 60-66 is the greatest eschatological section of the Old Testament.” It would seem so. Isaiah 60 celebrates the future glory of Israel in the coming light of the
January 28, 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. 1 (weeks 5–8; February 3–24, 2019) of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ Lesson Aim: Know that God is with you even when you make mistakes.. ______ By Mark Scott The word closer sums up much of the Bible’s content. God is always wanting to get closer to people. Even in our text today God is pictured as walking in the garden (near Adam and Eve) in the
August 27, 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. 9 (weeks 33–36; August 19—September 9, 2018) of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ Beginning with this batch of four lessons, the weekly Bible lessons are based on a scope and sequence prepared by Christian Standard Media. For more information, click here. ______ By Mark Scott Sin is a “knotty” problem. The word not appears three times in our lesson text (Genesis 3:1, 3, and 4). The
August 11, 2018
By Mel McGowan Mosaic Church in Winter Garden, Florida, opened their doors in 2003, but the church’s story began taking shape centuries before. In fact, it has the same origin we all do, the Garden of Eden, a paradise handcrafted by God for his beloved creations. Eden began as a perfect oasis that offered humankind everything we could ever need—and then it was broken by sin. And the shattered world that emerged was rescued by Jesus and restored for eternity. The heart of Mosaic’s story is summarized in three words: rescue, identity, and mission. And this story informs and describes
April 12, 2017
By Jim Tune Three men sat together. After ordering food, one began to open up. Men usually speak about safe topics: work, sports, family. This time the man took a risk and dropped the mask. He felt exposed. He felt shame. Genesis 2:25 describes Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden before the fall: “And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.” Kids and teens snicker at the verse. Later we begin to understand that we long for what Adam and Eve experienced: to be fully known and to be loved at the same
September 3, 2016
By Dennis Bakke For those of us who are followers of Christ, we know our purpose is to live holy lives and glorify God. And part of glorifying God is making known his kingdom and his ways. So how does our workplace fit into such a purpose? Should it be our primary mission field where we seek to carry out the Great Commission? Is it simply a means to provide for our families and earn enough money to support our church, missionaries, and parachurch organizations? Or is secular work””even for-profit business””the principle mission to which God calls many of us?
February 12, 2015
By Jason Yeatts We, as a society and a church, have unconsciously adopted an understanding of sexuality that does more harm than good. I”m not talking about our culture”s growing acceptance of homosexuality, but our acceptance of the idea of homosexuality. The two are quite different. We have picked up a language about sex that both perpetuates a wrong view of human identity and hinders the path of Christian discipleship. To understand how this has happened, we must first look at the human heart. When Scriptures declare, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10) and
November 10, 2014
This treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson is written by Sam E. Stone, former editor of CHRISTIAN STANDARD. It is published in the November 9 issue of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Sam E. Stone Last week”s study ended with Ezekiel 43:21. After that Ezekiel was given further instruction about those who would serve in the temple, the allotment of land, and priestly duties for various occasions. Now the prophet is back at the entrance to the temple. Worship in the kingdom of God is the future promised to all of the Lord”s people. One
April 25, 2014
By Jeff Faull Where is the Garden of Eden? Not the actual geographical description. You can read that in Genesis 2. Where is the garden now? What happened to it? Last we knew, it was in Genesis 3. Remember? Therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life (Genesis 3:23, 24, New
September 23, 2013
By Sam E. Stone After Noah and his family came out of the ark, they sought to follow God”s directions (Genesis 8, 9). Chapter 10 is sometimes called “The Table of Nations,” listing where the families of Noah”s sons settled after the flood. The chapter concludes, “These are the clans of Noah”s sons, according to their lines of descent, within their nations” (10:32). The Setting Genesis 11:1, 2 Noah”s descendants were evidently nomadic people. They moved south and east to the land of Shinar. At some point, they determined to build a city in the region around the area
August 2, 2013
By David Timms In 1938 and 1939, as war loomed in Europe, a young British stockbroker changed his plans from taking a skiing holiday in Switzerland to helping in a Jewish refugee camp in Czechoslovakia. With that last-minute change of plans, he was able to help rescue 669 Jewish children from Czechoslovakia just before the Nazis took control. He found those children new homes in England and raised funds to guarantee each child could return home when (and if) it became safe to do so. He also quietly recorded their names, the names of their new parents, and the addresses
August 20, 2006
By Tim Harlow I fulfilled a long-standing promise to my wife and took her to Hawaii for our 20th anniversary. We had never been to Hawaii together, and I have to tell you it is everything we expected. It is the Garden of Eden, as best I could imagine. It was like some kind of dream””perfect weather, tropical fruit, and hula people. But we had to come back to Chicago in February. There was something about the 100-degree shift in temperature (it was 15 below zero wind chill when we landed) that caused me to ask myself, How did this
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April 28, 2026
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April 28, 2026
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April 28, 2026
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