Articles for tag: Gift

Doctrinal Issues & Debates Theology & Bible

How Jesus Did Theology

By Casey Tygrett Jesus didn”t give us words about God. He lived as the Word of God. What does that show us about what impact God”s words should demonstrate in our lives? When I was a kid, I had an uncanny resemblance to my dad. Our facial structures, mannerisms, and senses of humor were so closely aligned that the folks in my small hometown knew whose I was before they knew who I was. They looked at me””my long angular nose and the way my eyebrows elevated and separated when I spoke””and they saw my father from years past. There

January 29, 2016

Ethics & Moral Issues

Contraception? One View

By Jack Cottrell This isÂ oneÂ of four views of contraception written by Bible college professors. Other views are written byÂ Phil Kenneson,Â Mark Weedman, andÂ Robert Pate. Is it moral for a married couple to use contraceptive devices to prevent pregnancy? By contraception we mean the prevention of conception, which is the fertilization of the ovum by the sperm. We do NOT mean the prevention of the implantation of a fertilized ovum””a newly formed baby””in the wall of the womb. This clarification is important because some so-called “contraceptives” do not necessarily prevent conception. Rather, they can allow the new baby to form, but then

January 18, 2016

Adoption & Foster Care Family & Relationships

Finding Favour

By Justin Horey Kirk Bolen likes to run marathons. It”s a goodÂ thing he does, because his family”s adoption journey lasted four years andÂ required more than 15,000 miles of international travel. Kirk and his wife, Amanda, didn”t plan to adopt. Kirk is a worship leader at Mountain Christian Church in Joppa, Maryland, and the couple has two biological sons: Asher, 7, and Eamon, 4. Around the time their second son was born, Kirk went to Uganda on a short-term mission trip with World Vision. While there, he took note of all the needy children he saw. Kirk recalls, “Everywhere we went,

January 8, 2016

Family & Relationships Parenting

Parenting Resources for Christians and Their Leaders

This list of parenting resources is a sidebar to Peter Buckland’s article, “Parents Are Primary.” ________ By Peter Buckland FOR PARENTS Teaching Your Children Healthy Sexuality: A Biblical Approach to Prepare Them for Life, by Jim Burns (Bloomington: Bethany House, 2008) This book provides valuable information for Christian parents regarding the sexual information that children need to know and how the biblical sexual ethic may be presented to them. SOS Help for Emotions: Managing Anxiety, Anger, and Depression, by Lynn Clark (Bowling Green: SOS Programs and Parent Press, revised in 2014) Practical steps are provided that enable parents to help

December 28, 2015

Meditating on Love: December 28

By Becky Ahlberg Monday, December 28 Perhaps the greatest Christmas text is also one of the most familiar to Christians: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” (John 3:16, 17). God so loved . . . so “agaped“ the world, he put his privilege, his position, and his power aside and gave. He did what was best for us, not

December 27, 2015

Meditating on Love: December 27

By Becky Ahlberg For many, especially church leaders, the Christmas season is more chaos than celebration. Besides the extra programs and parties, family responsibilities and expectations also expand. These short meditations (which started December 6 and will continue with a new, early morning post each day through January 1) are designed with leaders in mind. Take a few minutes each day to ponder these thoughts designed to help you find the wonder of the incarnation in the midst of your responsibilities. Advent is simply a time to prepare for the celebration of Christ”s birth. In liturgical settings, Advent begins four

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.Â 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

December 6, 2015

Worship Worship & Prayer

An Interview with Randy Gill

By Jennifer Johnson Randy Gill is the worship and creative arts minister at Otter Creek Church, a noninstrumental church of Christ in Nashville, Tennessee. He is also a songwriter and arranger for the ZOE Group. He talked with us about worship as spiritual formation, why exuberant worship experiences aren”t enough, and how the use of instruments makes worship planning more difficult. Let”s start by talking about some big-picture values for corporate worship before diving into the specifics of different artistic forms. You”ve said that worship is not about emotional catharsis or having an “experience”; it”s actually about spiritual formation. There

December 6, 2015

Meditating on Hope: December 6

By Becky Ahlberg For many, especially church leaders, Christmas is more chaos than celebration. Besides the extra programs and parties, family responsibilities and expectations also expand. These short meditations (starting today and continuing with a new, early morning post each day through January 1) are designed with leaders in mind. Take a few minutes each day to ponder these thoughts designed to help you find the wonder of the incarnation in the midst of your responsibilities. Advent is simply a time to prepare for the celebration of Christ”s birth. In liturgical settings, Advent begins four Sundays before Christmas and centers

November 27, 2015

Care & Counseling Grief & Suffering

Unexpected Encounters

Two days in the life of Â a volunteer hospital chaplain By Charlie Maloney One way I have served our community through the years is as a volunteer chaplain at our local hospital. When the hospital asked our ministerial association for volunteer help, I gladly accepted. I have the gift of compassion, and the hospital was only a mile from my church. Camarillo is a small, everyone-knows-everyone type of town. So this was a perfect way for me to contribute to the spiritual well-being of the place I have lived for 35 years. Stray Puppy One morning, as I was preparing

November 24, 2015

Mark A. Taylor

Stewardship & Generosity

Why Weren”t They More Thankful? (Part 2)

By Mark A. Taylor As we bustle through Thanksgiving with our eyes on Christmas, many of us Americans are counting the cost of our Christmas gift-giving. “Please bring a $25 item for the gift exchange.” “How much does your brother spend on us for Christmas?” “What will we give Sue and Bill? I can”t remember what they gave us last year.” The thread through most of this is a concern to “stay even,” a compulsion coming largely from pride (we don”t want to be seen as cheap) and selfishness (we have our own expenses, after all; we can”t let this

November 17, 2015

Mark A. Taylor

Stewardship & Generosity

Why Weren”t They More Thankful? (Part 1)

By Mark A. Taylor I love the family times, the meal times, the kick-off-the-holiday-season times that usually surround Thanksgiving Day. But every year as the holiday approaches, I”m tempted to wonder if we should change its name. Considering how most Americans actually celebrate, maybe we should call it Have a Crowd for Dinner Day or Shop Early for Big Savings Day or Watch Some Football Day. Don”t misunderstand. I don”t mean to be a grump. As I said, I”m grateful to have the day off and to spend it with people close to me. But I am a bit chagrined

November 7, 2015

Michael C. Mack

Church & Ministry Leadership Development

November Ministry Ideas

By Michael C. Mack November 21: National Adoption Day. Held the Saturday before Thanksgiving in all 50 states. On this day a number of courts and communities work together to finalize the adoptions of thousands of children in foster care. Ideas: Work with agencies in your community to support adoptions. Plan with adoptive parents in your church to advocate for adoption in your community. Plan your weekend services around adoption, inviting adoptive families from the community. Speak about God adopting Christians as his children (Romans 8:15, 23; Galatians 4:5) in your sermon or Sunday school lessons. November 27: Black Friday.

October 30, 2015

Majestic Quietness

By Greg Swinney Several international students were traveling together to the Rocky Mountains for a weekend excursion during their university”s fall break. In preparation for the trip, they read travel magazines and browsed websites that described the grandeur of the mountains. Inside the church van, the international students asked their American friends about the elevation, climate, and vegetation of the Rockies. The excitement was contagious as the van motored west. As the van crested a small hill, the students got their first glimpse of the mountains in the distance. They grabbed their cameras and noisy conversations stopped. Most students were

September 28, 2015

New Testament Theology & Bible

Lesson for October 4, 2015: Simon Is Rebuked (Acts 8:9-25)

Dr. Mark Scott wrote this treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson. Scott teachesÂ preaching and New Testament at Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri, and has held preaching ministries in Missouri, Illinois, and Colorado. This lesson treatment is published in the September 27 issue ofÂ The LookoutÂ magazine, and is also available online atÂ www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Mark ScottÂ The four lessons of October focus on the two most famous apostles (Peter and Paul) giving bold testimony. Three of the lessons focus on Peter”s bold testimony. Peter used Jesus” “keys” (Matthew 16:19) to open the door of faith to the Jews (Acts 2:1-47). Now

September 4, 2015

The Power of One

By Tom Ellsworth One really can make a difference. It was a sweltering election afternoon in 1842 when Hoosier farmer Henry Shoemaker finally realized he hadn”t voted yet. Shoemaker had personally promised state representative candidate Madison Marsh he would cast his vote for him, so he saddled his horse and hurried to Kendallville before the polls closed. When the votes were counted, Marsh and his opponent, Enos Beall, were tied. There was one contested ballot, and it was Shoemaker”s. When his vote was finally admitted, the tie was broken, and Marsh was declared the winner . . . by one

September 3, 2015

Work: A Part of God”s Plan

Book Review by Bert Crabbe Every Good Endeavor: ConnectingÂ Your Work to God”s Work Timothy Keller Dutton (Penguin Group USA), 2012 Tim Keller, lead pastor of New York City”s Redeemer Presbyterian Church, possesses a unique ability to cause his readers to see things from a perspective not their own. Opening up Every Good Endeavor, I thought I had a pretty good bead on the place of work in the life of a Christian. Keller, as he so often does, led me to another level of theological thought. Work is sometimes considered a result of the fall of man, a punitive addition

September 3, 2015

Our Work, God”s Work

By Aaron Wymer All of Scripture lifts up the valueÂ of””and God”s role in””our work. When it”s time to work, whatever the shape and substance of your vocation, you may yearn for “Big Rock Candy Mountain,” where they “hung the jerk that invented work.” But the old song about a hobo”s paradise that doesn”t include work is an entirely different vision of paradise than we get in Scripture. From Genesis to Revelation, Scripture is not shy about addressing work. Some texts are exceedingly practical, such as 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15. Here the apostle Paul is fed up with lazy and idle Christians,

May 5, 2015

Mark A. Taylor