November 28, 2023
"If you’re like me, when you hear the word 'disciples' you picture the [twelve] apostles," Dr. Holly J. Carey writes. "[But] Among those faithful followers were a remarkable number of women. . . . Often, these women’s stories were told because they represented the kinds of actions Jesus expected of his followers. Most women in the Gospels serve as role models for the audience." . . .
November 11, 2022
The multi-season streaming series "The Chosen" takes enormous artistic liberties with the historical facts of the Gospels. However, it convincingly portrays Jesus as enigmatically both human and divine.
November 1, 2022
By Michael C. Mack Who doesn’t love a gripping story of adventure told by a master storyteller? Some of my favorites are epic sagas: Star Wars, Indiana Jones, National Treasure, and the like. I was reminded about the adventures of the Pilgrims as I read Bob Russell’s feature article about Thanksgiving in this issue. It’s a true story about religious convictions, bravery, suffering, perseverance, and faith. God uses stories like that to teach us and transform us. It’s why Bob used this and a story about his grandson Charlie in his article, and it’s why I often remind our writers
November 8, 2021
Pastor and teacher Mark E. Moore is releasing a follow-up to his popular "Core 52" books next week. "Quest 52: A Fifteen-Minute-a-Day Yearlong Pursuit of Jesus" will be released Nov. 16, along with a “Student Edition” version of the book.
May 22, 2019
Christian Standard’s sister publication The Lookout offers a daily Bible reading plan to walk you through the entire Bible in one year. The Daily Reading Plan can be found for free at lookoutmag.com/resources, or you can connect to the plan using the You Version Bible App. In the app, simply go to Plans and search for “The Lookout.” The plan provides a selection of Scripture reading for 6 days per week. Subscribers to The Lookout will find the Bible Reading Plan in the print magazine, with a small accompanying daily devotional. These can also be found in the free digital
February 22, 2018
By Michael C. Mack My life started changing while I was preparing for Christmas in 1987. While I was decorating my apartment, trimming my tree, and wrapping presents to celebrate Jesus’ coming into the world, I realized· he wasn’t really in my world. About that time, I took a class on stress and time management. We were to prioritize our “guiding values,’’ those things in our lives—like job security, financial success, good friends, and faith—that are most important to us. I learned that my leading values were faith and creativity, both of which had little to do with my job
May 28, 2015
By Scott Caulley How long has it been since you really read the Gospels? Maybe, like I, you remember stories about Jesus brought to “life” with flannelgraph figures in Sunday school classes. Because of my upbringing, I am blessed with wonderful memories of Jesus with the lost sheep, Jesus with the man born blind, Jesus and the lame man lowered through the roof by his faithful friends. And maybe you, like I, have heard many sermons taken from these Gospel stories. For us, as well as for children, these stories are brief, action filled, and work well as freestanding units.
October 25, 2014
By Mark Matson If I had to choose just one Bible handbook to accompany solid Bible study, it would be How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth (Zondervan) by Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart, both well-known and respected biblical scholars. This book, now in its third edition, has proven itself over three decades. The first edition, which came out in 1981, is still valuable, and the latest edition is a real treat. I use this book for college and seminary classes, and I also recommend it to my church. Fee and Stuart”s book is not a handbook, as
October 23, 2014
By Bob Mink Since Jesus was the greatest person who ever lived, and the Gospels are four of the most important pieces of literature ever written, it is not surprising that so many books have been written about them. And these books were written with a variety of purposes. The Bible student should consider these purposes when choosing a book for Gospels study. For a basic and quality introduction and overview of the life of Jesus presented in the Gospels, I recommend Paul Johnson”s Jesus: A Biography from a Believer (Penguin Books, 2010). In his introduction, Johnson describes the book
February 17, 2014
By Matt Myers Chandler Christian Church set out to help people know Jesus like never before. Going through The Story in 2011 was a life-changing experience for our church. People who had always struggled to read anything, much less the Bible, were not only reading Scripture but sharing it with people they knew. Simply putting God”s Word into story format enabled people to overcome that “Bible intimidation factor.” Not only that, it also allowed them to finally see for themselves how the whole Bible points toward Jesus. Since The Story had such a great result, our lead pastor, Roger Storms,
February 10, 2013
By Les Hardin When it comes to spirituality, I find myself caught between two conflicting truths. The first truth is I was born and raised in the church. My parents took me to church when I was only two weeks old, and there”s never been a time in my life when I didn”t know Jesus on some level. I am descended from elders and deacons, trained at the seminary by serious men: a discipler, a teacher of Israel, and a ministry veteran. But here”s the second truth: in spite of my upbringing and training, I have no idea what it
December 27, 2012
By Mark A. Taylor As we finish 2012, many are deciding their Bible-reading plan for the new year. While there are dozens, if not hundreds, of plans out there, here are three that deserve special attention. The first is published by our daughter publication, The Lookout. The plan takes users through the whole Bible in a year, but not straight through Genesis to Revelation. Instead, each day”s selections include readings from the Gospels, another New Testament book, the Wisdom books (Job through Ecclesiastes), and another Old Testament book. Next year”s plan begins January 6. Each Sunday The Lookout will devote
November 20, 2012
By LeRoy Lawson The Jesus Documents (The Missiology of Alan R. Tippett Series) Alan R. Tippett (Shawn Redford, editor) Pasadena: William Carey Library, 2012 Â River of God: An Introduction to World Mission Doug Priest and Stephen Burris, editors Eugene: Wipf & Stock, 2012 Â Thinking, Fast and Slow Daniel Kahneman New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2011 (accessed at Audible.com) I remember when Alan R. Tippett came to study at the fledgling Church Growth Institute, which was then meeting on the campus of my alma mater, Northwest Christian College (now University) in Eugene, Oregon. Donald McGavran had only recently
January 19, 2012
By Jennifer Taylor  “How can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?” (Romans 10:14). Good News Productions, International (Joplin, MO), has created a new way to reach the many people groups who have not yet heard about Christ because they do not have access to the Bible or cannot read. This fall it launched The Global Gospel, a three-disc illustrated DVD storybook and dramatic reading of the Gospels. “The Global Gospel series was created to be easily adapted for use around the world,” shares GNPI. “The project can be shared with people in nearly every tongue,
January 8, 2012
Nothing challenges us to think about changing times more than the transition from one year to the next. On this first day of 2012, we asked six Christian leaders to think about the church a year from now and to draw a picture of our progress””and our problems””then. * * * By Douglas A. Foster First, I think the church as a whole will continue moving toward an outward focus that seeks out and cares for the marginalized, powerless, homeless, dirty, and helpless. We, the church, will increasingly see the “least of these” as the impelling reason for our very
December 16, 2011
By Dean Trune I desperately need daily input from the Bible. Because it is “alive and active,” according to Hebrews 4:12, I can examine the same verse or passage from time to time, and the Holy Spirit will “speak” truth in applicable ways for what is happening in my life at that particular time. God”s Word is so powerful! Since I need a steady flow of God”s Word into my life, God has orchestrated four ways for me to receive its input. I read God”s Word from cover to cover each calendar year. It is not simply a goal,
September 13, 2011
By Matt Proctor In Part One of this article, I explained that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are more than divinely inspired, historically accurate biographies. They are that, to be sure. But each writer”s distinctive approach to telling his material gives us nuance and knowledge we would never have received from one writer alone. This week we consider principles to help us get the fullest meaning possible from what I call these “pastorally interpretive narratives of the life of Christ.” Read Behind the Lines The first principle of Gospel reading is read behind the lines. In other words, look at the history and culture
June 20, 2011
By Jon Weatherly Where did the Bible come from? Was it delivered by angels to King James I in a leather binding with gilt-edged pages? Was it the product of church councils seeking to squelch dissent? Was it immediately and universally recognized as God”s Word until the recent rise of secular humanism? Today the Bible is the world”s most widely read and widely debated book. We Christians revere it as God”s Word, the full and final authority for what the church believes and does. But the Bible is not necessarily what people expect in God”s Word. It has many sections
April 12, 2006
An atheist sells “the chance to save his soul” and attends church to critique it publicly. Mark A. Taylor argues Christianity can’t be judged into belief—Easter points to Jesus himself as the center of faith.
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