Articles for tag: Grace

December 8, 2018

Christian Standard

Christmas at the Movies: ‘A Christmas Story’

By Caleb Kaltenbach I triple-dog dare ya! Randy . . . show me how the piggies eat. Fra-GEE-leh. It must be Italian! You’ll shoot your eye out! If you randomly heard any of those quotes, you’d probably know the movie they come from. I mean, who doesn’t love A Christmas Story? I’m sure there are a few lost souls who don’t, but it’s a Christmas favorite for many of us. With a creative soundtrack, solid acting, and a nice plot, it puts us in the “Christmas mood.” Also, who didn’t want an “official Red Ryder, carbine-action, 200-shot, Range Model air

December 6, 2018

Christian Standard

Our Plea Restated

– Dec. 12, 1903 –   In “‘Our Position’ Revisited,” from the June 2018 issue, Jerry Harris summarized Isaac Errett’s “Our Position” editorial from 1872. Harris then wrote: I have always heard the term “Restoration plea,” but outside of this work by Isaac Errett, I couldn’t find any good explanation of its meaning besides the quoting of our mottoes or references to the writings of some of the great pioneers of our movement. As Alexander Campbell’s protégé and the original publisher and editor of Christian Standard, I think it’s important to study Errett’s writings on “Our Position.” That’s one reason

October 23, 2018

Christian Standard

The Eyes of Jesus

By Tom Claibourne Jesus’ eyes must have been quite similar to ours, but he didn’t always look at things the way we do. He saw things from an eternal perspective. Therefore, when Jesus walked out of Nazareth to begin his ministry, his eyes saw things we usually do not see. He saw the spiritual battle that rages between God’s angelic hosts and Satan’s demonic forces. He saw beyond the surface. Jesus saw people’s hearts, along with their needs and potential. When others saw filthy, sinful women (Luke 7; John 4 and 8), Jesus saw women who had taken some wrong

October 16, 2018

Christian Standard

A Substitute

By Tom Claibourne The Bible is very bloody. Two-thirds of the books mention blood, with more than 450 total references. Blood is the scarlet thread that runs through the Bible and is central to Christianity. Many sincere Christians have set out to read through the entire Bible, only to get bogged down in the seemingly endless details concerning animal sacrifices. Why so many sacrifices? Why so much blood, when the Bible clearly states that the blood of animals cannot take away sins (Hebrews 10:3, 4, 11)? The Old Testament sacrificial system was part of a symbolic process God used to

October 12, 2018

Christian Standard

God’s Grace to Make Decisions

E2: Effective Elders Blog Editor’s Note: Each Friday we publish a new blog post from our partners in ministry, E2: Effective Elders. We publish it here simultaneous to E2’s posting on their site. The leaders of E2 write an article for our print and online magazine every month as well. Those articles are full of wisdom and practical help for elders. Please check them out! _____ By Dick Wamsley I was beginning my eighth year as dean of students and professor of pastoral care at Nebraska Christian College. The college was in the first phase of a leadership transition. The president

October 11, 2018

Christian Standard

Big Preaching

The Oct. 13, 1928, Christian Standard featured a printed version of the keynote address of George Taubman, serving that year as president of the second North American Christian Convention, then taking place in Kansas City, Mo. Taubman served as minister with First Christian Church, Long Beach, Calif., where his men’s Bible class exceeded 2,000 in attendance each Sunday. We will focus on an editorial from that week’s issue, but not anything related to Taubman or the NACC. “Big Preaching” most likely was written by then-editor Willard Lee Mohorter. _ _ _ Big Preaching When Abraham Lincoln was candidate for the

October 9, 2018

Christian Standard

The Lord’s Supper Puts Us in Our Place

By Tom Claibourne If there was ever a place to be filled with humility, it is at the Lord’s table. It is not a place for judgmental comparisons, selfish pride, or spiritual arrogance. The Lord’s Supper puts us all on the same level by putting each of us in our place. The simple emblems ordained by Jesus remind us why he died. They call us to reflect on the apostle Paul’s stunning acknowledgment: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.” The Lord’s table prompts us to confess, “I am as well.” The Lord’s

October 7, 2018

Michael C. Mack

You Do You

By Michael C. Mack   You do you. When managing editor Jim Nieman asked what I’ve learned over the last year and a half as Christian Standard editor, this is the first thing that came to mind. You do you. It’s a common catchphrase in today’s culture that means “Just be yourself.” (It can also be used as a sarcastic response to someone who is doing something simply because they want to. Pastor Jeremy: “My new 10-week sermon series is titled, ‘Spiritual Lessons from Paddington 2.’” Elder Frank: “You do you, pal.” Or . . . Student: “I’m having Declaration

October 2, 2018

Christian Standard

Christopher Columbus: Fellow Sinner in Need of God’s Grace

By Tom Claibourne Christopher Columbus was a lot like us, but his reputation and the holiday that bears his name have fallen on hard times. Not so many years ago, Columbus Day (October 8) prompted thoughts of daring adventure and the pursuit of new horizons. In recent times, it has become an occasion for divisive rhetoric and historical revision. Columbus the hero has become Columbus the villain. In reality, neither extreme is completely accurate. Was Columbus a man of faith? Yes. Did he desire to bring “the Word of God to unknown coastlands”? Yes. Was his Book of Prophecies filled

October 1, 2018

Mark Scott

Lesson for October 7, 2018: New Heavens, New Earth (Revelation 22:1-17)

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 issue no. 10 (weeks 37–40; September 16—October 7, 2018) of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ The Bible lessons now follow a scope and sequence prepared by Christian Standard Media. For more information, click here. ______ Lesson Aim: Come and freely take from the waters of life. ______ By Mark Scott  One of the warmest words in the English language is come. In the original language, the form of that

August 27, 2018

Christian Standard

How to Debate Debatable Issues: The Art of Godly Disagreement

See the end of this article for web-only content: practical next steps you can take in response and helpful resources you can use to dig deeper into this issue.   By Jon Weatherly I have the spiritual gift of opinions. I have opinions on everything, including things I know nothing about. I think my role in life is to help people agree with my right opinions. If you hold an opinion that’s different from mine, or even if you hold no opinion at all, get ready to be enlightened. Some say that I think I’m always right. That’s not true!

August 13, 2018

Shawn McMullen

The Lookout’s New Scope and Sequence: A Systematic Plan for Studying Through the Bible

By Shawn McMullen But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:14-17). Paul wrote these words to his protégé Timothy after warning him to be on guard against false

August 11, 2018

Jerry Harris

Reaching Out to the Homeless and Hurting in Hollywood, Florida

God pulled a neighborhood kid with a rough upbringing out of that life into a new one at Hope Church of Christ By Jerry Harris “Jehovah-jireh means, ‘in the mountain it shall be seen.’ You have to climb the mountain first,” says Alvin Daniels, senior minister of Hope Church of Christ in Hollywood, Florida. “It will take power, effort, and strength to get to the top. But once you’re up there, God will provide the vision for which you had to go up there in the first place. You can’t see it from the foot of the mountain.” Daniels wasn’t

August 7, 2018

Christian Standard

Value Statement

By Joe Harvey Some people are collectors, some are not. Some folks consider themselves too practical to spend time building a collection of coins, cards, stamps, or other treasures. If they don’t have a practical use for something, they sell it, donate it, or throw it away. Noncollectors just don’t understand the remarkable prices people pay for collectibles—like baseball cards. A Babe Ruth card from 1914 is reportedly worth $517,000. Another baseball card, featuring Hall of Famer Honus Wagner, is worth $2.8 million. People say collectibles can be valuable if they are rare, in demand, authentic, and in mint condition.

July 17, 2018

Christian Standard

No More Avoiding

By Jon Wren In his later years, the playwright and poet Oscar Wilde lived in Paris, France. Wilde enjoyed life in Paris with one major exception . . . the recently constructed Eiffel Tower. Wilde considered the tower an eyesore and tried to avoid it at all costs. And yet, due to the tower’s height and central location, no matter where Wilde went, the tower was always in view. This especially annoyed him at lunchtime: He would constantly find himself sitting outside and having to look at the tower while he ate. Finally, after months of unsuccessful searching for a

July 3, 2018

Christian Standard

A Life in Contrast

By Jon Wren Several years ago in Maine, authorities arrested a 47-year-old man after catching him stealing food and supplies from a local camp. Upon investigating, it was discovered the man had a much more complicated and interesting story than originally suspected. Specifically, authorities learned the man had spent 27 years living in the woods in total seclusion, detached from all human contact. The “North Pond Hermit,” as he was called, sustained himself for almost three decades by breaking into and stealing from local campsites, restaurants, and businesses. His entire existence had centered around isolation and theft. Can you imagine

June 23, 2018

Christian Standard

Paddling Together in the Same Direction

By Victor Knowles   In our American Restoration Movement, we have been paddling in separate streams for more than 100 years. Like Paul and Barnabas, we had a “sharp disagreement” (Acts 15:39) over issues like instrumental music and missionary societies. We too “parted company” and had our own journals to spread the good news (Gospel Advocate and Christian Standard), started our own Bible colleges and Christian universities to prepare gospel workers (Lipscomb University and Johnson Bible College—now Johnson University), and developed our own lectureships and conventions to encourage and equip Christians (Pepperdine Bible Lectures and the North American Christian Convention). Since

June 4, 2018

Mark Scott

Lesson for June 10, 2018: Parables of God’s Just Kingdom (Matthew 13:24-33)

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. 5 (weeks 21–24; May 27—June 17, 2018) of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Mark Scott  Parables are true-to-life comparisons that break forth into fictional analogies that seem upside down to us and often deceive us into truth by opening up the government of God. This is a homemade definition of parables, with the exception of the phrase “deceiving into truth,” which can be attributed to

June 1, 2018

Jerry Harris

‘Our Position’ Revisited

By Jerry Harris When Isaac Errett wrote “Our Position,” a need existed within the Restoration Movement to define in succinct terms the soaring rhetoric of Barton W. Stone’s The Last Will and Testament of the Springfield Presbytery, Thomas Campbell’s The Declaration and Address, and Alexander Campbell’s “Sermon on the Law,” which had so eloquently defined the position of a movement intent on the restoration of first-century Christianity. Errett argued that while creeds are sectarian and create division, and therefore are sinful, we are free to identify those areas where we find ourselves in agreement with the larger evangelical framework, those areas

May 28, 2018

Mark Scott

Lesson for June 3, 2018: Justice and Sabbath Laws (Matthew 12:1-14)

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. 5 (weeks 21–24; May 27—June 17, 2018) of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Mark Scott  In Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis wrote about the law of fair play. It goes like this. “I gave you a bite of my orange; give me a bite of yours.” Or, “Don’t hit me; I didn’t hit you.” From where did such laws arise? They seem to be innate. It

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