December 18, 2025
The Best Christmas Ever
Dr. Joe Grana recalls the story of a Christmas that changed everything in his life and was the best Christmas ever.
Articles for tag: Hell
November 5, 2025
When It Comes to Evangelism, Start with Why
If our focus is primarily on what (telling people about Jesus) or how (training and tactics), the work of evangelism can feel forced and uncomfortable. But once the why sinks in, everything changes.
June 30, 2025
Just as Jesus Said
The Lord is always several steps ahead of us. Have you noticed that things eventually turn out just as Jesus has told us? In the long run, he is always right.
November 4, 2024
November 10 Study | I Pledge Allegiance
God’s people should be crystal clear about their allegiance. They play to an audience of one. So they must be very careful of other allegiances. For the believers in the seven churches, that meant coming out from the pagan influences of the culture.
November 1, 2023
The Advent of Jesus into a Wicked World
By Michael C. Mack Each Christmas I faithfully sing the hymn . . . though I question the historical accuracy of the words. Silent night, holy night! All is calm, all is bright. . . . As I read the biblical accounts, I imagine the atmosphere surrounding Jesus’ birth as something other than silent, calm, and bright. More like clamorous and chaotic. The streets of Bethlehem are bustling as people from across the region arrive in their ancestral hometown to register for Caesar Augustus’s census. Joseph and Mary walk wide-eyed through throngs of fellow Jews from King David’s line hectically looking
September 1, 2023
There Is Hope, and His Name Is Jesus
By Megan Rawlings The news makes me anxious. Stories that make it seem the world is ending far outnumber positive articles and reports. Wars, division, disaster—it’s too much to process on a daily basis. And social media only adds to my unease. To deal with this, I changed my phone setting to limit my social media intake to 30 minutes a day. Any longer than that and I find I am crippled by comparison, more bad news, and disappointment. I started to wonder why the news and media (social media included) seem mostly to bend toward evil. It turns out,
May 29, 2023
Remembering Sacrifice, Celebrating Victory
By Rick Chromey More than three-quarters of a century ago, the Allied Forces landed on the beaches of Normandy, France. In one of history’s bloodiest battles, young men sacrificed life and limb to puncture and penetrate the great Nazi domination of Europe. As the blood flowed and soaked the beaches of Omaha and Utah, among others, a line was drawn in the sand that forever changed history. General Dwight Eisenhower commissioned his troops, in part, with this charge: “You will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of Europe,
Transitions Are Great Times to Innovate
By Jerry Harris I’m tired of several culturally popular words. The term “new normal,” which I’ve written about previously, is one of them; it seems to carry a connotation of something “less than before” that we must reluctantly accept. I’m also tired of the overuse of the word “season”—it causes me to have “friends are friends forever” flashbacks! But the one I’m seeing more and more lately is the word “transition.” That hits close to home, as I have just “transitioned” from being senior pastor of The Crossing—a position I’d held for the last 24 years—to teaching pastor; the person
March 1, 2022
Authentic Church: What Baseball Can Teach Us
By Tony Burgarello “Let’s play two”—it’s one of the greatest baseball quotes of all time. It came from Ernie Banks, a Baseball Hall of Famer and Chicago Cubs legend. For nonbaseball fans, Ernie played professionally from 1953 to 1971, served in the military, was an All-Star on the field, and set countless records. On top of all that, he was an ordained minister who made a tremendous impact in the community his entire life. He was a difference maker! He received nearly every award you could imagine for his achievements on and off the field. Ernie, who died in 2015,
March 1, 2021
What Is Truth?
We’re all familiar with Pilate’s question of Jesus, “What is truth?” He was responding to Jesus’ statement, “For this purpose I have been born . . . to testify to the truth” (John 18:37-38). In context, I believe Pilate was mostly being sarcastic, though with a shred of genuine curiosity. Pilate was raised in a pagan society that worshiped Caesar as God during a time of many opposing philosophies. In that day, people did not recognize absolute truth. In other words, it was in many regards much like today, a day when the notion of truth has become controversial. A
Retired Prof Takes Theological Expertise to the Local Church
By Chris Moon Joe Grana is staying active in retirement. The former longtime professor and administrator at Hope International University in Fullerton, Calif.—who retired June 1—has taken his expansive biblical knowledge to the local church. Grana has signed on as an associate pastor at Refinery Christian Church in Goodyear, Ariz., near Phoenix. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Grana has been producing three-minute videos for the church teaching basic theological concepts, from baptism to the inspiration of Scripture. The idea for these “3-Minute Theology” videos is to better equip the Refinery church with theological truth, something Grana senses many Christians need today.
February 11, 2019
Lesson for February 17, 2019: God Is with You in Your Oppression (Joseph)
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 3–24, 2019) of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ Lesson Text: Genesis 39:1-4, 19-23 Lesson Aim: Be assured that God will never forsake you in times of trouble. ______ By Mark Scott We sometimes use the expression, “There is light at the end of the tunnel,” when we want to emphasize that good is on the way and that soon our “tunnel experience” will end.
January 29, 2019
One Thing
By L. Mackenzie As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Mark 10:17). Jesus commented that only God is good and then recited several commandments, to which the man replied, “All these I have kept since I was a boy” (v. 20). Jesus told that “rich young ruler” he still lacked one thing if he wanted a heavenly inheritance. Darn, that one thing! And it was a big thing. The man knew it. Romans 3 says no
June 18, 2018
Lesson for June 24, 2018: Reaping God’s Justice (Luke 16:19-31)
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. 6 (weeks 25–28; June 24—July 15, 2018) of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Mark Scott Reaping is the language of harvest in the Bible, and therefore sometimes reaping is a metaphor for judgment (Hosea 8:7; Revelation 14:15, 16). The law of harvest is universally true. You reap what you sow (Galatians 6:7). But it is uniquely true when it comes to the use of our
May 22, 2018
Battlefield Sacrifice
By Rick Chromey This weekend marks the unofficial beginning of summer, but it’s also when we pause to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. Since 1970, the last Monday of May has been designated as Memorial Day. It’s an annual sacred holiday to remember our fallen soldiers. Jesus taught his disciples, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13). Friends will do that for friends. A friend will honorably take a bullet for a buddy, but those who serve in our military often die for people they
July 19, 2017
Man of Sorrows
By Jackina Stark She stood at a fourth-floor window overlooking the city of Phnom Pehn. She had spent a week in Battambang, Cambodia, at Rapha House, working with those who minister to the girls rescued from sex slavery, and in Phnom Pehn, visiting hundreds of poor children who attend the Kids Club, a prevention ministry. Her fellow workers had gone to the street market, letting her beg off. In the room, utterly quiet now, her gaze fell on the area of the city where at that very moment she knew girls, some children, were being sexually used and abused. Her
February 9, 2017
Letter from a Skeptic
Editor’s note: We present the following essay as an example to Christians, showing us how many skeptics think about the faith we hold dear. The thoughts and arguments here are not unique, and Christians do well to listen to them. In a separate post, Dick Alexander answers this anonymous writer. You’ll want to read his piece after you’ve read this one. By Anonymous When asked why he did not embrace Christianity, Mahatma Gandhi replied with this widely known remark: “I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” The sentiment resonates with
November 6, 2016
Seek First the Kingdom and Its Justice
By Robert L. Foster I work with a task force that connects churches with undocumented communities in partnerships that help our undocumented neighbors with the challenges they face here in the United States. Recently, at a church conference, the task force displayed an information table where churches and individuals signed up to receive information or to invite a speaker to talk to their church about creating such partnerships. Near the end of one day, a volunteer at our table overheard an attendee say, “We need to get away from all this talk about immigration and multiculturalism and get back Jesus.”
September 23, 2016
“˜There”s Not a Jar Left” . . . the Epitaph of Many Churches
By Tim Harlow Erwin McManus says turning a church around is really just a matter of killing one church and opening a new one, and I”d have to agree. “Because of your faith, it will happen” (Matthew 9:29, New Living Translation). When I came to this 40-year-old church, it really took us 7 to 10 years to transition it to the place where we could start doing what we knew God wanted us to do. The upside was we had some people and some money and a building. But the downside was many of the people had a different vision
September 19, 2016
Why I Quit Being a Pastor to Train Elephants
By Brian Mavis I”m calling on the church, government, arts, and business to work together for the sake of kids. “Our greatest dignity as creatures is not in initiative but in response.” “”C. S. Lewis “For we are God”s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” “”Paul, in Ephesians 2:10 It”s been a great 20-plus years, but God has called me to a new challenge””training elephants. People are pretty pumped about it, but allow me to tell you the backstory before I get to the elephants. My Wife, Orphans,
