Articles for tag: Jealousy

July 1, 2023

Death by Faith

By Megan Rawlings It was frigid. The winter break had seemed to last forever. I had just arrived back at the Bible college campus in the rolling hills of Kentucky. My appetite for knowledge was growing. My classes that semester were mainly general education, but the Bible classes I took over those few months truly deepened my devotion to Jesus and his Word. I entered one particular class and sat midway back, where I would appear neither as eager as the people in front of me nor as uninterested as those behind me. The professor entered the room and asked,

May 1, 2023

Christian Standard

Church Life

Divide and Conquer

By Megan Rawlings I have a problem. My husband has confronted me about it numerous times. It is beginning to affect our everyday lives. Frankly, I am on the verge of addiction. I cannot resist the temptation when it appears. My toxic trait is that I cannot stop clicking on clickbait. There, I said it. The first step to fixing a problem is admitting it, right? Clickbait is a nuisance that potentially infects your computer with viruses. But I find it tough to resist because it’s a portal through which I gain access to one of my favorite things on

September 28, 2015

Christian Standard

Church Leadership

Hey, Stop Driving Out Those Demons!

By Tim Harlow “Master,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we tried to stop him, because he is not one of us.” “Do not stop him,” Jesus said, “for whoever is not against you is for you” (Luke 9:49, 50). When I was fresh out of college, I became a youth minister in Amarillo, Texas. Because of a gracious grant from a Christian foundation, I was able to get my master”s degree for free. This was well before the days of the Internet, so I actually had to go to the class. The only

September 2, 2015

Christian Standard

Church & Ministry Church Leadership Preaching

Emotional Stinginess

By Jim Tune The joke was funny. My sermon was good. But two rows of people, mostly from the same family, were unmoved. They were, in their own minds, punishing me for an unpopular decision. The method of punishment? Withholding encouragement. Withholding praise. Withholding kindness. Arms folded across their chests, their eyes betrayed what they were thinking: You will receive no love from us this day. Praise has never been my motivation for preaching. You can”t please everyone anyway. But most preachers can relate to the “deliberate withholding” scene I just described. Thomas Aquinas once submitted that to withhold a

November 12, 2006

Jan Johnson

Discipleship & Spiritual Formation Spiritual Disciplines

CONFESSION CONSIDERED: Coming Clean

Confessing sin isn’t easy, but it can bring tremendous relief and real change. Explore unexpected benefits of accountability, practical steps toward growth, and how to find “safe” listeners who pray and encourage obedience.