Articles for tag: Justice

August 18, 2015

Mark A. Taylor

Just Say Yes!

By Mark A. Taylor Most of us obey most of the laws most of the time. But how often could we say the law delights us? How often is our obedience grudging (tax time is coming), or forced (radar detectors, anyone?), or incomplete? How often do we think about the law, any law, with gratitude and joy? The news today is full of protests against bad law-keeping and unjust treatment of some citizens. But these exceptions underline the value of the law; without it there would be no recourse against those who violate it. Theft is forbidden, murder is punished,

July 27, 2015

Christian Standard

Lesson for August 2, 2015: A Redeemer in Zion (Isaiah 59; Psalm 89:11-18)

This treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson is written by Sam E. Stone, former editor of CHRISTIAN STANDARD. It is published in the July 26 issue of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Sam E. Stone  This lesson begins the final month in this quarter”s study about God”s desire for justice, as outlined by various Old Testament prophets. God expects his people to know right from wrong and then to do what is right. Justice is as serious a requirement for Christians today as it was for the people of Israel in Bible times. Isaiah 59 climaxes

July 6, 2015

Christian Standard

Lesson for July 12, 2015: No Tolerance for Corrupt Officials (Micah 3)

This treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson is written by Sam E. Stone, former editor of CHRISTIAN STANDARD. It is published in the July 5 issue of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Sam E. Stone  Micah began his prophecy with a scathing indictment of all who held administrative and judicial positions in the state (chapters 1, 2). These leaders had been placed in authority to serve the people, while in reality they were using their status to rob them (Micah 3:1, 2). The prophet described the leaders” cruelty in mistreating the people with a dramatic figure

July 1, 2015

Christian Standard

You Will Receive Power

By Jim Tune Luke ends his Gospel with the promise of power from on high (Luke 24:49)””a promise quickly fulfilled with an exclamation mark in the book of Acts, as the Spirit descends on Jesus” disciples at Pentecost. Mark”s Gospel, at least in its longer form, ends with a dramatic promise of signs, of poison swallowed without harm, of snake handling and tongue speaking. So you could be forgiven for harboring expectations of dramatic spiritual ecstasies when the resurrected Christ, invested with all heavenly and earthly authority, promises his presence to the end of the age. Yet the charge Jesus

June 1, 2015

Christian Standard

Lesson for June 7, 2015: God Passes Judgment (Amos 2:4-16)

This treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson is written by Sam E. Stone, former editor of CHRISTIAN STANDARD. It is published in the May 31 issue of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Sam E. Stone  This quarter”s lessons are taken from a number of important passages in the Minor Prophets (so named because their books are shorter in length than books by other prophets like Isaiah and Daniel). They reveal God”s judgment on all kinds of injustice and disobedience. Many Bible scholars date Amos”s ministry around 760 BC, while Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam

April 13, 2015

Christian Standard

Life Lessons Among the Dying

By Karen Diefendorf I”ve served as a chaplain with Hospice Care of South Carolina for almost a year now. I”ve been privileged to be invited into the lives of patients and their families. I”m not a novice in pastoral care, but I”m still learning from my patients. I have been surprised at why people who are eligible for hospice care never take advantage of it, and I have learned that all hospices are not the same. I have also learned some very important life lessons. Pain Is a Given, Suffering Is Optional Most of the people I serve know about Job,

April 8, 2015

Christian Standard

Measure Up?

By Jim Tune In church circles, we talk about the three B”s: budgets, butts, and buildings. I get it. These are standard ways of determining success in most ministries because they are tangible and easy to measure. I”d like to suggest some additional metrics we might apply to our effectiveness. Let me pose them as a series of questions: “¢ Are people”s gifts and talents being drawn out of them and used to extend grace and encouragement to others? “¢ Are we pursuing justice and standing on the side of the oppressed? “¢ Are we increasingly willing to give a

March 25, 2015

Christian Standard

I Can”t Change the World

By Jim Tune Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by the needs of the world. I think the small part I play won”t make a difference. Mother Teresa nips this doubt in the bud, saying, “If you can”t feed a hundred people, then feed just one.” We can talk about love, preach sermons about love, quote Scriptures about love, and long to love. Still, I think the bottom line is something like this: The best way to learn the ways of love is to live it, try it, do it, and risk it””enter into another person”s life and let someone into ours.

March 19, 2015

Christian Standard

Feet to Faith

By Peggy Park Brad Johnson and his sons, Matthew, 19, and Niklas, 15, of Tates Creek Christian Church, Lexington, Kentucky, are living out James 2:17: “Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” They put feet to their faith for three-plus hours every Sunday afternoon. About two years ago the three started volunteering with Church Under the Bridge, which began its Lexington ministry in May 2003. The church was started by four people from four Lexington churches that had a vision and passion for the needs of street people. The church for indigent/homeless individuals has now

March 13, 2015

Christian Standard

The Dangers of Giving Your Life to Ministry

By Susan Lawrence The time and energy ministry takes can infect your family, friends, and, to be honest, just about every aspect of your life. You can burn out, get angry and resentful, and walk away from the faith that originally spurred you into ministry. Giving your life to ministry, whether it”s paid or unpaid, church or mission, home or overseas, is full of contradictions. You give your life to ministry and feel like you lose control. You agree to be set apart, then feel isolated. You”re overwhelmed, yet claim to trust a sovereign God. So, which is it? Are

March 7, 2015

Christian Standard

Building Easter Expectation with Our Church

By Ethan Magness People tend to prepare for what”s important to them. And they tend to experience what they expect. This is why our church invests so much energy in a variety of ways to help people get ready for a meaningful Easter celebration. I am writing this article by the glow of a Christmas tree. It is barely December, and already I am seeing stockings and lights, candles and manger scenes. Our shopping is not done, our travel plans are uncertain, but we have begun to prepare. If you visited our home you would see that Christmas matters to

January 12, 2015

Christian Standard

A Healthy Church Is Doctrinally Strong

By Jeff Faull I know what you”re thinking: OK, here comes the obligatory “doctrine” article. I think I”ll pass””or else””I”ll hold my nose and take the medicine in one quick gulp and wash it down with something good and be done with it. Please don”t. Doctrine was never intended to be dry, rigid, sterile, lifeless rules and syllogisms, but rather, the stuff of life itself. So I”m asking you to consider healthy church doctrine from some refreshing and positive vantage points.   Consider Doctrine as a Framework for Story I hear a lot of people nowadays saying Christianity is a

November 2, 2014

Christian Standard

Do You Have SCD?

By Tim Harlow If you think about it, the whole idea of getting to live in Heaven with God one day, based totally and completely on the grace of Jesus, is a remarkable concept. Most of us have lived in the world of Christianity long enough that we just don”t appreciate it enough. One day a Christian kid was talking to his friend about the concept of Jesus and Heaven. The other kid was blown away. He said, “Are you telling me that all I have to do is follow Jesus and I can go to Heaven?”Â  “Yes, it”s that

October 13, 2014

Christian Standard

Lesson for October 19, 2014: I Will Call on God (Job 5; 24; Psalm 55:12-23)

This treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson is written by Sam E. Stone, former editor of CHRISTIAN STANDARD. It is published in the October 12 issue of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Sam E. Stone  Last week”s study focused on Job 19. After that section, more attacks followed by Job”s friends, Zophar (chapter 20) and Eliphaz (chapter 22). They continued to insist that Job was guilty of serious sin. To them, all that happened to him was obviously God”s punishment for wrongdoing. Job, however, declared his wish to have access to God”s presence so that

June 16, 2014

Christian Standard

Postmodernism & Apologetics

By Bob Mink As postmodernism”s influence continues to grow, many wonder what impact it is having on Christian apologetics. Does it require an approach different from what Christian apologists have been saying for the past 500 years? The short answer (given in a way postmodernists might appreciate) is yes and no. Three relatively recent books directly and indirectly address the issue.   Direct Answer Ironically, the oldest of these books most directly answers the question. Christian Apologetics in the Postmodern World (IVP Academic, 1995) is a collection of essays edited by Timothy R. Phillips and Dennis L. Okholm. The 11

March 31, 2014

Christian Standard

Lesson for April 6, 2014: Jesus Cleanses the Temple (Isaiah 56:6-8; Jeremiah 7:8-15; Mark 11:15-19)

This treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson is written by Sam E. Stone, former editor of CHRISTIAN STANDARD. ______ By Sam E. Stone The messages of two prominent Old Testament prophets provide background for today”s lesson. Both focus on the cleansing of the temple during the final week of Jesus” earthly ministry. Isaiah had preached around 740 BC, while Jeremiah came some 55 years later. R. C. Foster noted, “Jeremiah denounces the wicked character of the people worshiping in the temple and the false trust of Israel in the temple; Jesus applies this to their misuse of the temple

March 22, 2014

Christian Standard

Witness and Cooperation

By C. Robert Wetzel I can think of several examples where cooperation with other groups enhanced Christian witness. And my relationship with Lesslie Newbigin taught me principles that can guide all of us. Members of Christian churches and churches of Christ are heirs to a movement that attempted to hold in balance two ideals that could sometimes seem contradictory. On the one hand, there was a commitment to restore New Testament Christianity. Restoration would, in turn, be the means upon which Christians could unite. Hence, we wanted to be “Christians only.” But on the other hand, there was a desire

January 19, 2014

Christian Standard

The Eyes of Jesus

By Danny R. Von Kanel “When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things” (Mark 6:34). The essence of love””our Lord Jesus Christ””showed compassion toward people. Can we have such compassion? The answer is an unequivocal YES! Use these tools to nurture compassion and see others through Christ”s eyes. Recognize people as sheep without a shepherd. As we wrestle with the lost condition of humanity, God will quicken our spirits concerning their need of a shepherd (Mark 6:34). Jesus said he

January 6, 2014

Christian Standard

The Consumption-Poverty Connection

By Neal Windham As the distance between the haves and the have-nots grows greater, Christians have an obligation and an opportunity to respond. “The good news is the market has won,” remarked well-known religious scholar Martin E. Marty at the close of the 20th century.1 By this, of course, he meant the global market had defeated the many closed antimarket systems of formerly communist countries. “The bad news [is]” he continued, “we . . . have not the faintest grasp of a social philosophy to animate, monitor, and inspire this market.” I could not agree with him more. It is

December 30, 2013

Christian Standard

What the Church Can Learn from My Cult

By Brian Mavis I belong to a cult. I already shave my head, so I thought, why not? (Then I discovered my cult doesn”t require that. Still, it”s cool.) I meet with other members a few times a week. I pay monthly dues. We have a special diet. We have our own lingo. We meet in a place called a box. We have a creed written on a whiteboard in our box. We talk about being part of a family. You know, just regular culty kinds of stuff. I”m not the only Christian who belongs to this cult. Scott Nickell, teaching

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