Articles for tag: Love

July 17, 2018

Christian Standard

Christian Living

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

April 17, 2018

Christian Standard

Communion & Lord's Supper Theology & Bible

Love’s Welcome

By Jackina Stark How do you come to the Lord’s Table? Surely sometimes we come weary and troubled, and we are comforted when we remember Jesus’ words, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Maybe you don’t think of those words of comfort, however, if the source of your weariness is the weight of sin—that is, something that is not beyond your control. Has anyone come to the table today having had a fit this week, cussing a blue streak? Has anyone come having been greedy, the very antithesis

April 10, 2018

Christian Standard

What You’re Looking For

By Jackina Stark When Lynn’s mom died and then her dad three years later, she inherited many good things from her parents, including a little 14-year-old dog named Gracie who is now 17. Gracie is nearly blind and deaf and is beginning to experience congestive heart failure. She starts and ends her days with eye drops and pills. But she, like most pets, is sweet beyond words and can prance to the door to go out like a puppy. Lynn and her husband consider caring for Gracie the last gift to Lynn’s parents and tend to her with love. Gracie

January 18, 2018

Christian Standard

Christian Living

This Isn’t a Test, Praise the Lord

By Jim Nieman If you have ever taken a standardized test in preparation for college, you know they’re not much fun. Years ago, the analogy portion of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (or SAT) asked questions like, “Buzz is to Hum as . . .” and you were provided a list of possible answers, the correct one being, “Tinkle is to Clang.” Let’s try another one: “Parquet is to Wood as Linoleum is to Marble.” (No, that’s not right.) “Parquet is to Wood as Color is to Painting.” (No, wrong again.) Here’s the right answer: “Parquet is to Wood as Mosaic

December 22, 2017

Keeping Down Appearances

By Doug Redford Some years ago an article in the Cincinnati Enquirer featured this headline: “Appearance Counts When Wrapping Holiday Gifts.” Said one employee at a luxury goods store in San Antonio, Texas, “The biggest thing I”ve seen through the years is that the wrapping is just as important as what”s on the inside. You can take a $5 item and make it look like a million bucks.” Another person quoted in the article noted, “Packaging will make a whole lot of difference, and it will make the gift special.” On the other hand, there are occasions when the lack

December 5, 2017

Christian Standard

Christian Living

Dropping the Act

By Chuck Dennie I”ve served in large churches for the past 10 years. These churches do amazing things in people”s lives, their communities, and around the world. They create environments where people”s lives are made whole. The problem is, my life was broken. My mom left when I was 6 months old, and I could tell you about many other sources of my brokenness, but we all have a story we could tell. I came to believe early on that love is earned, and so I began to pursue the approval of others. When you combine these factors and this

November 28, 2017

Christian Standard

Mission & Evangelism

Sew to Sow

By Emily Drayne Sandra Ward has an amazing heart. She saw children wearing next to nothing, found a simple tie dress, and thought, Hey, I can make that myself! With that, she founded Sew to Sow. Based out of Kernersville, North Carolina, and affiliated with First Christian, Kernersville, this ministry provides handmade outfits for children sizes 16 and under. The first batch of outfits was sent to Brazil in 2013, and the dressmaking has continued since then. I had the privilege of spending an afternoon with this group and I was impressed by the quality of the outfits, their love

July 26, 2017

Christian Standard

The Good Shepherd Lays Down His Life for His Sheep

By Ronald G. Davis John, in his Gospel, borrows the beautiful image of God that permeates the Scriptures: God is our shepherd. And that image may be the most common symbolic image reproduced through the Christian era. From mosaics in the second-century catacomb resting places of those first Christians in Rome to magnificent stained-glass windows in hundreds of 20th-century church buildings from Europe to Australia, the shepherd shows himself ready to protect and feed. When Jesus applies that image to himself, in John 10, he pictures the absolute devotion the shepherd maintains in every circumstance. His whole existence is given

July 7, 2017

Christian Standard

Book Reviews Reviews

Kidnapped by the Taliban

By Ron Davis Many Americans were introduced to one of the stories of the Afghanistan war when they saw the 2014 CBS interview of Dr. Dilip Joseph regarding his experience and the book he had just written with James Lund, Kidnapped by the Taliban (Thomas Nelson Publishers). Dr. Joseph was the medical director for Morning Star Development, active in Afghanistan, serving locals with medical care and training. Returning from a mission of mercy, Dr. Joseph and his party were captured by the Taliban and held for several days. Their captors kept them moving constantly, and they were in moment-by-moment fear

June 9, 2017

Christian Standard

Christian Living

Written in Blood

By Rick Chromey January 26, 2005, was to be a typical day for 44-year-old John Phipps and millions of other Los Angeles workers. When the father of three boarded his morning train he couldn”t possibly have known a suicidal Juan Manual Alvarez had parked his car on the train tracks several miles away. It was only minutes to mayhem. Details about what happened are sketchy, but Alvarez evidently changed his mind and escaped his car just prior to collision with Phipps”s speeding train. Unfortunately, Alvarez”s selfish act killed 11 people and injured more than 200, including John Phipps, who lay

June 2, 2017

Christian Standard

Christian Living

The Heart of Reunion

By Rick Chromey Everybody loves a reunion. And there”s no better place to observe a good reunion than outside airport security, as various groups congregate and wait for loved ones to arrive. During the wait, some families huddle quietly while others chatter loudly. A woman inspects makeup and hair. Several check the flight board. A mom and two kids look for their soldier dad, while grandparents anxiously wait on grandchildren. A nervous boyfriend clutches chocolates and fingers a ring, while cheerleaders prepare to welcome a victorious team. Others wait, as well, but with noticeably less enthusiasm. These individuals seem apathetic,

May 23, 2017

Church & Ministry Leadership Development

Failure, Formation, and a Hopeful Future

By Mark A. Taylor It”s a principle of leadership whose impact we may not have grasped for our spiritual lives: failure is often the prelude to success. In fact great success may not happen unless it”s built on a foundation of failure. In a way, this is nothing new. We know about Thomas Edison”s thousands of efforts to find a filament for the electric light bulb. “I have not failed,” he said. “I”ve just found 10,000 ways that won”t work.” History teachers tell us how Abraham Lincoln suffered defeat after defeat only to rise to greatness. Others describe J.C. Penney”s

May 5, 2017

Christian Standard

The Unexpected Place Setting

By Randy Gariss It must have seemed an odd table. David was king of Israel, and when he sat down to eat he had his family and his sons. As king, he naturally would have included some friends and perhaps a favorite servant or two. And also a crippled man by the name of Mephibosheth. The backstory has all the human interest we can handle. Years before, Saul had been the king and he had made the young David”s life miserable””repeatedly attempting to cut it short! Saul”s despotic life and desperate panic were all an ill-fated attempt to keep David,

April 26, 2017

Christian Standard

Culture & Public Square Politics & Government

A New Politic

By Joe Boyd In the early 1980s, Speaker of the House of Representatives Tip O”Neill popularized a phrase that has stayed in the American lexicon ever since: “All politics is local.” I find that phrase moderately comforting at this time in American history when our political dialogue seems to have gone off the rails. I”m an advocate for individuals being politically active at national, state, and municipal levels. I also respect those who are less active for calculated reasons. That said, I have come to believe the church cannot afford to be inactive in the most local of contexts. This

March 22, 2017

Christian Standard

Christian Living

The Weight of What We Love

By Jim Tune We carry a lot of extra weight with us. No, I”m not talking about the extra pounds around our middle. I”m thinking of our loves. Augustine once described wealth as a weight. “My weight is my love,” he wrote. “Wherever I am carried, my love is carrying me.” This makes sense. We all want money, but we recognize that those who love money must worry about how to accumulate, protect, and manage it. James K. A. Smith helps us understand what Augustine meant. “Our orienting loves are like a kind of gravity””carrying us in the direction to

February 14, 2017

Family & Relationships Marriage

A Command for Valentine’s Day

By Mark A. Taylor Sweetheart dinners, couples retreats, and sermons about love are all great, as long as they move us beyond the frivolous expressions typical of our culture”s shallow take on deep issues. When it comes to marriage, God has spoken. His command comes three times in Paul”s epistles, twice within a few phrases of each other. “Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,” Paul tells the Ephesians. “Husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies” (5:25-28). To the Colossians, the apostle puts it this way: “Husbands, love

February 3, 2017

To the Earth and Back

By Doug Redford Maybe you”ve heard an expression often shared between two people who love each other: “I love you to the moon and back.” I”m not sure how the expression originated. The meaning is pretty clear; it”s another way of saying, “I love you more than you can even begin to measure.” Every February, love takes center stage with the celebration of Valentine”s Day. But love takes center stage every Lord”s Day for the followers of Jesus during the observance of Communion. Jesus, literally, loved us to the earth and back. To the moon and back to earth is

January 18, 2017

Christian Standard

Christian Living

Habits””Better Than Resolutions

By Jim Tune We”re not far into the new year, but our resolutions have already started to fade into the background. “I”m opening a gym called Resolutions,” someone quipped. “It will have exercise equipment for the first two weeks and then it will turn into a bar for the rest of the year.” We start out well, but our best intentions don”t survive the realities of life. Resolutions aren”t bad; they”re just not enough. According to James Clear, a writer on behavioral change, we should forget goals and embrace systems. “Goals are good for planning your progress and systems are

November 30, 2016

Christian Standard

New Every Morning

By Jim Tune “Morning has broken, like the first morning . . .” “”words by Eleanor Farjeon, popularized in song by Cat Stevens. Whatever time of day you may be reading this, a new morning is on its way. There is magic in this daily re-creation of ourselves. Hope, opportunity, light, a blank page. I love mornings. That doesn”t mean I am a morning person. Winter mornings in Canada do not begin with light. It”s still dark when I get up. Still, there”s something about a new day dawning. In the monastic era, the hours of the morning carried the

November 26, 2016

Christian Standard

Church Leadership

Over Your Skis

By Tim Harlow When we get ahead of God, we”re getting ready to fall. Like you, I cringe every time a pastor flames out. For one thing, I know that there, but for the grace of God, go I. I also know my job just got harder. I know that people look at the fallen pastor, and then look at me and wonder what I”m really like. The apostle James warned us of this reality (James 3:1), but it doesn”t make it any easier when another teacher doesn”t make it. Somewhere, deep inside, we all love hearing stories about someone