Articles for tag: Ozark Christian College

Worship Worship & Prayer

A Vision of Otherness

By Jackina Stark I once had a vision. It was not as glorious as Isaiah”s””I can”t imagine one more glorious than that””but for me, what I saw one morning during a worship service was profoundly important. We were singing a medley of songs that ended with a beautifully melodic chorus that repeated the word holy over and over and over. I closed my eyes and got lost in the word and found, quite unexpectedly, a new understanding of who Jesus is and what holy means. Twice in the hymn “Holy, Holy, Holy,” God is perceptively called merciful and mighty. These

July 24, 2017

Lesson for July 30, 2017: Amos (Amos 7)

Dr. Mark Scott wrote this treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson. Scott teachesÂ preaching and New Testament at Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri. This lesson treatment is published in the July 23, 2017,Â issue ofÂ The LookoutÂ magazine, and is also available online atÂ www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Mark ScottÂ In the field of education, accreditation is an organized means of ensuring academic quality. One question might be: who determines that academic quality? Who has the authority to say whether or not some aspect of education is good? What happens if those with the credentials, the clout, the majority, and the machinery are all wrong?

July 19, 2017

Culture & Public Square Justice

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

July 3, 2017

Lesson for July 9, 2017: Isaiah (Isaiah 6)

Dr. Mark Scott wrote this treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson. Scott teachesÂ preaching and New Testament at Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri. This lesson treatment is published in the July 2, 2017,Â issue ofÂ The LookoutÂ magazine, and is also available online atÂ www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Mark ScottÂ In the first religious awakening of America, Jonathan Edwards preached a now famous sermon entitled, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” He took his text from Deuteronomy, and he pled for the people of New England to turn back to God. Centuries later the New Testament scholar, D.A. Carson, preached a sermon entitled,

June 26, 2017

Lesson for July 2, 2017: Moses (Exodus 3)

Dr. Mark Scott wrote this treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson. Scott teachesÂ preaching and New Testament at Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri. This lesson treatment is published in the June 25, 2017,Â issue ofÂ The LookoutÂ magazine, and is also available online atÂ www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Mark ScottÂ One of the great characteristics of God is his interpersonal capacity. He communicates. He called judges to rescue his people (last month”s lessons). He also called prophets to prosecute his people (this month”s lessons). “Prophets don”t prepare messages. Prophets are messages” (Spirit, Word, and Story by Calvin Miller). Moses is often viewed as the great

June 19, 2017

Lesson for June 25, 2017: Samson (Judges 13-16)

Dr. Mark Scott wrote this treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson. Scott teachesÂ preaching and New Testament at Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri. This lesson treatment is published in the June 18, 2017,Â issue ofÂ The LookoutÂ magazine, and is also available online atÂ www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Mark ScottÂ I do not like Samson. Like Esau, he was a sensualist (Hebrews 12:16, 17). He lived by his glands instead of his God. He was a playboy. The Samson narrative in Judges (chapters 13-16) is filled with rebellion, sexual immorality, anger, revenge, disappointment, heartache, and a glimmer of hope. That being said, Samson judged Israel

June 12, 2017

Lesson for June 18, 2017: Jephthah (Judges 11)

Dr. Mark Scott wrote this treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson. Scott teachesÂ preaching and New Testament at Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri. This lesson treatment is published in the June 11, 2017,Â issue ofÂ The LookoutÂ magazine, and is also available online atÂ www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Mark ScottÂ In the book of Judges, the judges get progressively worse as we go along. We”ve gone from Deborah and Barak (good) to Gideon (all right) to Jephthah (not stunning) and next week to Samson (terrible). The enemies of Israel in our lessons also get progressively worse, from the Canaanites to the Midianites to the Ammonites.

June 5, 2017

Lesson for June 11, 2017: Gideon (Judges 6-8)

Dr. Mark Scott wrote this treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson. Scott teachesÂ preaching and New Testament at Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri. This lesson treatment is published in the June 4, 2017,Â issue ofÂ The LookoutÂ magazine, and is also available online atÂ www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Mark ScottÂ Damon Runyan said, “The race is not always to the swift nor the battle to the strong, but that”s the way to bet.” That is, unless you are God. When God is in the equation, swiftness and strength are not necessary. He can make up what anyone lacks. Gideon”s self-confession was neither swift nor strong.

June 2, 2017

Ministries & Nonprofits Organizations & Events

CIY Uses Social Media to Take Message to Teens

By Jennifer Johnson Christ In Youth (CIY) is well known among the Christian churches””and beyond””for high-quality programs specifically geared to teens and preteens. Many of these events take place during the summer months, but last November CIY launched a new program””and it was all online. “We”re constantly trying to keep a pulse on the next generation so we can speak to them with the gospel message,” says Chris Roberts, communications director. “They are digital natives. They don”t know a world without social media or mobile phones. So, we began talking about how we can use those tools to point them

May 22, 2017

Lesson for May 28, 2017: Pervasive Love (Jonah 4)

Dr. Mark Scott wrote this treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson. Scott teachesÂ preaching and New Testament at Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri. This lesson treatment is published in the May 21, 2017,Â issue ofÂ The LookoutÂ magazine, and is also available online atÂ www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Mark ScottÂ God”s love is pervasive (expanding, spreading, and permeating). Jonah”s love was narrow, miserly, and shrunken. The angry prophet desperately needed to get on the same page with the Lord when it came to his wide embrace of all people. That is the story of Jonah 4. Last week”s lesson dealt with forgiveness. Jonah could announce

May 19, 2017

Communion & Lord's Supper Theology & Bible

Communion with You

By Randy Gariss If the idea of a one-person wedding seems bizarre, so too does the idea of personal Communion. There are many things in the Christian life you can do on your own. You can study, pray, fast, sing, worship, and serve all by yourself. But why is there not even a hint in Scripture about taking the Lord”s Supper alone? When Christ initiated Communion, it was in a group (Matthew 26). When Communion is described in the book of Acts, it is in a group (Acts 2:42). The same is true in 1 Corinthians. A study of Scripture

May 12, 2017

Christian Living

A Picture of the Future

By Randy Gariss A sage wryly commented, “All predictions are difficult to make, but especially those about the future.” He is right, of course, but can you imagine the empowerment if we were able to accurately see the future? For example, what if the junior high teen, distraught over his gangly appearance, could only get a glimpse of the composed, mature young adult he would someday be? Wouldn”t that picture diffuse much worthless worry? Or consider the impact a peek into the future could have on the young couple working through that first rough year of marriage””each of them going

May 8, 2017

Lesson for May 14, 2017: Preserving Love (Jonah 2)

Dr. Mark Scott wrote this treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson. Scott teachesÂ preaching and New Testament at Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri. This lesson treatment is published in the May 7, 2017,Â issue ofÂ The LookoutÂ magazine, and is also available online atÂ www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Mark ScottÂ God is so high that he can help us when we feel so low. In fact only God can help us when we are in what John Bunyan called the “slough of despond” (Pilgrim”s Progress). The preserving love of God is what came to the rescue of Jonah at his literal and figurative lowest point

May 5, 2017

Devotionals

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,

May 1, 2017

Lesson for May 7, 2017: Sustaining Love (Jonah 1)

Dr. Mark Scott wrote this treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson. Scott teachesÂ preaching and New Testament at Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri. This lesson treatment is published in the April 30, 2017,Â issue ofÂ The LookoutÂ magazine, and is also available online atÂ www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Mark ScottÂ The book of Jonah is minor due to its size, not due to its content. The book touches upon some major biblical themes””God”s sovereignty in creation, God”s love for the nations, Jesus” resurrection, and the high priority of obedience in the lives of the Lord”s servants. In this story we see the prophet Jonah running

April 10, 2017

Christian Living

Out of Control

By Jon Kehrer We could have learned to trust almost anywhere. But our adventure happened to be in the Middle East. I remember climbing up onto our roof one night in January, just a few weeks after our family had moved to the Middle East. Cars, with horns blaring, filled the streets below. Windows were adorned with waving flags. People all around were shouting in victory””all because a major political leader in the Arab world had just stepped down. We didn”t know it at the time, but our move had coincided with the beginning of a popular uprising in Tunisia,

April 3, 2017

Lesson for April 9, 2017: Saving Love (John 3:1-21)

Dr. Mark Scott wrote this treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson. Scott teachesÂ preaching and New Testament at Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri. This lesson treatment is published in the April 2, 2017,Â issue ofÂ The LookoutÂ magazine, and is also available online atÂ www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Mark ScottÂ This famous text contains the teachings of Jesus, the questions of Nicodemus, and the saving love of God. This late-night conversation between Jesus and this Pharisee led to a bright sunrise of teaching concerning saving love. Birth |Â John 3:1-5 In each section of our text there is a rhetorical device (verses 3, 5, and 11).

March 27, 2017

Lesson for April 2, 2017: Shepherding Love (Psalm 23)

Dr. Mark Scott wrote this treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson. Scott teachesÂ preaching and New Testament at Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri. This lesson treatment is published in the March 26, 2017,Â issue ofÂ The LookoutÂ magazine, and is also available online atÂ www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Mark ScottÂ David”s music comforted King Saul (1 Samuel 16:23), but the lyrics of the shepherd”s 23rd psalm comfort us all. Who hasn”t been moved by the words of this most famous passage? It has been read at more funeral services than any other psalm. It underlines God”s comfort, provision, discipline, guidance, joy, reception, and affirmation. This

March 20, 2017