Articles for tag: Pastoral Epistles

January 1, 2023

Jerry Harris

Is There Still a Standard to Be Raised?

By Jerry Harris   This issue marks the completion of six years since Christian Standard was faced with its consignment to history. In December 2016, Doug Crozier, CEO of The Solomon Foundation, received a phone call informing him of the impending shuttering of the magazine. First published in the spring of 1866, Christian Standard quickly became the voice of the fastest-growing religious movement of the 19th century; the publication was desperately needed after the ravages of the Civil War. It persevered through division, liberalism, two world wars, and the Great Depression.   In 2006, Wicks Group, a private equity firm, purchased Standard

January 1, 2022

Mark Scott

How to Prevent Message Drift When You Call Your Next Preacher

Message drift is not new. Israel faced it. When Moses predicted that the Lord God would raise up a prophet like him (a reference to the Messiah), he also warned against prophets who would presume to speak in God’s name but actually speak in the names of other gods (Deuteronomy 18:15, 20). Jeremiah ran into a similar situation with a false prophet named Pashhur (Jeremiah 20:1-6; cf. 14:14; 23:32). Message drift was not foreign to the New Testament either. In the Olivet discourse Jesus predicted that false prophets would arise (before the destruction of Jerusalem) and lead many astray, and

November 16, 2020

Mark Scott

Lesson for Nov. 22, 2020: Be Devoted to Doing Good (Titus 3:1-11)

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 the November 2020 issue of Christian Standard + The Lookout. (Subscribe to our print edition.) ________ COMPANION RESOURCES “Good for You” by David Faust (Lesson Application) Discovery Questions for Nov. 22, 2020 ________ Lesson Aim: Understand that we are saved to do good for others, not merely for personal benefit. ________ By Mark Scott Thanksgiving is not just a national holiday observed this coming Thursday. It’s an acknowledgment of the

October 26, 2020

Mark Scott

Lesson for Nov. 1, 2020: God Is Faithful (2 Timothy 2:11-13; 4:6-8, 16-18)

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 the November 2020 issue of Christian Standard + The Lookout. (Subscribe to our print edition.) ________ Lesson Aim: Give thanks that God faithfully helps you to serve Christ. ________ COMPANION RESOURCES “Trimming Around the Edges” by David Faust (Lesson Application) Discovery Questions for Nov. 1, 2020 ________ By Mark Scott The United States Marine Corps was formed before the Declaration of Independence. Their origin goes back to November 10, 1775.

October 19, 2020

Mark Scott

Lesson for Oct. 25, 2020: You’re Next (2 Timothy 1:13-14; 2:1-2; 3:10-17)

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 the October 2020 issue of Christian Standard + The Lookout. (Subscribe to our print edition.) ________ COMPANION RESOURCES “From Whom You Learned It” by David Faust (Lesson Application) Discovery Questions for Oct. 25, 2020 ________ Lesson Aim: Take up from others the responsibilities of serving Christ. ________ By Mark Scott Hans Finzel said, “There is no success without a successor” (The Top Ten Mistakes Leaders Make). Wise Christian leaders are

October 12, 2020

Mark Scott

Lesson for Oct. 18, 2020: How To (2 Timothy 2:14-26; 3:1-9)

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 the October 2020 issue of Christian Standard + The Lookout. (Subscribe to our print edition.) ________ COMPANION RESOURCES “Don’t Get Sloppy” by David Faust (Lesson Application) Discovery Questions for Oct. 18, 2020 ________ Lesson Aim: Discern how to deal with people as you serve Christ. ________ By Mark Scott The “purpose” of the Bible is larger than just functioning as a “how-to” manual for getting along with folks. But one

September 14, 2020

Mark Scott

Lesson for Sept. 20, 2020: Pray (1 Timothy 2:1-8)

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 the September 2020 issue of Christian Standard + The Lookout. (Subscribe to our print edition.) ________ COMPANION RESOURCES “Does It Really Help to ‘Send Thoughts and Prayers’?” by David Faust (Lesson Application) Discovery Questions for Sept. 20, 2020 ________ Lesson Aim: Pray for everyone to be saved through faith in Christ Jesus. ________ By Mark Scott Last week’s lesson was entitled “Fight,” and we do that in many ways. We

September 7, 2020

Mark Scott

Lesson for Sept. 13, 2020: Fight (1 Timothy 1:12-19; 6:11-16)

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 the September 2020 issue of Christian Standard + The Lookout. (Subscribe to our print edition.) ________ COMPANION RESOURCES “How to Have a Good Fight,” by David Faust (Lesson Application) Discovery Questions for Sept. 13, 2020 ________ Lesson Aim: Join Christ in the good fight of faith. ________ By Mark Scott It is difficult to misunderstand such one-word commands as “quiet,” “stop,” “go,” or “run.” The next several lessons have titles

August 28, 2016

Christian Standard

Growing Elders to Lead

By Jim Estep The leaders you want won”t sprout overnight, like weeds in a garden. Here”s how to develop strategies to nurture the crop of new leaders you need. The phone call is all too familiar. An elder begins the conversation stating the obvious, “We need new elders! All our elders are getting older, and no one is stepping up to serve.” I listen, perhaps ask about the church and the strengths of the current leadership; but eventually the inescapable question must be asked, “What have you been intentionally doing to bring up the next generation of leaders in your church?”

June 29, 2015

Michael C. Mack

9 Recommended Discipleship Materials

By Michael C. Mack While discipleship is more than a program or curriculum, a number of tools can be helpful in your discipling process. Here are nine resources recommended by ministers and elders across the country: 1. The Pastoral Epistles (especially 1 & 2 Timothy) 2. Thoroughly Equipped (available at www.thoroughlyequipped.org) 3. The Truth Project, Del Tackett (www.thetruthproject.org) 4. Seven Keys to an Effective Ministry, Rick Warren (www.pastors.com/7keys) 5. Multiply, Francis Chan (www.multiplymovement.com) 6. Becoming a Disciple-Maker / A Call to Joy, Billie Hanks Jr. (www.ieaom.org) 7. Real-Life Discipleship Training Manual: Equipping Disciples Who Make Disciples, Jim Putman (amazon.com, among

June 26, 2015

Christian Standard

From Generation to Generation

By Jon Weatherly How can the older generation pass along its faith to the younger? History””even biblical history””shows this is always a perilous proposition. And yet here we are, all these millennia later, still lifting up his name. A review of the Bible”s record can encourage us that it will be true again long after we have passed.  I am a baby boomer, barely. Too young for Woodstock or the Vietnam draft, I watched from the safety of childhood and early adolescence as older boomers turned on, tuned in, and dropped out to create the infamous generation gap. Today, as

June 24, 2013

Christian Standard

The “˜Up-frontness” of Eldership

By Chuck Sackett Sam compassionately shepherded a congregation I”ll call Countryside Church, but a massive heart attack cut short his ministry, forcing him into an extended rehabilitation, and ultimately, retirement. The elders, assessing the situation, determined that Sam”s wife could live in the parsonage until he was released from the hospital. However, the church would begin searching for a minister immediately, so she needed to vacate the parsonage upon his release. On the other side of the state, Doris served the children of a congregation I”ll call Community Fellowship. Her ministry was exploding with children. Tragically, her husband found her

December 21, 2008

Christian Standard

Wanted: Good Men for a Fine Work (Part 2)

By Eric Stevens The news reveals that we are a fickle people. I mean that in the worst way possible.  Large numbers of college students are involved in cheating. So are spouses””even Christians. People rage with deadly anger because of minor traffic miscues. Children appear to have never heard such courtesies as “please,” “thank you,” and “excuse me.” These symptoms in our society are related. There is an erosion of respect, not just for one”s elders, but even one”s parents, and in some cases, one”s children. The “Me Generation” has become the “Me Nation.” How does the church stem this

November 30, 2008

Christian Standard

Form Without Substance?

By James Riley Estep Jr. “Why didn”t I ever hear about this in church?” he asked. I sat there at lunch a little perplexed.  I was a first-year youth minister, and Matt was a freshman at a nearby state university. We had met the previous summer when I became the youth minister, but with the arrival of fall he moved to the nearby campus and started attending classes. One of these classes was “Introduction to Religion,” wherein he learned much about Buddhism, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism . . . and of Christianity in a way he had never heard. He said,

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