Articles for tag: Pruning

May 1, 2020

Lessons from the Bonsai Tree

By Megan Rawlings I have always wanted a bonsai tree. The whole concept absolutely fascinates me. Unfortunately, I was born with a black thumb. When I enter a greenhouse, the plants lean away from me, scared for their lives. It’s so bad, a friend once asked me to come to their house to touch their grass so it would stop growing. OK, so I am not a farmer, but it did not stop me from researching bonsai trees. When You’re Planted in a Small Container Bonsai is an umbrella term for small trees—not dwarf trees—that are clipped and tied in

March 13, 2017

Christian Standard

Bible Study Theology & Bible

Lesson for March 19, 2017: Matchless Love (John 15:1-17)

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 12, 2017,Â issue ofÂ The LookoutÂ magazine, and is also available online atÂ www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Mark ScottÂ Matchless means peerless; no equal; unsurpassed. When we speak of God”s love for us, it is matchless. Our text is in the middle of what is called the Farewell Discourse of Jesus. The content stretches from John 13″“15. It was the night of his betrayal. In an upper room somewhere in Jerusalem, Jesus met with

March 16, 2015

Christian Standard

Church Leadership

To My Brave, Upstanding Trees

By Daniel Schantz The sharp blade of my shovel slices into the soft dirt. I am planting an apple tree. I lift the heavy scoop of brown gold and fling it to the side, and the fragrance of fresh earth meets my nostrils. When the crater is about a foot deep and three feet wide, I stand my bare root apple stock in the middle and spread out the spidery roots. Then, I pack black loam over the roots until the cavity is filled, and stand back to admire my work. There”s not much to see. Just a “stick” about

February 22, 2011

Christian Standard

Discipleship & Spiritual Formation

Romanced by His Words

By Janet McMahon I have had an ongoing love affair that started when I was in fourth grade, and it was not one you would expect from a 10-year-old girl. I didn”t have a crush on a TV or music star. I wasn”t infatuated with the high school boys in the church youth group. Nope, I fell in love with words, sentences, paragraphs, and books. I fell in love with reading. I loved reading so much that when my mother announced we were going to the library, I would jump up and down and flap my hands like a bird”s