January 1, 2026
Think Outward
Every church will tell you they have an outward focus because they know that's Jesus' Great Commission, but the truth is that many are not.
Articles for tag: Risk
December 9, 2025
Restore & Renew: Preserving the Legacy of Alexander Campbell
A major new initiative is underway to preserve one of the most significant collections in the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement: The Alexander Campbell Papers.
December 21, 2024
The Last and the First
Matt Branum, a church planter and minister, tells the story of a Christmas that turned out to be both a last and a first.
January 9, 2024
Tavriski Christian Institute Restores Damaged Homes in Kherson, Ukraine
Tavriski Christian Institute evacuated Kherson, Ukraine, soon after the Russian invasion in 2022, but TCI did not abandon the people of Kherson. TCI has helped evacuate hundreds from that area, and it continues to feed people there and help with recovery from a flood. . . .
March 27, 2023
April 2 | The Ordinary Are Invited
Mark devoted one-third of his Gospel to the Passion experience of Jesus, and the first event in that experience was the triumphal entry into Jerusalem. . . .
February 13, 2023
February 19 | Courage to Deny Oneself
Post-exilic Israel had returned home. The people had learned their lesson about idolatry following their 70-year spanking in Babylon. But they had fallen prey to other nuances of selfishness and would need to learn again the benefit of self-denial.
January 30, 2023
February 5 | Application (‘Keys to Courage’)
Fear seems more common than faith these days. . . . But over the course of my life, my best decisions have been the times when I chose to walk by faith, not by sight.
November 21, 2022
Observing Back Sunday
These days, Black Friday seems to get more attention than Thanksgiving! . . . Perhaps we should consider making every Sunday “Back Sunday,” especially when we partake of Communion.
October 10, 2022
Paul at the Table
(We first ran this Communion meditation in January 2014.) By Ronald G. Davis Paul wrote beautifully and authoritatively of the Lord’s table. But he also sat there. Right across from us, as it were. Was he worthy? Are we? Both he and we are worthy in the gracious eyes of the Lord who invited us here. Paul certainly had sins when he sat here. His tears of repentance were not for imagined occasions he “missed the mark” of God’s righteousness. No doubt, there were occasions at the table he thought about Stephen, the young evangelist, at whose stoning death he
May 23, 2022
Marking a Memorable Day
Every Lord’s Day at the time of Communion, we mark a day in history when our Lord Jesus engaged in a battle to reclaim the world to spiritual liberty.
May 1, 2022
Healing Destruction from the Inside
By Laura McKillip Wood Natasha Reimer watched the video flash across her screen, horrified at the view of devastation and death in Ukraine. Lives lost, homes destroyed, orphans created.* She closed her laptop and dropped to her knees. “God, what will become of my people?” she cried. “What can I do to help them?” She prayed this same prayer every night for weeks. Years before, Natasha had attended Kentucky Christian University and eventually earned a master’s degree in diplomacy and international development at University of Kentucky. Although she made her home in the United States, her heart was in Crimea,
April 25, 2022
May 1 | Application
Bad Samaritans evidently can become good ones. That’s why Jesus wanted the gospel to be preached in Samaria (Acts 1:8), and when it was, many Samaritans accepted Christ and were baptized (Acts 8:5-11).
December 13, 2021
Dec. 19 | Application
It started with fear, and it ended in glory. . . . The shepherds had no idea they were role-players in an unfolding drama that would forever change the world.
July 1, 2021
Lemuel’s Mother: Praiseworthy Advisor and Model
We know little of Lemuel except that he was a king, a poet, and a man who appreciated his good mother.
July 1, 2021
Ruth: How God Weaved Her Story of Redemption into His
Ruth went from being an outsider to being part of the lineage of Jesus. Her story helped pave the way to the greatest story ever told. Your story can have great impact, as well.
July 1, 2021
Lame Ideas Can Lead to Healing Ideas
Have you ever excitedly run your flag up the flagpole of ideas, only to have nobody salute? It’s not a pleasant experience.
May 22, 2019
Vested in Our Leaders: The Pastor’s Project
Vested in Our Leaders: The Pastor’s Project By Richard Creek In 1975 I was standing in the lobby of the Veteran’s Hospital in Cheyenne, Wyoming, waiting to see Dr. Bruce Howar. Howar was the chief physician/administrator of the hospital, but he previously had been my family doctor back in Iowa. He had brought me into the world with the help of his nurse, my grandmother. From that time he had cared for all my broken bones, bumps, and bruises. “So, tell me,” he asked after we had greeted each other with hugs and smiles, “What are you doing with your
April 19, 2019
How the Mighty Pastors and Preachers Fall
By Jerry Harris The announcement came in mid-January. James MacDonald, founding pastor of Harvest Bible Chapel, based in the Chicago area, was taking an immediate and indefinite sabbatical from all preaching and leadership in his ministry. The elders took this action in response to mounting criticism concerning leadership overreach, financial questions, and alleged abuse of staff and members over a 12-year period. Stories of this sort are becoming all-too-common among megachurch pastors . . . and they show no sign of slowing. The churches that provide platforms for these leaders represent tens of thousands of people. High-visibility, powerful-personality pastors and
August 29, 2017
Feeling Inadequate for the Task? Good!
By Michael C. Mack In June at the North American Christian Convention in Kansas City, I met Marshall Hayden, retired minister of Worthington (Ohio) Christian Church. We stood in front of our Christian Standard Media booth and talked about his dad, Edwin Hayden, editor from 1957 to 1977, and the newly designed July issue. Like Sam Stone, editor from 1978 to 2003, and Mark Taylor, 2003 to 2017, two men I”ve known and respected for many years, Marshall strongly encouraged me in my new role. These three men””Edwin, Sam, and Mark””and the eight editors before them have left a legacy
July 26, 2017
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
