November 4, 2025
TAKING A STAND
As we drink from the cup, may it speak of his blood, shed in the face of overwhelming darkness, securing our eternal rescue and freedom.
Articles for tag: Sacrificial Love
November 1, 2023
Agape Love in the Life of an Elder
By David Roadcup Cornerstones were critical in the architecture of the ancient world. A cornerstone was traditionally the first stone laid for a structure, with all other stones set in reference to it. Thus, a cornerstone determined the position of the entire structure. Cornerstones have been around for millennia. A poorly crafted or placed cornerstone can compromise an entire structure. In the life of an elder or church leader, several critical cornerstones need to be identified, grown, and matured. Examples include these: POWERFUL AND IMPACTING LOVE Scripture uses four Greek words for love: eros (extreme self-gratification), storge (love for family), filos
January 1, 2023
Grace and Truth
New Testament Theology Embodied in Jesus and Carried Out in Cultural Chaos
September 3, 2021
A Loving Sacrifice: Pastor Donates Kidney to Church Member
Pastor Jack Coultas, of Park Grove Christian Church in Deepwater, Mo., encourages people to “love dangerously”—just as Jesus did. It’s a self-sacrificing message Coultas can preach boldly because he was able to live it out. Early last year, Coultas donated one of his kidneys to a church member.
March 1, 2021
Aroma of Christ
Consider that Jesus' sacrifice was on a cross, which smelled like blood and grime and torture and the bile of humiliation. And yet it was fragrant to God.
February 4, 2020
Propelled by Love
By Michael C. Mack Want to really impress your Valentine’s date this Friday? Explain to your sweetheart that what we now know as Valentine’s Day was first celebrated in AD 496 by the Romans. They called it Lupercalia; it was held in the middle of February, which apparently was the beginning of their springtime. The tradition, it’s said, was that boys would draw the names of girls from a box, and they’d be boyfriend and girlfriend throughout the festival. Sometimes they’d even get married. The system was probably more successful than most modern dating apps! Our tradition these days
November 21, 2019
I Thank My God for You
This is the first of two editorials that center on thanksgiving and the apostle Paul. This one, from Thanksgiving 1934, is by Edwin R. Errett, and was republished 50 years later. _ _ _ I Thank My God for You Editorial by Edwin R. ErrettNovember 24, 1934; p. 3(Adapted/republished November 18, 1984; p. 3) There may be a monotony about messages on thanksgiving, but there was one phrase of whose monotony the apostle Paul was not afraid. In almost every letter of his that we possess, that phrase has prominent place: “I thank my God for you.” Sometimes he was
August 6, 2019
Faith of the 21
By Stuart Powell Some images in life are so tragic, we struggle to process what we’ve seen. In early 2015, 21 young Christian Egyptian men clad in orange jumpsuits were marched single file onto a beach in Libya. The men stopped and faced the camera and were forced to their knees. Behind each Christian was a masked radical Islamist holding a knife. We all know what came next, and most of us recoil at the thought. Many people living in Western cultures that developed from Christianity’s influence are tempted to believe martyrs are people we read about only in the
February 19, 2019
Displaying our Testimony
By Stuart Powell Testifying to Jesus’ influence on our lives is an important part of the Christian faith. As we grow in our faith, we should have more to say about Jesus. His influence first affects our attitudes about living. Jesus replaces our impure inner desires by teaching us to live holy. When we grant the Holy Spirit permission, he also changes how we view other people. Jesus’ influence eventually enables us to sacrificially love those whom we formerly opposed. God teaches us to welcome all who are different. He leads us to fast for those who abuse us. Jesus’
May 20, 2017
How I Know My Wife Married the Wrong Person
By Tyler McKenzie Today my wife, Lindsay, and I celebrate our five-year anniversary. Five years ago we tied the knot and took the plunge. Five years ago the cutest girl in Indiana was taken off the market! Five years ago we launched the beginning of the rest of our lives. Five years ago . . . And after five years, there”s no more hiding behind the dinner-and-a-movie façade of dating life. I can”t buy enough flowers to conceal it. I can”t open enough doors. I can”t say enough “I love yous.” She knows (and painfully, so do I) that she
December 28, 2016
Christmas Communicates
By Jim Tune “What we”ve got here is failure to communicate,” said the prison warden in the 1967 movie Cool Hand Luke. The line has endured because communication is so tough. Marketers spend millions of dollars to communicate. Marriages have broken down due to a lack of communication. In some ways, communication is everything. The ultimate communication gap, though, is between God and us. Left to ourselves, we”d never be able to figure out what God is like. We would know that he exists, but what is he really like? Is he angry and harsh? Is he loving? Does he
March 28, 2014
Nothing but the Blood
By Kay Moll In his book The Applause of Heaven, Max Lucado tells of an earthquake that struck Soviet Armenia in 1988. Just before the earthquake, a young mother named Susanna, along with her 4-year-old daughter, had arrived at her sister in-law”s apartment. The whole building collapsed, and Susanna and her daughter were trapped under tons of concrete and debris. Help was tortuously slow in coming. The two were trapped for eight days. Susanna”s heart was pierced by her child”s pitiful cries for something to drink. In the midst of the nightmare, she remembered seeing a program on television about
February 14, 2014
Valentine Love
By Tom Claibourne Legends abound regarding the origin of Valentine”s Day and the namesake for the holiday. At least three different Saint Valentines, all of them martyrs, are mentioned in the early martyrologies associated with February 14. The best-known account features a Roman priest who was martyred during the reign of Emperor Claudius for refusing to renounce his faith and for defying an edict issued by the emperor. The Roman Empire under Claudius was involved in many bloody, unpopular military campaigns. As a result, it became increasingly difficult to recruit soldiers. The emperor reasoned that the Roman men did
July 17, 2011
Making the Father Known
By Ethan Magness Despite our best efforts and fervent hopes, God cannot be fully known. Our questions will never be fully answered. God’s ways are higher then ours and so, in some ways, God will always be a mystery. But God does desire to be known. Christ came, in part, to make God known. In Christ, we know God is good and kind. We know God cares about the lost and confused, the sick and the poor. We know God is love, not because of an abstract theological declaration, but because his love has been demonstrated and incarnated in Christ.
