February 5, 2024
Feb. 11 Lesson | Signs and Wonders
The Bible has a love/hate relationship with signs or miracles. On the one hand they can engender faith (John 10:25). On the other hand they can derail faith in the miracle worker (John 6:26). . . .
Articles for tag: Woman At The Well
September 6, 2017
Remember Me
By Diane Stortz With missionaries in the family, she had become pretty good at saying good-bye, although it”s never easy. This time, the leave-taking felt especially difficult, because not only were her daughter and son-in-law returning to the mission field, but this time they were taking their 7-week-old baby, Solomon, her first grandchild. One of the first things Solomon”s grandma did when she got home from the airport was frame some of the many pictures taken during those first seven weeks of Solomon”s life. She placed three in the family room, one on the piano, one in the bedroom, and
July 11, 2016
Bad News or Good News?
By T.R. Robertson The narrative of bad news dominates our culture, a culture that increasingly sees religion as a major purveyor of bad news. “We”re living in a day and age that the news media is a drug-pusher. And negative news is their drug,” says Dr. Peter H. Diamandis. “And on every device that we get””our cell phones, our smart phones, our laptops, our newspapers, our radios””we are fed negative news 24 hours a day, seven days a week, over and over and over again.” Diamandis, speaking in 2013 at a conference called “Global Future 2045: Towards a New Strategy for
March 15, 2015
Balm in Gilead
By Jay Engelbrecht There is balm in Gilead, To make the wounded whole; There”s power enough in heaven, To cure a sin-sick soul. The opening line of an old African-American spiritual answers Jeremiah”s rhetorical question, “Is there no balm in Gilead[?]” (Jeremiah 8:22, King James Version*). In Marilynne Robinson”s novel Gilead, I discovered balm for my soul. The novel”s narrator, a fictional Iowa preacher named John Ames, is dying. He uses his remaining days to write an account of his life for his young son. Three sentences in Gilead changed the way I view 1 Corinthians 15:51-53, which reads: Listen,
October 13, 2012
All About Worship: Find This Book and Read It! (Part 11)
By Dale Reeves  The Air I Breathe: Worship as a Way of Life Louie Giglio Colorado Springs: Multnomah, 2009 I”ve had a calling on my life to be a lifelong worshipper of God since I was a little boy sitting in Sunday evening services at Clovernook (now LifeSpring) Christian Church in Cincinnati, Ohio. Back in those days, David Lang led us in singing the great hymns of the faith””all of the verses””and to this day it”s amazing how the lyrics of those hymns are tucked away in my brain. They often rise to the surface during a season of seeking
April 30, 2012
Lesson for May 6, 2012: The Bread of Life (John 6)
This treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson is written by Sam E. Stone, former editor of CHRISTIAN STANDARD. ______ By Sam E. Stone An entire year elapsed between the healing of the lame man (John 5) and the feeding of the 5,000 (John 6). This would be two years after the first cleansing of the temple and one year before the crucifixion. John explains that his Gospel contains only a limited number of the many miracles and teachings of the Lord (John 20:30, 31; 21:25). Seth Wilson observes that the feeding of the 5,000 was a “turning-point in Jesus”
September 30, 2011
My Appetite
By Chris DeWelt “My food . . . “ It was quite tasty. A large whole lamb fixed in a traditional Albanian way””stuffed with rice. Really good rice. It even had some almonds and bits of liver mixed in. The college students all looked my way with some degree of uncertainty. Maybe it was because the whole lamb was present (minus the wool and hide). Fish with the head attached is one thing, but this definitely was stretching the comfort zone, and here in Durres, Albania, we had already been stretched quite a bit. Perhaps I was a bit
May 11, 2008
CHURCHES WITHOUT STEEPLES: The Woman at the Well May Be at Starbucks
Bill McClure reflects on fishermen, Paul in Athens, and Starbucks ministry to show why gospel witness requires going where spiritually needy people already gather.
March 30, 2008
Living with Poor People Changed Me
After seven years living among the extremely poor in Uganda, Greg Taylor reflects on the tension between missions and money—and why clean water, medical need, and the gospel often meet in the same village.
December 30, 2007
More Than All We Ask or Imagine!
We love before-and-after stories, but God’s transforming work is the most breathtaking. Jackina Stark reflects on Scripture and real-life examples of renewed minds, mended relationships, and Spirit-enabled courage to do what we cannot.
October 14, 2007
Finding and Focusing on Living Water
Reflecting on Jesus’ conversation at the well, Greg Allen explores “thirst-quenching worship” rooted in the Holy Spirit—not personal preferences. Practical steps help move beyond worship wars toward spirit-and-truth worship.
