News &amp; Updates

Storm Blows Roof Off Church in Tennessee (Plus News Briefs)

By Jim Nieman A storm that rolled through eastern Tennessee late Friday night tore the roof off of part of Love Chapel Christian Church in Erwin, leaving tons of debris and causing extensive water damage. No one was hurt. The integrity of the original 1953 church structure is still being assessed, senior minister Robert Bess said Tuesday, but an adjoining, 1960s-era, rectangular addition that includes classrooms, a nursery, restrooms, and an office is a total loss. In all likelihood, the church will need to relocate for a period of months while repairs are made and new construction occurs, said Bess,

July 11, 2018

Church Doubles Scripture Reading Goal (Plus News Briefs)

By Chris Moon Redemption Christian Church in Jasper, Ind., discovered a powerful way to spur its members to begin reading the Bible. On the final Sunday of 2017, senior minister Darrel Land challenged the church to read—as a group—at least 500,000 verses of the Bible during 2018. The church created an online form so that members could submit the number of verses they read each day, week, or month. (To provide context, there are 31,102 verses in the Bible: the Old Testament has 23,145 and the New Testament has 7,957, according to various online sources.) “Here’s the deal: If we

July 1, 2018

July 2018

June 13, 2018

New City Plants New Campus (plus News Briefs)

By Chris Moon New City Church of Los Angeles has launched a second campus. The 10-year-old church located in downtown Los Angeles opened a new location in the lower San Fernando Valley. The new church—called New City Church of San Fernando Valley—is led by pastor David Guyer. The church plant is part of New City Church’s vision to open three to five new locations across Los Angeles during the next five years. “This is an ambitious vision,” lead pastor Kevin Haah said in a video introduction about the church plant. “God doesn’t call us to what’s easy but to where

June 6, 2018

Alexander Campbell Announced as a 2018 NACC Speaker

By Caleb Kaltenbach INDIANAPOLIS—Church leaders around the world were shocked to learn that Alexander Campbell will be speaking at the yearly convention. 2018 North American Christian Convention President Drew Sherman reportedly hired a Transylvanian scientist—a mad one, no doubt—to fly in and reanimate Campbell, the leading thinker of the early Restoration Movement and longtime editor of the Millennial Harbinger. The process took longer than initially thought, due to good weather. Eventually, however, a thunderstorm passed through the area and made the impossible possible. “We just want to empower leaders and give them an NACC they’ll never forget,” Sherman said. “It’s

June 3, 2018

Obituaries for 2018

Send obituary information for **@********************ia.com. (Recent obituaries are listed first, before a comprehensive alphabetical listing further down.) Carol June Lukens Beeman Piper, 91, who was born Jan. 26, 1927, to George Oran and Ella Hall Lukens in a home 10 miles north of Mitchell, NE—the sixth of eight children—died in Tempe, AZ, on May 31, 2018. As a 3-year-old child, upon the death of her mother, Carol June (known then as “June”) moved to Beaver City, NE, to be raised by her aunt and uncle, Fannie Hall Rennecker and Albert Rennecker. She attended Beaver City Public Schools, graduating from high

June 1, 2018

June 2018

May 19, 2018

Headlines: June 2018

By Chris Moon Fire Destroys MOHI School but Not Hope in Its Mission Missions of Hope International suffered a blow to its efforts to spread the gospel in the slums of Nairobi, Kenya, when one of its school buildings burned to the ground in February. The building in the Bondeni community housed 18 classrooms that served 694 students. Desks and textbooks were lost in the blaze. MOHI is a partner of Indianapolis-based Christian Missionary Fellowship International, which immediately began fund-raising to replace what was lost. The estimated loss was $300,000. “We thank God there were no injuries,” said Mary Kamau, executive

May 1, 2018

May 2018

April 19, 2018

HEADLINES: May 2018

By Chris Moon KCU Grad Uses Art for the Kingdom A Kentucky Christian University graduate is putting his art to work for Jesus. Cody Sabol always loved to paint. After his freshman year in college, he asked God how he could use his art for the kingdom. God began to answer that prayer when one of Sabol’s friends asked him to paint during an event where the friend was performing. Sabol initially resisted, but then relented after being offered two Taco Bell tacos. (College students can be bribed.) “The paintings turned out awful. A-W-F-U-L,” Sabol wrote on his website,

April 1, 2018

April 2018

March 29, 2018

Personal Milestones and Honors

Jean and Lloyd Strickland, who have served in ministry in and around Clearwater, BC, Canada, for more than 50 years, were honored as Clearwater’s Citizens of the Year by the Clearwater and District Chamber of Commerce on March 23. The Stricklands went to Clearwater after graduation from Ozark Bible College (now Ozark Christian College), Joplin, MO; he was commissioned and supported by his home church, First Christian (now called LifeBridge Christian), Longmont, CO. They began their ministry with Clearwater Christian Church in 1965 and served there until retirement in 2015. In addition to work with multisite ministries in the North

March 21, 2018

HEADLINES: April 2018

By Chris Moon 5-Year-Old Signs Basketball National Letter of Intent Milligan College’s latest basketball recruit is young—very young. The Tennessee school last fall brought 5-year-old Eli Roberts to campus to sign a National Letter of Intent to play on the school’s basketball team. Eli, who was diagnosed with cancer at birth, is the son of a Milligan College graduate. “Eli signed a letter of intent, which means he’s part of our program,” said Milligan basketball coach Bill Robinson in a story published in the college’s alumni magazine. “It’s the coolest signing I’ve been a part of, that’s for sure.”

March 1, 2018

March 2018

March 1, 2018

Should Christian Leaders Take a Stand on Political Issues?

By Bob Russell A popular Christian blogger recently suggested ministers should avoid preaching “anything political” because that’s an automatic turnoff to most seekers. He pointed out that when preachers take a position on contentious cultural issues they minimize opportunities for evangelism—especially with millennials. He applauded one of the leading ministers in America who recently announced he would no longer preach about homosexuality because it was such a polarizing subject. WHY CONFRONT CONTROVERSIAL POLITICAL ISSUES? That may sound like good counsel because, after all, our ultimate hope isn’t in politics but in Jesus Christ. But think about the many hot-button

February 23, 2018

Jerry Harris

Discipleship and the New Lookout

By Jerry Harris As the publisher of both Christian Standard and The Lookout, I have been tasked with reimagining the magazines and what they are supposed to accomplish. Christian Standard is primarily focused on ministry from a leadership perspective, so I know that leaders are primarily reading this. You are the decision makers, the ones with the sacred responsibility of caring for the flock of God. Like me, you want to have the very best tools at your disposal, and so providing you with the best tools is our goal at Christian Standard. We want to leverage the power that

February 22, 2018

Jerry Harris

Christian Standard Media Purchases Christian Church Today

Christian Standard Media has purchased the assets of Christian Church Today, including its online database of Christian churches and Christian ministries, and plans to make them available to readers of Christian Standard and The Lookout. “Our intention is to create a digital list that will form a vital communication link in our church network locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally by providing connections and links to email, websites, and social media,” said Christian Standard Media Publisher Jerry Harris. “The database has more than 9,000 churches and organizations that we are presently and painstakingly bringing up to date,” Harris said. “We plan

February 22, 2018

Headlines: July 2018

By Chris Moon Churches Unite to Carry the Cross Campton (Ky.) Christian Church brought the message of the cross to its region in the lead-up to Easter. The church’s “Cross Across Wolfe County” event brought churches and other believers together to carry a large wooden cross from one end of Wolfe County, Ky., to the other. The event took place on the Saturday before Easter. Churches, youth groups, and families signed up to carry the cross in 2-mile segments. The cross covered a distance of about 20 miles. Local law enforcement provided an escort for participants, and an assist

February 17, 2018

HEADLINES: March 2018

By Chris Moon Church Responds to Youth Departure Maryland Community Church in Terre Haute, Ind., is revamping its youth ministry to try to help stop the exodus of young people from our nation’s churches. With “Growing Young at MCC,” the church is dropping some staples of traditional youth ministry—like its high school worship service on Sunday morning—and adding more elements that bring parents and students together in church. The theory is that offering age-specific programming twice a week for students overburdens families. MCC wants to encourage high school students to be part of the larger church body in ministry

February 15, 2018

Michael C. Mack