Series: Blogs

Culture & Public Square Reconciliation

The First Step Toward Unity

By Mark A. Taylor What does Christian unity look like? Sometimes it takes the form of two or three preachers getting together just to talk and share common experiences, dreams, and convictions. Often this leads to joint ministry projects and worship services between congregations creating new associations where once there was only suspicion and separation. Maybe the sweet aroma of unity will create a longing for it among others ready to include more people among “us” and fewer as “them.” And that can create an expression of unity in a large, public event attracting hundreds of separated brothers and sisters

May 18, 2016

Church & Ministry Leadership Development

The Edge of Fear

By Jim Tune A great power is unleashed when a person confronts her worst fears and steps out in faith anyway. As an example, consider Katharine Graham. She ran the Washington Post during the Watergate era, taking on President Richard Nixon and the White House at considerable professional risk. Long before Watergate, Graham was a 46-year-old housewife when her husband, Phil, committed suicide in 1963. Though grieving, she took control of the family company at a time when there were few women in senior positions anywhere in the corporate world. She was, in a word, terrified. She had no female

May 17, 2016

Succession Success: The First Step

By Mark A. Taylor I was right, and I didn”t mind saying so. The decision-maker in this program was giving flawed direction and providing inadequate resources for me and the others serving in the ministry. I saw this whether anyone else did or not. When I complained to the person handling logistics for the ministry (he wasn”t the one making the decisions I didn”t like), he replied with a Scripture: “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of

May 11, 2016

Church & Ministry Leadership Development

Creating Culture

By Jim Tune Pixar founder Ed Catmull had always dreamed of using computers to create a great animated movie. He achieved this with the release of Toy Story. “We”d been the first to make a movie with computers,” he wrote in his book Creativity, Inc., “and””even better””audiences were touched, and touched deeply by the story we told.” The problem? “Now that this goal had been reached, I had what I can only describe as a hollow, lost feeling.” Running a company didn”t seem to be enough. Catmull began to scratch beneath the surface, and realized things weren”t as healthy at

May 10, 2016

Culture & Public Square Politics & Government

We Can Do Better

By Mark A. Taylor As every media outlet in the U.S. comments on this year”s most unusual election, distinctly Christian voices are seldom heard above the noise. And even though I have no expectation that CNN will be quoting CHRISTIAN STANDARD, I have decided this week to weigh in. Actually, it”s not my opinion but those of two others I feel compelled to share. The first is from our Culture Watch columnist, Joe Boyd, whose “Steps to Improve Political Discourse” appearsÂ in CHRISTIAN STANDARD”s May issue. His three points (“We can drop the labels,” “We can appeal to the best in

May 4, 2016

Christian Living

Habits of the Happy

By Jim Tune Do you have habits you swear by? A daily routine you adhere to that you”re confident boosts your productivity or well-being? I have a hard time making certain disciplines stick. In his autobiography, Ben Franklin famously outlined a daily routine to ensure productivity, efficiency, and “moral perfection.” The mornings began with a question: “What good shall I do this day?” The early morning hours (between 5 and 7 a.m.) consisted of rising, washing, and reciting a morning liturgy containing a now-famous prayer he had written: “O powerful Goodness! Bountiful Father! Merciful Guide! Increase in me that wisdom

May 3, 2016

Christian Standard Updates News & Updates

Join the Celebration

By Mark A. Taylor Sure, you enjoy reading posts at this website, but now may be the time for you to give our print magazine a try. We have an offer that gives you so much more than the posts we add to this site each month. It”s our 150th anniversary, and we have a special (read “low cost”) way for you to join the celebration. Now you can get a whole year of CHRISTIAN STANDARD delivered to your home for only $15.00. That”s way less than HALF our normal subscription price! In fact, it”s lower than almost all of

April 27, 2016

Doctrinal Issues & Debates Theology & Bible

Escape Eschatology

By Jim Tune Dispensationalists, especially modern dispensationalists, promote an eschatology that amounts to little more than “escapeatology.” Popular treatments of the Olivet Discourse (Mark 13; Mathew 24; Luke 21) and the book of Revelation present an eschatology that induces a mind-set of escapism. And many Christians are eating it up. Consider the popularity of the Left Behind series of books and movies with their view of eschatology as merely a means of future escapeÂ fromÂ this world, with a corresponding flight from any present responsibilityÂ toÂ this world. Escapeatology views Revelation”s portrayal of the new heaven and earth as a reality in the distant

April 26, 2016

Not Common Enough

By Mark A. Taylor An old friend was catching me up on his career in Internet technology project management. More than once he”s been thrust into dysfunctional situations in companies struggling to reach goals and meet deadlines. These aren”t Christian enterprises, but my friend told me what he”s discovered about how to make progress: “Good management generally is a matter of Christian principles combined with common sense.” Excuses he”s heard: She”s wrong. He”s late. They”re incompetent. “That”s not what we”re going to be about,” he tells employees. “We”re all in the same boat, heading toward the same goal.” Common sense:

April 20, 2016

Stewardship & Generosity

Diworseification

By Jim Tune Peter Lynch is a legend on Wall Street. As the manager of Fidelity Investments” Magellan Fund between 1977 and 1990, Lynch averaged a 29.2 percent annual return. His fund consistently doubled and even tripled the S&P 500 index. He did this without the help of complicated algorithms or insider trading. Lynch takes a commonsense approach to portfolio management. His most famous investment principle is simply, “Invest in what you know.” In his best-selling book One Up on Wall Street, Lynch devotes a chapter to listing the kinds of companies he stays away from. He cautions readers to

April 19, 2016

Church & Ministry Church Growth

All Growth Matters

By Mark A. Taylor Since 1997 CHRISTIAN STANDARD has been publishing annual lists of megachurches among the Christian churches and churches of Christ. In those 19 years, the megachurch phenomenon has exploded, not only in this fellowship but across the whole evangelical world. And with the growth has come criticism, cynicism, and complaint. Two years ago I interviewed Jud Wilhite, Dave Stone, and Don Wilson for our Beyond the Standard program. Each of them led one of the largest megachurches on that year”s list. I still remember what I wrote about that experience. These three “shared practical ideas and thoughtful

April 13, 2016

Church & Ministry Leadership Development

Hacking Ministry

By Jim Tune One Saturday in November, hundreds of programmers and designers arrived at George Brown College in Toronto. They were armed with laptops and sleeping bags, although few of them would sleep. For 30 hours, they worked nonstop on creating products to improve the lives of people living with dementia, a disease that affects 47.5 million worldwide. Their reward: the opportunity to change lives, $175,000 in cash prizes, and the chance to pitch their ideas to influencers. DementiaHack is one of many hackathons taking place around the world. There are even Christian versions, like Code for the Kingdom, “where

April 12, 2016

Christian Standard Updates News & Updates

A Birthday Worth Celebrating

By Mark A. Taylor We had a party in the CHRISTIAN STANDARD office last week, and we took some pictures to share with visitors to our website. The occasion, as all our Facebook friends have already seen, was the 150th anniversary of CHRISTIAN STANDARD”s first issue, April 7, 1866. Peter Esposito, president of Christian Standard Media (formerly Standard Publishing) brought bagels and a birthday cake, and the whole office enjoyed the refreshments from a table displaying our framed copy of that very first edition. While each of our staff members has been helping produce CHRISTIAN STANDARD for several years, our

April 6, 2016

Axioms for Leaders, Part 2

By Jim Tune In last week”s blog I posted an annotated list of five axioms for Christian leaders and promised five more for this week. I haven”t attempted to rank these axioms, as they are mostly situationally driven. They either apply to your current circumstance or they don”t. All of them have found application to my life and leadership””some of them very recently. Here are five more axioms for this week: 1. Become a lifelong learner. Read something. Harry S. Truman said, “Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers.” Rick Warren insists that the moment you stop

April 5, 2016

Christian Standard Updates News & Updates

Different but the Same

By Mark A. Taylor “CHRISTIAN STANDARD sure isn”t what it used to be.” The Facebook comment was meant as a critical jab, but it seems more like a compliment to me. With this issue, the magazine is 150 years old, and we”re proud of many ways it is different today than in the past. We have a more attractive format today. In its earliest years, CHRISTIAN STANDARD was a dense, type-heavy newspaper filled with doctrinal essays crafted from long sentences and complex thoughts. Today”s readers, bombarded by media at every turn, need something different””more graphics, more color, shorter articles, and

March 30, 2016

Axioms for Leaders, Part 1

By Jim Tune I”ve thought through ten axioms that are helpful for me as I try to lead others and myself responsibly. Here are five for this week, with five more to follow in next week”s blog: 1. It”s okay to ask for help. There are good people ready and willing to help you. You can”t do this job alone so get all the help you can. Ask for support and then be easy to support. 2. Make mistakes. Mistakes are a great educator when one is honest enough to admit them and willing to learn from them. Gretchin Rubin

March 29, 2016

Discipleship & Spiritual Formation

After Easter: the Challenge Remains

By Mark A. Taylor Churches and church leaders around the world are breathing a collective sigh of relief this week. Easter is over. All the hard work anticipating big Easter attendances is finished. Larger numbers of volunteers were recruited. Worship services were added (some megachurches began Easter services on Thursday evening). Musicians practiced harder and longer; choirs and worship teams prepared their best. Preachers gave special effort to make sure their sermons were polished and ready. New churches and multisites launched on Easter Sunday, with the hope to attract newcomers on the one Sunday when tradition prods the largest

March 23, 2016

Discipleship & Spiritual Formation

Ingenuity

By Jim Tune One of my favorite stories in the Bible is of the paralyzed man and his four friends. We aren”t told much about him, but we know he had four deeply compassionate friends who were determined to place him at the feet of Jesus (Mark 2:1-11). This man could do very little to help himself. He was completely dependent on others to feed him, bathe him, clothe him, and care for his other needs. Fortunately, the paralyzed man had friends who cared for him. Better yet, his friends also had initiative and ingenuity. They took him to the

March 22, 2016