Series: Blogs

January 14, 2014

Mark A. Taylor

Not Hiding, but Seeking

By Mark A. Taylor If you follow contributing editor Jennifer Johnson”s blog, then you”ve probably already enjoyed a chuckle from a link she posted there last week. If not, go now to “21 Brilliant Little Children Who Have Absolutely Mastered the Game of Hide and Seek,” and then please come back. The delight of the pictures is the tendency of toddlers to think they”re hidden if they cover their heads. There they are under the bedspread or behind a sofa cushion or wearing a lampshade, with feet or hands and arms all sticking out in plain sight. But they can”t

January 7, 2014

Mark A. Taylor

Reading Again for the First Time

By Mark A. Taylor “Do professors have to be boring?” Dan Ariely”s answer to the college student who asked that question offers insight for Christians as well as academics. I can imagine a secular neighbor or friend asking, “Do Christians have to be “˜churchy”?” The student”s problem, posed to the Wall Street Journal advice columnist, was this: He had recently attended a lecture by a well-known professor and “was amazed and baffled” by the teacher”s inability to communicate even basic concepts in a compelling and understandable way. The student”s question, which got me to thinking about lifetime Christians like me:

December 31, 2013

Mark A. Taylor

A Spiritual Checkup

By Mark A. Taylor  “What a difference a day makes.” We”ve all experienced the truth of that proverb, but when you substitute “year” for “day,” the changes can seem even more dramatic. Think about the year we”re finishing. In just those 12 months: Someone close was diagnosed with disease or cured from one. Romances blossomed or marriages dissolved. Neighbors came and went. Job layoffs or promotions changed a family”s lifestyle. Babies were born, and a loved one died. Year”s end can be a wonderful time to reflect on the rhythm of life. “We”re used to seeing the doctor for an

December 24, 2013

Mark A. Taylor

We Follow Too

By Mark A. Taylor  “Where he leads me, I will follow.” That was Mary”s decision, finally, after she had expressed her confusion about the message the angel brought her. “I am the Lord”s servant,” she said. “May your word to me be fulfilled” (Luke 1:38). Joseph, with his own set of doubts, decided he would obey God, too. When God”s messenger explained to Joseph that his fiancée was pregnant by action of the Holy Spirit, “he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him” (Matthew 1:24). Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, obeyed God”s will, too, although

December 17, 2013

Mark A. Taylor

More Than a Magazine

By Mark A. Taylor Do you see CHRISTIAN STANDARD magazine? Many readers say it”s the best it”s ever been. But our monthly publication is not the only media we”re using to serve readers and leaders. There”s this website, of course, with new material every day to inform and inspire you. Frequent visitors have discovered they can have total access to all the news, commentary, practical help, and biblical and theological studies here for one, low annual price. And if you want to commit to less than a year, the service offers ridiculously inexpensive one-day and one-month options. Although many of

December 10, 2013

Mark A. Taylor

Getting Ready for Christmas

By Mark A. Taylor We hear plenty of exhortations to “Keep Christ in Christmas” but receive far too little help for actually doing that. Here”s a simple idea: Read and reflect on some part of the Bible”s Christmas story each day in the week-and-a-half before Christmas. Following is a plan for daily Bible reading December 15-25. The Scripture passages are short, and most are very familiar. You”ll hear some of them quoted in church services this month. But your own commitment to consider them afresh and alone can add balance and joy to your holiday this year. Or you might

December 3, 2013

Mark A. Taylor

An Opportunity to Ponder

By Mark A. Taylor The gospel is born and bathed in mystery. How can we understand, how can we respond to what Jesus said and who Jesus was? He told his followers, “I am the light of the world” and, “You are the light of the world.” We and he are the same light? How? He commanded, “Be holy, even as I am holy.” How is that possible? He told Nicodemus, “You must be born again,” and with the puzzled Pharisee, the first-time reader asks, “How can a grown man climb back into the womb?” The greatest mystery, of course,

November 26, 2013

Mark A. Taylor

Giving to Those Who Can”t Give Back

By Mark A. Taylor Looking for a different way to infuse your Christmas celebration with meaning? Gayla Congdon has an idea. During our November 21 Beyond the Standard BlogTalkRadio program*, she mentioned a program with lots of possibilities. “We”re encouraging families to participate in 24 days of disruption, starting December 1,” she said. “Each day visitors to our blog or Facebook page will receive another idea for family activities to create a meaningful Christmas.” Here”s how Amor”s website describes the challenge: The 24 Days of Advent journey will stretch you. It will cause you to rethink your economy of Christmas

November 19, 2013

Mark A. Taylor

Mistakes Are Good and Conflict Can Be Productive

By Mark A. Taylor If there”s one thing too many Christians avoid, especially with other Christians in church settings, it”s conflict. Bad situations fester because leaders fail to confront. Inferior ideas get implemented, and sometimes enshrined, because someone in charge is afraid to say no. A better way goes undiscovered because those discussing the future are too willing to follow the first plan proposed. A minority voice sways a decision because others in the group will not stand up and say, “Brother, you”re wrong.” Yet the greatest progress is often the product of freewheeling dialogue where dissent is welcome. Bob

November 12, 2013

Mark A. Taylor

Must-Haves for the Missions-Minded

By Mark A. Taylor Several resources remind me of Standard Publishing”s commitment to missions and a host of special opportunities for missions-minded visitors to this website. The first is actually a set of three books, mission trip devotions and journals by Lena Wood. Called (item 022501113) gives spiritual nourishment and assessment to older teens and adults preparing to go on a short-term missions trip. Challenged (022501213) helps the reader deal with the spiritual transformation he may experience while he”s on the mission trip. Changed (022501313) is the devotional journal to use once the traveler has returned home. How will he

October 29, 2013

Mark A. Taylor

Self-Fed

By Mark A. Taylor Usually my wife and I grab something at a restaurant after church on Sunday morning, but a few weeks ago the church fed me lunch. It was an information meeting for small group leaders at our church, and the menu was box lunches from one of my favorite local cafes. I tried the chicken salad sandwich. Never had it before””it was great! There were extra meals on hand after the meeting, so each of us could take a couple home with us. My wife and I enjoyed ours the next day. So that means the church

October 22, 2013

Mark A. Taylor

We”re Doing Well, but Not Well Enough

By Mark A. Taylor A generation ago, Dr. Steve Hancock made sure his graduate Christian education students understood the principles of Sunday school growth. One of the rules, which he learned at the Southern Baptist seminary he attended, went something like this: “New classes grow faster, win more people to Christ, and develop more workers than existing classes.” We don”t hear much about Sunday school growth nowadays. But church growth, especially growth through church planting, is on everyone”s radar. Ed Stetzer, president of LifeWay Research, is a Southern Baptist church growth advocate for today”s generation. And he says “any movement

October 15, 2013

Mark A. Taylor

Bringing People Together

By Mark A. Taylor “The power of the gospel to bring people together is greater than I thought,” Kevin Haah said in the September 26 Beyond the Standard BlogTalkRadio program. Haah”s New City Christian Church reaches the homeless in the church”s Skid Row neighborhood of Los Angeles as well as upwardly mobile young professionals with six-figure incomes. This is possible, he believes, “because we make the gospel the centerpiece.” “We”re all more messed up than we think we are, but God loves us more than we can imagine,” he said. “The gospel is the story of God coming to save

October 8, 2013

Mark A. Taylor

Keeping Them Connected

By Mark A. Taylor Those concerned about millennials and their relationship to the church can be encouraged by research reported by the Barna Group in September. Although the news release, titled “Five Reasons Millennials Stay Connected to Church,” minced no words about “the harsh realities of Millennial Faith,” it also offered research to show why many 18- to 29-year-olds stay connected to God by being connected to a local church. But first the bad news: 59 percent of millennials raised in Christian churches eventually leave them. In the last decade, according to this research, the number of unchurched millennials has

September 24, 2013

Mark A. Taylor

A Difficult Standard, a Tricky Balance

By Mark A. Taylor The September 20 issue of The Wall Street Journal quoted from a 12,000-word interview Pope Francis had given to the Italian Jesuit journal Civiltá Cattolica. “We cannot insist only on issues related to abortion, gay marriage, and the use of contraceptive methods,” he said. While affirming that the teachings of the church are clear about these matters, he added, “It is not necessary to talk about these issues all the time. We have to find a new balance; otherwise even the moral edifice of the church is likely to fall like a house of cards.” While

September 10, 2013

Mark A. Taylor

A Day for Hope

By Mark A. Taylor What will you do tomorrow to commemorate the anniversary of 9/11? If you”re like me, your answer may be, “Nothing.” Although none of us alive when terrorists attacked the U.S. September 11, 2001, will ever forget the day, we don”t dwell on it; we may not even think much about that horror from the past. Maybe this is because we”ve seen so much senseless tragedy since then: moviegoers gunned down in a theater, and schoolchildren murdered in their classrooms. And many are still feeling repercussions from the Boston Marathon bombing April 15. This week we”re assaulted

September 3, 2013

Mark A. Taylor

Find Us Faithful, Too!

By Mark A. Taylor “I want that song played at my funeral,” my wife whispered to me as the soaring rendition of Steve Green”s “Find Us Faithful” flowed from the grand piano onstage.  The pianist, Wayne Lundberg, morphed seamlessly into “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” as the auditorium filled for the retirement celebration honoring John and Joyce Samples for 50 years of ministry. About a decade and a half of that has been at East 91st Street Christian Church in Indianapolis where we gathered Sunday, August 25. The 75-minute program was full of nostalgia (speakers included an elder from the first church

August 27, 2013

Mark A. Taylor

Want to Try Digital Detox?

By Mark A. Taylor Earlier this summer I accomplished something new for me. I went 14 days with no cell phone or computer. My two weeks were completely free of digital connections””no Internet, no texting, no Facebook updates, no e-mail or web browsing. And I must admit it was not comfortable””at least at first. My wife and I were part of a Christian group cruising around Italy and Greece. We enjoyed a taste of a dozen different destinations, including several we”d like to visit again. And if that is ever possible, I will certainly consider a technology boycott like the

August 20, 2013

Mark A. Taylor

Collapsing Culture Brings Family Ruin?

By Mark A. Taylor The deterioration of Christian influence in our culture has caused the collapse of stable families in our society, right? Although many conservative Christians believe the above idea, at least one writer challenges it. Mary Eberstadt, in her book How the West Really Lost God: A New Theory of Secularization, proposes that the collapse of family structures in our country and several others has caused the loss of religious influence, not vice versa. Quoted by Justin Taylor at The Gospel Coalition website, Eberstadt said: People are social beings. They learn religion the way they learn language: in

August 13, 2013

Mark A. Taylor

They Need a Friend!

By Mark A. Taylor Young adults may lead the way in social networking, but their hours with Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram don”t help all of them feel connected. In fact, among Americans today, the youngest adults are most likely to say they”re still looking for a friend. The Barna Group reports 20 percent of Americans describe themselves as lonely, up from about 10 percent just 10 years ago, “a paradoxical reality in the full swing of the social media age.”Â  In that same decade, the number of Americans “trying to find a few good friends” has increased from 31 to

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