October 26, 2023
The assignment in fall 1983 was simple and direct: “Write a short paragraph telling of some verse or verses of the Bible that have special meaning to you.” Today we share responses from Edgar Nichols of Myrtle Creek, Ore.; Bill Jessup of San Jose, Calif.; Orval M. Morgan of Phoenix, Ariz.; and Murhl S. Rogers of Indianapolis, Ind.
October 19, 2023
"The closing hour of the Evangelistic Rally at Lincoln, Ill., Feb. 23 and 24, marked a culmination that will be of wide interest," Christian Standard reported in March 1944. "The announcement by Earl C. Hargrove, minister at Lincoln, that a new preacher-training school would be opened there in September sent a thrill over the great crowd. . . ."
October 12, 2023
"Ohio presents a mission field of marvelous ripeness and of vast extent. The gifts of our entire brotherhood might be poured into it for years, and yet not gather all of the harvest that is ripe for our hands," the corresponding secretary for the Ohio Christian Missionary Society wrote in 1903. . . .
October 5, 2023
"When I think of the moral decline on display in California today, the only word that comes to mind is 'avalanche,'" Dudley Rutherford wrote in 2014. He presciently warned, "I hope you get the idea, because it's coming to a town like yours" . . .
September 28, 2023
"Bernel Getter, a young Wisconsin missionary who is home on furlough after five years in India’s Central Provinces because of a severe case of malaria," told Midwestern church audiences in 1953 that, "denominationalism is Christianity’s greatest enemy in India” . . .
September 14, 2023
In his well-known sermon "Playing Hurt," Wayne Smith asked, "Will you stay in the game . . . even if you've been hurt? God had only one son without sin, but no son without sorrow. . . ."
September 7, 2023
"For over forty years Mark Collis has ministered with Broadway Church, Lexington, Ky. Here he lets us into the secret—unblemished reputation, scrupulous use of time, patience, sense of humor, faithfulness to the New Testament teaching, and unselfishness." . . .
August 31, 2023
"What do you want to be known for?" Michael C. Mack asked in this article from 2010. "What would you want people to say about you when you die? What do you want written in your obituary?" These questions are all the more appropriate and poignant because Mike, our editor, died one week ago today. . . .
August 24, 2023
"[M]ost ministers in practicing their calling pick up such bad habits in pulpit technique that after ten to fifteen years, most of them stand in need of professional help." . . .
In 2012, Daniel Overdorf and two friends examined 250 Christian Church and Church of Christ websites to determine how they presented their view of baptism to the public. Overdorf offers good suggestions for churches.
In 1927, L.A. Chapman, minister in Bedford, Ohio, compiled this listing of Scripture verses that "answer the question, ‘What must I do to be saved?’ presented without note or comment.”
Thirty years ago, Tom Claibourne posed several "what if" questions from the Bible. Examples: What if Mordecai had bowed down to Haman? What if Paul's tent business had taken precedence over his ministry? . . .
Dr. Henry E. Webb wrote in 1957: "A necessary condition for the success of any approach to Christian unity is the development of a satisfactory concept of Christian liberty—one that recognizes the right of another person to exercise his sincere mental and spiritual faculties with the freedom we demand for ourselves. . . ."
In honor of the 50th anniversary of IDES (International Disaster Emergency Service), we again share a 1991 article about Milton B. Bates, the man who started the disaster relief organization. IDES will mark its anniversary with an open house July 8 at its headquarters in Noblesville, Ind.
"Nobody seems more mistake-prone than the average missionary (with the possible exception of presidents, congressmen, mothers and fathers of teenagers, umpires, and tax assessors)," Ward Patterson, tongue firmly in cheek, wrote in 1963. "That the missionary should so excel in error-ability is a phenomenon worthy of the interest of all of us . . ."
More than 80 years ago, several Christian fathers wrote on the topic, “Why I encouraged my son to be a minister.” Today, we dust off and share two of those responses. The first is from Victor E. Hoven, father of Ard Hoven. The second is from R. C. Foster, father of Lewis Foster.
"It is my conviction that the day of Pentecost is the focal point in the history of the world," Wm. E. Sweeney wrote in 1929, ". . . that all the lines of history before that time converge to that great day, and that all the lines of history since that time have diverged." . . .
In 1953, Leon Appel wrote: "A few of the suggestions made by elders and deacons at this [Kiamichi] clinic, if taken seriously, may help the preacher to extend the term of his ministry in a given field, and enlarge his measure of usefulness." . . .
This short news item from 1933 is notable mainly for describing the lengths to which the congregation in Streator, Ill., went to heat their church building during the Great Depression. . . .
James A. Stevens, who ran newspapers in Mississippi and Texas after the Civil War, shares brief recollections of Alexander Campbell, Tolbert Fanning, W. K. Pendleton, Thos. W. Caskey, and others.
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