Series: Blogs

March 12, 2013

Christian Standard

Time to Change

By Mark A. Taylor I”ve been thinking this week about change. Not the pennies and nickels in my pocket, but the change that most of the country observed Sunday  at 2:00 a.m. That”s when Daylight Savings Time kicked in, leaving many of us yawning the next morning. Even though 49 of 50 U.S. states observe Daylight Savings Time (somehow most of Arizona has stayed exempt), some of us still chafe under the mandate to lose an hour of sleep each March. “The change in the spring is always hard for me,” a friend said Saturday night. We had been trying

March 5, 2013

Christian Standard

“˜Merge” Is Not a Dirty Word

By Mark A. Taylor Last month, two Christian colleges announced their intent to pursue a partnership with each other. Johnson University, Knoxville, Tennessee, and Florida Christian College, Kissimmee, Florida, hope to become one institution, perhaps as soon as this year, according to Johnson”s president, Gary Weedman. This is the second such possible merger being pursued between schools reporting in Christian Standard. It should not be the last. Last year Milligan College and Emmanuel Christian Seminary announced a similar plan to consider uniting under one administration. According to Milligan”s president, Bill Greer, and Emmanuel”s president, Michael Sweeney, those talks are continuing

February 28, 2013

Christian Standard

‘Trust Completely’

By Mark A. Taylor Months ago Matt Proctor chose the topic for the sermon he preached Monday evening (February 25) to kick off Ozark Christian College”s annual Preaching Teaching Convention. But he had no idea then how personal his message, titled “Trust Completely,” would become. The challenge to trust came into sharper focus for Matt when his wife, Katie, was diagnosed with endometrial cancer two weeks ago. “Not exactly the news a 44-year-old mother of six kids was hoping to hear,” Matt said, according to last week”s e-newsletter from the North American Christian Convention. The NACC made the announcement as

February 21, 2013

Christian Standard

Cocooning Instead of Congregating?

By Mark A. Taylor Even though I”m an extrovert by nature, I love a weekend evening at home with my wife, sharing the couch and something fun to eat, and watching a program or movie we both enjoy on TV. This is especially nice at the end of a busy week, with several nights away from home, and workdays filled with multiple obligations. It”s great to settle in, put away the to-do lists, and just enjoy good food and good entertainment with my best friend. Several decades ago, trend forecaster Faith Popcorn coined a term for a pastime like this.

February 14, 2013

Christian Standard

Real Love, Real Joy

By Mark A. Taylor My preacher had advice for married folks in his sermon last Sunday: “As long as you”re going to be married the rest of your life, you might as well enjoy it.” His list of strategies for pursuing and discovering joy in marriage was a thought-provoking challenge even for an oldster like me (anticipating my 40th wedding anniversary in just a few months). But I was even more interested in a Wall Street Journal feature Tuesday that quoted scientific research to underscore a fact about marriage that Jesus himself might have offered. “People who put their mates” needs

February 7, 2013

Christian Standard

Seeking God

By Mark A. Taylor Throughout the month of February, you’ll find many articles on this site around the theme of spiritual formation. And you may wonder why. Barney Wells, a professor at Lincoln Christian University, says there”s a widespread “recognition that we need to go deeper in our preaching, teaching, and community life.” Jody Owens, professor of Bible and pastoral ministries at Johnson University, adds, “All ministers are aware this is a pressing need,” but “they”re finding little time to dedicate to intentional discipleship.” Those Christian college teachers, as well as several others included in Jennifer Johnson”s report, are giving their

January 31, 2013

Christian Standard

They Helped Us See the Light

By Mark A. Taylor I”ve been pondering that oft-quoted phrase in the 23rd Psalm, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. . . .” I used to think the phrase described only certain people at certain stages of life. When faced with a terminal illness, you”re walking through the valley of the shadow of death. When you”ve lost your mother or a good friend, you must walk through that lonely valley. When comforting someone in that valley, you”re in the presence of the shadow of death. But I”ve decided the phrase really applies to everyone

January 24, 2013

Christian Standard

The Meat of the Matter

By Mark A. Taylor  Ben Cachiaras, senior pastor with Mountain Christian Church in Joppa, Maryland, is one of CHRISTIAN STANDARD”s 12 contributing editors. Like all of them, he has great insight into human nature, great passion for the gospel”s potential to change lives, and great ideas for the church channeling God”s blessings to our troubled world. He met with us in our annual contributing editors retreat last week and wrote about it in his blog this week: At dinner one night we passed through a buffet line and when it was my turn at the meat counter the guy cutting

January 17, 2013

Christian Standard

Afraid of Change

By Mark A. Taylor Most crucial attributes of the Christian life are more easily discussed than demonstrated. All of us want to be forgiven, for example. But when wronged grievously, most of us struggle to forgive. In the same way, we laud grace, chastity, love, and perseverance. But when faced with another”s failure, our own temptation, a difficult coworker, or an overwhelming trial, how often do we react with something less than the ideal we”ve studied and taught? This disconnect between belief and behavior is universal. Realizing that sanctification is a process and not an event, we need not beat

January 10, 2013

Christian Standard

Quality People, Challenging Content

CHRISTIAN STANDARD”s contributing editors will enjoy their annual retreat January 16-18, a meeting that is a highlight of the year for many of us who attend it. The discussions each meeting focus on the magazine”s and this website”s content and appearance. What are the topics and who are the writers that must be included in coming issues?  Which are the events and trends that our readers want to read more about? This is all very serious stuff, but in the midst of it there”s plenty of laughter, an abundance of good-natured kidding, and the brand of hilarious true stories that

January 3, 2013

Christian Standard

Focusing on Under-40 Leaders

By Mark A. Taylor This summer CHRISTIAN STANDARD wants to profile leaders in the Christian churches and churches of Christ who are 40 years old or younger. We”re focusing especially on church leaders””paid or volunteer, working for local churches, on the mission field, in a Christian college, or some other parachurch ministry. Maybe this leader is a local church minister, or the president or dean or teacher at a college, or the head of a missions agency, or a writer or missionary or musician. Whatever their calling, the younger leaders we”ll feature all will have this in common: These influencers

December 27, 2012

Christian Standard

Your Best First Step

By Mark A. Taylor As we finish 2012, many are deciding their Bible-reading plan for the new year. While there are dozens, if not hundreds, of plans out there, here are three that deserve special attention. The first is published by our daughter publication, The Lookout. The plan takes users through the whole Bible in a year, but not straight through Genesis to Revelation. Instead, each day”s selections include readings from the Gospels, another New Testament book, the Wisdom books (Job through Ecclesiastes), and another Old Testament book. Next year”s plan begins January 6. Each Sunday The Lookout will devote

December 19, 2012

Christian Standard

We Still Can Celebrate

By Mark A. Taylor Some residents in the small, close-knit community of Newtown, Connecticut, took down and put away their Christmas decorations this weekend, and we probably can”t blame them. In the wake of Friday”s trauma and loss, many residents of that small town can”t face holiday festivity. Any of us, even those far from Connecticut, have trouble sorting out our feelings after nonstop news about the horror. The Muzak cycle of “Holly, Jolly Christmas,” “Jingle Bells,” and “I”ll Be Home for Christmas” rings hollow””especially when we think about so many who will never again be home for Christmas. But

December 13, 2012

Christian Standard

The “˜Merry Christmas” Flap

By Mark A. Taylor Before I say what I want to say, let me say what many readers will want to hear: I happily greet waiters and store clerks and anyone else (not just Christians) with “Merry Christmas.” Likewise, my Christmas cards this year, as they have every year, will proclaim “Merry Christmas.” I avoid “Happy Holidays” and “Season”s Greetings” and flinch whenever I encounter either greeting, whether at Wal-Mart or on the radio or from a smiling car salesman in a TV commercial. To me it”s just silly the lengths to which some will go to avoid the word

December 6, 2012

Christian Standard

Find a Baby This Christmas

By Mark A. Taylor The producers of our church”s annual Christmas pageant accompanied one song several years ago with a video I have never forgotten. It was simple, just four minutes or so showing a tiny infant wrapped in white cloth in a cow”s feeding trough. And for the length of the video, the baby on the straw was crying””arms flailing, feet kicking, face scrunched in discomfort. I had a small part in the pageant and was there for the final week of rehearsals. One night, as the soloist came to the end of the song, the video”s soundtrack was

November 29, 2012

Christian Standard

Good Gifts After Black Friday

By Mark A. Taylor I have a friend who works for a well-known benevolent organization not affiliated with any church, but providing a much-needed service to families in crisis. And at Christmastime, she sees the gifts pour in. People drive up every day in December with carloads of clothes, games, and food. But one donor stood out in my friend”s memory. The woman approached the front desk holding her daughter”s hand and carrying an armload of goodies. “We would like to meet the family who will receive our gifts,” she told the receptionist. “I want my little girl to experience

November 22, 2012

Christian Standard

A People to Be Thankful for

By Mark A. Taylor For several years now the National Missionary Convention, recently renamed International Conference on Missions (ICOM), has met the weekend before Thanksgiving. This morning I”m struck by how good it is for the convention and the holiday to be so close together. ICOM reminds us how thankful we can be for our fellowship of Christian churches. Our movement (variously called the Restoration Movement, Stone-Campbell Movement, and more recently the Christian Church Movement) is thriving and well. The throngs of teenagers and young adults crowding the Indianapolis Convention Center November 15-18 bear testimony to that. And so do

November 15, 2012

Christian Standard

What”s the Point of Pursuing Unity?

By Mark A. Taylor “So what”s the payoff you”re expecting as a result of these meetings?” The question came from my roommate in the middle of a spiritual formation retreat sponsored by the Stone-Campbell Dialogue November 9, 10, outside Dallas. The Dialogue is a loosely organized group that has met at least annually since 1999 to build understanding and trust among members of a cappella churches of Christ, Christian churches/churches of Christ, and Disciples of Christ. In the late-19th and mid-20th centuries, these three “streams” diverged from each other while remaining a part of what we call the Restoration Movement,

November 8, 2012

Christian Standard

Very Good Indeed

By Mark A. Taylor Not every missionary expert posting at this site this month agrees with every other posting here. Readers need not find this discouraging. The point is that more missions work is happening among Christian churches and churches of Christ than ever before, and that”s good. New churches are being planted cross-culturally. Independent congregations in areas once served only by U.S.-supported missionaries are starting new churches that then send out their own missionaries. Thousands of children are receiving nourishment of body and soul because members of Christian churches are sponsoring them with monthly donations. All this is good.

November 1, 2012

Christian Standard

Considering the One Who Truly Is in Control

By Mark A. Taylor In the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, we”re seeing heroic rescue efforts and exhausting work to feed and repair and clear and rebuild. Churches are holding special times of prayer, and many are reaching out to help the suffering in Jesus” name. I would encourage one more activity, and that may look like no activity at all. Let us simply pause in God”s presence and admit that he is in control and we never will be. Amid pictures of cars submerged in flooded parking garages, yachts tossed aside like discarded toys, and whole subdivisions blown or burned

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