Series: Buzz

June 30, 2013

Christian Standard

An Honors Program Focusing on Leadership and Community Service

By Jennifer Johnson “There”s a lot of discussion about the cost of investing in a college education,” says Dave Miller, vice president of advancement at Nebraska Christian College. “We want to talk about what the college is investing in the student.” At NCC in Papillion, NE, part of the investment is The Institute, a new program that rolled out in January and launches officially this fall. “The Institute is like an honors program, but focused on leadership potential and community service,” Miller says. Students must maintain at least a 3.0 grade point average to participate, but academic aptitude is just

June 15, 2013

Christian Standard

Grassroots Group Works to “˜Feed the Street”

By Jennifer Johnson It started slowly. Seven years ago, Jeff Wedge, a member at Churchill Meadows Christian Church in Ontario, Canada, wanted to recruit a team to deliver food and other necessities to the homeless. He approached CMCC senior minister Jim Tune about developing the outreach as a ministry of the church. Tune said no. “Hey, we”re totally supportive of feeding hungry people,” Tune says with a smile. “We encouraged Jeff to start his ministry, but as a church we focus on a few major community projects around the holidays.” Today “Feed the Street” reaches hundreds of homeless people throughout

June 14, 2013

Christian Standard

A Lesson in Christian Separation, Engagement

By Jennifer Johnson In 2005, three former PayPal employees launched YouTube. Today more than 800 million people, 70 percent of whom live outside the United States, visit the site each month to watch more than 4 billion hours of its free content. People also upload 72 hours of footage every minute, making YouTube the site for video sharing. In 2007, four investors launched GodTube. It grew quickly to almost 3 million users before dropping to 690,000 in 2009. The site was rebranded as a social network named Tangle, and it was acquired by Salem Communications a year later. In his

June 13, 2013

Christian Standard

City on a Hill Producing Films and Filmmakers

By Jennifer Johnson “You could call us “˜media missionaries,”” says Cyndi Moreno, director of development at City on a Hill Productions (Louisville, KY). For more than a decade, the nonprofit organization has used film to share the gospel and support the work of local churches. “We provide Bible study resources like The Easter Experience and Kyle Idleman”s Not a Fan; help churches share their stories, recruit volunteers, or raise funds; and equip local church leaders working in media,” she says. “We want to reach the world with the message of the gospel.” City on a Hill is currently in the

April 29, 2013

Christian Standard

Giving to Caesar and Giving God the Glory

By Jennifer Johnson I just finished two hours of sorting paperwork, receipts, and credit card printouts into piles: Business travel. Charitable giving. Home office expenses. Mortgage payments. I”m not sure it”s possible for taxes to be any more complex than mine are this year. I”m self-employed, which in itself is a carnival of fun. Halfway through the year I got married and moved to Pennsylvania, which has state income tax, from Tennessee, which doesn”t. I left a house behind, which I”m now renting through an agent. My new husband is a minister, which comes with its own set of tax

April 29, 2013

Christian Standard

Milligan Students Provide a “˜Ministry of Justice”

By Jennifer Johnson In 1959, Congress discovered the tax code law was too complicated for the average citizen (there”s a surprise), so it commissioned the Internal Revenue Service to start a volunteer-based program to help the public complete tax forms. VITA, or Volunteer Income Tax Assistance, serves people with annual incomes of less than $50,000, anyone with a physical disability, non-English-speaking citizens, and people older than 55. The IRS trains the volunteers and stations VITA sites in libraries, schools, and malls. Dr. Harold Branstrator, assistant professor of business administration at Milligan College in Tennessee, worked as a revenue agent and

April 28, 2013

Christian Standard

Focusing on Good Deeds to Meet Needs

By Jennifer Johnson In 2010, leaders at Mount Gilead Christian Church (Mooresville, IN) challenged members to complete 50,000 hours of community service. The church stepped up, logging more than 75,000 hours””and sparking new discussions about what could come next. “Several people in the church were especially inspired by this,” says senior minister Jeff Faull. “One of them dreamed of a permanent building we could use as an ongoing outreach tool, and when we found a location, this individual provided much of the money for the over $1 million purchase.” The church raised another $300,000 for the building and opened the

April 5, 2013

Christian Standard

“˜How Else Can We Adequately Share a Mysterious God?”

By Jennifer Johnson On Christmas, in the evening, I logged into Facebook and read rave after rhapsodic rave about the movie version of Les Misérables. “It took my breath away, it clarified my world,” wrote one. “Can the grace of God save a man”s life and his soul, and make him a rescuer and a carrier of hope to all men? The “˜yes of God” plays out before your eyes. I have never preached a message that said it so well.” Although I”m not quite as big a fan of the movie (I”m pretty sure my 14-year-old stepson could have

April 5, 2013

Christian Standard

2|42 Brightens Region by Offering Arts, Sports, and Children”s Programming

By Jennifer Johnson On February 17, 2|42 Community Church (Brighton, MI) opened its new community building, a renovated athletic club which includes space for children”s programming, new soccer fields and basketball courts, a café, and more. On February 18, the church launched its School for the Arts. “We added one large studio and three smaller spaces for music, drama, and art classes,” says Rachel Dummitt, director of the school. “We started with private guitar, piano, drum, flute, cello, violin, and voice lessons, drama classes for kids, and visual art classes in portrait drawing and pastels.” Dummitt says about half of the

April 4, 2013

Christian Standard

Arts Guilds Featured

By Jennifer Johnson Two years ago, Ryan Phipps created a “guild” for songwriters and another for filmmakers and photographers at Forefront Church (New York, NY). Phipps, who serves as the worship and arts director at Forefront”s Manhattan campus, says the church offered several groups for business professionals but nothing for artists beyond the music on Sunday morning. The Forefront groups are in the spirit of the medieval guilds, which developed as associations of master craftsmen with shared skills. “The idea was to gather people around a shared creative interest,” he says. “The response to the first two was overwhelming, so

March 7, 2013

Christian Standard

Institute a Chance to Match “˜Passion and Gift Mix”

By Jennifer Johnson For more than 35 years, Pioneer Bible Translators has offered opportunities for people from the Christian churches and churches of Christ to gain an in-depth understanding of taking God”s Word into new contexts through translation, church planting, and community development. The Pioneer Mission Institute began on the campus of Lincoln (IL) Christian College (now Lincoln Christian University) and is now held at the International Linguistics Center near Pioneer Bible”s main stateside office in Dallas, TX. This year”s weeklong event is scheduled June 9-14. In addition to the discovery program that introduces people to the ministries of Pioneer

March 4, 2013

Christian Standard

The Bible: Red Flag Edition on Sale Now!

By Jennifer Johnson I was pleased when Chad Entinger e-mailed to tell me about Deaf Missions” Bible translation and the new app that makes it available to even more people. I would not have been pleased to report on another new English translation. There are many good men and women working even now to bring us new translations of the ancient texts, but can we just admit we already have more than we need? An article on ReligionToday.com puts the number at 200, including the New International Version, New International Reader”s Version, New Revised Standard Version, King James Version, New

March 3, 2013

Christian Standard

ASL Version of Bible Released as Mobile App

By Jennifer Johnson Deaf Missions, producer of The Bible: American Sign Language Version, recently released this Bible translation for the deaf as a mobile application for smartphones and tablets. The free app, Deaf Bible.is ASL, was developed by Faith Comes By Hearing, a leading audio Bible ministry based in Albuquerque, NM, using the video content translated and produced by Deaf Missions. The entire New Testament and 22 books of the Old Testament currently translated into American Sign Language (ASL) are included, along with the 2001 English Standard Version text of the whole Bible. The mobile app also features the sign

February 7, 2013

Christian Standard

Drive-through Prayer Draws Traffic

By Jennifer Johnson Since last April, Centerpointe Christian Church (Lexington, KY) has offered “drive-through prayer” one Wednesday night a month. A small team of volunteers stands on several corners and in front of the church waving signs to direct drivers to the building, while two couples wait to pray with anyone who pulls in. “We see everything, from families having trouble to people coming right from the bars,” says Rex Hughes, coordinator of the ministry. “Each month is a reminder of the burdens people around us carry every day.” The team hands out cold water in the summer and hot

February 2, 2013

Christian Standard

College Listened to Its Community

“My Take” by Jennifer Johnson I love many things about Lipscomb”s new Spark center, including the school”s willingness to put down roots in a new part of town and its multifaceted approach to professional development. But I think the best part of this new initiative””and the reason it”s been wildly successful even in its opening months””is its attention to the felt needs of a specific demographic. Executive Director John Lowry says the center”s design and its services reflect current research on how adults learn and work together, and the idea for Spark developed after Lipscomb saw the need for more

February 2, 2013

Christian Standard

Lipscomb Goes Extra Mile with Opening of “Spark”

By Jennifer Johnson When the governor of Tennessee talked to Lipscomb University (Nashville, TN) about the need for local workforce development, the church of Christ-affiliated school began brainstorming ways to bring more graduate education opportunities to its community. But the result was far more than a few online classes or one-week seminars; the new “Spark” center in nearby Williamson County offers resources, meeting space, and the newest technology in a creative environment. “Typically an off-site academic facility will be in an office park, with the college investing just enough money to make it operational,” says John Lowry, executive director of

January 2, 2013

Christian Standard

Church Returns Favor by Helping Victims

By Jennifer Johnson In April 2011, Alabama was hit by more than 170 tornados””one of the largest outbreaks of tornadic storms in the area”s history. Although Huntsville (AL) Christian Church“s building wasn”t affected, its community was. “People went without power for weeks, and we used part of our building as a huge food pantry,” says associate minister Andrew Ellingwood. “We get tornadoes every year, and people always pull together. But this was so big we all needed help. Churches across the country sent food and water, and mission teams visited to participate in the cleanup efforts. Every week there was

December 21, 2012

Christian Standard

Examples of Collaboration, Sacrifice

By Jennifer Johnson Earlier this year, as part of a project with Kairos Legacy Partners, I researched stories of dying churches that merged with another congregation or recycled their resources and energy into a new church. Many, like Central Christian Church in Tampa, FL, were once-thriving churches that had declined due to aging members and changing neighborhoods. Others, like Capital City Christian Church in Raleigh, NC, knew major change was needed to reach a young, growing community. In each case, the story was worth telling because the church wanted to be part of something bigger than slowly dwindling while hanging

December 20, 2012

Christian Standard

Merger a Reunion of Mother, Daughter Churches

By Jennifer Johnson In November, Eastside Christian Church (Fullerton, CA) moved into its new building, a former Boeing defense site (complete with helipad!). On the same weekend, more than 100 members from Community Christian Church in nearby Yorba Linda joined them. Community Christian launched 27 years ago as an Eastside church plant, and offered a strong ministry with intergenerational worship and a car clinic providing free auto services to more than 150 single-parent families each year. But the struggling economy, a building located far from its core members, and declining attendance prompted Community Christian”s senior pastor Greg Curtis and Eastside

December 8, 2012

Christian Standard

God”s Love on Display at Sex Show

By Jennifer Johnson Building wheelchair ramps for the disabled . . . leading VBS sessions in South America . . . digging wells in Third World countries . . . all of these are popular short-term mission trips. But volunteering at a trade show for the sex industry? Although this type of mission experience is far less common, it was the focus of a four-day trip for several women from SouthBrook Christian Church (Miamisburg, OH) last month. “For the last four years we have partnered strategically with XXX Church, an organization that offers resources and support to fight porn addiction,”

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