Series: Columns

April 1, 2021

Gary L. Johnson

Unity Matters: Two Essentials We Need to Experience Oneness

Words are powerful, especially a person’s final words. A loved one’s final words impact us for years to come. In the same way, the final words of Jesus will continue to impact us until he returns. Jesus not only spoke seven separate times from the cross, but in his last hours, he offered up a prayer that included us. A careful reading of Jesus’ longest recorded prayer (John 17) reveals Jesus prayed not only for his followers then, but for his followers now. Quite literally, Jesus prayed for us. And he asked God for only one thing on our behalf—that

April 1, 2021

Megan Rawlings

Megan Rawlings

The Most Important Aspect of Meeting Together

I visited many churches for various reasons during 2020. In quite a few houses of worship, I experienced roughly the same thing. As the doors opened, I could feel vibrations from the percussion and bass in my chest. The smell of coffee would drift toward my nose and awaken me. The welcoming team would greet me and ask about my week with genuine interest. “Don’t forget to check in on social media!” they would say. Sign-up sheets for “groups who do life together” and other activities to “get involved” were on strategically placed tables. Finally, I’d enter the sanctuary, grab

April 1, 2021

Laura McKillip Wood

Laura-McKillip-Wood

OneIN Uses Trusted Links to Partner with Nationals and Spread the Gospel

Shampa sat next to her husband, Mukul, in their apartment in Calcutta, India. Their neighbor sat across from them, nervously describing how the company he had worked for as a day laborer had closed due to the COVID-19 quarantine. Money was scarce before the lockdowns, but now survival would be nearly impossible. This man was a member of the house church Shampa and Mukul had started, and here he was, struggling right in front of them. Shampa glanced at Mukul. She looked back at their neighbor. “As long as the lockdown continues, you and your family can come and have

March 1, 2021

Megan Rawlings

Megan Rawlings

God Does Not Change

Trying to understand God is like swimming underwater to the deepest part of the ocean and back to the surface with one deep breath. “It is a subject so vast, that all our thoughts are lost in its immensity,” said Charles Spurgeon in The Immutability of God. “[It’s] so deep, that our pride is drowned in its infinity. But while the subject humbles the mind, it also expands it.” When talking about and studying God, I have found one of his characteristics more comforting than all of the others: God does not change. We call this attribute immutability. This means

March 1, 2021

Laura McKillip Wood

Laura-McKillip-Wood

An Ending and a Beginning

Maureen closed the book she’d been trying to read and switched off her bedside lamp. Burrowing into the covers, she tried not to think about the future. She felt her spirit stirring, as if God was about to do something big and different, but she didn’t yet know what that would be. “God, here I am. Send me,” she prayed for what seemed like the millionth time. She closed her eyes and tried to sleep, still unsure of where God would take her. Several months later, an insightful missionary friend invited Maureen to attend a Global Perspectives on the World

March 1, 2021

Kent E. Fillinger

Kent E. Fillinger

The Truth about Bible Reading

By Kent E. Fillinger Biblegateway.com offers 61 different Bible translations and paraphrases for readers to choose from. I’ve half-jokingly said for years that most Christians choose to read the MOV(My Own Version) Bible. The Jefferson Bible—more properly called The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth—may be the most noteworthy example of trying to make the Bible fit one’s personal perspective. Our nation’s third president, Thomas Jefferson, like many at the time, shed his orthodox Christianity in stages. He started by doubting the Trinity, then Old Testament miracles, and then New Testament miracles. During his presidency, Jefferson extracted, reduced, and

March 1, 2021

Jim Estep

Truth Is Inconvenient

The very idea of truth seems almost to have disappeared. We live in a time of facts and “alternative facts.” We too often focus on favorable information rather than verifiable data. If you don’t like what you hear on the news, simply dismiss it by labeling it “fake news.” We don’t affirm truth, it seems, but truthiness (“the quality of seeming or being felt to be true, even if not necessarily true,” according to dictionary.com). The Oxford Dictionary’s word of the year in 2016 was post-truth (“denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than

February 1, 2021

David Roadcup

COVID-19, Elders, and Forgiveness

The challenges of COVID-19 have made it more important for elders and church staff members to manage relationships with great care and discernment. This has not been easy for leaders. Satan has attacked relationships between brothers and sisters in the body with full force. Breaking and shattering relationships has always been one of his greatest weapons. Here is the heart of the problem: COVID-19 and its ramifications have presented our church leaders with stormy seas that are dangerous and difficult to successfully navigate in our relationships in the body of Christ. In meeting with leaders in churches of all sizes

February 1, 2021

Marjorie Kruger Gordon

When Opportunity Knocks

I noticed the wicker basket on the floor was adorned with yellow daisies and contained a variety of Bibles and Testaments. I asked my friends, “Why do you have a basket of Bibles near your front door?” “I collect those in good condition at garage sales and thrift shops,” Jim said as he opened a Bible. “I mark the Scriptures containing the plan of salvation. Then I write those references on a bookmark and insert it at the first passage.” “When we have unexpected callers, we always offer them a Bible,” Darlene added. “There’s a promise from God about the

February 1, 2021

Kent E. Fillinger

Kent E. Fillinger

How to Change Your Church Scorecard (in an ‘AC’ World)

What’s the score? Who’s winning? Both are common questions during a sporting event. Fans of the winning team often point out the scoreboard to the opposing team’s fans at the end of a game. “Keeping score” can be a positive or a negative depending on the situation and the underlying intent. Churches have traditionally used metrics like the ABCs (Attendance, Baptisms or Buildings, and Cash) or the three Cs (Church attendance, Conversions, and Cash) to “keep score” and to measure their growth and effectiveness in accomplishing the mission. The new norm for many church leaders seems to be the sharing

February 1, 2021

Laura McKillip Wood

Laura-McKillip-Wood

Abide Sees a Better Tomorrow for Residents of North Omaha

Shaun grabbed the basketball and dribbled around the court. He glanced at the other guys warming up, unsure whether he belonged. His grandma had been pestering him to go to church with her for a long time, but he just did not feel ready. He didn’t like all of the singing and preaching and old ladies talking about how much he’d grown. He did like basketball, though, and he heard he could play on a team the church sponsored. He decided to give it a try. Maybe he wouldn’t have to talk about himself while playing basketball. And he knew

February 1, 2021

Megan Rawlings

Megan Rawlings

In Love and Truth

If everyone is created equal in the eyes of God, why doesn’t it feel that way? The truth is, we do not look at our brothers and sisters the way God intended. We are corrupted by sin and too often care about the opinions of others more than God. We lean toward what’s popular instead of what’s right. Sadly, many Christians have stood on the wrong side of history. I found this to be true of one of the Restoration Movement’s founding fathers while reading The Stone-Campbell Movement by Leroy Garrett A couple of decades after the Restoration Movement took

January 1, 2021

Laura McKillip Wood

Laura-McKillip-Wood

Ministry to Muslims Provides Relief and Growth

Hassan stepped off the bank and felt the river water swirl around his ankles. He took another step, his confidence growing. He knew his choice to follow Jesus was the right one. He grasped his wife’s hand and smiled at her. They’d come a long way in the last few years. Tears welled in his eyes as he remembered how his desire for revenge had almost endangered the lives of his family. When he found the tortured, lifeless bodies of his father and brother on his doorstep in Syria one horrible morning, he had decided to exact revenge on the

January 1, 2021

Kent E. Fillinger

Kent E. Fillinger

Money Strategies for Ministry

Money helps fuel ministry, so it’s critical for leaders to pause and understand the state of their church’s finances as they start a new year. I encourage leaders to consider short-term strategies to keep their congregation focused on the mission and a long-term approach to develop disciples who are generous. Here are four steps you can take to improve the short-term and long-term financial health of your church. Conduct a “Giving Audit” People’s giving habits can be indications of their spiritual journey; a church typically has givers at various points on that journey. PushPay identified the following eight categories of

January 1, 2021

Gary L. Johnson

‘In God We Trust?’

A couple of exciting events took place in 1956. First, I was born, which was pretty exciting for me. Second, our federal government adopted the official motto, “In God We Trust.” That phrase quickly was stamped onto our currency and coin, where it remains today. Why did America adopt a motto in 1956? We were fighting a Cold War with the Soviet Union, a superpower that championed atheism. While the U.S.S.R. contended God did not exist, the United States not only declared his existence, but that our nation trusted in him.   “In God We Trust” is more than a

January 1, 2021

Megan Rawlings

Megan Rawlings

How to Read Scripture Correctly: A New Challenge for a New Year

For years, I would commit to reading through the Bible in just 12 months. And every year, by mid-February, I would have to start playing catch-up. By the time March rolled around, my reading plan would be so thrown off I would resolve to double up on Scripture reading every day just to get back on track. Why did this happen again and again? I think there were two main reasons for my struggles in sticking with a Bible reading plan. In some ways, “life” would just get in the way, but the main reason was the Pentateuch—that is, the

January 1, 2021

Rick Chromey

God’s Messenger in Seat 21C

Sometimes God shows up in strange places . . . like an afternoon United Airlines flight from Denver to Houston. At the time, my life was a wreck. My career was gone. My marriage in trouble. My dreams paused. My faith wearing thin. The Great Recession had left me unemployed and broke. I was depressed, skeptical, cynical, and angry. I survived through sporadic speaking and preaching but now wearied from the travel. I didn’t want to go to Houston. I was ready to quit the ministry, find a decent paying job, and live in peace. I despised ever accepting God’s

November 22, 2020

Megan Rawlings

Megan Rawlings

Worship God . . . No Matter What

Three hundred children were dressed and ready for school when the orphanage’s housemother came to George Mueller and told him there was no food to feed them. Without panicking, Mueller asked her to take the children to the dining room and prepare them for a meal. He blessed the food that they did not have, and he waited. He was confident God would provide. Within minutes, there was a knock at the door. It was a baker who said he could not sleep and somehow knew the orphanage needed bread that day. The baker brought in three batches of bread,

November 22, 2020

David Roadcup

Personal Obedience in the Life of an Elder

Among the many notable things about the Great Pyramid in Giza, Egypt, are the massive foundational stones that were carefully crafted and precisely positioned. The foundation for the Great Pyramid had to be formidable to support the weight that was to come. Foundations are key to the success or failure of a structure. As elders and church staff, it is critical we understand that the foundation for our leadership is our personal, growing relationship with Jesus. Our personal spiritual development forms the foundation for our service. This foundation is made up of several key “stones.” Paul mentions many of them

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