Series: Columns

February 4, 2016

Christian Standard

Grandview Sharpens Focus for Local Missions

By Jennifer Johnson In 2013, the people of Grandview Christian Church (Johnson City, TN) changed the way they thought about local missions””and how they reached out to their community. “In the past we had a “˜community concern committee” that made decisions about which local nonprofits to support,” says Brandon Waite. “But we gave small amounts of money to many different groups and didn”t really build relationships with any of them. We decided to be more intentional about reaching our area and really partnering with a few local organizations.” The new initiative was called JCServe, and Waite was hired to serve

February 3, 2016

Christian Standard

Grief: A Solitary Journey

By Jim Tune It was a gray, cold, miserable February day when my father died rather suddenly after a few days of hospitalization for respiratory problems. This month marks five years since his death on February 5, 2011. I miss him and still grieve his loss. It”s a different kind of grief now””not so raw or hard-edged. I miss him on holidays when we celebrated family traditions and rituals. And the February anniversary can still be difficult. It”s possible that the short, dark days of our Canadian winter contribute to my sense of melancholy. Nonetheless, arriving at the five-year mark

February 2, 2016

Mark A. Taylor

Our Continuing Ministry

By Mark A. Taylor CHRISTIAN STANDARD’s  contributing editors are a diverse group of men and women from across the country who serve from a variety of backgrounds and perspectives. They do not all see everything the same way, but all of them are leading significant ministry among the Christian churches and churches of Christ as they express a deep commitment to Jesus as Lord. Readers will regularly see most of them named as authors of articles and columns in the magazine. But that”s not the only way they contribute. Even more significant is the input they offer about writers and

February 1, 2016

Christian Standard

Dear Aspiring Minister . . .

By Jennifer Johnson You may be attending a Bible college, a Christian college, or a Christian university. That school may be affiliated with the Restoration Movement, with a mainline denomination, or with no particular group at all. And you may dream of someday serving as a preacher, a youth pastor, or a worship leader. No matter where you are in school, no matter what your background, and no matter what your dream, consider this letter my virtual attempt to shove all five feet and two inches of myself in your face (or your shoulder) and demand you stop saying things

January 27, 2016

Christian Standard

No One Recovers Alone

By Jim Tune On December 10, 1996, Jill Bolte Taylor, a 37-year-old Harvard-trained brain scientist, experienced a massive stroke. She sustained rapid debilitation of her brain as she lost the ability to walk, talk, write, or recall any part of her life. It would take her eight years to fully recover. Taylor documents her journey in her book My Stroke of Insight. In a chapter called “What I Needed Most,” she says recovery was a decision she had to make a million times a day. In a sense, we are all in recovery””recovery from dysfunctional families, recovery from abuse, recovery

January 26, 2016

Mark A. Taylor

No Snow Day for Mountain

By Mark A. Taylor A blizzard of historic proportions is coming your way on a Saturday; so what do you do on Friday? Most local churches in the path of Winter Storm Jonas last weekend decided to call off services. And who could blame them? Record snowfalls and gale-force winds wreaked havoc from Kentucky to Cape Cod. Interstates were shut down. Residents were told to stay home and stay off snow-covered roads waiting for overwhelmed plowing crews to clear them. Churchgoers couldn”t get to church buildings, and many local municipalities had issued orders not to drive. But we heard about

January 22, 2016

Christian Standard

Evangelical Warning, Improbable Convert, Uncommon Ministry

By LeRoy Lawson The Great Evangelical Recession: 6 Factors That Will Crash the American Church . . . and How to Prepare John S. Dickerson Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2013 Good God, Lousy World, and Me: The Improbable Journey of a Human Rights Activist from Unbelief to Faith Holly Burkhalter New York: Convergent Books, 2013 The Insanity of God: A True Story of Faith Resurrected Nik Ripken Nashville: B&H Publishing, 2013 John Dickerson”s The Great Evangelical Recession is depressing reading. Being told the truth isn”t always an “upper.” This book tells the truth. At least it tells the truth as things stand

January 22, 2016

Christian Standard

The Best Sermon I”ve Ever Heard (7)

By Arron Chambers Christian leaders, some of them preachers themselves, tell us about a sermon they can”t forget””and maybe you won”t either. Ryland Brown Ryland Brown serves as preaching minister with Little Rock Church in Arkansas. He is the author of three books and lives outside of Little Rock with his wife and two children. Along with his ministry in the church, he has been given opportunities to speak on death and dying to medical professionals, church groups, and has done training for a local hospice. Ryland”s Best Sermon: The best sermon I”ve heard is “The God Who Speaks” by

January 20, 2016

Christian Standard

Too Many Lawyers

By Jim Tune I found a terrific definition of legalism on Wikipedia. “Legalism . . . in Christian theology,” it says, “is the act of putting law above gospel by establishing requirements for salvation beyond repentance and faith in Jesus Christ and reducing the broad, inclusive and general precepts of the Bible to narrow and rigid moral codes.” The article states that legalism usually involves “superficiality, the neglect of mercy, and ignorance of the grace of God or emphasizing the letter of law at the expense of the spirit.” I know all about legalism. I am a recovering legalist. I

January 19, 2016

Mark A. Taylor

How Low Will You (Let It) Go?

By Mark A. Taylor “Let It Go” is more than the title of a worldwide pop hit song introduced in Disney”s blockbuster film Frozen three years ago. According to Glen Elliott, “let it go” also makes a good theme for every Christian leader, indeed for every Christian. He shared his heart on the subject of humility in a moment for Bible study and prayer at this year”s annual Christian Standard contributing editors retreat last week. He reminded us that both James and Peter admonish us: “God opposes the proud, but shows favor to the humble.” He quoted Proverbs 16:18 (“Pride

January 14, 2016

Christian Standard

An Unlikely First Step at Expansion

By Jennifer Johnson Although Eastside Christian Church“s building in Anaheim, CA, is large””it”s a former Boeing Aerospace facility””the church knows that one location isn”t big enough to accomplish its vision of reaching tens of thousands of people. So when Eastside purchased and renovated the building a few years ago, it designed the site as a “hub” that could support additional campuses. “Four thousand churches close each year,” says Jill Gille, executive project director at Eastside. “I grew up in a small church, and I know the challenge to get past that critical mass to keep growing. There is quite a

January 13, 2016

Christian Standard

The Burned Bits

By Jim Tune I love candles. That may seem like an unusual confession from a middle-aged, conservative, nonliturgical male. I like them at home and at church. I buy pure beeswax candles and love to light up our house with them during the dark winter months. They do nothing for my wife. Claudia just prays I don”t burn the house down. The flickering glow of a candle flame warms my heart. Unlike the electric lights in our home, candles protest the end of their life with a silent gasp of smoke when they are extinguished. Usually a remnant of melted

January 12, 2016

Mark A. Taylor

Should Musicians Plan Our Worship Services?

By Mark A. Taylor Here”s why a church should recruit excellent musicians to lead worship: The people we”re serving as well as those we hope to reach are hearing professionally produced music everywhere they go. Many of them love music, and they listen to “their music” in their car, at the gym, when they walk, and sometimes at work. But even nonmusical people encounter music every day. Music creates the emotion and signals the mood in everything from Star Wars to sitcoms. The most memorable TV and radio ads include music. (I heard an interview the other day with a

January 7, 2016

Christian Standard

Searching for a Sign

By Jennifer Johnson At dinner the other night, Nina asked, “If a deaf person never hears language spoken, does he still think in words?” Interestingly, I had just talked to Chad Entinger earlier that week about these very concepts””which had blown my mind. I proceeded to blow hers, explaining that deaf people aren”t just signing everything we”re saying, the order of the ideas may be signed differently than we would say them, and there are many different sign languages just as there are many spoken ones. “But wait””everybody has trees. Why don”t they all have the same sign for tree?”

January 7, 2016

Christian Standard

ASL Version of Bible Nearing Completion

By Jennifer Johnson Many native English speakers assume all sign language is the same””that it”s all based on English, and it”s simply signing English sentences as they”re spoken. However, American Sign Language is one of more than 400 different sign languages around the world, and it has a unique structure and grammar independent of English. “Sign language is a visual language, not a written or spoken one,” says Chad Entinger, executive director of Deaf Missions, a ministry based in Council Bluffs, IA. “It”s not “˜English with hands.” In fact, you might not sign every word the way you speak or

January 7, 2016

Christian Standard

New Service Date Has Been Gift

By Jennifer Johnson When Suncrest Christian Church (St. John, IN) began to max out its three Sunday services, the church considered a variety of ways to accommodate more people. “Lots of churches do Saturday night services, and some do Sunday night,” says Greg Lee, lead pastor at Suncrest. “I was intrigued by churches like White River Christian in Noblesville, Indiana, that created a Thursday night service. We are a multisite with some video teaching, so the idea of doing something on Thursday was a great gift””we can record the message and have two days to send it to the other

January 6, 2016

Christian Standard

Kingdom Power

By Jim Tune Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water in a basin and began to wash his disciples” feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him (John 13:3-5). There was never any question regarding appropriate etiquette. It was the privilege of the most powerful person in the room to never need to worry about his

January 5, 2016

Mark A. Taylor

A Welcome””and More

By Mark A. Taylor It”s tough to be a child in America these days, especially if you”re one of the children described by statistics like these: “¢ One in 45 children in America experience homelessness each year, a total of 1.6 million children.1 “¢ More than five children die every day as a result of child abuse, and about 80 percent of these are under the age of 4. A report of child abuse is made every 10 seconds.2 “¢ One-third of American children””a total of 15 millions””are being raised without a father. Nearly 5 million more live without a

January 3, 2016

Christian Standard

If You Build It, Will They Come?

By Tim Harlow On a recent trip to Malawi, my wife and I had a brief layover in London and were able to travel into the city for a spot of tea. We found a shop in the back of the sanctuary of a 900-year-old Anglican church. The place was incredibly beautiful and ornate, with lovely stained glass. However, it became painfully obvious the church wasn”t selling tea as a way to connect with the community, but because it was desperate for money. There was even a sign saying how much it cost to keep the building open. As I

January 2, 2016

Christian Standard

The Best Sermon I”ve Ever Heard (6)

By Arron Chambers Christian leaders, some of them preachers themselves, tell us about a sermon they can”t forget””and maybe you won”t either.   Tim Mitchell Tim Mitchell graduated from Central Christian College of the Bible, Moberly, Missouri, in 2006. He serves as preaching minister of Bucklin Christian Church in Bucklin, Missouri, where he lives with his wife, Jenna, and their daughters, Diana and Zelda. Tim”s Best Sermon: The best funeral sermon I”ve ever heard is by Dr. E.V. Hill, longtime preacher of Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles, California, who died in 2003. You can listen to the

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