Series: Columns

Lesson Learned

By Jennifer Johnson As you read this, it”s almost time for Christmas. But as I write it, we”re days away from back to school. One of the things that surprised me about being an adult was the discovery, in September 1998, that I actually like autumn. That year was the first since 1981 that I hadn”t spent catching a bus while it was still dark outside, trudging to a classroom, sitting and doodling at uncomfortable desks, and acclimating to the personality quirks of six different teachers. Suddenly the time of year I used to dread became a fun season of

December 5, 2014

Transforming Uganda with Christ-based Learning

By Jennifer Johnson Uganda has the youngest population of any nation in the world, but tens of thousands of its young people have been unable to attend college because there aren”t enough schools. An enterprising team of missionaries and native Africans launched the Messiah Theological Institute several years ago to train village pastors. “But they saw an opportunity to look further down the road and begin influencing the culture in a deeper way,” says Craig Smith. “In 2006, leaders from both the Christian churches and the churches of Christ developed a partnership to create a new school in Uganda.” Today

December 3, 2014

Jim Tune

Mary, Most Perplexed

Jim Tune, Mary, Luke 1, MMPI, Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, perplexity, doubt, authenticity, Abraham and Sarah, Elijah, Jezebel,

December 2, 2014

Christian Living

24 Days Till Christmas!

By Mark A. TaylorÂ No, this is not more pressure to get your shopping done early. Instead, here”s a list of possibilities for making your December a little less hectic and a little more meaningful. You may decide to follow my advice every day from now till the Big Day. But if only a couple of these ideas sound good to you, that”s enough. The point is to refocus, relax, and remember why we”re celebrating in the first place. Today, December 2″”Make a list of several neighbors and decide how you”ll connect with at least one of them during the

November 25, 2014

Care & Counseling Grief & Suffering

How to Cope with Grief at the Holidays

By Mark A. Taylor In the wake of several deaths close to my family in recent months, I”m especially sensitive to the grief some friends are facing this holiday season. And I”m grateful for one way my church offers to help. Late in November every year, our seniors ministry conducts a service of remembrance for families whose deceased loved one attended our congregation. It”s a simple service, with hymns and Scripture. But the unique touch is the Christmas tree in one corner of the chapel. Beside the tree are boxes of white ornaments, each bearing a different name, handwritten in

November 24, 2014

Book Reviews Reviews

Life, Love, Liberty, Language

By LeRoy Lawson Four Steps to Spiritual Freedom Thomas Ryan Mahwah: Paulist Press, 2003 Younger Next Year: Live Strong, Fit, and Sexy””Until You”re 80 and Beyond Chris Crowley and Henry S. Lodge, M.D. New York City: Workman Publishing, 2007 Generation iY:Â Our Last Chance to Save Their Future Tim Elmore Atlanta: Poet Gardener, 2010 Made in America Bill Bryson New York: William Morrow Paperbacks, reprint edition, 2001 I teach a seminary course called Theological Integration. Students take it in their final semester. First comes this class, then commencement. As the name indicates, the course is designed to encourage a summing up

November 19, 2014

Conferences & Gatherings Organizations & Events

Journeying Together

By Jennifer Johnson I”m really excited about the 2015 International Conference on Missions. One reason is the president, Jim Tune, asked me to speak. My first sermon was to 1,800 Indian teenagers in a building that could seat 600, the second was for a group of jaded New Yorkers, and now my third will be to a convention hall of a few thousand. I like to focus on easy audiences. But I”m especially looking forward to the convention after talking to Tim Cole at the Virginia Evangelizing Fellowship and learning more about both the church planting emphasis at next year”s

November 19, 2014

Swords, Plowshares, and Evangelicals

By Jim Tune The Sermon on the Mount has been speaking to me in fresh ways lately. In the tradition of Alexander Campbell, I am trying to read these passages without viewing them through any particular Evangelical, sociopolitical, or theological lens. You can imagine how difficult this is to do. My biases rise up in protest””especially when I read what Jesus taught about peacemaking and loving enemies. Please don”t send me any hermeneutical treatments of the subject. I”ve read them all. But in times of honest reflection, I find myself pushing back when it comes to all the Evangelical escape

November 18, 2014

A Challenge for the Stay-at-Homes

By Mark A. Taylor Success stories about cross-cultural evangelism may make us want to reach unreached people in faraway places. We read articles like those posted at our site this month and decide to give more to missions, attend the International Conference on Missions, or answer our church”s call to take a short-term missions trip. Any of these responses might be good, better for sure than those of a few who may quickly skim these posts and move on because (a) they”re bored by stories about church work overseas, or (b) they”re ashamed because they feel they should be a

November 14, 2014

Church on Mission: Church at the Mission

By Jennifer Johnson “I”ve done church planting, I”ve done megachurch, and I”ve done microchurch,” says Blake Ryan. “I think this is the only thing God could call me to that would fulfill my heart in ministry.” “This” is Church at the Mission Corona, a new congregation that launched in January at the Corona/Norco (CA) Rescue Mission. Ryan serves as lead pastor of the church and director of the mission as well as managing principal at PlainJoe Studios, a design and media company also based in Corona. “We were part of Church at the Mission”s first location in Tustin, CA, and

November 13, 2014

Conferences & Gatherings Organizations & Events

One Convention, Seven New Churches

By Jennifer Johnson “You know, if we”re going to spend all this time and effort in planning a convention, it would be great for it to have a long-term impact,” remarked Tim Cole in a planning meeting for the 2015 International Conference on Missions. Cole, director of church planting at Virginia Evangelizing Fellowship (VEF), says he can”t take credit for what happened next; some members of the team suggested the churches in Virginia plant a church, then some others suggested they plant one on every continent, then someone else mentioned Antarctica might be a challenge. Today the plan is

November 12, 2014

When You Leave Your Soul Behind

By Jim Tune Author Lettie Cowman wrote about a traveler visiting Africa who hired a group of guides. Determined to make her journey a swift one, she pushed her team to cover many miles the first day. On the second day, though, the attendants she had hired remained seated and refused to move. Frustrated, she asked the leader of her hired hands why they would not continue the journey. He replied that on the first day they had gone too far, too fast, and now they were waiting for their souls to catch up with their bodies. Cowman reflected, “This

November 11, 2014

Prayer Worship & Prayer

Prayer Made a Difference at ReChurch

By Mark A. Taylor The big man with broad shoulders and a wide grin greeted me as I headed toward my display table. I was about finished setting up for the annual leadership conference, “ReChurch,” sponsored by Indian Creek Christian Church in Indianapolis. Better known as “The Creek,” the church hosted the event last Thursday and Friday, November 6 and 7. He greeted me with a firm handshake and introduced himself as Kevin Hart, executive minister for operations at the megachurch. I told him my name, and he asked me, “Can I pray for you?” With others passing in both

November 5, 2014

Colleges & Seminaries Organizations & Events

Johnson to Begin Offering Free Online Course on Acts

By Jennifer Johnson Johnson University (Knoxville, TN) has announced it will begin offering its Acts of the Apostles course online to the general public. “This course is intended for church leaders, Sunday school teachers, and other Christians who are motivated to learn about the book of Acts on a deeper, more advanced level,” the school writes. “Course participants will not earn college credit; consequently, Johnson University is providing the course free of charge as a service to the church.” Dr. Gregory Linton, professor of New Testament at Johnson, designed the course. He has taught the book of Acts for 15

November 4, 2014

Culture & Public Square Politics & Government

Electing a Balanced View

By Mark A. Taylor In the face of nonstop media coverage leading up to Election Day, many in the United States are tired, cynical, or bored by it all. But that”s not me. On Election Day, I will not give in to the naysayers. Yes, I”m appalled by the millions and millions of dollars spent, often with little effect, to woo voters toward one candidate or position. Yes, I”m weary of the half-truths and media spin. I”m suspicious that what we see in political ads, Internet posts, and major interviews is a thin faÃ§ade hiding unsavory truths and off-the-record deal

November 2, 2014

Discipleship & Spiritual Formation

Do You Have SCD?

By Tim Harlow If you think about it, the whole idea of getting to live in Heaven with God one day, based totally and completely on the grace of Jesus, is a remarkable concept. Most of us have lived in the world of Christianity long enough that we just don”t appreciate it enough. One day a Christian kid was talking to his friend about the concept of Jesus and Heaven. The other kid was blown away. He said, “Are you telling me that all I have to do is follow Jesus and I can go to Heaven?”Â “Yes, it”s that

October 30, 2014

Book Reviews Reviews

How Much More Can I Read about War?

By LeRoy Lawson A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier Ishmael Beah New York: Macmillan, 2007 The Things They Carried Tim O”Brien New York: Mariner Books, 1990 The Right Stuff Tom Wolfe New York: Farrar, Strauss and Gireaux (Picador), 1979 The Hunger Games Suzanne Collins New York: Scholastic Press, 2009 A few months ago Amazon.com published a list of “100 Books to Read in a Lifetime.” The list is designed to humble. At least it humbled me. So many books I haven”t read. I made my own “to-get-to” list from that list. It”s too long. It”ll take a

October 29, 2014

Rest

By Jim Tune Luke tells the story of a prostitute who was so desperate to see Jesus that she crashed a dinner party at a Pharisee”s house. Moved by Jesus” love for people like her, she began to sob, drenching his feet with her tears. Finally, she was embarrassed by her own lack of inhibitions. She started to dry Jesus” feet with her hair, and then, overcome with emotion, she kissed them and bathed them in perfume. This scene made everyone uncomfortable. To the Pharisees, her actions seemed inappropriate, scandalous, sensual. The host expressed his outrage, saying to himself, “If

October 28, 2014