Series: Columns

July 7, 2014

Michael C. Mack

Restoring Biblical Community

By Michael C. Mack People often ask me why I am so fanatical about small groups. I could provide many theological and statistical reasons, but my personal passion comes from one source: my life has been personally, profoundly transformed, many times actually, in the authentic, Christ-centered community of small groups. Beyond that, as a minister and small group coach and consultant, I have the privilege to see God use the community of healthy groups as the environment where discipleship occurs. If you were to compare your group (or church) to the New Testament model of authentic community, how would you

July 6, 2014

Christian Standard

Simon-Says Religion

By Tim Harlow The religious leaders in Jesus” day were great at it. The religious leaders I looked up to as a kid were great at it. And as a religious leader today, I am great at it, too. I call it “Simon-Says Religion.” Here”s how it works: I, as the all-knowing “Simon,” call out my interpretations of God”s rules, and everyone else must conform their behavior. Woe to you, blind guides! You say, “If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple is bound by that oath.” You blind

July 3, 2014

Christian Standard

We Lead by Following

By Chris DeWelt It took a while, and now it all seems so simple. But we as elders and staff finally came to the same conclusion. What is our “prime directive” at College Heights Christian Church? Following Jesus! If you come through our doors””either the doors of our church or the doors of our homes””we desperately want you to follow Jesus. It is why we live and breathe. How will we follow Jesus? What will we ask of you? For us, following Jesus means a balanced diet of truth, relationship, and service. Truth means connection to God”s Word. This is

July 1, 2014

Mark A. Taylor

God”s Work””and Ours

By Mark A. Taylor Several facts are clear as we look at reports from colleges and campus ministries in this issue: “¢ These are tough times for Christian colleges. As more than one writer mentions, a perfect storm of difficult situations has caused much navel-gazing and budget cutting among college administrators everywhere. Small secular colleges are facing many of the same pressures, and this is some consolation, but not enough. If the economic or cultural climate is jeopardizing the future of public colleges, why should we believe it won”t threaten “ours” as well? “¢ But despite the threats, God is

July 1, 2014

Mark A. Taylor

My Advice

By Mark A. Taylor Some of the best advice I ever received was from Roy Lawson, longtime member of Standard Publishing”s Publishing Committee, and one of this magazine”s original contributing editors. “Emphasize people,” he told me when I asked for ways to make CHRISTIAN STANDARD more effective. “Highlight what people are doing. Promote their ministries and their accomplishments.” Through the years I”ve followed that advice in more ways than one, none of them more engaging than the major feature of this month”s issue. I love our “Best (or Worst!) Advice” pieces for several reasons. First, of course, is the advice

July 1, 2014

Mark A. Taylor

Download Our New Free App Today!

By Mark A. Taylor When CHRISTIANS STANDARD”s print edition converted from weekly to monthly distribution almost two years ago, some potential subscribers said, “I”d read every issue””on my iPad.” Well, now they can. The new, free CHRISTIANS STANDARD app is available today for every smartphone and tablet, and we think you should download it today. (Search for “Christian Standard” at the Apple Newsstand, Google Play, or Amazon apps.) When you try the app, you”ll discover: “¢ A wealth of free content. The whole July issue is there! Plus a valuable compilation of “Ministry Today” columns by regular columnists Tim Harlow

June 30, 2014

Christian Standard

On Fire for Mission in Africa

By Jennifer Johnson Dave Moore didn”t even want to visit Africa. Today he”s the founder and president of Africa Fire Mission. “When our church, LifeSpring Christian in Cincinnati, offered a mission trip to Kenya in 2012, my wife, Nancy, asked me to go with her,” says Moore, who at that time served as the fire chief of a wealthy suburb. “The trip would include working with Missions of Hope International (MOHI), part of Christian Missionary Fellowship“s ministry in the Mathare Valley. I wasn”t excited about it, but I went, and I realized how much the people there needed fire safety

June 29, 2014

Christian Standard

Enough Is Enough

See related article, “A Call to Sacrifice.” ________ By Jennifer Johnson Each time I move I”m keenly aware of how much junk I own. As I prepared to leave Nashville and join Matt in Philadelphia two years ago, my fourth move in 10 years, I was amazed at how much I”d accumulated””14 antique china plates and three matching cups (Grandma was prone to dropping things). Dozens of books I fully intend to read. Half-used hair products. Barbie dolls with complete outfits. The original packaging for Standard Publishing”s 1984 VBS craft kit featuring my smiling face. So, some seriously good stuff.

June 29, 2014

Christian Standard

A Call to Sacrifice

By Jennifer Johnson The 25 Group is only a few months old, but its goal is ambitious: to leverage the wealth of American Christians to fund kingdom work around the world. “It”s crowdsourcing generosity,” says executive director Titus Benton, who also serves as student pastor at Current: A Christian Church in Katy, Texas. “Most people can”t give $20,000 and single-handedly fund an entire project, but a bunch of people each giving $25 a month can make a huge difference.” The challenge to give $25 ties in nicely with the nonprofit”s name, a reference to Matthew 25; the six needs mentioned

June 28, 2014

Christian Standard

Practical Advice for Productive Ministry

By LeRoy Lawson   From Midterms to Ministry: Practical Theologians on Pastoral Beginnings Allan Hugh Cole Jr., editor Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2008 Leadership Handbook of Management and Administration James D. Berkley, editor Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2007 Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action Simon Sinek New York: Portfolio/Penguin, 2009 One Size Doesn”t Fit All: Bringing Out the Best in Any Size Church Gary L. McIntosh Grand Rapids: Fleming H. Revell, 1999   Everybody knows there”s a world of difference between life in the seminary and life in the church. Almost everybody complains that seminaries and Bible colleges

June 25, 2014

Christian Standard

“˜. . . And He Was a Man of Prayer”

By Randy Gariss It is easy to forget and neglect the main thing””it happens all the time. Sometimes it results in tragedy. Drivers should drive and not text. Train engineers should remain awake and not fall asleep. Babysitters should watch children and not TV. And elders should be men of prayer. Even a casual reading of Scripture clearly demonstrates the place prayer is to play in a leader”s life. Consider:   Samuel the prophet “¢ He told the Jewish people, “Far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by failing to pray for you” (1 Samuel

June 24, 2014

Mark A. Taylor

Size May Not Matter

By Mark A. Taylor We”ve been chronicling megachurch success for more than three decades at CHRISTIAN STANDARD. But in spite of encouraging growth, both in size and number of megachurches, an underbelly of suspicion toward them remains. Our Beyond the Standard conversation May 15 with Jud Wilhite, Dave Stone, and Don Wilson, showed this. These ministers with the three largest megachurches among the independent Christian churches shared practical ideas and thoughtful strategies””always with a spirit of humility. But too many questions from listeners contained veiled accusations of compromise to achieve numbers. So when I came across a report from Leadership

June 22, 2014

Christian Standard

Confessions of a Mission Statement Cynic

By Eddie Lowen I would not trade””for anything””the experience of seeing what happened with our team when we united around the words of our vision and mission. For a long time, I was a skeptic and contrarian regarding church mission statements. To my eye, nearly all were synonymous, so why bother? Besides, isn”t the church”s mission already expressed in Scripture? Jesus said he came to seek and save the lost. He commissioned his followers to preach the good news to everyone. His words are clear and compelling. Best of all, using the words of Jesus does not require several days

June 17, 2014

Mark A. Taylor

Really Something!

By Mark A. Taylor Joe Boyd says the Bible came alive to him when he was just 8 years old. The Sunday school lesson of the day was about Jacob and Esau and how Esau, famished from a day in “the open country,” gave up his birthright for a bowl of Jacob”s stew (Genesis 25:29-34). “Our teacher told us that story,” Boyd remembers, “and then she pulled out a thermos, unscrewed the cap, and poured each of us a serving of lentil stew in a paper cup. “I”d never tasked lentil stew before, and it was good! It dawned on

June 10, 2014

Mark A. Taylor

A Permanent Solution

By Mark A. Taylor “The temporary becomes permanent.” Dale McCann, senior minister at the first church I served full-time, repeated the proverb whenever I was tempted to slap something together till we could “do it right” later. He was observing a tendency of human nature and long experience working with the local church: A cardboard sign announcing a room number might never be replaced with one professionally made. A haphazard approach to ushering or serving Communion will continue for years because no one tackles the task of organizing something more efficient. When the temporary becomes permanent at home, we see

June 3, 2014

Mark A. Taylor

A Question of Legacy

By Mark A. Taylor As I grow older I become more nostalgic, which is why I wasn”t surprised to get a bit misty-eyed at a memorial service I attended last month. The occasion was to remember retired Cincinnati Christian University professor Tom Friskney who had died January 29. But my tears were not for his faithful remaining family or for a personal sense of loss. Instead, a flood of memories washed over me when the congregation sang Friskney”s favorite hymn, “I Know Whom I Have Believed.” When we got to each chorus, I was transported back to my childhood. It

June 2, 2014

Michael C. Mack

Is It Time to Quit or Time to Commit?

By Michael C. Mack June is perhaps the best time of the year to assess the small group(s) under your care and review your own leadership. How are you doing as a steward of the people God has entrusted to you? Over the years, I”ve seen many leaders either call it quits or decide to recommit when June rolled around. Let”s face it. Leading a small group is a big commitment. It”s a calling by God to invest your life into the lives of other people, to allow God to use you to bring about transformation as only he can.

June 1, 2014

Christian Standard

Opening Up Missions to Everyone

By Jennifer Johnson More than 1 million American Christians participate in short-term mission trips each year, and many churches build their missions strategy around opportunities to engage members in these experiences. However, not every church has relationships with missionaries who need help, expertise in planning the trip and prepping participants, or enough interested members to create a team. Andy Newton created Ministro Journeys to remove these obstacles and make it easier for churches and individuals to get involved. While serving as associate missions director at Southland Christian Church (Lexington, KY), Newton often received inquiries from professional groups and smaller churches

May 31, 2014

Christian Standard

Country Clubs

By Jennifer Johnson I thought my years in California prevented me from developing geographical snobbery, that condition in which you assume your city/state/region has the corner on all things progressive and everywhere else is a barren wasteland. It”s a hobby along that coast; one California megachurch pastor actually told me Willow Creek grew to its current ginormity because “there”s nothing else to do out there. What”s in Illinois, yaks?” Yep, buddy, their church is way bigger than yours because Chicago”s boring. So I expected to like the Plains states when I first visited them years ago to lead workshops at

May 30, 2014

Christian Standard

Tracy Appointed President of Cincinnati Christian

The Board of Trustees of Cincinnati Christian University in May announced the appointment of Ken Tracy as the institution”s eighth president. Tracy had been serving as interim president since February. He succeeds David Faust, who announced his resignation on Nov. 1, 2013, after 12 years of service. A 1988 graduate of CCU, Tracy has 27 years of financial and executive leadership experience and is currently president of TaleMed, a national healthcare provider. Tracy has remained involved at CCU as a volunteer on the President”s Advisory Board and by serving as the part-time men”s basketball coach. He is an ordained minister.

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