Series: Columns

A Brand-New Life

By Mark A. Taylor I bumped into our backyard neighbor at the grocery store, and the conversation went from the price of groceries to the weather to “How are your kids?” And then she told me, “We”ve been going to church.” She had visited our church once, several years ago, but she had never come back. And I always felt she was embarrassed by that. ButÂ now she was smiling. “The girls love it, and the first Sunday my 13-year-old daughter asked if she could go back that night to youth group.” Then her expression became more earnest. “It”s really

April 15, 2014

Christian Living

The Reason for This Season, Too

By Mark A. Taylor On the day before Easter in 2012 I snapped this picture in my local grocery store. The imposing, inflated bunny surrounded by candy eggs seemed a good symbol of the secular holiday and retailers” efforts to cash in on it. Not that I”m criticizing. I eat my share of chocolate eggs every year around this time. And every spring our house is decorated with Easter baskets and jellybeans””and a few of our own stuffed bunnies. But Easter, like Christmas, can get lost in the trappings if we don”t pause to meditate on the profound reasons for

April 4, 2014

Apologetics & Worldview

After the Facts

By Jennifer Johnson The men at our church LOVE to study apologetics. I think it”s because they like to argue. One reason I contacted Bob Hall after reading about the apologetics group he created was the wording of the announcement in Velocity Christian Church“s e-news: “This team has kicked off a long-term effort to understand our culture”s perceptions, assumptions, questions and issues that are barriers to faith in Jesus. We”re now assembling well-documented, thoughtful and effective responses and preparing to use them in a respectful way.” The guys at our church aren”t at all disrespectful, but they do have a

April 4, 2014

Church & Ministry Youth & Children's Ministry

Strengthening the Foundation of Faith

By Jennifer Johnson Tired of seeing teenagers head off to college and never return to church? Bob Hall has created a Sunday school class for 12th-graders. “There just seemed to be a weak foundation for their faith,” he says. As a nuclear engineer, he could answer many of the students” questions about science, and together they dug into the Bible. He taught the class for seven years. Now, at Velocity Christian Church (Glen Allen, VA), Hall has a bigger vision for a broader age group. “I read science articles and I read the comments,” he says. “We live in a

April 3, 2014

Book Reviews Reviews

New Ways to Research, Serve, Lead, and Counsel

By LeRoy Lawson The Wikipedia Revolution: How a Bunch of NobodiesÂ Created the World”s Greatest Encyclopedia Andrew Lih New York: Hyperion, 2009 Unfinished: Believing Is Only the Beginning Richard Stearns Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2013 Creative Followership: In the Shadow of Greatness Jimmy Collins Decatur: Looking Glass Books, 2013 Neo-Coherence Therapy: A Bridge to the Soul Bruce R. Parmenter Eugene: Resource Publications, 2013 You understand””I went to college. I wrote research papers. I had to convince my professors I had consulted the best sources, written by the most highly qualified authors with letters behind their names, and that letters were granted by

April 3, 2014

Conferences & Gatherings Organizations & Events

New Conference for Associate Ministers

By Jennifer Johnson There are conferences for senior pastors, executive pastors, youth ministers, worship pastors, and even administrative assistants. Now Tim Anderson, associate director at CrossRoads Missions (Louisville, KY), is creating a conference for associate ministers. “I”ve been an associate minister for 26 years, in three churches””everything from the small church where I had a hand in everything to a large megachurch where I had more focused responsibilities,” he says. “It”s a unique role with unique challenges, and I wanted to do something that could help this group.” He “pitched” the idea to Bob Russell more than a year ago

April 1, 2014

Discipleship & Spiritual Formation

Hearing God”s Call

By Mark A. Taylor Most Thursdays I attend, and usually lead, a men”s small-group Bible study. These are good men, men committed to Christ, churchgoing men, and I couldn”t help thinking about them when I came across a newsletter from the Barna Group earlier this year. According to Barna”s research, 75 percent of American adults say they are looking for ways to live a more meaningful life. But “only 40 percent of practicing Christians say they have a clear sense of God”s calling on their lives.” I”m wondering how the guys in my group feel a sense of calling at

March 31, 2014

Church & Ministry Church Leadership Eldership

Elders: Men Churches Can Count On

By Chuck Sackett What kind of church do elders need? Three stories illustrate the answer. Men of Character Sally”s question was wise beyond her years, “What can I expect from you (elders)?” Bill”s answer took the form of an explanation. “When someone approaches us with a complaint, our response will always be, “˜Have you talked with Sally? If not, we have nothing to discuss. If she doesn”t respond to you in a professional or Christian manner, come back and see me. Then we”ll have something to talk about.” Sally, we promise you we will never accept criticism about your ministry

March 27, 2014

Evangelism & Discipleship

By Tim Harlow Imagine this scenario with me. You”re at a wedding. The idyllic young bride and groom are exchanging vows with that faraway look in their eyes, pledging their everlasting faithfulness. Warm fuzzies galore. That night, the groom returns to his bachelor pad, alone. The couple keeps separate checking accounts, independent schedules, and their own apartments. When you get a chance to speak with the mother of the groom, she defends the arrangement: “Well, he”s only 25, you know! He”s not ready to be a full-time husband. They don”t really have the same taste in food or furniture .

March 25, 2014

Church & Ministry Small Groups

Church Life

Just Enough Scaffolding

By Mark A. Taylor “We all seemed to be on the same page,” Bob Russell wrote me after last week”s Beyond the Standard BlogTalkRadio program. “Maybe that made for boring listening, but it makes for a stronger brotherhood!” His comment sowed a new thought for me. Should I be looking for opposing points of view among the guests who appear on these monthly programs? For this episode, could I have found Christian leaders to disagree with “We”re not the only Christians, but we are Christians only”? Maybe. At least one comment about CHRISTIAN STANDARD”s March issue, devoted to that centuries-old

March 20, 2014

Michael C. Mack

What Should We Study Next?

By Michael C. Mack If you”ve been in a small group for more than a few months, you”ve probably heard the question, perhaps many times: “What are we going to study next?” It”s usually asked as you turn to the last lesson in your current study guide. This question tells a lot about your group. Here are a few possibilities: “¢ The group is focused on content rather than Christ and community. “¢ The group has no long-range plans. “¢ The leader is not shepherding the group. “¢ The group has no mission or has forgotten it. I”ve often compared

March 18, 2014

Culture & Public Square Reconciliation

Extending a Hand and Standing Firm

By Mark A. Taylor The cover headline on Christian Standard”s July 2, 2006 edition was “We Are NOT the Only Christians.” The lead article was from a book written by Rick Atchley and Bob Russell, a small volume about Christian unity titled Together Again*. The book”s publication coincided with the historic 2006 North American Christian Convention, whose theme and goal was to repair wounds and open doors between a cappella churches of Christ and independent, instrumental Christian churches and churches of Christ. But the book talked about more than that division. It also offered a challenge for how we view

March 11, 2014

Church & Ministry

Staying Connected”“It”s to Our Benefit!

By Mark A. Taylor The following column first appeared at this site in 2008, but it strikes me, with a couple of tweaks, Â as remarkably current still today. So while I’m on vacation this week, let me offer it for your consideration. I’m guessing many readers have forgotten it or missed it when it first appeared! Christ followers outside our movement are often intrigued when they get to know us better. They”re impressed first with the accomplishments of Christian churches and churches of Christ: “¢ Dynamic missions work “¢ World-class church planting initiatives “¢ Creative leadership of new approaches like

March 10, 2014

Bible Bowl Behind Bars

By Jennifer Johnson Bible Bowl tournaments are happening in churches, on college campuses, at conventions””and in a jail in Circleville, OH. When Kevin Littler became chaplain at the Circleville Juvenile Correctional Facility, he wanted to create opportunities for Bible study, and believed competition could be the draw to encourage participation. Josiah Gorman, executive director at the National Bible Bowl office in Cincinnati, encouraged Littler to contact Bill Thomas, the new minister at nearby Northridge Church of Christ. “I know the life of a senior minister is very hectic, and I was simply hoping he could recommend a volunteer to coach

March 9, 2014

Aid to Stick

By Jennifer Johnson Why do we always want to Band-Aid the solution? Never mind. I know why. Whether it”s homelessness or abortion or violence in schools, it”s easier to organize a sock giveaway, stand on a picket line, or bicker about gun control than to address the systemic social issues that first led to the problem. I relearned this a few months ago when interviewing my friend Becky Ahlberg about My Safe Harbor, a nonprofit she (and Anaheim First Christian Church) launched in 2008 to serve a city ravaged by gang violence, crime, and poverty. It might have been easier

March 9, 2014

Compelled to Do More

By Jennifer Johnson “Williamsburg, Virginia, is a wonderful place to live, a place full of history and beauty,” says Fred Liggin. “It”s also a city that”s in denial about its homeless population and its deep poverty.” Several years ago a family showed up at Williamsburg Christian Church asking for a place to stay overnight. Liggin, who serves as WCC”s lead minister, felt compelled to do more. “I decided we”d have to do better than a room for the night, because Jesus would not want this family and their little baby to go back on the streets,” he says. “I had

March 4, 2014

Christian Living

Brighter Days Ahead?

By Mark A. Taylor For the person enduring dark times, the biblical story of Joseph can be an inspiration. As a young man he went from favored son to captured slave to a position of authority to years in prison and then, finally, to his place as the second-in-command to the Egyptian pharaoh. When my men”s Bible study looked at his life, we focused on the happy ending to Joseph”s many years of recurring disappointments and confusion. What”s the lesson for our lives today? Our study guide pointed us to a verse Christians love to quote: “In all things God

March 3, 2014

Book Reviews Reviews

Seeking Discipline and Considering the Captives

By LeRoy Lawson Flunking Sainthood: A Year of Breaking the Sabbath,Â Forgetting to Pray, and Still Loving My Neighbor Jana Riess Brewster: Paraclete Press, 2011 Zoo Story: Life in the Garden of Captives Thomas French New York: Hyperion, 2010 The title gives it away: Jana Riess”s Flunking Sainthood isn”t going to be your most serious read this year. It may be, though, the most fun. Actually, Riess is serious about the exercise of spiritual disciplines. Her tone is lighthearted, even flippant at times, but her soul thirsts, yea even longs, for the living God. So she goes to work. Her

February 25, 2014