Series: Columns

October 18, 2012

Christian Standard

Keeping it Christlike on Facebook

I”ll begin this week”s column with a couple of confessions. Confession One: I spend some time on Facebook every day, probably as much as the average user (20 minutes), and I don”t feel bad about it. After all, one in 13 people on the planet is a Facebook user, and more than half of them, like me, visit the site daily. That figures out to about 270 million others who could make my same confession; it”s a cinch I”m not alone. Confession Two: I plan to vote for Mitt Romney. And once again, with the polls consistently showing an American

October 14, 2012

Christian Standard

Hope, Despair in India: Find This Book and Read It! (Part 13)

By Jim Tune   A Fine Balance Rohinton Mistry St. Louis: Turtleback, 2001 I have given copies of A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry to more of my reading friends than possibly any other book I have read. All the cruelty and corruption, dignity and heroism of India is startlingly captured and made real to the reader. Set in 1975 in an unnamed city by the sea in India, this eye-opening novel looks at the lives of four strangers who have fallen, almost instantly, from a middle-class lifestyle to the ranks of the poor due to sudden economic upheaval. These

October 14, 2012

Christian Standard

Epic and Eternal: Find This Book and Read It! (Part 12)

By Charlie W. Starr   Epic: The Story God Is Telling and the Role that Is Yours to Play John Eldredge Nashville: Thomas Nelson, first published in 2004 When I read this issue in past years, I complained about the lack of fiction books among the choices, even to the point of writing a letter about it to Christian Standard. I”m a literature teacher and a writer. I understand the power of stories. I believe Christians should look more to the imagination for its importance in teaching truth and reaching people. So I”m somewhat self-shocked by the fact I”m choosing a

October 13, 2012

Christian Standard

All About Worship: Find This Book and Read It! (Part 11)

By Dale Reeves   The Air I Breathe: Worship as a Way of Life Louie Giglio Colorado Springs: Multnomah, 2009 I”ve had a calling on my life to be a lifelong worshipper of God since I was a little boy sitting in Sunday evening services at Clovernook (now LifeSpring) Christian Church in Cincinnati, Ohio. Back in those days, David Lang led us in singing the great hymns of the faith””all of the verses””and to this day it”s amazing how the lyrics of those hymns are tucked away in my brain. They often rise to the surface during a season of seeking

October 13, 2012

Michael C. Mack

The Vitality of Christian Community: Find This Book and Read It! (Part 10)

By Michael C. Mack   The Relational Way: From Small Group Structures to Holistic Life Connections M. Scott Boren Houston: TOUCH Publications, 2007 The model of the church today stands in stark contrast to the church of the New Testament. In this book, Scott Boren calls for a new restoration””a restoration of the “relational way” that is at the very heart of God and his design for his church. The ideas Boren proposes are revolutionary within our culture; indeed, they are counter-cultural, which is exactly what he intends and proposes in this book. If you are not directly involved in small groups,

October 13, 2012

Christian Standard

Reading for Enrichment: Find This Book and Read It! (Part 9)

By Marshall Hayden   It”s great advice! “Read broadly” we have been told. It will enrich your life, your thinking, and your preaching. It”s true. But until retirement came, the stack of interesting books””purchased but unread””just kept getting taller. Now there is the fine advantage of carrying a little electronic thingamajig, rather than a bag or briefcase full of books. Maybe you will start taking that good advice earlier than I did. You may be like our remarkable friend, Roy Lawson, whose reviews you read on the pages of Christian Standard. He is not yet retired. Well, twice retired, but

October 12, 2012

Christian Standard

Exploring Authentic Manhood: Find This Book and Read It! (Part 8)

By Eddie Lowen   Man Alive: Transforming Your Seven Primal Needs into a Powerful Spiritual Life Patrick Morley Colorado Springs: Multnomah, 2012 Several people who narrowly escaped the collapse of the World Trade Center towers 11 years ago credited their safety to “a man wearing a red bandana.” The man approached several bewildered people and said, “Follow me. I can help you get out.” He carried one woman on his back down 17 flights of stairs. When the rubble was cleared from where Tower One once stood, the body of a young man wearing a red bandana was found among the bodies

October 12, 2012

Christian Standard

An Exciting Family Devotion Resource: Find This Book and Read It! (Part 7)

By Matt Lockhart   Discovering God”s Story Jim Eichenberger Cincinnati: Standard Publishing, 2010 Have you ever wrestled with wanting to do a family devotion but struggled with what to use or how to get started? If so, do I have a reading recommendation for you! Discovering God”s Story is a great book to help families engage with God”s Word. It”s a beautifully illustrated, full-color hardcover that provides a chronological overview of major Bible stories and themes in 100 short and visually rich vignettes. While a great reference book for any Bible student, I can tell you from firsthand experience that

October 12, 2012

Christian Standard

Insights into the Underprivileged: Find This Book and Read It! (Part 6)

By Nancy Karpenske   What Every Church Member Needs to Know about Poverty Bill Ehlig and Ruby K. Payne Highlands: aha! Process Inc., 1999 Ruby K. Payne is the leading U.S. educator teaching teachers and social workers about the impacts on families in poverty, and the author of the best-selling book, A Framework for Understanding Poverty. Bill Ehlig has been a minister in urban settings for more than 30 years. God expects and commands followers of Jesus to be concerned and involved with needy people. “If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has

October 11, 2012

Christian Standard

Leaders Are Readers

By Mark A. Taylor Buying books is cheaper than changing ministries. So goes the advice often attributed to Russ Blowers when he was minister of East 91st Street Christian Church in Indianapolis. But are young leaders today heeding the advice? All of us following a leader hope so! We want our leaders to know more than what they find on Facebook or ESPN. We need to hear more from our preachers than their own experiences. We expect our teachers to challenge us with ideas loftier than their own. We need those helping us live the Christian life to examine the

October 9, 2012

Christian Standard

An Aid to Cultural Context: Find This Book and Read It! (Part 5)

By Beth Guckenberger   Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus Ann Spangler and Lois Tverberg Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2009 This book came across my path several months after I returned from a trip to Israel. I had been talking nonstop about the insights I had gained while there and was fascinated by the cultural context I hadn”t understood before my visit. I read Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus in two days, taking notes on my laptop, thinking of all the people I wanted to read it. The book outlines Jewish culture and historical context for the lay

October 9, 2012

Christian Standard

Learning from Trials: Find This Book and Read It! (Part 4)

By Brenda Garrison   Nine Things You Simply Must Do to Succeed in Love and Life: A Psychologist Probes the Mystery of Why Some Lives Really Work and Others Don”t Dr. Henry Cloud Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2004 As a mom, I want my daughters to live the abundant lives Jesus promised us. One way I encourage them to do so is by giving them books that have spoken to me. One of our favorites is Nine Things You Simply Must Know to Succeed in Life and Love.  In his book, Dr. Henry Cloud teaches nine principles that anyone can implement

October 9, 2012

Christian Standard

When Faith Is a Struggle: Find This Book and Read It! (Part 3)

By Randy Gariss   Disappointment with God Philip Yancey Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1988 Reaching for the Invisible God Philip Yancey Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000  A Skeptic”s Guide to Faith (previously titled Rumors of Another World) Philip Yancey Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2009 Struggling with faith? Keep Philip Yancey”s works close. In my opinion, you can never go wrong by recommending a Philip Yancey book. From the mid-1970s, his writings have made a dramatic mark on the Christian landscape with more than 15 million of his books currently in circulation. His writings are varied, but the genius of his work probably has to

October 8, 2012

Christian Standard

Explicit, Not Assumed: Find This Book and Read It! (Part 2)

By David Faust   The Explicit Gospel Matt Chandler with Jared Wilson Wheaton: Crossway, 2012 In the contemporary church”s effort to be cool and culturally relevant, have we diminished the message of the cross? Matt Chandler, who preaches for The Village Church in Dallas, Texas, suggests that for lots of American churchgoers, the gospel has been merely assumed, not made explicit. And what many assume about Christian faith is not the robust gospel that takes God and sin seriously and sees grace as the God-given solution. Instead, many hold to an anemic “moralistic therapeutic deism”””we try to be good, we

October 8, 2012

Christian Standard

The Power of Uncertainty: Find This Book and Read It! (Part 1)

By Gayla Congdon   In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day Mark Batterson Colorado Springs: Multnomah Books, 2006 The book I have read that has impacted me the most in the past few years was In a Pit With a Lion on a Snowy Day by Mark Batterson. The title comes from a story found in 2 Samuel 23:20, 21. On a snowy day during the reign of King David, Benaiah chased a lion down a pit and killed it. The story is timely because we are living in days when fear is consuming us and, I

October 4, 2012

Christian Standard

A Day for Hope

By Mark A. Taylor My visit to Hope filled me with hope! At Hope International University in Fullerton, California, last week, I found students serious about their studies and passionate about finding God”s will for their lives. In the two classes I visited, students were engaged with the Bible study their professors presented. (Me, too! I left each session wishing I could stick with the professor all semester!) In the morning I met one young man who told me about his upbringing by missionary parents and his pursuit of God”s will for his life. Later he sought me out to

October 2, 2012

Christian Standard

Planting Churches, Sponsoring Children

By Jennifer Johnson In 2011, church planting organization Stadia (Irvine, CA) partnered with Compassion International and Ecuadorian and U.S. church partners to plant four new churches in Ecuador. In 2012 they”re starting another dozen churches. Compassion offers its child sponsorship program and other initiatives through each church, and Stadia Executive Director Tom Jones estimates more than 4,000 children will be helped through the work by the end of this year. In January, Compassion President Wess Stafford asked Stadia to expand the ministry into other South American countries. While continuing to plant churches in Ecuador, Stadia plans to start two churches in

October 1, 2012

Christian Standard

One-Day Project or Sacrificial Service?

By Jennifer Johnson “The church has left the building!” “Don”t miss our great day of service!” “This Sunday we”re not going to church, we”re going to BE the church!” These churches mean well. They want to show God”s love to their communities in practical ways while making it easier for church members to practice serving others. And some, like the annual ServeFest coordinated by Mountain Christian Church in Joppa, Maryland, have grown into very effective partnerships with dozens of other area churches in a common cause. (Check it out at www.servefestmd.org.) But I often wonder about the recipients of these

September 30, 2012

Christian Standard

Inspired by Nehemiah, Church Repaints the Walls

By Jennifer Johnson For several years, Journey Christian Church (Greeley, CO) has helped meet a number of needs at nearby John Evans Middle School, from volunteering at sports events and feeding needy families to providing school supplies and coordinating an annual Christmas party for students. After studying the book of Nehemiah, lead minister Arron Chambers and the church began praying about a “great work” (Nehemiah 6:3) they could begin this past July. Just a few weeks later, when the John Evans principal asked Chambers if church members could paint the school”s hallways and cafeteria, he knew the church had found

September 27, 2012

Christian Standard

Connected?

It”s the theme for a whole semester”s chapel sessions, and I decided to make it the title for the sermon I”m preaching at that chapel today. But I made one small change. “Connected” is the theme chosen by Bryan Sands, campus minister at Hope International University, Fullerton, California. I added a question mark for my one-word title, because some are saying our society is less connected now than ever. Jacqueline Olds and Richard S. Schwartz, for example, have written a book called The Lonely American. The conclusion of these two Harvard Medical School psychiatry professors? “Our society is in the

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