Series: Columns

May 21, 2012

Christian Standard

Pursuing God, the Cure for Narcissism

By LeRoy Lawson The Pastor: A Memoir Eugene H. Peterson New York: HarperCollins E-books The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of Entitlement Jean M. Twenge and W. Keith Campbell New York: Free Press, 2009 13 Things that Don”t Make Sense: The Most Baffling Scientific Mysteries of Our Time Michael Brooks New York: Vintage Books, 2009 Eugene Peterson was feeding his fellow Christians long before he published The Message, his paraphrase of the Bible in contemporary English, but that amazing tour de force raised our gratitude even higher. His insights into church and ministry have refreshed many a weary minister,

May 12, 2012

Christian Standard

Partnership Hoping to Start 200 Churches in LA

By Jennifer Taylor Three years ago, Stadia partnered with Kevin Haah to plant New City Church of Los Angeles. Last month, Haah announced a partnership with Stadia that will result in 200 more churches across Los Angeles. “New City has grown to about 400 people,” he says. “We reflect the ethnic and economic diversity of downtown and have built an amazing community of believers here. We want this same experience in every neighborhood in the city.” Haah says Los Angelenos identify with specific neighborhoods, mentioning one of 119 areas when asked where they”re from. The neighborhoods range from small, 10,000-person

May 10, 2012

Michael C. Mack

The Most Vital Small Group Principle

By Michael C. Mack I want to lead a healthy, growing small group. What is the single most important thing I need to know? In 20-plus years of leading groups and talking to and with many others leading groups, I”ve learned this: There are many skills and techniques leaders can use to make their groups better. But the best way to determine if your small group is healthy involves self-diagnosing one particular vital sign. A healthy group is Christ-centered. Christ is the real leader, and the group is primarily focused on him, experiencing his presence, carrying out his purposes, and

May 9, 2012

Christian Standard

Elder Governance: Everybody”s Concern

By Mark A. Taylor Some readers may feel this week”s articles don”t apply to them. “I”m not an elder, and I”ll never be one.” “I sometimes wonder what happens in those elders meetings, but not enough to think about how they could be better.” “Governance? What is elder governance? We just approve the bills and try to keep the preacher on the right track. Governance is too fancy a word for what we do in our monthly meetings.” But think carefully about Don Green”s ideas andGary Johnson”s experience, and you”ll see that elder governance can revolutionize how a church functions.

May 7, 2012

Christian Standard

Chicken Sandwiches and Glorifying God

By Mark A. Taylor “Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” Paul”s teaching to the Corinthians (10:31) has become the motto of Christians in all the centuries since then. But when we see a successful business guided by that value, we can”t help but notice. And Chick-fil-A, the country”s second-largest quick service chicken restaurant, deserves notice. Chick-fil-A founder Truett Cathy tells would-be entrepreneurs, “Invite God to be involved in every decision.” In his book How Did You Do It, Truett? he writes, “We honor God with our success.” Dee Ann Turner, vice president of talent at

May 4, 2012

Christian Standard

TV Show Focusing on Love Films Worship at Church

By Jennifer Taylor Later this year, the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) will premiere Lovetown, USA, a show about the search for love, filmed in Kingsland, GA. OWN describes the show as a “one-of-a-kind social experiment” and “the biggest dating challenge in TV history””examining the effects love can have on the DNA of one American community.” But the producers are getting more than they bargained for; Christ”s Church Camden, also in Kingsland, is using this unusual opportunity to share the impact of Christ”s love. “Kingsland has the highest percentage in the country of singles who move here and then get married,”

May 2, 2012

Christian Standard

Elders, Submission, and the Rebel in Me!

By Jim Tune With so many poor models of leadership around us today, we may cringe when words like submission, authority, and rule come up. “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” With that line in the final chapter of Animal Farm, George Orwell delivered his critique of Karl Marx and the government of the Soviet Union. We know the story: animals rise up, a barnyard revolt is launched, and the animals displace the human owners of the farm and begin to run the farm for their own benefit. It was a paradise run by

April 29, 2012

Christian Standard

Fair-Trade Project Producing Prom Dresses

By Jennifer Taylor Many organizations currently produce fair-trade clothing, accessories, coffee, and other products, but Nicole Krajewski didn”t know any that focused on clothing for special events. With her background in fashion design and a friend who owns a bridal shop, Krajewski created The Daughters Project to fill a hole in the market and to rescue girls from forced slavery. “We connected with the Center for Global Impact here in Indianapolis, which works with small businesses that want to make a difference in social and humanitarian issues,” she says. “After our first visit to Cambodia with CGI, we realized our

April 27, 2012

Christian Standard

Angels, Demons, and the Future of the Church

The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined Steven Pinker New York: Viking Penguin, 2011 Charles Dickens: A Life Claire Tomalin New York: The Penguin Press, 2011 The Meeting of the Waters: 7 Global Currents That Will Propel the Future Church Fritz Kling Colorado Springs: David C. Cook, 2010 Every now and then a book comes along that won”t let go of you. It takes what everybody knows, shakes it up, and puts it back down head-first. That”s Steven Pinker”s The Better Angels of Our Nature. Go to any church you want and you can count on the

April 25, 2012

Christian Standard

Either, or Both, or Neither?

By Mark A. Taylor This week we have offered readers a picture of four dynamic Christian churches. Maybe you, like me, will decide you”d be pleased to be a member of any of them. Each is committed to Scripture and preaching the gospel. Each is seeking to develop new believers into mature disciples. Each is looking beyond the walls of its building and to the needs and hurts and opportunities to serve all around them. And each of the four has a different take on the current debate about whether a church should be attractional or missional. Paul Williams commented

April 23, 2012

Christian Standard

Church Hosts Special Services for “˜Transitionals”

By Jennifer Taylor   Because of its warm winters, Florida has a large population “in transition”””people without steady jobs or permanent housing. Since last summer, First Christian Church in Kissimmee has worked to connect with this group in new ways. Each Sunday afternoon, FCC holds a worship service designed especially for the transitional individuals in their community. Around 80 people attend this Community Outreach Service, which includes music led by a praise team and a sermon by preacher Jim Book or another member of the staff. The church provides coffee and refreshments for 30 minutes before each service and treats

April 19, 2012

Christian Standard

The Unwanted Gift

By Eddie Lowen Am I a bad father? On Christmas morning, I felt like one. My son decided his gift to me would be more than the usual gift card. He settled on a name-brand protective case for my name-brand smart phone. He was pleased with his thoughtfulness and generosity. I was pleased with the selflessness and gratitude he displayed. There”s just one problem: I don”t want it. More precisely, I don”t want to use it. Why? First, it”s designed to clip to my belt. Social science has irrefutably shown that a belt-clipped phone case increases a person”s dork factor

April 18, 2012

Christian Standard

Sacrifice and Balance in a Life of Ministry

By Mark A. Taylor Several readers wrote to thank us for our January 22 issue on preacher”s kids. Their e-mails made me realize we had touched a nerve. With preacher”s kids, as well as with preachers themselves, we live in constant tension: We want them to be everyday folks while we silently feel that, somehow really, they”re different. I thought about this again when I read an intriguing column in the February 8 Wall Street Journal by Richard Cipolla, a married Catholic priest. If you”re like me, you didn”t realize there is such a person, but Cipolla was ordained in

April 16, 2012

Christian Standard

Trends, Turns, and Trailblazing

By Brian Mavis CHRISTIAN STANDARD asked me to write a column about “what”s next,” and I said, “OK.” When will I learn? I”m not a futurologist. I don”t know anything about horoscopes. I brewed my tea leaves, and my Magic 8 Ball is stuck on “Reply hazy, try again.” When I look into the future, the only thing I see are people confronting me with, “Hey Mavis! Where are those flying cars with onboard waffle makers you said we would have by now?” Let me clarify the purpose of this column. It”s not about predictions or prophecies; it”s about looking

April 12, 2012

Christian Standard

Orchard Group Teaming Up to Plant Church in Ireland

By Jennifer Taylor Limerick, Ireland, currently has just a handful of Evangelical churches, but this fall the Orchard Group will help an Irish church planter start one more. Dermot O”Mahony, a native of Limerick, moved to the United States after college to work with a growing church, gain ministry experience, and extend his education. He and his wife, Marie, settled in Arizona, where Dermot served as an intern, and then an outreach minister, with Christ”s Church of the Valley in Peoria, and took classes at Hope International University (Fullerton, CA). When CCV decided to help the O”Mahonys start a church

April 7, 2012

Christian Standard

My Wish for the Irregulars

By Mark A. Taylor   Regular churchgoers sometimes resent the come-on-Easter crowd, suspecting shallow motives among those who don”t make it to worship more often. But this Easter, as I think about seeing folks I don”t know or haven”t seen at church in months, I”m more inclined to feel sad than mad. Think of all they”re missing by not joining us week after week! We need each other, and how do people find support and encouragement and friendship without the church to lean on? Earlier this year, The Wall Street Journal featured one man”s answer to that question. Alain de

April 6, 2012

Michael C. Mack

Breaking the Ice

By Michael C. Mack Every good small group leader knows a great first meeting starts with some introductions, usually using a fun icebreaker. One of my favorites is called “two truths and a lie.” See if you can identify which of these are factual and which is fictional: (1) I graduated with a degree in finance from the University of Cincinnati where I was a cheerleader. (2) I graduated from Cincinnati Christian University with an MA in church growth, and edited the school newspaper, The Purple & Gold. (3) I founded a ministry called SmallGroups.com and wrote a column called

April 5, 2012

Christian Standard

Virginia Churches, Others Partner to “˜Change Who Waits”

By Jennifer Taylor  Thousands of children around the country need to be adopted, and this spring”s “Change Who Waits” initiative, coordinated by churches and organizations in Virginia, is working to make adults the ones who wait. “Our goal is to recruit so many families that are willing to foster and adopt children that there are no more (kids) waiting””there are actually families waiting for children!” says the CWW website. Dozens of churches””including Area 10 Faith Community, New Venture Christian Church, and Velocity Christian Church (all in Richmond); Fairmount Christian Church (Mechanicsville); Chester Christian Church (Chester); Forefront Christian Church and Avalon

April 2, 2012

Christian Standard

Unexpectedly Sweet

By Mark A. Taylor A few weeks ago I reported on Christian Standard”s annual contributing editors retreat, January 11-13. But I didn”t describe a bittersweet part of our time together. One of our members had just learned about a tragic, sudden death in his church. The auto accident had happened on the other side of the country in the afternoon as we were gathering for our meeting. Our friend skipped dinner to handle phone calls and make plans to return home the next morning. Then he came to our opening session. Once our group had assembled, we asked him to

March 30, 2012

Christian Standard

Delivering the Message

By Gary L. Johnson The United States Postal Service is struggling””and so is the church. Can we see any similarities in their problems? The United States Postal Service is losing billions of dollars and faces possible bankruptcy. Losses for the last two years alone exceed $13 billion. To survive, the USPS will lay off postal workers, close post offices, and increase postal rates. Next-day delivery will become a thing of the past, and it may take as long as nine days for your favorite magazine to be delivered. Without a doubt, the USPS has been one of our nation”s most

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