Series: Columns

February 2, 2012

Christian Standard

Lipscomb University Adds Benefit to Prison Program

By Jennifer Taylor Five years ago, Lipscomb University (Nashville, TN) established the Lipscomb Initiative for Education (LIFE) program to provide opportunities for their students and inmates at the Tennessee Prison for Women (TPFW) to learn and grow together. Each semester as many as 30 Lipscomb students enroll in a liberal arts course held at the prison; classes have included art history, Christian ethics, and conflict management. Both students and faculty travel to the prison for classes. The Lipscomb students work toward their bachelor”s degrees and, until recently, the inmates worked for credit hours to be applied toward a future degree

February 1, 2012

Christian Standard

The Homes Where Preachers Live

By Mark A. Taylor Most of us have heard stories or read books about preacher”s kids gone bad. We know about unwed pregnancies, unsavory addictions, and other unwise choices among young people who grew up in a parsonage. Without a doubt, the preacher”s home may face unique pressure and scrutiny. That”s why it”s appropriate for us to dedicate several posts to the problems and possibilities shared only by preacher”s kids. But I”m glad to say this week we present far more of the latter than the former. All these articles were written by preacher”s kids who are happy about their

January 28, 2012

Christian Standard

Looking Upward, Outward, and Inward

By LeRoy Lawson The Day We Found the Universe Marcia Bartusiak New York: Pantheon Books, 2009 The Next Christians: The Good News about the End of Christian America Gabe Lyons New York: Doubleday, 2010 The End of Sexual Identity: Why Sex Is Too Important to Define Who We Are Jenell Williams Paris Downers Grove: IVP Books (InterVarsity Press), 2011   Many years ago I read that naturalist William Beebe was a guest of President Theodore Roosevelt in his Sagamore Hill home. At the close of an evening, the two went out on the lawn, searched the skies, and Roosevelt said,

January 26, 2012

Christian Standard

Giving Plate Food Ministry Growing Exponentially

By Jennifer Taylor Gary and Debi Kelso, members at Real Life Christian Church (Bend, OR), created The Giving Plate in 2010. After beginning with just a few cans of tuna and a few loaves of bread (really!), the food relief and outreach ministry now provides more than 2,200 local families with a 50-pound box of food every month. Each box is prepared specifically for each family with consideration for food allergies and dislikes. “We have served the hungry and homeless for years,” say the Kelsos, who work full-time””without pay””for the organization. “We have a call in our hearts to serve

January 25, 2012

Christian Standard

Come with Us to Brazil

By Mark A. Taylor Suppose you could meet for five days with Christians from around the world in fellowship and worship. Suppose you could learn from church leaders you know and from international church leaders whose important work you”d like to know about. Suppose your experience could include exuberant Latin American worship in one of the most progressive and beautiful countries in South America. Suppose you could rub elbows with fellow believers you might not be able to meet anyplace else, all of them members of congregations that identify themselves with the worldwide Stone-Campbell fellowship. Suppose your trip allowed you

January 19, 2012

Christian Standard

Global Gospel Sets Out to Bridge Language Barriers

By Jennifer Taylor  “How can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?” (Romans 10:14). Good News Productions, International (Joplin, MO), has created a new way to reach the many people groups who have not yet heard about Christ because they do not have access to the Bible or cannot read. This fall it launched The Global Gospel, a three-disc illustrated DVD storybook and dramatic reading of the Gospels. “The Global Gospel series was created to be easily adapted for use around the world,” shares GNPI. “The project can be shared with people in nearly every tongue,

January 18, 2012

Christian Standard

Not Just Another Leadership Book

By Mark A. Taylor Late last year in this space I encouraged leaders not to dote on leadership books or lists of leadership skills and techniques. “The leader should look first to God and then deep within himself before he bothers with anyone else”s list of how-to”s,” I wrote. So here we are recommending a book about leadership, and I”m compelled to insist that I”m in no way being inconsistent. This is true because the writers in this new book, Nonprofit Leadership in a For-Profit World, seem to agree that preparation for leadership begins deep within the heart and soul

January 12, 2012

Christian Standard

Save Some Quarters, Ship Some Supplies

By Jennifer Taylor Lifeline Christian Mission (Westerville, OH) is making it easy for families, churches, youth groups, and businesses to give healthy food to people around the world. Lifeline is able to send a pound of supplies for 25 cents, so it is encouraging groups to donate quarters with its “Quarter Back Challenge.” To participate, groups order Challenge Kits filled with mini-tubes of candy, labels, ribbon, and instructions. Each group sells the candy, fills the empty tubes with quarters, and mails a check for the total to Lifeline. Fifty-six quarters””$14″”fit in a tube. Lifeline began the program as a way

January 5, 2012

Christian Standard

Dozens Baptized after Bible Seminars at Prisons

By Jennifer Taylor Joe Garman, president of ARM Prison Outreach International (Joplin, MO), writes with news of baptisms and Bible learning: In October we experienced two events that had never happened in our years of prison ministry in the U.S. First, I presented a three-day “See Through the Scriptures” seminar at a prison in Pecos, TX that holds 2,500 male prisoners. Hundreds of men attended, including one who served as my interpreter, and following the seminar 51 prisoners were baptized (including the interpreter!). This is the most baptisms we”ve ever had at the end of a program, and the chap-

January 5, 2012

Christian Standard

BASH Program Offers After-school Help

By Jennifer Taylor Berean Christian Church (Murphrysboro, IL) began its “BASH” program””Berean After-School Haven“”to provide a safe, fun environment for grade-school kids every Wednesday afternoon and evening. Volunteers pick up participating students at school and bring them back to the church for homework time, snacks, games, and dinner. Parents picking up their children are invited to stay for Wednesday night services. This fall the BASH leaders expanded the program to include middle-schoolers. “We did not want to jeopardize the success of our current efforts by making a change for the wrong reasons, but with the new volunteers and commitment from

January 3, 2012

Christian Standard

Aging, Dying, Disasters . . . and Joy

By LeRoy Lawson   Emily Alone: A Novel Stewart O”Nan New York: Penguin Group, 2011 Death with Interruptions Jose Saramago Orlando: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2008 A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities that Arise in Disaster Rebecca Solnit New York: Penguin Books, 2009   I speak fairly often for seniors” conferences. I used to speak for youth conventions. As a wag has noted, that means I”m still talking to the same people. Last year I was on the program for two such conferences in Oregon, one at the state convention grounds in the Willamette Valley, the other at Camp WiNeMa

January 2, 2012

Christian Standard

The First Step Toward Unity

By Mark A. Taylor Christian unity, like so many other grand doctrines of the Bible, is something none of us would repudiate. Just as all of us are for love, joy, peace, patience, and self-control””just as all of us would lift up the ideas of mercy, grace, or forgiveness””all of us, if asked, would agree we”re for unity. But deciding to discuss unity is something else. When I talk about unity, my notions of it are challenged. I must sit across the table from a fellow believer who disagrees with me and yet acknowledge that I want unity with him.

December 31, 2011

Christian Standard

The Word Got Ahold of Me

By Byron Davis “The Bible transforms lives! You better believe it! Don”t let the Bible get ahold of you because when you do, you”ll never be the same! “Amen! Amen “˜Pastuh.” Preach it. Preach the Word!” I was 13 when I heard these words shouted through the cheap sound system at Good Shepherd Baptist Church in East Cleveland, Ohio. That Sunday morning was cold and rainy, and I couldn”t wait for service to start because that”s when the preteens were allowed to actually sit in service with the adults. I was not as excited to hear the sermon as I

December 30, 2011

Christian Standard

Lincoln Christian to Begin Offering MA in Bioethics

By Jennifer Taylor Next month, Lincoln (IL) Christian University and Seminary will begin holding classes for its new Master of Arts degree in bioethics. The off-campus program will be taught at the Methodist Medical Center of Illinois in Peoria and will also include online components and some clinical experiences. LCU&S designed the program for three groups of students: health care professionals (physicians, nurses, paramedics, medical school students in residence, and hospital administrators); pastors, chaplains, and counselors; and others working in related fields, including pharmaceutical representatives, hospital legal counsels, and graduate theology, philosophy, or political science students. The program will “produce

December 16, 2011

Christian Standard

The Impact of God”s Word on My Heart

By Dean Trune I desperately need daily input from the Bible. Because it is “alive and active,” according to Hebrews 4:12, I can examine the same verse or passage from time to time, and the Holy Spirit will “speak” truth in applicable ways for what is happening in my life at that particular time. God”s Word is so powerful! Since I need a steady flow of God”s Word into my life, God has orchestrated four ways for me to receive its input.   I read God”s Word from cover to cover each calendar year. It is not simply a goal,

December 13, 2011

Christian Standard

A New World for Missions

By Mark A. Taylor “Missionaries are no longer Americans who come to show slides of “˜foreign” countries, but are those who bring the gospel from all over the world,” wrote Gary Holloway, executive director of World Convention, after attending the second Global Christian Forum in Manado, Indonesia October 3-7. His summary reminds us of new opportunities and strategy for missions today. Consider: South Korea sent out 22,000 missionaries to 176 countries last year. Nigeria plans to send 50,000 workers to other nations by 2015. Han Chinese plan to send out 100,000 missionaries to other countries in the next few years.

December 13, 2011

Christian Standard

Four Books About Microfinance

By LeRoy Lawson   When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty without Hurting the Poor and Yourself Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert Chicago: Moody Press, 2009 Banker to the Poor: Micro-lending and the Battle Against World Poverty Muhammad Yunus with Alan Jolis New York: Public Affairs, 2003 The Blue Sweater: Bridging the Gap between Rich and Poor in an Interconnected World Jacqueline Novogratz New York: Rodale, 2009 A Billion Bootstraps: Microcredit, Barefoot Banking, and the Business Solution for Ending Poverty Phil Smith and Eric Thurman, Forward by Muhammad Yunus New York: McGraw-Hill, 2007 First, hear the story: “Elephant and Mouse

December 10, 2011

Christian Standard

The Joy of My Heart

By Karla McElroy The Spirit brought to mind the lyrics of “You Are My All in All,” by Dennis Jernigan, this morning, specifically the line about Jesus being “the treasure that I seek.” The lyrics led me straight to Jeremiah”s thoughts about treasure. “Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts” (Jeremiah 15:16, King James Version). Though I rarely””OK, never””read the KJV anymore, this verse always comes to me in this grand old translation

December 4, 2011

Christian Standard

ACU Adds Major in Digital Entertainment Technology

By Jennifer Taylor In Abilene (TX) Christian University”s digital entertainment technology program, students practice a variety of skills while preparing for careers as animators, computer game designers, and app developers. The interdisciplinary major combines the creative with the computerized, requiring work in art, script development, and writing as well as technological comprehension. Abilene professors provide training in the full process from concept to publishing, with an optional focus on mobile game development.  “We wanted to become Christian leaders in the digital entertainment industry,” says Brian Burton, assistant professor of information technology. He says the demand for the program”s students exceeds

December 1, 2011

Christian Standard

Sowing the Seed

By Bob Russell My mother loved the Bible and was determined to pass along her passion for God”s Word to her six children. Some of my fondest memories of early childhood are of my mother prompting me to memorize Scripture so I could get a star on the chart in my Sunday school classroom. She was wise enough to know that Scriptures memorized in youth stay with us and guide us for a lifetime. The second Bible verse I memorized (which was embedded in my mind right behind John 3:16) was Psalm 119:11: “Thy word have I hid in my

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