Series: Columns

September 1, 2023

Tom Ellsworth

Anchored by Hope

Anchored by Hope

By Tom Ellsworth   The candles on my birthday cakes in recent years have been reduced to a symbolic number (so as not to set off smoke alarms), but my grandkids still urge me to make a wish and blow them out. I comply. When I was their age, I remember hoping my wish would come true, but there was always considerable doubt in that hope.   We regularly misuse the word hope in our casual conversations. “I hope it doesn’t rain today.” “I hope we get to take that vacation we’ve always dreamed about.” “I hope the MRI results bring good

September 1, 2023

Chris Philbeck

What Does the Bible Say About Everything?

What Does the Bible Say About Everything?

By Chris Philbeck   As I write this column, I’m in the middle of a message series called, “Truth Over Trend” (series title not original to me). The specific topics are gender identity, same-sex relationships, deconstruction of the Christian faith, and having the courage to speak up for biblical truth. You’d have to have your head buried in the sand not to realize the seriousness of these issues in our world and culture, and the impact they have on our local communities and families.   Writing the first two messages on gender identity and same-sex relationships reminded me of an important truth

September 1, 2023

Tyler McKenzie

Why Progressives and Conservatives Hope in the Same Thing

Why Progressives and Conservatives Hope in the Same Thing

By Tyler McKenzie   Neither the hopes of ideological progressives nor those of conservatives are biblical because both locate their hope in the same place . . . humanity. While God has imbued humanity with awesome dignity and seemingly endless potential, grounding our ultimate hope in ourselves will always disappoint.   Progressives’ Hope  Progressives ground their hope in the advancement of human reason and ingenuity. The 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries have seen Western cultures driven by this vision that human progress in areas like technology, science, medicine, economics, and politics will bring us closer and closer to utopia. Every generation will

September 1, 2023

Laura McKillip Wood

The Esther Project Shop Gives Hope to Artisans

The Esther Project Shop Gives Hope to Artisans

By Laura McKillip Wood  Stacy Hollingsworth grew up in the mountains of East Tennessee and lived in Senegal for several years as a missionary. She then returned to the United States and worked as a forensic psychologist on violent crimes. Doing that work with the state, she saw firsthand how hard life can be for people with traumatic backgrounds.   As an adoptive parent of six children, she is invested in improving the lives of children in her South Carolina community. However, her vision for helping impoverished people who have experienced trauma expanded when she visited Kenya for the first time

September 1, 2023

Osharye Hagood

'We're Talking About (Marriage) Practice'

‘We’re Talking About (Marriage) Practice’

By Osharye Hagood  Practice is a key principle to having a “winning” marriage. Back when we were learning to drive a car, or playing on a sports team, or perhaps learning to dance, we underwent the repetition of practice. This perspective has been extremely helpful for me in my marriage to Rudy. I wake up each day with the desire to have a great marriage, and I understand this can only happen over time, with practice, by the power of God. Please hear me when I say, the gift of love does not equate to a world-championship marriage. It takes practice.  

September 1, 2023

Megan Rawlings

There Is Hope, and His Name Is Jesus

There Is Hope, and His Name Is Jesus

By Megan Rawlings  The news makes me anxious. Stories that make it seem the world is ending far outnumber positive articles and reports. Wars, division, disaster—it’s too much to process on a daily basis. And social media only adds to my unease. To deal with this, I changed my phone setting to limit my social media intake to 30 minutes a day. Any longer than that and I find I am crippled by comparison, more bad news, and disappointment. I started to wonder why the news and media (social media included) seem mostly to bend toward evil. It turns out,

July 1, 2023

Rudy Hagood

Rudy Hagood

No Perfect Parents . . . Just Real Ones

By Rudy Hagood  We all know that parenting our kids is hard. Yet, I think we forget that when we were kids, we were just as hard on our parents!   I want to speak with you parent-to-parent. Osharye and I are not perfect parents, and our kids are not perfect, and as much as it pains me to say it in print, our grandkids—even though they are perfect to us—are not perfect either. (Ouch, that last admission hurt!) So, let us find comfort in our perfect heavenly Father, who heals and covers our many imperfections! Paul wrote, “For this reason

July 1, 2023

Kent E. Fillinger

Kent Fillinger

Faith Factors

By Kent E. Fillinger  The number of unaffiliated, nondenominational Christian churches in the United States grew by almost 5,000 congregations and nearly 9 million people from 2010 to 2020, thus making it America’s largest Protestant “denomination,” according to the U.S. Religion Census. In 2010, unaffiliated, nondenominational Christian churches had an estimated 12,241,329 adherents in 35,496 congregations, which represented 4 percent of the overall population. By 2020, the number of people worshipping in those churches grew to 21,095,641, and their share of America’s religious population increased to 13.1 percent, representing 6.4 percent of the nation’s population.  How Many Churches Do We

July 1, 2023

Laura McKillip Wood

Laura McKillip Wood

‘If Then Move’ Promotes Healing and Growth in Women

By Laura McKillip Wood  Wendy Fitzgerald has a passion for serving God and for helping others see how God works in their lives.   As a young woman involved in her church, she looked at the women around her and saw many who wanted to serve God with their talents but did not know how to start. Many of the women felt limited in their churches and did not know how to use their gifts in that setting. Some felt overwhelmed with childcare and family, while others felt isolated because they did not have husbands and families. Wendy began to pray

July 1, 2023

Jerry Harris

Jerry Harris

It’s Not About How Much Faith You Have

By Jerry Harris When I came to The Crossing in Quincy, Illinois, 25 years ago, I fashioned a mission statement of helping people find “an intimate personal relationship with Jesus Christ.” The thought that a real relationship with Jesus was even possible was a game changer for many in our church and community, and it shaped our impact on the world around us. If I understand that the “what” of my faith is defined in my relationship to Jesus, and if a relationship is what I want, then the next logical step is the “how.”  I think the “how” of

July 1, 2023

Megan Rawlings

Megan Rawlings

Death by Faith

By Megan Rawlings  It was frigid. The winter break had seemed to last forever. I had just arrived back at the Bible college campus in the rolling hills of Kentucky. My appetite for knowledge was growing. My classes that semester were mainly general education, but the Bible classes I took over those few months truly deepened my devotion to Jesus and his Word.  I entered one particular class and sat midway back, where I would appear neither as eager as the people in front of me nor as uninterested as those behind me.   The professor entered the room and asked,

July 1, 2023

Tyler McKenzie

Tyler McKenzie

Spiritual Formation 101: Three Guidelines for Meeting Our Moment

By Tyler McKenzie  Spiritual formation has become a buzz phrase. It sounds sophisticated, all the influencers use it, and it’s a way to signal my friends that I am one of those neo-monastic types who reads poetry and welcomes strangers into my home. But what does it actually mean, and why does it matter? I believe this is an important discussion in our cultural environment. A spiritual formation mindset can help us reframe the discipleship conversations we are having in our churches to meet our moment. When I’m asked to talk about spiritual formation, I boil it down to three

July 1, 2023

Christian Standard

Jeff Faull

Simple Faithfulness

By Jeff Faull   What makes a good leader? Shouldn’t we who are followers of Jesus and leaders for Jesus want to know? A simple internet search brings up thousands of articles on leadership. Titles like “Five Qualities of a Good Leader,” “The Top Ten Characteristics of a Good Leader,” “Twenty Requirements for an Effective Leader,” and a myriad of similar options appear. Many of those articles lay out the essential components of great leadership. The suggestions are endless. Characteristics like vision, strategic thinking, emotional intelligence, problem-solving, creativity, communication skills, decisiveness, empathy, charisma, and others top the lists. All these are

July 1, 2023

Christian Standard

A Calling Wrapped in Failure

By Chris Philbeck   I recently read an article by Lewis Allen called “10 Things You Should Know About Preaching,” published at Crossway.org. One point in the article stood out to me: “Preaching is a calling wrapped in failure.”   That may seem a little shocking to someone who isn’t a preacher, but let me share a couple things to think about. First, here’s the reality: We are imperfect beings trying to speak for a perfect God. On our best day, we’re going to fall short.   I have sometimes said, “There are things in the Bible I believe and experience, and there

May 1, 2023

Jerry Harris

The Need for Unity

By Jerry Harris  Unity is central to the biblical message. Something special rises up when people from different circles get to know each other by learning, sharing, playing, and worshiping together. Sociologists call it “emergence.” It’s when a group becomes more than the sum of its parts. The Holy Spirit works in that unity, that oneness.   We are called to be one. The church is the hope of the world, and we can do far more together than we can apart. God has repeatedly shown us how unity can empower us to accomplish things that seemingly are impossible for individuals.

May 1, 2023

Michael C. Mack

Humility, Unity . . . Revival

By Michael C. Mack  “Jesus loves this. He loves humility. He loves unity.”  A leader at Asbury University spoke these words amid what some have called revival.   I visited Asbury in February and witnessed what I would call a gentle moving of God’s Spirit among people both young and old—but led by the young (Gen Z). Several things were noticeably missing at the college, however. Not once did I hear anyone refer to the denomination or tribe they belonged to or the name of the preacher at their church. I heard no arguments about worship style, Bible versions, or any

May 1, 2023

Christian Standard

5 Sources for Illustrations to Enhance Your Sermons

By Chris Philbeck  In the 1990s, while serving a church in Oklahoma, I took all my elders to the Leadership Conference at Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky. During the opening session, our church was awarded a yearlong subscription to SECC’s weekly tape ministry for being the church that came the farthest with their entire board of elders. So, over the next year, I had the opportunity to listen to weekend messages delivered by Bob Russell and Dave Stone.   I still remember many of those messages, including one from Dave about the urgency of reaching lost people. To illustrate the

May 1, 2023

Tyler McKenzie

Gradations of Unity

By Tyler McKenzie  A recent Love Thy Neighborhood podcast detailed how fake news spreads in the church. They told a story from the 2016 election as a case study. On November 5, 2016, just three days before the presidential election, the Denver Guardian ran this headline: “FBI Agent Suspected in Hillary Email Leaks Found Dead in Apparent Murder-Suicide.” The article stated that FBI agent Michael Brown and his wife were found dead in their home. The web article looked legit. It included quotes from the local police chief, comments from neighbors, and links to online sources claiming it was a

May 1, 2023

Rudy Hagood

Unity: God’s Beautiful Original Intent for Marriage

By Rudy Hagood  God desires so much more for our marriages than just staying together.   God’s original intent for marriage is found way back in Genesis—before sin came into the world, and well before “honey-do” lists and such sayings as “happy wife, happy life.”  The secret sauce of Christian marital union is the power of God binding us together in an intimate union that includes Yahweh. And when two become one, the One (God) empowers the two.    Marital unity is restoration of the paradise God created in the beginning. It’s part of the reconciling work of God. It is the

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