Series: Columns

June 3, 2011

Christian Standard

Questions After a Dinner

By Mark A. Taylor Why attend a retirement dinner? To honor the retiree, of course. He (or she) is the focus when speakers describe accomplishments, tell a few funny stories to show his human side, and present a gift from admirers who have gathered to congratulate him. All that happened at the last retirement dinner I attended. But since then I”ve decided the greatest benefit of a retirement dinner may not come to the person or couple retiring, but to everyone else at the party. We hear the accolades and wonder, What will people say about me when I get

May 27, 2011

Christian Standard

Common Ground Site for Uncommon Garden

By Jennifer Taylor A few weeks ago, Common Ground Christian Church (Tampa, FL) broke ground on its new community garden. Urban Farming and Kraft Foods” Triscuit brand are sponsoring the garden, providing all the soil, plants, tools, and other supplies; the organizations are collaborating to plant 65 of these gardens around the country this year. The groups kicked off the groundbreaking with a press release and live simulcast of the event, including connections to Triscuit”s headquarters in New York and a new garden in Los Angeles. Common Ground”s “Green Team” of volunteers will care for the garden, and the church

May 25, 2011

Christian Standard

Responding to Joplin Tornado Disaster

News this week focuses on the many churches, parachurch ministries, and families affected by the tornado that struck Joplin, MO, on Sunday. Victor Knowles, president of Joplin-based Peace on Earth Ministries, shares the good news that all 37 Christian church/church of Christ parachurch organizations in Joplin came through the storm without significant damage to their buildings. However, a number of staff from these ministries did lose their homes. And one of the many people killed in the storms was Natalia Puebla, a freshman at Ozark Christian College from Carthage, MO. Doug Welch, a professor at OCC, shared yesterday, “I still had a stack

May 25, 2011

Christian Standard

Well Gifted

By Mark A. Taylor “What do you want for your birthday?” Believe it or not, I always have trouble answering the question. It”s not that material things don”t turn my head. But, with all my physical needs met and so many of my wants provided, nothing”s pressing for a place on my wish list. Just bake me a chocolate cake and shower me with funny cards””that”s enough to make my birthday happy. I guess I”m at that stage of life where smaller gifts””the kind usually given at birthdays””aren”t really necessary. I have more socks and shirts than I can wear

May 19, 2011

Christian Standard

If You Want to Know God, Immerse Yourself in the Psalms

By Barry McCarty Like most Christians, I have always loved the book of Psalms. It was the first hymnbook of the early Christians and the hymnbook and prayer book of the Jews. Jesus died with the words of the Psalms on his lips. After his resurrection, he told his disciples: “Everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled” (Luke 24:44, New Revised Standard Version, author”s emphasis). No other book of the Old Testament is so often quoted in the New. It is a storehouse of messianic prophecies that the first Christian

May 19, 2011

Christian Standard

God Loves an Honest Question

By Brandon Smith Everything changed on March 20, 1998. I was a sophomore in college and had just arrived home for the weekend when my parents, red-eyed and somber, broke the news that would forever change my life. “Carrie is dead. She was killed in a car accident this afternoon.” Carrie and I had been dating since high school. In “normal time,” that was only three years. But in “high school and college relationship” time, it was an eternity. We had a healthy relationship, even surviving the long distance between us while she finished high school and I started college.

May 11, 2011

Christian Standard

Reading the Book Rarely Opened

By Diane Stortz I remember sitting in first-grade reading circle when the letters in the large book in front of me suddenly formed words. Sit, Spot. Run, Jane. Run, Dick. I could read! From then on I read nearly nonstop. Cereal boxes on the breakfast table. My Brownie and Girl Scout handbooks. Stacks and stacks of library books. “Dear Abby” in the newspaper. College texts. Magazines. Self-help tomes. But one book I rarely opened. And when I did, it mystified me. The Bible. In high school I bought myself a New Testament. For college graduation I asked for and received

May 6, 2011

Christian Standard

Johnson Bible College Changing Name to Johnson University

Last week, Johnson Bible College also announced a new name; the school will become Johnson University. “Committing ourselves to be a Great Commission school means that we explore as many ways as possible to prepare persons for Great Commission work,” says the school”s Web site. “It also means that we must try to eliminate any barriers to that purpose. . . . This new name enables us to provide alumni greater access to “˜closed” and “˜limited access” countries, thus to most of the unreached/unevangelized world; recruit more students for Great Commission vocations by more accurately communicating our academic quality; facilitate

May 6, 2011

Christian Standard

Emmanuel’s Name to Change June 1

Emmanuel School of Religion will exist for just a few more weeks””on June 1 it will become Emmanuel Christian Seminary. President Michael Sweeney writes that the ESR name no longer communicates effectively with today”s society. “Fifty years ago, a “˜school of religion” was essentially the same as a “˜divinity school,” that is, a seminary-like institution attached to a university, with, perhaps, a somewhat broader curriculum than the average seminary,” he says. “[But] the name that worked so well in the past is now creating some confusion.” The school has completed the official documentation with the state and accrediting agencies and

May 5, 2011

Christian Standard

Operation Weatherization

By Jennifer Taylor Since February, Crossroads Christian Church (Newburgh, Indiana) has worked with Habitat for Humanity and local organizations to pilot an energy conservation project for urban housing. The “mission” included weatherizing dozens of homes to reduce energy costs for low-income families. Volunteers caulked and foamed cracks, replaced furnace filters, added attic insulation, and more. CCC coordinated serving days from February through May and provided training for all participants. www.crossroadschristian.com ________________ Jennifer Taylor, one of Christian Standard’s contributing editors, lives in Nashville, Tennessee. Read her blog at www.christianstandard.com. Do you know of a church breaking new ground or leading innovative

May 4, 2011

Christian Standard

Churches Relaunched

By Jennifer Taylor After 26 years of service, Peachtree City (Georgia) Christian Church (PTC3) was ready to expand. But instead of planting a church in a school or movie theater, the church relaunched two local congregations as thriving new campuses. Last summer, PTC3 partnered with County Line Christian Church in Brooks, Georgia, the second-oldest Christian church in the state. New signs and landscaping improved the “curb appeal” of this historic church, and campus minister Jason Pierce is excited about the renewal of energy among worshippers. In January PTC3 added East Point (Georgia) Christian Church as a third campus. Although the

May 4, 2011

Christian Standard

Shifting the Focus to Neighborhood Ministry

By Jennifer Taylor “Neighborhood Ministry has become our nerve center,” says Ashley Wooldridge, executive pastor at Christ”s Church of the Valley (Peoria, AZ). “It is the reason our church is growing.” CCV senior pastor Don Wilson created Neighborhood Ministry three years ago to more effectively accomplish the church”s mission of winning people to Christ, training them to become disciples, and sending disciples to impact the world. Each person at CCV is encouraged to join a neighborhood group””a weekly gathering of people who live in the same neighborhood or subdivision. The groups meet each week in a study based on the

May 3, 2011

Christian Standard

A Good Ride, Just Begun

By C. Robert Wetzel In 1946 David Parsley and I were baptized by Lloyd Robbins at the First Christian Church in Hugoton, Kansas. We were 12 years old at the time. Lloyd gave us our baptismal certificates and copies of the Revised Standard Version of the New Testament. At the time the translators of the RSV had completed only the New Testament. It was later when the Old Testament translation was completed that the controversy over the RSV became so intense. Some will remember “The Battle of the Versions,” as the controversy was described by one well-known author among us.

April 30, 2011

Christian Standard

Church Plant Finds Bowling Alley to Its Liking

By Jennifer Taylor Dave and Marcy Rudin didn”t even have to move to launch their new church plant. After growing up in the Chicago area and serving as a pastor with Summit View Christian Church (Hoffman Estates, Illinois) for 17 years, Rudin realized his own neighborhood””20 minutes from the Summit View Campus””also needed a Christian church. The Rudins partnered with Ignite Church Planting to plant Lifeline Christian Church this February . . . in a bowling alley. “We needed a place to meet and began looking at our community through fresh eyes,” Rudin says. “The Brunswick Zone bowling alley had

April 28, 2011

Christian Standard

Runners Raising Money for Haiti Mission

Three Marks””Mark Graham, Mark Wilkerson and Mark Mullelly“”are working together to raise money for Haiti. The three will start “at the back of the pack” at the Indianapolis Mini-Marathon on May 7 and have asked donors to pledge a penny or more for each person they pass during the race. Every cent raised will help Northwest Haiti Christian Mission (Zionsville, IN) bring medical help, clean water, and food to the people of Haiti. Learn more (and make a pledge!) at www.runmarkrun.com.

April 28, 2011

Christian Standard

Ohio Churches Celebrate Easter Together

First Christian Church (Canton, OH) and RiverTree Christian Church (Massillon, OH) celebrated Easter together this past Sunday. “FCC planted RiverTree more than forty years ago!” the churches share. “We believe we share a common mission and vision from God and want to take steps to build our partnership.” Instead of one huge gathering, each congregation held its own worship services; Scott Rosen and Greg Nettle, senior pastors of the two churches, drove back and forth to “team preach” at each one. The multisite campuses of each church received the same message via video.

April 27, 2011

Christian Standard

Starting a Prayer Revolution

By Mark A. Taylor One of the most encouraging aspects of Restoration Revolution is the way it is motivating some churches to pray. You”ll remember that Restoration Revolution is a 10-year emphasis challenging Christian churches to share Jesus worldwide via four main strategies: prayer (“Almighty”), launching church-planting strategies (“Churches”), creating and distributing needed resources (“Tools”), and recruiting more workers (“Servants”). Dave and Kim Butts of Harvest Prayer Ministries International are spearheading “Light the Fire,” an emphasis challenging churches to spend every hour of a whole week in prayer as a part of this emphasis. “Churches, campuses, and missions organizations are

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