March 30, 2011
Indian Creek Christian Church (Indianapolis, IN) recently launched a new ministry for police officers, their spouses, and families. The Creek developed the ministry to help this group with challenges like odd work hours and bringing difficult experiences home from the job. All active and retired police officers and their families were invited to join the ministry and share support and encouragement.
March 30, 2011
This past Sunday, Churchill Meadows Christian Church (Mississauga, Ontario) celebrated the grand opening of their new building. Senior minister Jim Tune and his wife, Claudia, planted CMCC in 2001 and the church broke ground on the building in June 2008. The project””Church Development Fund“s first international loan””will provide the first permanent facility for Churchill Meadows, which has grown to be the largest independent Christian church in Canada.
March 28, 2011
By Robert Mink During my four decades of ministry, my motivation for reading the Bible has progressed through four stages. Not that these stages are distinct with no overlap, but looking in the rearview mirror and assessing my Bible reading today, I see growth. I was in Bible college and serving as a part-time youth minister when I first got serious about reading the Bible. And I got serious because I had to. Many of my classes required me to read the Bible; and teaching the Bible in my youth ministry forced me to read. As a minister, teaching and
March 25, 2011
By Jennifer Taylor Not one but TWO new campuses of Community Christian Church (Naperville, IL) launched this past weekend! Campus pastor Dave Richa and his team rehabbed the former Shale Harbor Church in Lemont, IL. “Currently, Shale Harbor has multiple small church communities around the country,” says an article about the new site. “When Shale Harbor members felt the Lemont church wasn”t realizing its redemptive potential, they sought out the partnership with Community Christian, said Dave Ferguson, lead pastor of Community Christian Church.” The launch team included people from both Shale Harbor and CCC. Community also launched a new campus
March 25, 2011
Last week, the Amity (OR) Church of Christ was recognized by Rep. Jim Weidner of the Oregon House of Representatives for “success in exemplary community involvement.” This recognition came as the result of ACC’s response to victims of a recent fire that destroyed a local apartment building, displacing several low-income residents. ACC’s outreach ministry took donations for the fire victims through “Lydia’s Closet” (ACC’s clothes closet ministry), and by setting up a fund at a local bank to help the fire victims with financial needs.
March 24, 2011
By Jennifer Taylor Before developing a new outreach ministry, DaySpring Christian Church (Fort Collins, Colorado) wisely asked community members about their biggest needs. Although the area is noted for an especially high incidence of multiple sclerosis, many people using wheelchairs said they did not have ramps to their front doors. Jim Stroh and other DaySpring volunteers have spent years changing that, one ramp at a time. The team created a consortium with Volunteers of America and local resource agencies for the disabled. Using a combination of his own skills, online information, and official specifications from the Americans with Disabilities Act,
March 23, 2011
By Jennifer Taylor Every Thursday, White River Christian Church (Noblesville, Indiana) gives away free bread””and points hundreds of people to the Bread of Life. A few years ago, the church opened a food pantry”””a storage closet, really,” says senior pastor Tim Brock””staffed by 10 volunteers. Today the “pantry” operates from a huge bowling-alley-turned-warehouse next door and feeds hundreds of people each week. “This is now one of the largest food distribution centers in central Indiana,” Brock says. “And we really value the dignity of the people who come for help, so we created a “˜grocery store” environment that allows
March 22, 2011
By Mark A. Taylor A longtime reader of CHRISTIAN STANDARD paid us a wonderful compliment earlier this year. “Thank you for giving us a magazine that makes us think,” he said. This likely would have seemed a small achievement just a generation or two ago. There was a day when many in the Christian churches and churches of Christ spent more energy defining orthodoxy than questioning tradition. But fresh winds are blowing today””new churches, growing congregations, multisites and multimedia and external focus””all of it energized by a crop of younger leaders sold out to finding new ways to evangelize. “It”s
Bill Greer has been selected to serve as the next president of Milligan College in Tennessee. Greer was appointed Milligan”s next president by the college”s board of trustees. He will assume leadership on July 15, following the retirement of current president Donald R. Jeanes. Greer, a 1985 Milligan College graduate, currently serves as the college”s vice president for institutional advancement. He will become the 15th president in the college”s 145-year history. Greer has more than 25 years of experience as an academic and business leader, fund-raiser, community volunteer, and church elder. At Milligan, he is the J. Henry Kegley professor
March 18, 2011
By Doug Lucas What did the Bible change about my life? Everything. I grew up in a small town. My first exposure to crowds was a trip to Indianapolis 500 Qualifying with my friend and his family. At midday, in the middle of a cloud-bursting rain, we became separated. I was lost in a storm. Suddenly, a Scripture verse popped into my head. It was Deuteronomy 31:6: “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” I looked up into
March 16, 2011
By Mark A. Taylor Maybe by the time you read this, the threat of major snowfall in your community will have passed. And if you live in Derry, New Hampshire, maybe your city workers have resumed digging graves. Derry town administrator Jack Anderson told reporters February 7 the Forest Hills Cemetery would probably be closed for four weeks, its frozen acres buried under too much ice and snow to make digging new graves possible. This is because the gravediggers in Derry also drive the small town”s snowplows. And, given the onslaught of this winter”s storms, there just wasn”t manpower to
By Jennifer Taylor Several Christian ministries are offering ways to support the people of Japan in the wake of last week’s earthquake and tsunami, and the resulting nuclear uncertainties and concerns. Here are a few opportunities that we are aware of: — International Disaster Emergency Service is still helping residents of Haiti and New Zealand recover from the recent earthquakes there; the ministry is also accepting donations for the many hurting and homeless people devastated by last week’s earthquake and tsunami in Japan. IDES is in contact with many of the missionaries in the country and is sending funds to
March 16, 2011
Just one more month to finish your taxes! Milligan College in Tennessee is partnering with Washington County, TN, to offer free income tax preparation for residents. The free tax clinics are hosted by Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA), an IRS-sponsored and recommended program that uses highly trained, volunteer preparers to offer free preparation and filing to qualified people. The team will consist mostly of Milligan business students under the supervision of Harold Branstrator, assistant professor of business administration at Milligan. The volunteers have completed hours of training and are ready to assist taxpayers with returns, including all forms. Returns are
By LeRoy Lawson The West in the World, Vol. 1, 3rd Edition Dennis Sherman and Joyce Salisbury Columbus: McGraw-Hill Fleming”s Arts and Ideas, 10th Edition Mary Warner Marien and William Fleming Thomson Wadsworth, 2005 Greek Tragedies, Vol. 1, 2nd Edition David Grene and Richmond Lattimore, editors Chicago: University of Chicago, 1992 The Odyssey Homer; Stanley Lombardo, translator Indianapolis: Hackett, 2000 The Aeneid Vergil; Sarah Ruden, translator New Haven: Yale University Press, 2008 Beowulf Seamus Heaney, translator New York: Norton, 2001 COURSE: Humanities 101: Ancient and Medieval Cultures PROFESSOR: Lawson REQUIRED READING: see above The Milligan College freshmen who signed up
March 12, 2011
By Pat Magness “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world” (James 1:27, King James Version). I don”t recall ever hearing a sermon on this verse. It doesn”t get read at weddings, funerals, ordinations, or baptisms. It probably isn”t on anyone”s top-10 list of best-loved Scripture passages; yet this little verse once turned my life upside down and has affected me ever since. Isn”t it strange how a verse that has always been there, quietly unobtrusive in its place, suddenly
March 12, 2011
By Jennifer Taylor Trent Renner, lead pastor at Parkway Christian Church (Surprise, Arizona), read about hundreds of Christian martyrs as part of his morning devotions in 2010. When planning for 2011, he knew these stories would inspire and challenge his church. “The accounts of persecution and the way these heroes faithfully endured it for Christ really affected me,” he says. “It changed my perspective and made me more grateful for the freedom in our country.” At the beginning of the year, Renner invited church members to share the story of one martyr in one service on one weekend. “We have
March 11, 2011
By Jennifer Taylor The ministry”s new “glocal” initiative combines global partnerships with local church planting. The project is starting in April with four new churches launching near Manta, Ecuador. Stadia is working with Compassion International, a Christian child advocacy ministry, and Camino de Santidad, a church planting movement that has already started 25 churches. “About 5,000 people live in each of the villages we”ve chosen, but there are no churches of any kind,” Stadia shares. “Several lack wells to provide drinking water; they all lack schools and health care.” Partnership with Camino and Compassion will not only create new churches
By Mark A. Taylor Several trends are notable in our annual “campus tour” this year. Our colleges have become externally focused. The reports are rich with accounts of mission trips and community service projects. Many of these schools are thrusting their students into the world for a taste of the service they will render after they graduate. Our colleges continue to strive toward excellence. Two are changing their names to reflect a redefined mission. Others describe new degree programs, several building projects, cooperative programs with other universities, and in one case, a total campus move. Although many of these colleges
March 10, 2011
By Jennifer Taylor This past weekend Bob Russell, previous senior minister at Southeast Christian Church (Louisville, KY), shared the pulpit with Dave Stone, the current senior minister. Stone invited Russell to preach with him so he could surprise and honor him midservice by sharing a letter from the bank. “Because of God”s provision and your prudent leadership,” Stone said, “and because of the overwhelming generosity of these good people at all three campuses, every inch of land and buildings on over 100 acres at the Blankenbaker campus has been paid in full.” After burning the note, Stone also shared that
This past Sunday churchgoers received some great food and a special blessing. After the worship service, the youth group at River Hill Church of Christ (Monongahela, PA) surprised the congregation with a pancake breakfast. “As we took our seats, the youth asked us to sit quietly and remember Jesus” example of service when he washed the disciples” feet,” the church shares. “Then they made their way around the room and washed our hands and prayed for each of us individually. . . . They had [also] written a personal letter to every person at the breakfast, thanking us for our
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