Series: Columns

March 9, 2011

Christian Standard

Jackson Appointed to Lead William Jessup University

This week, William Jessup University (Rocklin, CA) announced the appointment of John Jackson as the school”s sixth president. Jackson is currently executive director of Thriving Churches International and executive pastor at Bayside Church in Granite Bay, CA. He holds a PhD in educational administration and organizational studies from the University of California at Santa Barbara and is author of several books on leadership, communication, and church ministry. Click here to learn more and watch a short video greeting from Jackson.

March 3, 2011

Christian Standard

Magazine Recommends “˜Eats with Sinners”

Eats with Sinners: Reaching Hungry People Like Jesus Did by CHRISTIAN STANDARD blogger and contributing editor Arron Chambers was named one of Outreach magazine”s recommended resources of the year in its new issue out this week. “Chambers offers a pragmatic and concrete approach to evangelism hospitality,” the magazine writes. “Excellent for use in local churches and groups.” Eats with Sinners is published by Standard Publishing. To learn more about the book and to order it, click here.

March 3, 2011

Christian Standard

Songs Written Especially for Messages

Harpeth Community Church (Franklin, TN) finished its Harpeth Songs Project last Sunday. Each week during February one of the songwriters at HCC (a church just a few miles from downtown Nashville) shared an original song that tied in thematically with the day”s message. “This was an intentional effort to make space for our musicians who write and sing for a living, but aren”t part of our worship teams,” said creative director Kyle Baker.

March 3, 2011

Christian Standard

Church Raises Funds to Send BibleSticks to Soldiers

This past Sunday, Granby (MO) Christian Church finished its fund-raising campaign to send “BibleSticks,” small digital audio players preloaded with a recording of the New Testament, to U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan. For $25 church members could send a BibleStick overseas, plus response cards for the servicemen and women to request Bibles for family members. The church worked with Faith Comes By Hearing (Albuquerque, NM). “Chaplains from every branch of the military have been flooding FCBH with requests . . . more than 400 chaplains themselves [are] using BibleSticks in pre-deployment briefings, counseling sessions, Bible studies, weekly chapels and other spiritual

February 28, 2011

Christian Standard

Learning to Trust

By Clark Tanner Do you have a life verse? Almost 30 years ago I was challenged to find one. I can remember the location perfectly. My wife and I had been invited by several people from our church to attend a weeklong gathering at the Navigator”s Conference Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. During one of the morning sessions, a speaker challenged us about having a life verse from the Bible. Then, in our small group discussion, people kept talking about their life verses and how meaningful they were. I remember thinking, I just need to know the Bible””why a life

February 26, 2011

Christian Standard

Identifying, Apologizing for 95 Church Mistakes

By Jennifer Taylor On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther launched the Protestant Reformation with his 95 Theses. Last October 31, Highland Christian Church shared its own radical message with the community of Asheville, North Carolina. “Much of the next generation walked away from church and has never returned,” says Sherri McCready, creative arts director. “Today less than half of 1 percent of people ages 18 to 25 in this country understand the Bible. We have failed to present the gospel in a way that connects with our culture.” Inspired by 2 Chronicles 7:14,  McCready and the HCC team began considering

February 23, 2011

Christian Standard

KCU Adds Biology Pre-Professional Degree Program

This week, Kentucky Christian University announced a new Biology Pre-Professional degree program beginning in August. The program will prepare students for further study and careers in medicine, pharmacy, dentistry and veterinary medicine. Like all other KCU degrees, students will double-major in Biblical Studies, equipping students to not only succeed in highly competitive career fields but to do so grounded in a strong faith. Find out more at www.kcu.edu.

February 23, 2011

Christian Standard

A Troubled Continent, a New Dream

By LeRoy Lawson The Fate of Africa: A History of Fifty Years of Independence Martin Meredith New York: Public Affairs, 2005 Africa: Altered States, Ordinary Miracles Richard Dowden New York: Public Affairs, 2009 Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream David Platt Colorado Springs: WaterBrook Multnomah, 2010 Returning through Amsterdam”s Schipohl Airport from Kenya last year, I picked up a couple of books on Africa that, once I started reading, I couldn”t stop. Not that I enjoyed them. I didn”t. But I had just been to Africa and am fascinated by the people and countries I”ve visited. What these

February 22, 2011

Christian Standard

We Have Met the Enemy

By Mark A. Taylor Jim Tune says in “Stake” that the NACC is better, but less necessary, than ever. His rationale resonates with that of Gary Weedman who contributed one of several “viewpoints” on the NACC for our September 21, 2008, issue. The NACC was created in 1927 as a reaction to what was seen as encroachment of liberal theology and of “open membership” practiced by missionaries. . . . The majority of the leaders of the International Convention . . . were seen to be supportive, or at least tolerant, of the theological liberalism and practice of open membership.

February 22, 2011

Christian Standard

Romanced by His Words

By Janet McMahon I have had an ongoing love affair that started when I was in fourth grade, and it was not one you would expect from a 10-year-old girl. I didn”t have a crush on a TV or music star. I wasn”t infatuated with the high school boys in the church youth group. Nope, I fell in love with words, sentences, paragraphs, and books. I fell in love with reading. I loved reading so much that when my mother announced we were going to the library, I would jump up and down and flap my hands like a bird”s

February 17, 2011

Christian Standard

“˜Inside Out & Upside Down” VBS Ranked No. 1

Standard Publishing”s 2011 Vacation Bible School curriculum, “Inside Out & Upside Down on Main Street,” was ranked this year’s No. 1 VBS by About the Children’s Department, a popular blog with authoritative reviews of children”s curriculum based on standardized criteria. “Standard Publishing is known for providing quality VBS resources that teach God’s Word in every station and activity; this year they have done a tremendous job!” said the blog”s editor, Lynda Freeman. Standard Publishing is the original publisher of Vacation Bible School and has served Christian churches in America for 145 years. Every summer, more than 1.3 million kids and volunteers are touched

February 11, 2011

Christian Standard

Dupray Named President of CDF

On Feb. 4, Brad Dupray was named the new president of Church Development Fund (Irvine, CA). Brad has served CDF for nearly 22 years, with roles including senior vice president of ministry development, chief operating officer, and national marketing director. Brad holds a bachelor”s degree from Pacific Christian College (now Hope International University) and an MBA from National University. He is also an ordained minister and the writer of the monthly “CHRISTIAN STANDARD Interview.” You can read Brad”s blog about his new role with CDF.

February 10, 2011

Christian Standard

He”s Taken Up Residence

By Dave Butts I”ll never forget that Thursday night in April 1983. I had been struggling for months to understand what it meant to be filled with the Holy Spirit. That night at a conference in Nashville, Tennessee, I heard Argentinean evangelist Juan Carlos Ortiz speak these simple words, “To be filled with the Spirit is to be continually conscious of Christ in you.” From that point on, I had a life verse that has shaped my life and ministry: “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). Before that time, I certainly had understood biblically, theologically, and intellectually

February 10, 2011

Christian Standard

Story of Abuse, Rescue Featured on “˜Oprah”

On Tuesday, Oprah Winfrey devoted her show to the story of Kathie and Kellie Henderson, sisters who were molested and abused by their father and brothers for years””and the family from Countryside Christian Church (Wichita, KS) who rescued them. Jim Vasey, an elder at Countryside and a member of the board of trustees at Ozark Christian College (Joplin, MO), and his wife, Shelly, lived in the same neighborhood as the girls but never suspected the abuse. When the sisters finally confided in them, the Vaseys contacted the police and walked with the girls through the difficult days that followed. Shelly

February 10, 2011

Christian Standard

Atlanta Christian College Becoming Point University

Atlanta (GA) Christian College will soon have a new name and a new location! This week ACC announced the 2012 relocation of its main campus from East Point, GA (outside of Atlanta), to the town of West Point, GA (near the Georgia-Alabama line). The school will become Point University beginning July 1, 2011. “Just as God frequently called the Old Testament heroes to new and exciting lands, he often accompanied that life transition with a symbolic changing of name,” the school writes. “Not only does “˜Point University” reflect where the school has come from and where it is going, but

February 9, 2011

Christian Standard

For Valentine”s Day . . . a Command

By Mark A. Taylor As churches everywhere capitalize on Valentine”s Day, all of us can ponder a biblical mandate more serious than hearts and flowers. Sweetheart dinners, couples retreats, and sermons about love are all great, as long as they move us beyond the frivolous expressions typical of our culture”s shallow take on deep issues. When it comes to marriage, God has spoken. His command comes three times in Paul”s epistles, twice within a few phrases of each other. “Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,” Paul tells the Ephesians. “Husbands

February 8, 2011

Christian Standard

Jail Call

By Jennifer Taylor You know about multisites. You may even be familiar with online campuses. But how about church planting in a jail? “As a leadership team, we felt a burden to serve the forgotten people in our prison system,” says Kurt Ervin, church expansion leader at Central Christian Church (Henderson, Nevada). “But we didn”t want to start another prison ministry. Instead, we wanted to launch a church in a prison.” Central first created a separate nonprofit organization””God Behind Bars””and met with the chaplain of a local women”s prison. “We realized we could use the “˜video venue” strategy and the

February 8, 2011

Christian Standard

Free for All

By Jennifer Taylor Each year, thousands of people in the Peoria, Arizona, area experience the death of a family member””but only 13 percent attend any kind of church. Christ”s Church of the Valley extends the love of Christ by providing funerals for these unchurched people””at no cost to grieving families. CCV senior pastor Don Wilson began the program and lead neighborhood pastor Bob Fesmire leads it. “For many people, a death is their first experience with church, and it can involve a lot of expenses,” Fesmire says. “We have space dedicated to the services and provide the pastor, the music,

February 3, 2011

Christian Standard

Nevada Youth Raise Funds for Residents of Nairobi Slums

The youth group at Summit Christian Church (Sparks, NV) has raised more than $50,000 to help the residents of slums in Nairobi, Kenya. The youth group, called 1-Life, partnered with Christian Missionary Fellowship (Indianapolis, IN) to assist with health care, microfinance, and more. Last week the mayor of Sparks publicly recognized the youth for their work; student ministry pastor Bryan Smith accepted the commendation on behalf of the group. Read more here!

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