Series: Featured

Christian Living

Savoring the Conversations

By Jan Johnson People talk about having a “personal relationship” with Jesus. In fact, if you use the word religion, some will correct you and say that they have a “relationship, not religion.” And relationship is the right word because God is not an impersonal hovering mist or cosmic cloud, but a relational being who created us and desperately wants to be with us and interact with us. How does relationship work? The nature of a relationship””if it”s a good one””is typically conversational. Beings in relationship talk together, work alongside each other, and develop the “same mind” about things. That”s

October 13, 2011

Christian Living

Treasures in Jars of Clay

By Debra Ingram Haagen The first time we visited Broad Creek Christian Church in New Bern, North Carolina, a teenage boy walked up onto the stage during the praise songs. He seemed to be lost in the music, oblivious to the audience. I expected someone to come across the stage and rush him quietly out of the room, but that did not happen. As the teenager walked over to a singer and touched her face, she smiled at him and took his hand. He continued to walk around the stage, looking at the different instruments, trying to figure out how

October 11, 2011

Mission & Evangelism

Rescuing Children at Risk

By Karen Wingate Infomercials, child sponsorship programs, and stirring stories of missionaries like AmyÂ Carmichael and Gladys Aylward give the impression that needy children mostly exist in thirdÂ world countries. But this is not so. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the United States foster care system serves more than 740,000 children. Beyond that, more than 3 million children in the United States can be labeled as “children of trauma.” Children without hope line our own city streets and fill our forgotten alleys. Thankfully, Christian church ministries are dedicated to offering the transformational power of Jesus Christ to

October 7, 2011

Getting the Job Done

By Mark A. Taylor On the day after Steve Jobs died, his name was at the head of every newscast, the subject line on scores of e-newsletters and blogs, the stuff of conversation among his fans around the world. “I think I”m the only one who has NOT posted something about Steve Jobs today,” wrote a friend on his Facebook page. One of those posts linked to technology columnist Walter Mossberg”s memories at WSJ.com. “He was a genius, a giant influence on multiple industries and billions of lives,” Mossberg wrote. The coverage that day and since said nothing about Jobs”s

October 7, 2011

Old Testament Theology & Bible

Jobian Musings

By David A. Fiensy The psalmist wrote that the righteous person “meditates on his law day and night” (Psalm 1:2). A wise rabbi advised, “Turn it and turn it.”1 (That is, turn the Old Testament law over and over in your mind.) Those authors believed that God speaks to us through the Bible in new ways when we reflect on it deeply and repeatedly. SÃ¸ren Kierkegaard once retold the story of Abraham”s offering of Isaac (Genesis 22), each time with new details and from different vantage points.2 In this way, he brought insight to a troublesome biblical teaching. Each successive

October 4, 2011

Commonsense Suggestions About Elders

By Chuck Sackett “A Parable of Two Churches“ (a sidebar) is my attempt to capture the past 37 years of observations and experiences. I”ve been privileged to be the preacher in three very different congregations. And while serving as a Bible college and seminary professor, I worked in various capacities with dozens of congregations. What follows are practical suggestions for how congregations can have healthy, effective elderships. These are simply reminders of the obvious. I”ve seen them work in a variety of settings, expressed in various ways, ending with varied results. Every church I”ve seen believes it is doing church

October 4, 2011

A Parable of Two Churches

By Chuck Sackett (This is a sidebar to Sackett’s main article, “Commonsense Suggestions About Elders.”) On the Isle of Parr The king of Salmonia established a colony on the island of Parr. In consultation with the king, the colony called a recent college graduate to provide guidance, interpret the city charter, and lead the community in growth. The young leader was enthusiastically received by the people of the island. People embraced the planner”s lofty visions and exciting goals. A dozen new families relocated to Parr. The colony was becoming a thriving community. That”s when the city council had its first

October 3, 2011

Fellow Elder

By Steve Reeves My wife and I spent Cinco de Mayo in a Midwestern city watching a wide variety of Americans dancing and celebrating. The event commemorates the Mexican army”s defeat of the French on May 5, 1862. I noticed that, generally, it took two to tango, but there were a few who tried to do the tango by themselves. So, understanding that there are two sides to every story, and it usually takes two to tango, I want to discuss a disturbing pattern among churches of all sizes. Here”s how it works . . . A preacher goes on

October 2, 2011

Restoration Movement History

Remembering J.W. McGarvey

By Andrew Paris This coming Thursday, October 6, marks the centennial anniversary of the death of John William “J.W.” McGarvey, a great Christian preacher, teacher, author, educator, and Scripture scholar who deserves to be remembered. McGarvey was a man of only one book””the Bible. He was firmly convinced it was the inerrant Word of God, and so he devoted his life to loving it, teaching it, defending it, and living it. In his day, McGarvey held the respect of all groups emerging from the Restoration Movement, and was recognized as the movement”s greatest scholar and writer. He has been a

September 29, 2011

Bible Bowl: Beyond the Competition

By Robert Spruill Three years from now National Bible Bowl will celebrate its 50th anniversary. Since Bible Bowl”s creation, thousands of youth have benefited from the opportunity it provides for in-depth study of the Scriptures. Each year a portion of the Bible is chosen as the text that serves as the basis for competitions at the local and national tournaments. Participants study that text for the entire Bible Bowl season, which runs from October through May, but extends into June and July for teams that compete beyond local round robin tournaments. Many players memorize all or part of the text

September 26, 2011

Protestors at the NACC: “˜Where the Action Is”

By Darrel Rowland “We’re not out here to turn people to Christ.” So said one of six sign-toting demonstrators (including two children) from Westboro Baptist Church, Topeka, Kansas, who protested outside the North American Christian Convention for about an hour July 7. A woman with an NACC name tag was asking the female protestor about Jesus’ love and whether they thought their message would turn gays and others to Christ. But the protestor said gays are “in the pit”—and, in fact, so was the NACC attender because she had cut her hair, in violation of 1 Corinthians 11. As the

September 26, 2011

NACC Crowd Reaction: “˜Spiritually Uplifting”

By Darrel Rowland James and Deborah Dixon had no plans to attend the North American Christian Convention. In fact, they hadn”t even heard of it. They traveled from their home in Indianapolis to Cincinnati just to get away for a few days after July 4th. But when they saw the people crowded around the convention center, they decided to check it out. “It was very spiritually uplifting,” James Dixon said. The couple attends New Life Worship Center in Indianapolis. It wasn”t just the newbies giving two thumbs up to this year”s NACC. “I thought it was fantastic,” said Rich Bowie

September 26, 2011

NACC Diversity: “˜A Giant Leap Forward”

By Darrel Rowland Dudley Rutherford admits it”s his biggest fear: That the recent increasing diversity of the NACC will fade away. “We took a giant leap forward. We cannot afford to take a small step backward. We need to keep pressing the issue,” said Rutherford, who has led the drive to bring more minorities as speakers and to fill other key roles on the platform. Rutherford said he already has written letters to future NACC presidents urging them to continue the convention”s blend of races and ethnicities. “Usually we put one African-American on the stage and call itÂ diversity,” he said.

September 25, 2011

What a Wonderful Convention!

By Darrel Rowland A blur of scenes from the 2011 North American ChristianÂ Convention in Cincinnati . . . “¢ A pair of preachers, leaders of churches totaling about 30,000 in weekly attendance, breaking down in tears at 1 a.m. in their hotel””then taking pizza to the homeless . . . “¢ Two women riding one step apart on the escalator cackling when they realize they had worn identical blouses that day . . . “¢ Noisy protestors””including one toting a sign saying “Your Pastor Is a Liar”””occupying all four corners of the intersection just outside the main entrance to the

September 22, 2011

Christian Living

Doing Nothing Is Doing Something

By Mandy Smith The first 35 years of my life I honored God by doing. My plan for the next 35 years is also to honor him by not doing. Exodus 34:21 helped bring me to this turning point. It says: “Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during the plowing season and harvest you must rest.” Around my 35th year I found I had worked myself out and had nothing more to give. My plan to single-handedly save the world was failing miserably since I could barely manage the grocery shopping. So

September 15, 2011

Bible Study Theology & Bible

Taking the First Bite Out of Biblical Illiteracy

By Jim Eichenberger An old joke asks, “How do you eat an elephant?” The response, of course, is “One bite at a time.” The church of the early 21st century seems to agree that biblical illiteracy is the elephant on our plate. Anecdotes abound of believers who confuse Abraham of Ur with Abraham Lincoln and who can name all four Beatles but not all four Gospels. How can we call others to the message given to us by God if many of our own brothers and sisters in the faith do not have a good working knowledge of our treasured

September 14, 2011

Apologetics & Worldview

Teaching Islam and Learning to Love My Neighbor

By Craig Farmer Like most Americans old enough to remember, I have a clear memory of what I was doing on the morning of September 11, 2001. I was standing in the front of Hyder Auditorium administering a humanities exam to some 200 Milligan College sophomores when an ashen-faced colleague entered from the side door and whispered into my ear that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. Little did I know this event would eventually reshape the kind of work I would do as a professor at Milligan. In the months and years that followed 9/11, students

September 14, 2011

Apologetics & Worldview

Learn More About Islam

By Craig Farmer John L. Esposito, Islam: The Straight Path (New York: Oxford University Press, 2010). John Esposito, director of the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University, produced this magisterial survey of the history, theology, and politics of Islam. Now in its fourth edition, the book provides a primarily historical review of the development of Islam, including an analysis of its contemporary resurgence. Michael Anthony Sells, Approaching the Qur”an: The Early Revelations (Ashland: White Cloud Press, 1999). Michael Sells, professor of Islamic history at the University of Chicago, produced an introduction and translation of the Koran (also written

September 13, 2011