Series: Featured

February 16, 2011

Christian Standard

Unleashed: A Preview of the 2011 North American Christian Convention

By Dudley Rutherford Can you imagine what it would have been like to witness the incredible day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit of God was unleashed upon the first-century church? With the sound of rushing winds and the appearance of tongues of fire, the church was supernaturally anointed and given great power, passion, and boldness. In that moment, the church was unleashed upon the world . . . and it turned the world upside down. I believe we Christians read about the New Testament church in the book of Acts with a sense of awe and excitement. I believe

February 16, 2011

Christian Standard

An Invitation from the NACC President

It is my earnest desire that after attending this year”s NACC, you and I””God”s church””will never be the same. If you have not been to the NACC in recent years, you may not be aware of the truly remarkable conventions we have been having. The NACC is the place to connect and network with people of the same faith. Men, women, ministers, missionaries, and educators from around the world come for a spiritually rejuvenating time of worship, fellowship, Bible studies, workshops, preaching, and teaching from some of the best Christian leaders in the country. I think it is the best

February 16, 2011

Christian Standard

Through the Week at the 2011 NACC

The 2011 North American Christian Convention takes place from July 5-8 at the Duke Energy Convention Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. Here is a basic schedule of events: TUESDAY, JULY 5 8:30 a.m.”“4:30 p.m.: Restoration Heritage Tour (includes lunch) 8:30 a.m.”“4:30 p.m.: Creation Museum Tour (includes lunch) Noon: Standard Publishing Luncheon 2:00 p.m.: UNLEASHED Web Site Seminar 3:00 p.m.: Exhibit Hall opens 7:00 p.m.: Evening Main Session with Dudley C. Rutherford 8:30 p.m.: NACC President”s Opening Night Reception (immediately following the Main Session) 8:30 p.m.: College Showcase 10:00 p.m.: Exhibit Hall closes WEDNESDAY, JULY 6 7:30 a.m.: NACC Ministry Networking Breakfast

February 15, 2011

Christian Standard

Pray Expectantly

By Sheila S. Hudson Dr. Karen Jones made her way to my ground-floor office. As she blinked back tears in her hazel eyes, she broke the news that funding from the State Department of Education hadn”t arrived. What she didn”t say was, without those funds, my job would go away. But both of us knew that was true. I was stunned. Neither of us could believe it. For seven years, Karen and I had worked hand in glove providing summer workshops for special education teachers. Now it seemed our partnership was coming to an end. Not only that, but at

February 14, 2011

Christian Standard

Breathing Space in the Spiritual Journey

By Jan Johnson I felt the pressure building as I griped at my son for breaking his lunch box. A few days before, my husband, Greg, had been laid off for the third time, and every time something broke or wore out I felt my tightly bound panic cut loose. I needed to quiet myself before I heaped more shaming, unfeeling words on my family. I felt drawn toward my bedroom, so I finished preparing lunch and slipped on to my bed””not to sleep, but to pull out an untidy spiral notebook and spread my grief before God. God, I”m

February 13, 2011

Christian Standard

Abide in My Word

By Brandon Smith A move from the big city to the small town changed him””over time. And it taught him something about how we become more like Christ. I know a big-city kid who grew up in Denver, Kansas City, Indianapolis, and Omaha. The activity and opportunity afforded by such bustling municipalities were woven into the fabric of his being. So you may understand his uneasiness at the prospect of moving to rural northwest Missouri in an answer to God”s call five years ago. But he packed his boxes and moved his family to a quaint community of 10,000. He

February 11, 2011

Christian Standard

Don”t Make Me Lay Hands on You!

By Tim Harlow “If you do this again, I will lay hands on you” (Nehemiah 13:21). Nehemiah wasn”t offering a healing service. This was not a potential ordination. Instead, read Nehemiah”s words this way, “If you do it again, I”ll be on you like a spider monkey!” Nehemiah was mad, and we know he meant it because later in the same chapter he “called curses down on them. I beat some of the men and pulled out their hair” (Nehemiah 13:25). As I wrestle with the legitimacy of Nehemiah”s “hands-on” leadership, I notice one thing that looks familiar. “I was

February 7, 2011

Christian Standard

Improvisation Is Hard Work

By Kyle Baker A jazz musician and a church leader walk into a bar. No wait, the jazz musician walks into a bar, the church leader walks into a church. The jazz musician walks into a room with a band of misfits who will improvise on standard material. The church leader walks into a room with a team of experts who will play parts they”ve honed for years. No wait, the church leader has the band of improvising misfits; it”s the jazz musician who has the team of experts. I had the good fortune to study jazz trombone with Delfeayo

February 6, 2011

Christian Standard

Pep Rally Jesus and Other Youthful Myths

By Jim Herbst Imagine the Sermon on the Mount this way. The people are seated on the mountain. They use a tent as a staging area. Ten apostles start playing drums. The apostle John comes out to the beat. He encourages the crowd on their feet and leads the chant, “We will, we will, rock you.” Next the apostle Peter comes out dancing. Mary and Martha run out from behind the tent and start doing backflips. Finally Jesus comes out and gives high-fives to the waiting crowd. The crowd, still chanting, goes wild. Peter starts the wave. And then Jesus

February 2, 2011

Christian Standard

So Long to Good-Byes

By Cal Jernigan Perhaps you heard the story of the man who was stranded alone on a deserted island for a number of years. One day a ship appeared on the horizon, noticed him, and sent some men ashore to rescue him. While helping him gather his scant belongings, the rescuers noticed three huts clustered together and asked the man about them. The man pointed to one of the huts and explained that it served as his house, and then he pointed to another and explained that it was where he went to church. The man stopped without mentioning the

February 2, 2011

Christian Standard

Must We Earn the Right to Share the Gospel?

By Robert Reese A chapel speaker at a Christian university stated emphatically, “I am realizing more and more that before I can share the gospel with unbelievers, I must earn the right.” He went on to explain how it is necessary in our society to establish credibility with another person before bringing up the gospel. Establishing credibility can range from being friendly to doing benevolent acts. The idea is that people will not be interested in a gospel presentation until they see an authentic expression of Christianity. With missionaries in parts of the world plagued by disease and malnutrition, the

February 1, 2011

Christian Standard

Getting the Most from Old Testament Stories (Part 2)

(This is the second of six articles Matt Proctor will write this year under the theme, “Reading the Bible for All It”s Worth.) By Matt Proctor When we read one of these Hebrew narratives, we want to discover the author”s intended meaning. This guards us against imposing our own meaning on the text. How do we uncover the clues to the author”s intended meaning? I love Warren Wiersbe”s observation in The Wiersbe Bible Commentary: The Complete Old Testament, “If you don”t talk to your Bible, your Bible isn”t likely to talk to you!” In other words, if you don”t ask the text

January 26, 2011

Christian Standard

Go, You (Why You Should Attend the National Missionary Convention)

By Teresa Schantz Williams I thought it would be awkward, like showing up at a wedding rehearsal when you”re not in the wedding party. Attend the National Missionary Convention? I had no credentials: I”m not a missionary or a forwarding agent, I don”t serve on a mission committee, and I”ve never been on a mission trip outside the United States. “You should come,” my sister insisted. “Going there just . . . changes you.” I didn”t ask what about me needed changing (I”m pretty sure she”d tell me). Instead, I went. On November 18, we drove from Missouri to Lexington,

January 24, 2011

Christian Standard

Why Churches Should Euthanize Small Groups

By Brian Jones A few years ago I brought in a nationally recognized pastor to do some consulting for our church. One of the things I remember most about my time with him was a side conversation we had about small groups. “I haven’t really figured out the small group thing,” I confessed to him. “Well, Brian, that’s because they don’t work. Small groups are things that trick us into believing we’re serious about making disciples. The problem is 90 percent of small groups never produce one single disciple. Ever. They help Christians make shallow friendships, for sure. They’re great

January 20, 2011

Christian Standard

A Birthday Worth Celebrating

By Victor Knowles The King James Version of the Holy Bible will be 400 years old on May 4, 2011. Happy Birthday, KJV! Like many readers of Christian Standard who are 60 and older, I was raised on the King James Version. It was the only Bible we used in church, VBS, or Christian service camps. Not that we were King James Version-only Christians. It just happened the King James Version was the only Bible used in the Midwest where I grew up in the 1950s and “60s. There were very few translations available other than the American Standard Version

January 20, 2011

Christian Standard

Every Issue from 2010 on One CD!

The 2010 CHRISTIAN STANDARD CD-ROM provides readers with a whole year of CHRISTIAN STANDARD at ready reference. This helpful tool contains every 2010 issue, conveniently indexed and searchable. Click on an article in the index, and it immediately opens a PDF of the issue in which that article appears. Click on that issue’s table of contents, and the article will pop-up on your computer screen. Use the CD-ROM for research or to find teaching and preaching illustrations. Search by topic or author name. Find articles to share with friends, church staff members, elders, deacons, and teachers. You’ll use this new

January 19, 2011

Christian Standard

Getting the Most from Old Testament Stories (Part 1)

By Matt Proctor (This is the first of six articles Matt Proctor will write this year under the theme, “Reading the Bible for All It’s Worth.) All human beings love a good story, so when God wanted to communicate the most important message in the universe to us, guess what he did? He told stories . . . and we”ve been captivated ever since. The Bible, and especially the Old Testament, is chock-full of narratives. The Old Testament is two-thirds of Scripture, and more than 40 percent of the Old Testament is narrative. In Sunday school children are still taught much-loved

January 17, 2011

Christian Standard

Revitalizing Your Children”s Ministry

By Karen Wingate “Growing, dynamic churches are rooted in a powerful philosophy that recognizes kids matter to God,” says Rick Chromey, author of Energizing Children”s Ministry in the Smaller Church. Those are discouraging words to a church that sees the population of its children”s department slipping into oblivion. Struggling churches know that without the next generation, their congregation”s future is in jeopardy. Is it possible to revitalize a dying children”s ministry? “Yes,” says Teri Lewis, director of the Son Harbor children”s ministry program at Plymouth Avenue Christian Church, a congregation of 250 in Deland, Florida. In 2003, a “good” Sunday

January 15, 2011

Christian Standard

Whatever Happened to the Invitation?

By Mark Atteberry The elders at my church very graciously gave me seven weeks off, a kind of mini-sabbatical. It was during the summer and my wife and I had a trip planned anyway, so we laid out a plan to visit a different church every weekend. We chose a mixture of large and small churches, city and rural churches, and Restoration Movement and denominational churches from Florida to the mountain west. Overall, it was a positive experience. We heard some fine sermons, met some nice people, and picked up a few good ideas. There was, however, one big surprise

January 14, 2011

Christian Standard

What College Didn”t Teach Me About Children”s Ministry

An Interview with Ryan Frank Ryan Frank, creator of KidzMatter Inc. (www.kidzmatter.com), is the publisher of The Kitchen children”s church curriculum and K!Magazine. He is a children”s minister in Indiana. His latest book, 9 Things They Didn”t Teach Me in College about Children”s Ministry, has just been released by Standard Publishing. We asked Ryan a few questions about his experience in children”s ministry and his advice for children”s ministers today. How did you get interested in children”s ministry? I was only 16 years old. My minister approached me and said, “We need someone to teach Junior Church. Will you try

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