Series: Featured

July 18, 2010

Christian Standard

NACC “˜Beyond”: Beyond the Desert of Ministry Fatigue

By George Ross OK, I have to be honest. When I told my wife this was the topic I”d been asked to speak on at the NACC this summer, her initial response was, “Oh boy! You”re gonna need some help with that one!” And she was right! Truth of the matter is, I have always been a subtle workaholic who struggles with boundaries and has a tendency to wear out more than rust out. Be that as it may, I am very aware of the desert and its dangers of depletion, depression, and derailment if we are left to ourselves.

July 18, 2010

Christian Standard

NACC “˜Beyond”: A Sermon Series and BEYOND

By Ethan Magness In our own congregation, the BEYOND theme has been a channel for change. When we see what has happened here, we have great hope for what God will do through our convention. All of us want to be a part of churches that are moving beyond. We want to be always following Jesus to a place we have never been before. Certainly this desire to move beyond is a central value of Mountain Christian Church, where I serve on staff and where NACC President Ben Cachiaras is senior minister. One of the reasons we are excited to be

July 11, 2010

Christian Standard

Risky Faith

By Stephen Bond Thirty-four years have passed in the blink of an eye. That”s how long ago I became a Christ follower. I was 21 when I began the grand faith adventure of living for Christ. Along the way I”ve had my share of bumps and bruises. But, except for the foibles I brought on myself, I wouldn”t change much. It has been exhilarating to barrel through the years living, for the most part, by faith. The journey has taken me and my family to the Midwest twice (once for seminary and once for ministry), to South America for 10

July 11, 2010

Christian Standard

When Is a Worship Service Not a Worship Service?

By John Sloper Most of our churches refer to Sunday morning services as worship services. The styles differ from region to region, but the name remains the same. Some are formal, while others are more free. But do we really know what it means to worship God? Do we worship God by attending church regularly, teaching Sunday school, or serving on various committees? Perhaps, but let”s take a look at a few different words used in the Bible that are translated worship and see what they mean. Old Testament There are three different Hebrew words that are translated worship in

July 11, 2010

Christian Standard

Seven Days of Praise

By Daniel Schantz MONDAY“”My favorite seed catalog arrived today and I am astounded at the offerings. Things like cucumbers with big spikes on them, red noodle beans as long as my arm, speckled trout lettuce, watermelons with stars on them, and Asian snake melons 4 feet long. There are coal-black tomatoes, mother-of-pearl poppies, and a plant called Job”s tears that produces beads, which you can string into a necklace. I can almost hear God laughing out loud as he made these wacky plants. And I want to stand up and cheer. “Way to go, God! Cool cucumbers!” “O Lord, how

July 11, 2010

Christian Standard

The Boy with the Odd-Shaped Head

By C. Robert Wetzel Crew cuts were popular among boys in the late 1940s. What distinguished them from today”s short haircuts was that the closely cropped hair of the crew cut had to stand straight up. This necessitated at least two occasions of special care. It took a bit of thick hair gel to achieve vertical status, and a weekly trip to the barber to ensure the perfect shape. Hence all through high school, I made my Saturday visit to Charlie”s Barber Shop in Hugoton, Kansas, to nurture this dubious bit of fashion. I think I must have been about

July 4, 2010

Christian Standard

God Bless America?

By Marshall Leggett America has a rich heritage of faith, from its very beginning. Columbus, whose name means Christ bearer, saw his exploration of the New World as being guided by the providential hand of God. “Our Lord unlocked within me the determination to execute the idea,”Â Columbus wrote. “Who doubts that His was the illumination of the Holy Spirit? Our Lord wished to perform the clearest work of providence in this matter.”1 Then came the Pilgrims. Their Mayflower Compact expressed the intention of these Christians “to live under the rule of law based on the consent of the people.”2 Their desire, as explained here, was to

July 4, 2010

Christian Standard

For God and Country

By James B. North The tension between serving God and serving one”s country has been a source of dispute in Christian circles for a long time””going at least as far back as the conversion of Constantine, Roman Emperor in the fourth century. Even within the fellowship of the Restoration Movement, or the Christian churches/churches of Christ, this tension has been evident. David Lipscomb, longtime editor of the Gospel Advocate in Nashville, was not only a pacifist; he was opposed to Christians serving in the government, and even for Christian citizens to vote in political elections. Yet his has certainly been the

July 4, 2010

Christian Standard

Serving the People, Serving God: An Interview with Harriet Miers and Nathan Hecht

By Dusty Rubeck Serving Today In October 2005, George W. Bush introduced Harriet Miers as his nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court. He had once introduced her as a “bulldog in size six shoes.” This nomination capped a long and steady rise of her career in the law. Although she was not yet well known across the nation, fellow Texans were well aware of her rise to prominence. Harriet holds degrees from Southern Methodist University and the SMU Law School. The National Law Journal has named her to the “100 Most Influential Lawyers in America” list and the “50 Most Influential Women Lawyers in America” list. She

July 4, 2010

Christian Standard

A Religious Man for President

By Jerry Rushford On November 2, 1880, 10 million Americans went to the polls and elected James A. Garfield the 20th president of the United States. Garfield was deluged with congratulatory letters in the week after his election, but none more significant than the one penned by Burke Hinsdale who wrote: “I have been astonished . . . at the hold that your candidacy took of the religious mind of the country. “˜Now we are going to have a religious man for president” is a thought that has swelled in the hearts of thousands of religious men.” James Abram Garfield was born on

July 4, 2010

Christian Standard

“˜Be Nice or Leave!”

By Rick Grover I met with an African-American pastor in our community who told me his church has signs throughout its building that convey one of his church”s values. The signs read: Be Nice or Leave! He indicated his church in the past had a significant challenge with a certain group of longtime members who would run off new people. The established group felt threatened by anybody with new or different ideas. Sound familiar? Rather than dealing with those differences in a healthy, biblical way, members of the group would say critical things and act mean-spirited until those with whom they

June 27, 2010

Christian Standard

Great and Mighty Things

By Chuck Booher What is the best way to conduct a financial campaign when 14 percent of your county is unemployed and your offerings are barely making budget every week? Any sane person would probably say the best answer is, “You don”t!” You just don”t do a financial campaign in a down economy. Several months back, however, I found myself wrestling through this predicament. Truth was, not having a campaign was NOT an option. I had become senior pastor of Crossroads Christian Church three years prior and inherited several obstacles that had been worked through. The last hurdle to jump

June 27, 2010

Christian Standard

Evangelize Unreached Teenagers? (It Can Be Dangerous)

By Rick Bundschuh Call me naive, call me ignorant, call me idealistic””but I honestly believed the church”s search committee members when they said one of the goals they had for the new middle school youth ministry position they were creating was to have evangelism take place among young people. Perhaps we were talking past each other and agreeing to very different things when they hired me for my first youth ministry job outside my home church. Perhaps they were envisioning a small trickle of smartly dressed honor students entering the kingdom of God and finding its way to the front

June 27, 2010

Christian Standard

Church Ladies Spotted at Strip Clubs

By Jani Lewis Anyone sitting outside a strip club on Wednesday nights in Lexington, Kentucky, is likely to see three or four women piling out of a van with armloads of food and being welcomed by bouncers who yell, “Here come the church ladies!” For five years the managers and owners of these establishments have allowed us to serve a warm, home-cooked meal to the dancers and staff weekly. Not everyone “gets it”””there are folks in our church who don”t understand why we go, and many people inside the clubs who are just as confused by our presence. We go

June 20, 2010

Christian Standard

Lessons We”ve Learned from Eating with Sinners

By Brandon Smith The ministry I serve, the Christian Campus House at Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville, does not necessarily operate under what I would call a “written budget.” This mostly is because we rarely have money with which to budget. And while I am only half joking, my serious half supposes one of the biggest line items, if we did have a written budget, would be “food.” College students like to eat. A lot. And we like to feed them. We place such an emphasis on food in our ministry, not because we are gluttons, but because something

June 20, 2010

Christian Standard

“˜Likeitis”

By Phillip Murdock It was September of 2000 when I discovered I was infected. In 1998, I moved to a small town in southwest Virginia to begin work as the youth minister of a thriving congregation. Looking back, I can see I was already showing symptoms of this condition, but I had no idea at the time. I liked the feel of this small town, but it was nothing like the big city where I had grown up. The first few months were tough. I was 24 years old and most of the people in my congregation were older. I

June 20, 2010

Christian Standard

Crimes and Misdemeanors (a Parable)

By John Castelein Some movies arrest our imagination the same way parables do. For instance, when I saw Groundhog Day in the theater, I immediately experienced it as a profound parable of repentance. Other movies that have similar parabolic dimensions for me are Amadeus, Forrest Gump, and The Truman Show. Almost as many parables are presented in cinemas today as in sanctuaries. If Christians can use these movies as parables of our shared humanity, hopes, and fears, powerful bridges of communication with nonbelievers can be built. Are you able to use such teachable moments? The movie Crimes and Misdemeanors can be seen as

June 20, 2010

Christian Standard

Some of My Best Friends Are Lost

By Arron Chambers This is an excerpt from the book “Eats With Sinners” by Arron Chambers. To some, Lost is a highly addictive TV show about the survivors of a plane wreck who find themselves on a deserted island””in the middle of the ocean””where nothing makes sense and they are not alone. Lost might be a zone where single socks, class rings, your favorite hat, sunglasses, my brother”s car keys, the Watergate tapes, and my six-toed cat (Sasquatch) dwell while waiting to be found . . . or not. Lost is how I feel listening to my daughter as she tries to

June 13, 2010

Christian Standard

Two Views About the Future of the Restoration Movement: Dissolve or Thrive?

By Dick Alexander This January, Standard Publishing”s Publishing Committee, CHRISTIAN STANDARD”s contributing editors, and a few other key leaders met in a retreat to discuss the future. Key questions included, “Why does the Restoration Movement exist? What do we contribute? What is our vision for what Christian churches and churches of Christ should be and accomplish in the next decades? What do we want to look like 50 years from now . . . and what can we do today to begin painting that picture?” Although much time was given to freewheeling dialogue, two speakers set the tone with their

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