Series: Featured

October 25, 2009

Christian Standard

Sixteen Minutes on Sunday

  by Daniel Schantz Childbirth can”t be harder than getting a boy out of bed in time for church on Sunday morning. Talking doesn”t work. I still marvel how a mother”s voice can be as soothing as chicken soup one moment, then suddenly turn into a weapon of mass motivation, able to penetrate thick walls, doors, and several layers of blankets. “Danny! If you don”t get out of bed this minute and get ready for church, I will send your father in there!” By 11 years of age, I had already learned to tune her out. Soon my father would

October 25, 2009

Christian Standard

Frankly Speaking

  by Ben Simms Some Ohio State University students thrive on hot dogs as they hang out in the early morning hours on High Street in Columbus. For several years now, Student Christian Fellowship has been giving away free frankfurters at what it calls FFF (short for “Free FrankFurters”).   More than Hot Dogs Christian minister Steve Sjogren says, “Small things done with great love will change the world.” This is really the point of free frankfurter night. The hope is that, at some point in a student”s life at OSU, getting a free hot dog will trigger a conversation

October 25, 2009

Christian Standard

The Wide Road Is Still the Wrong Road

  by David Faust What do you get when you cross a Jehovah”s Witness with a universalist? A knock on the door for no apparent reason. Actually, universalism is no joke. It”s a widely accepted philosophy imbedded in the psyche of our generation. The idea that one must believe in Jesus Christ to be saved sounds antiquated, judgmental, and narrow beyond belief to postmodern ears. The church isn”t immune to this trend. In 1985 I wrote an article for Christian Standard called “Taking the Wide Road: The Subtle Menace of Universalism.” Nearly a quarter-century later my concern about this issue

October 18, 2009

Christian Standard

Words of Life and Death

  by Larry W. Timm When death occurs, a minister encounters a unique and sacred duty. The deceased is someone”s loved one and God”s valuable creation; there is sanctity in both. Death erases neither. When asked to speak at a funeral service, our attitude will influence our preparation and proclamation. If we see a funeral as an interruption in our ministry instead of an expression of it, we will be poor stewards of this important opportunity. However, if we approach each funeral as a unique and sacred part of our calling, we can offer leadership and service as caring shepherds.

October 18, 2009

Christian Standard

Reflections of a Public Servant

  by Rod Roberts On July 21 I held a press conference at the Iowa State Capitol where I announced the creation of an exploratory committee to run for the office of governor. Since then I have made my candidacy official. The decision to run for governor came as the result of months of travel, meetings, conversations, and thoughtful deliberation. My family and many close friends were key in helping me make this decision. Many prayers were offered in the months leading up to my decision. I have been an extremely fortunate and blessed public servant for many years. My

October 18, 2009

Christian Standard

Someone in the Church Family Has Just Died

By Marshall Hayden Those of us who serve in ministry with a church family are asked by members and the community to do several things. People seek counseling; and most of us refer more often than we accept. Groups are looking for a speaker; and we will accept the events we feel good about. Couples come asking us to perform a wedding. Some we accept. Several we decline. But there is one request that, as a minister, I have never turned down. A funeral is an opportunity for meaningful service, and often a chance to open hearts to the good

October 18, 2009

Christian Standard

Grief Ministry: How Your Church Can Help

     by Victor M. Parachi It was January 2001, the beginning of a new year, but I dreaded getting out of my cave, the name I applied to my bedroom. It had been two months since my 23-year-old daughter was killed in an accident. Though a new year was emerging, there was no sign my pain was departing. “”Scott N. I prayed, stood by her bedside, held her small hand, stayed up all night, and refused to give up on her, yet she died. My baby died only 29 days after her birth. For me there would be no

October 4, 2009

Christian Standard

Still “˜Declaring” and “˜Addressing”: Thinking About Thomas Campbell 200 Years Later

  by Paul M. Blowers There are not a lot of ghost stories (that I know of) connected with the Stone-Campbell Movement. I am fairly certain, at any rate, that Thomas Campbell”s ghost won”t be attending the Great Communion on October 4 to celebrate the bicentennial of the movement and the legacies of its history and mission. Were we superstitious folks we might expect to see a “peeping Thomas” mysteriously haunting the numerous Communion services that are bringing together Stone-Campbell Christians in various locales across the world. Even so, we can be assured Campbell is one prominent spectator in the

October 4, 2009

Christian Standard

A Document for Today

  by Joni Sullivan Baker A lot can happen in 200 years. That”s plenty of time for a family to launch, prosper, and stretch out around the world. But it”s also plenty of time for punches to be thrown, hearts to break, and feuds to start and then to fester through many generations. And although most are too polite to say it, those outside the family puzzle or scoff at cousins who share the same name and same family mottoes but still can”t figure out a way to get along. It”s especially strange when a lot of those mottoes are

October 4, 2009

Christian Standard

It”s Simple!

  by Terry O’Casey We simply don”t get it! If we did, more people would get Jesus. Thomas Campbell wrote his Declaration and Address in 1809 in part because he had witnessed the fractured and frightened denominations destroying a simple faith. Campbell himself was a member of the fractured Old Light, Anti-Burgher, Seceder Presbyterian Church. Ah, nothing like simple biblical names to attract the unchurched! Repeatedly in his Declaration, Campbell uses a word that transcends 200 years, simple. All he wanted was a simple Christianity that works. Look on as Campbell lifts his ink-dipped quill and scribes the same word

October 4, 2009

Christian Standard

In Communion

  by C. Robert Wetzel “Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body” (1 Corinthians 10:17). In 1909 Christians from the Restoration Movement were making plans for the centennial celebration of the Declaration and Address to take place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, that October. At the same time, in what was then a remote part of mountainous western North Carolina, a small group of believers were making plans to establish a church. Late in 1908 there had been a 30-day evangelistic meeting that led to the baptism of 14 people. In the spring of the following year,

October 4, 2009

Christian Standard

Preparing for Ministry, Preparing for Community, Preparing for Change

  by S. J. Dahlman Emmanuel School of Religion President Robert Wetzel retired in May, succeeded by Michael Sweeney. A few days before the transition, the two men sat down to talk about the once and future seminary.       In his 15 years as president of Emmanuel School of Religion, Robert Wetzel saw how seminary education must include more than simply learning theology, history, and ministry methods in a classroom. Intellectual rigor and academic discipline are crucial to Wetzel, but the education must “make it more than that. It must be head and heart.” Wetzel retired at the

September 27, 2009

Christian Standard

A Look at This Year”s NACC: Grace Week

  by Steve Reeves See D. Clay Perkins”s assessment of the 2009 NACC See Thomas F. Jones”s assessment of the 2009 NACC       The North American Convention has been a part of my summers for more than four decades. The first decade, as a child and student, I was inspired and mentored by church leaders. For the last 33 years, I have enjoyed being with former classmates, coleaders, and family. Honestly, those connections alone have been worth my time. Now that I have become one of the veterans, I find myself learning even more than I did as an

September 27, 2009

Christian Standard

A Look at This Year’s NACC: I”m Glad I Was There!

  by Clay D. Perkins See Steve Reeves’s assessment of the 2009 NACC   See Thomas F. Jones”s assessment of the 2009 NACC           As a new college president, with my wife I attended the North American Christian Convention in Louisville, Kentucky, this summer. And I”m glad I was there!   I Attended Meetings Meetings. I attended a lot of meetings. And they were great! The Bible College/Christian Uni-versity President”s Association is a wonderful group. The spirit of cooperation among our colleges and universities is strong. We shared openly about the future of higher biblical education;

September 27, 2009

Christian Standard

A Look at This Year”s NACC: Going Home

by Thomas F. Jones Jr. See Steve Reeves’s assessment of the 2009 NACC See D. Clay Perkins”s assessment of the 2009 NACC       My hometown is Follansbee, West Virginia. It is located in the northern panhandle of the state about 20 miles north of Wheeling and 40 miles west of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It”s a steel mill town located on the Ohio River and has fewer than 3,000 residents. I don”t go there often these days but when I do, everything seems to fall into place. Going to the North American Christian Convention is like going home once a

September 27, 2009

Christian Standard

“˜Whatsoever” Prayer

  by Greg Pruett I could hear my neighbor wailing, I just didn”t know why. My wife and I had just started our missionary career in a West African village, moving into a dusty tin-roofed shack that could have doubled as a solar oven. We found someone who could explain to us in French that our neighbor”s son was dying. When we saw the child, he was lying on the beaten earth floor of a grass-roofed hut, his breathing labored, pupils fixed and dilated. Despair crept into us as we realized he might not live long. I remember standing over

September 20, 2009

Christian Standard

Full Circle

  by Jennifer Taylor Southland Christian Church in Lexington, Kentucky, contributes significant time and money to missons. From Mozambique and Afghanistan to New York City and New Orleans, Southland wants to change the world by sharing Jesus with people in need. But Southland also wants to transform its own city, and launched the “Circles of Influence” program in 2007 to begin more intentional service closer to home. The program encompasses several major initiatives: supporting students and teachers in area school districts, partnering with local agencies, and developing clinics to offer free health care to individuals without insurance. School System Hundreds

September 20, 2009

Christian Standard

Care for the Earth Is Bringing Good News to the Poor

  by Doug Priest A recent survey of evangelical Christians in America reveals that care for the environment is a top priority. (Others listed were sanctity of life, evangelism, poverty, and HIV/AIDS).1 There is an explosion of books by Christians on creation care. The subject is hot (perhaps due to global warming?). In January 2007, Wheaton College hosted the Creation Care Summit. A 2008 volume entitled Mission in the 21st Century identified one of the five marks of global mission as “Striving to Safeguard the Integrity of Creation and Sustaining and Renewing the Life of the Earth.”2 InterVarsity Press just released the

September 20, 2009

Christian Standard

Worship: We Exalt Thee O God

  by Karen J. Diefendorf As our congregation worked through the book of Hebrews recently, I listened anew to Hebrews 8:1-5: The point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by man. Every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, and so it was necessary for this one also to have something to offer. If he were on earth, he

September 20, 2009

Christian Standard

MEDIUM-SIZED CHURCHES: The Leadership Factor

  by Kent E. Fillinger What situations foster or frustrate church growth? Some statistics correlate directly to growth, while other items have an indirect effect or no apparent impact at all. But two recurring statistics directly impact a church”s growth rate in ways that deserve attention. These two statistics have held true from megachurches to medium-sized churches over four surveys in a four-year period (2005″“08). The two factors both relate to the senior minister. One is his age. The other is his tenure. Combined, they create what I call the “leadership factor.”   The Leadership Factor  The average age of

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