Series: Featured

April 5, 2009

Christian Standard

Half-Pure Religion and the Unpopularity of the Poor

  By Mark E. Moore Jesus” half-brother asserted, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world” (James 1:27). A cursory glance at the Gospels suggests that Jesus would agree with his sibling. After all, he spent as much time doing good as he did teaching us about being good.  So why do our churches seem so reticent about compassionate ministries? Why have we allowed social awareness to be hijacked by secular liberals such as Oprah and Extreme

April 5, 2009

Christian Standard

Which “˜E” has Priority? Economy or Evangelism?

By Mike Schrage Economy or evangelism””which has our attention, and which is our priority as reflected by our calendars and checkbooks? In the past 14 months, I”ve had the opportunity to see God”s people in action in Bosnia, Kenya, Afghanistan, Mali, Uganda, and Sudan. The needs are astounding in every place, in every way. Life is difficult, and the challenge of living a godly life in some of these countries is outright dangerous! Yet Christian people are there working, serving, and evangelizing. The church is making inroads in these hard areas, but more resources are needed. And in Africa, the

April 5, 2009

Christian Standard

Keep Reading!

  By Derek Duncan I have a theory. If you stop reading, you die. Maybe I should expand on that just a little. If you stop reading, you stop growing, you stop learning, and then you die. Our advanced and technologically driven culture is causing people to read less and less. Sometimes I wonder if the innovative media we have created (radio, television, movies, Internet, cell phones) actually are contributing to illiteracy. We are satisfied with looking at things passively instead of poring over a written text that forces us to think. Mortimer Adler, in his classic How to Read

March 29, 2009

Christian Standard

“˜And How Shall They Hear?”

  By Russ Kuykendall Marie Rempel was one of “the lost generation” who came of age during the Great Depression. But Marie spent her life seeking the lost of her generation.   EARLY YEARS Born in Garwin, Iowa, she immigrated with her parents, Herman and Shada Dunbar, to Vulcan, Alberta, Canada, in 1917. As a teenager, Marie moved with her parents to the Grande Prairie district of Alberta, graduated from Grande Prairie High School, and enrolled at the Peace River Bible Institute. After a year, she transferred to Alberta Bible College (ABC) in Calgary, followed by her future husband, Frank

March 29, 2009

Christian Standard

What Is the Glue?

  By David Faust In a 1910 lecture at Yale, Charles E. Jefferson described the difference between a church and an audience, It is to be regretted that we have come to . . . judge preachers by the number of persons who listen to their sermons. A superficial man is consequently tempted to work, not for a church, but for an audience. An audience, however, is not worth working for. An audience is a group of unrelated people drawn together by a short-lived attraction. . . . It is a fortuitous concourse of human atoms, scattering as soon as

March 22, 2009

Christian Standard

Hard Times for Healthy Churches

  By Darrel Rowland   On Long Island, fledgling True North Community Church is readily shelling out more than $2 million for a three-year-old building on four acres.  In northeast Ohio, historic First Christian Church in Canton is meeting the payments for a $25 million relocation project from three years ago””for now. Along Florida”s Gulf Coast, rechristened New Day Christian Church faces an uncertain future because of its struggle to pay for a $5.5 million facility built about four years ago. While America”s economic woes are unquestionably hitting churches across the country, the varying experiences of this trio of growing

March 22, 2009

Christian Standard

Church Loans, Risky Loans?

  by Darrel Rowland It”s not weakness in the stock market or real estate sales that concerns Doug Crozier the most about whether churches can repay their loans from the Church Development Fund.  It”s weakness of the flesh. “This current economic scenario scares me, but my biggest risk in making loans to churches is moral failure in the pulpit, not economic bad times,” says Crozier, CDF president. The Church Development Fund, based in California, currently has about 450 loans worth $650 million for Restoration Movement facilities in 41 states. Most are church buildings, although the list includes a handful of

March 22, 2009

Christian Standard

The Greed Factor

  by Karen R. Rees   Money is a great motivator. It has enticed 240,000 women, mainly from the Philippines and now increasingly from Indonesia, to Hong Kong to work as household servants. For the last 27 years my husband and I have served a church mostly made up of these women, so I know their stories well. They come here because the economies in their countries have been ruined by private and governmental greed and corruption. The women, all from the low-income bracket, dream of building a house, helping their husband start a small business, or sending a child

March 22, 2009

Christian Standard

The Point of Christianity

  By Douglas Foster If you were to ask a non-Christian, “What is the point of Christianity?” what do you think he or she would say? Based on many people”s experience with professed Christians, he might say the point of Christianity is to make people as miserable and uptight as possible. Or that it is to shape people into vigilantes who get great satisfaction from attacking and destroying those with whom they differ””in the name of Christ and sound doctrine. Unfortunately there is ample evidence to back up these impressions. But what would you, a Christian and a reader of

March 15, 2009

Christian Standard

Accessibility, Affordability, and Accountability: A “˜Spellings Report” for Our Schools

By Tom Tanner Consider these three numbers: 184 million; 14,075; 33. Is this some kind of new DaVinci code? No. These are figures that factor into any conversation about the state of Christian higher education among Christian churches and churches of Christ. Based on data from this year”s annual college report (see chart on pp. 16, 17), these churches support 33 different schools scattered from Alberta to Atlanta, and beyond the Atlantic to Austria. Collectively these 33 schools last year enrolled 14,075 students and spent just over $184 million. What do these numbers mean? Are they good numbers or bad?

March 15, 2009

Christian Standard

Spiritual Formation as Leadership Development

By Bill Weber Bible colleges and seminaries are charged with preparing leaders for the church in an increasingly sophisticated and complex world. An institution”s value is determined by the success or failure of its graduates. A school”s visibility may be enhanced by special programs or presentations, new buildings, faculty publications, or successful sports teams, but the effectiveness of the graduates indicates whether or not a school is fulfilling its mission. These schools are expected to serve the educational and developmental needs of students. The first goal is to provide a knowledge base in important areas: Scripture, theological concepts, leadership theories,

March 15, 2009

Christian Standard

Christian College: High Value

    These days everyone is thinking about value received for money spent. In keeping with the times, we asked each of the Christian colleges in our annual survey to write a few paragraphs on this theme: “The High Value of Your Education at Our School.” Their reports follow.     Alberta Bible College Empowered to dream! Equipped to serve! Students join Alberta Bible College at different points on their faith journeys, but each is greeted with the same challenging question, “Where does your deep gladness meet the world”s deep need?”But students who are uncertain about attending ABC should ask

March 8, 2009

Christian Standard

WEB EXTRA: A Time of Cutbacks, But a Season of Opportunities

By Ben Cachiaras EDITOR’S NOTE: Contributing editor Ben Cachiaras wrote late in February to say Mountain Christian Church, where he ministers in Joppa, Maryland, was forced by the economy to initiate some cutbacks. “They were pervasive and widely felt,” he said. When he met with the church staff to explain the cuts, he challenged them by saying this crossroads was actually an exciting time for the church. “Matthew 28 does not say, “˜Go, and make disciples . . . as long as the Dow is up,”” he said. “While I would never wish economic disaster on anyone, I do know that

March 8, 2009

Christian Standard

What Baptism Requests

By Jon Weatherly This article is no longer available online, but all of the articles about baptism that appeared in the March 1 and 8, 2009, issues of CHRISTIAN STANDARD–plus a bonus article–are available for purchase as a single, redisigned, easy-to-read and easy-to-use downloadable resource/pdf (a fuller explanation is below).   Baptism: 7 Practical Perspectives  Item 02973  “¢Â  $2.99     What does the Bible teach about baptism? What does baptism symbolize and what does it accomplish? Why is there so much disagreement? Seven writers offer their insights on this controversial but fundamental topic in this 14-page resource that””with the exception

March 8, 2009

Christian Standard

Read More About Baptism . . .

By Jon Weatherely (This is a sidebar to Jon Weatherly’s article, “What Baptism Requests”)   G.R. Beasley-Murray, Baptism in the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1962). The most detailed work on the subject, from a British Baptist scholar. G.R. Beasley-Murray, “Baptism, Wash,” New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology Vol. 1 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1975″“85), 143-161. A briefer version of material found in the same author”s book. G.R. Beasley-Murray, “Baptism,” Dictionary of Paul and His Letters (Downers Grove: InterVarsity), 60″“66. As above, with particular focus on Paul”s letters. Jack Cottrell, Baptism: A Biblical Study (Joplin: College Press, 2006). A thorough,

March 8, 2009

Christian Standard

Understanding Four Views of Baptism

By Mark S. Krause This article is no longer available online, but all of the articles about baptism that appeared in the March 1 and 8, 2009, issues of CHRISTIAN STANDARD–plus a bonus article–are available for purchase as a single, redisigned, easy-to-read and easy-to-use downloadable resource/pdf (a fuller explanation is below).   Baptism: 7 Practical Perspectives Item 02973  “¢Â  $2.99     What does the Bible teach about baptism? What does baptism symbolize and what does it accomplish? Why is there so much disagreement? Seven writers offer their insights on this controversial but fundamental topic in this 14-page resource that””with the

March 8, 2009

Christian Standard

A Capitol Idea of Serving Others

By Rod Roberts I was first elected to the Iowa House of Representatives on November 7, 2000. Since that first election victory I have had the good fortune to run opposed in four subsequent re-election campaigns. At the conclusion of this current term I will have served 10 years in the Iowa House. There are 100 members who comprise the Iowa House of Representatives. A five-term member like myself is a legislator who has seniority among his peers. In addition to seniority, I am a leader within the House Republican caucus. In any state Legislature, seniority and position matter a

March 1, 2009

Christian Standard

Remember Your Baptism

By Bruce E. Shields   This article is no longer available online, but all of the articles about baptism that appeared in the March 1 and 8, 2009, issues of CHRISTIAN STANDARD–plus a bonus article–are available for purchase as a single, redisigned, easy-to-read and easy-to-use downloadable resource/pdf (a fuller explanation is below).   Baptism: 7 Practical Perspectives Item 02973  “¢Â  $2.99 What does the Bible teach about baptism? What does baptism symbolize and what does it accomplish? Why is there so much disagreement? Seven writers offer their insights on this controversial but fundamental topic in this 14-page resource that””with the exception

March 1, 2009

Christian Standard

What Happened When I Preached on Baptism?

By Brian Jones This article is no longer available online, but all of the articles about baptism that appeared in the March 1 and 8, 2009, issues of CHRISTIAN STANDARD–plus a bonus article–are available for purchase as a single, redisigned, easy-to-read and easy-to-use downloadable resource/pdf (a fuller explanation is below).   Baptism: 7 Practical Perspectives Item 02973  “¢Â Â $2.99 What does the Bible teach about baptism? What does baptism symbolize and what does it accomplish? Why is there so much disagreement? Seven writers offer their insights on this controversial but fundamental topic in this 14-page resource that””with the exception of one article””originally appeared

March 1, 2009

Christian Standard

Mexico Family Camp: Families Building Homes, Homes Building Families

By Gayla Cooper Congdon In his book, Ordering Your Private World, Gordon MacDonald encourages families to make memories rather than investing in the accumulation of things. This was the premise that sparked a discussion 15 years ago with my longtime friends from Pacific Christian College, Dean and Amy Mathis, to impact families by taking them on a short-term mission trip. We recognized we lived in a culture where a constant spiritual battle was waged for the family. We noted all the factors that made it difficult for families to connect. It begged the question, “How much quality time do families

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