Series: Featured

July 13, 2008

Christian Standard

Restoration Movement Q&A 4

Answers from Pat Magness Does the Restoration Movement Matter? Answers from Pat Magness. Pat Magness is professor of humanities and English at Milligan College in Tennessee and a member of the Publishing Committee at Standard Publishing. Do you feel as strongly about being a part of the Restoration Movement today as you did fifteen years ago?  What, if anything, has changed? Yes, I remain strongly committed to the Restoration Movement and even more deeply involved in a variety of ministries. In addition to the connections in my local congregation, I feel increasingly connected to the Restoration Movement through my work on

July 13, 2008

Christian Standard

Restoration Movement Q&A 5

Answers from Ethan Magness Does the Restoration Movement Matter? Answers from EthanMagness. Ethan Magness is spiritual formation pastor at Mountain Christian Church, Joppa, Maryland. Do you feel as strongly about being a part of the Restoration Movement today as you did fifteen years ago?  What, if anything, has changed? My interest in and commitment to the Restoration movement has steadily grown.  Fifteen years ago I definitely took the Restoration movement for granted.  Having been raised inside the movement, I saw its flaws more clearly than its strengths.  I have come to be more and more committed that the Restoration movement is

July 13, 2008

Christian Standard

Survey Says: We Want to Stay Connected!

By Mark A. Taylor How do leaders in Christian churches and churches of Christ feel about staying connected with others like themselves? After hearing from more than 1,200 of them in a survey conducted this spring, we feel confident of one conclusion: Leaders in our fellowship highly value their connections with each other. Seeking Connection Almost half (545 respondents, or 44 percent of the total) said it is “Very Important” to be connected with other leaders in Christian churches/churches of Christ. Another 21 percent (253 respondents) said it is “Critical.” That totals almost two-thirds of respondents, while only 11 percent

July 13, 2008

Christian Standard

What Will Keep Us Together?

By John Derry Christian churches have long resisted being identified or referred to as a denomination, preferring instead to be called a brotherhood or fellowship. In many cases we emphasize our local autonomy by adding the word independent when describing who we are. Our perspective is such that we object to any form of bureaucracy or hierarchical structure that would impose limitations on how we choose to function. The Bible is all we need to inform our doctrinal positions, church governance, and mission. Denominational churches may find security in having a regional or national office establish operational policies and assist

July 13, 2008

Christian Standard

INTRO: Does the Restoration Movement Matter?

By Staff Who cares about the Restoration Movement? We”ve been asking that question with different groups in different ways, and this week we”ll share what we”ve been hearing. For starters, follow the links below to see how certain individuals answered. (Note from webmaster: We will try to relink these after the archiving process is completed.) We wrote one set of questions and sent them to six leaders in our fellowship. (One of them passed the list on to her son for an additional perspective.) They sent us their answers without consulting with each other, and we”re sharing most of what

July 13, 2008

Christian Standard

Restoration Movement Q&A 1

Answers from Gene Carter, Becky Ahlberg, and Eric Ahlberg Does the Restoration Movement Matter? Answers from Gene Carter, Becky Ahlberg, and Eric Ahlberg Gene Carter is retired in Playa del Rey, California, after 55 years of ministry, 25 in the Midwest and 30 in Southern California. Becky Ahlberg is worship and neighborhood engagement minister at Anaheim (California) First Christian Church and a CHRISTIAN STANDARD contributing editor. Eric Ahlberg is a member of Anaheim First Christian and a forensic structural engineer at Exponent Corporation in Irvine, California. Do you feel as strongly about being a part of the Restoration Movement today

July 6, 2008

Christian Standard

Your Church and AIDS: A Conference to Dispel Darkness

By Debbie Legg One woman”s church was expanding its missions program into India. Would it be addressing the AIDS issue? Two nurses had been on short-term mission trips. Could they get their congregation more excited about AIDS programs? A woman had lost her son to AIDS. Could she do anything locally for the AIDS community? A couple wanted to know, is there any good news in the battle against AIDS? The answer to all of those questions was a resounding “yes” at the Your Church and AIDS conference, sponsored by Christian Missionary Fellowship International (CMF) and Fellowship of Associates of

July 6, 2008

Christian Standard

The Human Side of HIV/AIDS

By Judy Fish You can”t see it with the naked eye. Few of us encounter it on a daily basis. It”s not partial to one race of people, or age, or gender. And at a glance, for those newly infected, it”s impossible to know who carries the virus and who doesn”t. From its arrival in 1981, when it affected only certain groups of people in a few countries, HIV has grown into a global pandemic, and now claims the most lives of any infectious disease (see the box on page 5). For the developed world, HIV is primarily a disease

July 6, 2008

Christian Standard

Hope Partnership: A Way to Get Involved in HIV/AIDS Ministry

By Staff Nearly 2.5 million people live in poverty in the slums and urban areas of Nairobi, Kenya. They lack the basic necessities of life, including adequate housing, clean water, and sanitation services. Educational opportunities are negligible. Diseases run rampant throughout the communities. Complicating the problem, there are very few jobs to provide the income needed for families to improve their lives. In addition to these difficulties, the effects of AIDS are devastating the area. There are countless orphans and vulnerable children throughout the slums, where the infection rate approaches 40 percent. For every person who dies of AIDS, another

July 6, 2008

Christian Standard

Learning to Share Hope

By Tom Moen Think for a minute about hope as a continuum. To the left is hopelessness (having no expectation of success) and to the right is a hope that is on the brink of fulfillment. Where do you place yourself? Most of us reading this are probably to the right of center. We may sense a little hopelessness at the gas pump, or as it relates to job security or paying for a college education. But when was the last time you needed to hold out hope that you would have enough food to survive another day? When did

July 6, 2008

Christian Standard

A New Movement and the Choices We Must Make

By Greg Taylor There”s a new Restoration Movement on fire and spreading in the United States and the world. For those of us who have passionately believed in Restoration principles of wearing Christ”s name alone, who see Scripture as our only rule of faith and practice, and who are imperfectly living out a dream of being the church Jesus wanted, we have a decision to make. We can continue with the little pickup stickball game outside the World Series stadium, or we can realize the larger Christian world is singing our song and playing our game in the arena. A

June 29, 2008

Christian Standard

Wholehearted Christians

By H. Lynn Gardner I had a double-lung transplant in 2004, but that was not my first transplant. When I became a Christian I was given a new heart, a new spirit. We become new persons when we come into Christ. After the surgeons took out my old, scarred lungs, I was given “young healthy lungs.” I was given new life. When we become Christians we die to our old self””the spirit that ran our lives as we selfishly pleased. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians

June 29, 2008

Christian Standard

Growing Compassionate Kids

By Jan Johnson Now and then in quiet moments, we dream for our children and grandchildren, nieces and nephews. We wonder how we can help them become adults who know God and who build loving relationships. How can God”s love shape them into compassionate people in a self-absorbed culture? What will help them learn to offer cups of cold water to the thirsty? Can they set aside the pull of materialism to make a difference in the world God so loves? BEING INTENTIONAL IN DAILY LIFE Time pressure thwarts our efforts. What with doctor”s appointments, soccer games, and homework obligations,

June 29, 2008

Christian Standard

Stone-Campbell Dialogue Addresses Issues of Global Mission

By Guthrie Veech and John Mills Representatives of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Churches of Christ, and Christian Churches/Churches of Christ gathered in St. Louis June 8-10 for the 11th meeting of the Stone-Campbell Dialogue, an ongoing discussion intended to strengthen ties between the three “streams” of the 19th-century movement associated with Barton W. Stone and Thomas and Alexander Campbell. This session of the dialogue focused on global mission. The event began with a Sunday evening worship service at First Christian Church of Florissant, Missouri, a 1,500-member congregation of the Christian Churches/Churches of Christ. Attending the service were some

June 29, 2008

Christian Standard

Small Things

By Joy Canning “Mom, what”s a bum?” asked my daughters, beginning one of those ill-timed but precious bedtime conversations. Apparently their music teacher warned them to pay attention in school or they would surely end up “bums” collecting cans from the garbage. We discussed what he might have meant by “bum,” and then it happened. In one of my most cherished moments as a parent, both girls decided the people they see collecting cans from the garbage are too hardworking to deserve the label of “bum.” I live for those moments””moments when the beauty of my daughters” hearts shapes their

June 29, 2008

Christian Standard

The Inside-Out Life

By Ken Idleman Janice and Faye Rosvit are twin sisters who left their very close-knit family circle, their aging parents, their beloved Colorado Rocky Mountains, and promising country-western singing careers to enroll in Bible college. There they studied phonetics and missions before eventually traveling to more than 100 countries of the world. They have been destitute, sick with dysentery, separated from loved ones, and stung by a Portugese Man “O War. (And that hurts!) Why would they do all of this? Kevin D. took his wife and children to the jungles of Panama to fight the drug traffic in the United

June 22, 2008

Christian Standard

What Is an Elder”s Most Important Job?

By Arron Chambers Who is an elder supposed to be? The Bible makes it clear Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God”s church?) He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall

June 22, 2008

Christian Standard

Let There Be Peace

By Victor M. Parachin During one hot, dry summer in Southern California, a brush fire swept through Topanga Canyon, a suburb of Los Angeles, and destroyed 200 homes. Norman Vincent Peale, famed New York City minister and author, learned one of the burned homes belonged to a friend. Peale called him to offer sympathy: “I”m sorry to hear your house burned down.” Peale expected his friend would be traumatized by the fire and his losses, but was astonished that his friend sounded at peace with the tragedy. “Yes, the house did burn down,” he said, “but my wife and children

June 22, 2008

Christian Standard

Lord, Help, I Am Hearing Voices!

By Terry O’Casey I can still picture the elder and his wife playing “footsie” beneath the folding fellowship hall tables at a board meeting at one of my first churches. It was in the days when the 18 deacons could outvote the six elders. Voting for some was by “secret” ballot, in the form of a swift kick. Seriously! The elders had just finished sharing a unified vision with the rest of those at the meeting. Then I saw it, plain as day, beneath the cheap tablecloth. She kicked her husband . . . hard””so hard he had to change

June 22, 2008

Christian Standard

Who Am I?

By Chuck Sackett It happened to me again . . . another noun. We don”t use nouns much at our place. It”s mostly verbs. We like actions. We shy away from titles. So, I”m not “the preacher”; I”m “responsible for preaching.” But not everyone relates to that. And certainly not everyone is satisfied with that. They want a title. “Tell me who you are.” “What do they call you here?” It”s been so prevalent over the years I”ve kept track of much of what I”m called. Some of these titles are usable in a Christian publication; the rest I”ll refrain

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