Series: Featured

November 25, 2017

Christian Standard

The Blessing Freely and Naturally Given

By Dave Stone No one has any say into which family he or she is born. But someday I intend to thank the Lord for the parents he gave to my brother, Jeff, and me. Sam Stone has been known to many by a variety of titles: Preacher, Seminary Dean, Editor, Brotherhood Leader, and North American Christian Convention President. But I”ve been fortunate to just call him Dad. What a blessing! When asked why we chose to go into the ministry, Jeff and I typically give the same response: “Because our dad was the same man in the home as

November 22, 2017

Christian Standard

The Night Before Christmas

By Kelly Carr  “Twas the night before Christmas, when all through church houses, every creature was stirring, all the staff and some spouses. The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, but peek inside the church building””you”ll find everyone there. While others are restful, sugar-plums in their heads, on Christmas Eve church leaders are busy instead. Ministers across the country confirm what you already know: Christmas Eve is one of the best attended services of the year. Large and small congregations, suburban, rural, and city locations all welcome folks who rarely darken the doorway of a church building other

November 18, 2017

Michael C. Mack

Stand: When You Did Not Receive Your Father”s Blessing

By Michael C. Mack “Stand up if you grew up without a father . . . if you never knew him . . . if he was abusive or inept or spiritually vacant and unavailable . . . even if he was around, but not really there . . . if you knew him but weren”t known by him . . .” I and six other members of my men”s group had traveled to the RCA Dome in Indianapolis for the Promise Keepers conference, joining some 62,000 other men worshipping God and being inspired to live godly lives. On the

November 14, 2017

Christian Standard

Called, Challenged, Changed

Lena Wood has a lifelong passion for missions and writing. The result is a three-volume set of mission trip devotions and journals.     By Andy Rector  In 1970, a teenage Lena Wood sat on a plane with her sister and others bound for Japan. Never having flown before, she was terrified. What would happen on this trip into the unknown?  As it turns out, she fell in love with missions on that trip. Over the summer, she and her team sang and gave testimonies at camps, schools, churches, and even a leper colony.  “When we left,” she says. “I bawled.

November 9, 2017

Christian Standard

Unnoticed Hero

By Jessi Holland  With a daughter off at college and a son in the Navy, a mother with an empty nest started on an unexpected journey. Ruth Anne Shattuck offered to teach eighth-grade boys with her husband, Dan, at Chapel Rock Christian Church in Indianapolis. Soon after, they were asked to serve as sponsors on the church”s first youth mission trip to Portugal. The year was 1989.  “I was so ready to do this,” Ruth Anne said. “I”d been on a plane. I felt so prepared. I felt like the Lord wanted me to go on this particular trip.”Â Â  But

November 7, 2017

Christian Standard

When You Can See the World from Your Backyard 

By James C. Book  The church I serve is located near Walt Disney World in Florida. We encounter people from all walks of life””it”s almost like having the United Nations in our backyard! Because of this, we realized we had a golden opportunity to reach people of many different cultures with the love of Jesus.  As David Hesselgrave notes in his book Communicating Christ Cross-Culturally, the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) contains a “single imperative” . . . to “make disciples of all nations.” It”s awesome to be able to do that in our own community and to have those folks

November 2, 2017

Christian Standard

A Light in the Darkness: StreetLightUSA 

By L. Mackenzie  How one church reached out to God and founded a mission helping victims of domestic child prostitution. ******  The underground sex economy is a multimillion-dollar industry in the United States; pimps and traffickers can make more than $30,000 a week in major cities, according to a research study reported in 2014 at urban.org.   Information on child prostitution and rape is difficult to source due to the heinous nature of the crime. According to the FBI, children and teens living on the streets engaging in prostitution is at epidemic proportions and life expectancy of a child in trafficking

October 31, 2017

Christian Standard

More Than Bible Translation 

By Greg Pruett  It was my first day on the job back in 1994, and I was eager to get started. I walked onto the West African scene fully trained to translate the Bible””tomes of knowledge about Greek, linguistics, and missiology crammed into my mind. But when the sun rose on my first workday at Pioneer Bible Translators, my mentor didn”t escort me to a desk to show me how to translate. Instead, he walked me over to a well he had hand-dug for the village to show these Muslim people the love of Christ, and we started troubleshooting a

October 27, 2017

Christian Standard

Shalom . . . Salam

The journeys of two missionaries from diverse backgrounds and a unity only the Prince of Peace can bring   By Dave Stewart  In The Grand Weaver, Ravi Zacharias writes,  God intervenes in the lives of every one of us. He speaks to us in different ways and at different times so that we may know he is the author of our very personality. . . . Once you begin to see God”s hand in your life, you will know that his workmanship within you and through you was tailor made, just for you. His design for your life pulls together every

October 24, 2017

Christian Standard

The Increasing Challenge for Evangelism in India

Persecution is increasing in India. How will our churches respond?   By John Caldwell  The year was 1950 and colonial India was debating its constitution as a new, independent nation. Drafters of the constitution had written an article on freedom of religion that “each individual has the right to profess, practice and propagate his faith.” The constitutional convention engaged in much debate over that word, propagate. The Hindu majority feared that word would be used by a small Christian minority as an excuse to proselytize.   Ironically it was a Hindu delegate who stood to his feet and said the word propagate

October 22, 2017

Christian Standard

RISE

This project focuses on mobilizing churches, campus ministries, and individual Christians to be more intentional about loving our neighbors from other parts of the world.    By Greg Swinney  “Now we get to the fun part.” That”s what a team leader said at the conclusion of a meeting that awarded thousands of dollars of grants to churches and campus ministries around the nation. This process began nearly two years ago when Mike Schrage of Good News Productions International shared a dream with ICOM executive director David Empson. After discussing the details, the idea of the RISE Project was born.  Multiple

October 20, 2017

Jerry Harris

KORE: Beyond Relief

By Jerry Harris KORE”s story begins with three Indian children. In 2000, Dennis and Brenda Bratton were finishing their first short-term mission trip and getting ready to head back home to Mandarin Christian Church in Jacksonville, Florida. They were standing on a missionary”s front porch, about to leave for the airport, overloaded by the experience of witnessing India”s extreme poverty firsthand. They saw three Indian children walking down the road; the children were albino, diseased, sight-impaired, malnourished, and their hair was infested. They were dressed in rags. The sight of these children was too much for the Brattons. Dennis told

October 13, 2017

Christian Standard

The Church that Does the Recovery Program

By TR Robertson Walk through the doors of First Christian Church in Belle, Missouri, on a Sunday morning and it seems, at first glance, like a typical rural church. There are farmers and blue-collar workers in semicasual dress, older women settling in to their usual seats, and children burning off energy before Sunday school starts. And then there”s the rest of the congregation. “I”ve been in church my whole life,” says FCC deacon Kevin Brown, “but I”ve never been in a church that had this many tattoos, this many bikes outside, this many leather jackets. We”ve welcomed people who have

October 6, 2017

Christian Standard

Overcoming the Challenges of Rural Ministry

By Justin Horey Imagine you live a half hour from the nearest pizza place, and no one delivers. That”s not the premise for a new reality television show. It”s how Dr. Barney Wells, graduate academic dean and associate professor of Bible and ministry at Lincoln (Illinois) Christian University, playfully defines “rural communities” for his undergraduate students. Although millions of Americans live in rural communities, small-town people are often overlooked and misunderstood by sociologists and economists more focused on serving larger population centers. Likewise, few have studied or analyzed what it takes to succeed and thrive as a ministry in a

October 5, 2017

Christian Standard

The Miracle in the Cornfield

By Darrel Land It has been referred to as the miracle in the cornfield. That is an apt description of Redemption Christian Church. A church of more than 1,800 people in a rural town of 15,000 certainly is rare. To understand the amazing things God has done, you need to know a little bit about Jasper, Indiana. Jasper is unique in many ways. Farming dominates Dubois County, where Jasper is the county seat. The church is literally surrounded by corn and soybean fields. It”s as rural as rural gets. The majority of jobs are blue-collar. Jasper has often been called

October 1, 2017

Christian Standard

Minister’s Salary Survey (It’ll Take 2 Minutes)

In preparation for a January article, Kent Fillinger is asking all church ministers to participate in a Minister’s Salary Survey. The two-minute, anonymous survey is for all ministers no matter his or her position or church size. (No data or information will be linked to anyone or any church.) Survey results and insights will be shared in our January 2018 issue. Deadline to respond is Friday, October 13. Click this survey link to participate.

September 29, 2017

Christian Standard

My Crazy, Exciting Adventure in Rural Ministry

By Tom Claibourne I recently turned 60 and marked my 38th anniversary of serving with the same congregation. I am blessed, but the past five years have been the most challenging of my ministry for many reasons. As a result, I”ve had plenty of opportunities for introspection and evaluation. That”s a good thing, because every congregation or person in ministry needs both. My journey has been mostly positive, sometimes frustrating and disappointing, seldom dull, and always educational. I continue to learn valuable lessons about life and ministry.   Our Story Bethlehem Church of Christ has been representing Jesus Christ between

September 28, 2017

Shawn McMullen

The Impact of a Humble and Faithful Servant

By Shawn McMullen Tom Claibourne is a friend of mine. We”ve known one another since our days in Bible college. We”ve studied together, taught together, commiserated together, and prayed together through the years. These are just a handful of reasons I was honored when asked to write this piece about Tom and the church he has served for 38 years. Tom models what can happen when a faithful servant of Christ commits himself to a local body of believers and chooses to love and serve them with all his heart. That”s what he”s done for nearly four decades in rural southwestern

September 23, 2017

Christian Standard

Changing Our Church to Change Our Community: The South Fork Story

By Bob Hightchew How do you change an unhealthy church culture without any pain? How do you make necessary biblical changes without upsetting people? You can”t. If we are to serve the kingdom, we will have to fight some battles. The battle is worth it, though, if the process helps move a church to better health. I”ve learned this firsthand over the course of the last 20-plus years. South Fork Christian Church in Verona, Kentucky, has been an easy congregation for me to love. Our pews are filled with kind, generous, and loving individuals. However, when I arrived, the church

September 21, 2017

Jerry Harris

A Church for Forgotten Places

By Jerry Harris Forgottonia . . . would you believe it”s a real place? The place is real but the name was more of a publicity stunt. It was adopted by 14 counties in west-central Illinois that were intentionally neglected by the state and federal government with regard to interstates and rail service in the early 1970s. Without interstate highway access, the region was denied decent transportation for commerce as other towns and cities benefitted from them. Businesses and not-for-profit entities dried up or left the area and calls for fair treatment with tax dollars for infrastructure fell on deaf

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