Series: Featured

July 17, 2015

Christian Standard

Victor Knowles’s Thought Leaders

We asked 35 Christian leaders, “Who is the influencer with the biggest impact on your life and ministry?” Most of these leaders listed several influential thinkers, writers, innovators, and leaders more of us should get to know. This response is from Victor Knowles, founder and director of POEM (Peace on Earth Ministries), Joplin, Missouri. ________ Leroy Garrett is perhaps best known for his magnum opus The Stone-Campbell Movement, but I think his best work is his transparent autobiography, A Lover”s Quarrel. It caused me to tear up a number of times. Anyone who can touch your heart can reach your head. This

July 16, 2015

Christian Standard

Philip D. Kenneson’s Thought Leaders

We asked 35 Christian leaders, “Who is the influencer with the biggest impact on your life and ministry?” Most of these leaders listed several influential thinkers, writers, innovators, and leaders more of us should get to know. This response is from Philip D. Kenneson, professor of theology and philosophy at Milligan College, Tennessee. ________ Over the years, I have been consistently challenged, convicted, and unsettled by the work of Stanley Hauerwas, Miroslav Volf, and Rowan Williams, three of the leading theologians of our day. All three not only ground their theology unapologetically in a Trinitarian understanding of God, but each deeply loves

July 16, 2015

Christian Standard

Casey Tygrett’s Thought Leaders

We asked 35 Christian leaders, “Who is the influencer with the biggest impact on your life and ministry?” Most of these leaders listed several influential thinkers, writers, innovators, and leaders more of us should get to know. This response is from Casey Tygrett, spiritual formation pastor with Parkview Christian Church, Orland Park, Illinois. ________ Neal Windham, professor of spiritual formation at Lincoln (Illinois) Christian University and Seminary, is a mentor, friend, and a true gift to know. Neal has a way of speaking about spiritual formation that is biblically thorough and paired with a deep sensitivity to what it means to be

July 16, 2015

Christian Standard

Rick Grover’s Thought Leaders

We asked 35 Christian leaders, “Who is the influencer with the biggest impact on your life and ministry?” Most of these leaders listed several influential thinkers, writers, innovators, and leaders more of us should get to know. This response is from Rick Grover, senior pastor of East 91st Street Christian Church, Indianapolis, Indiana. ________ Wayne Smith, retired minister from Lexington, Kentucky: Wayne is a lifelong friend who taught me that our commission to love and serve people always trumps my own agenda or strategic plan. Leonard Wymore, retired NACC executive director, Johnson City, Tennessee: Leonard and my grandfather were best friends,

July 15, 2015

Christian Standard

Thomas F. Jones Jr.’s Thought Leaders

We asked 35 Christian leaders, “Who is the influencer with the biggest impact on your life and ministry?” Most of these leaders listed several influential thinkers, writers, innovators, and leaders more of us should get to know. This response is from Thomas F. Jones Jr., executive director of Stadia, Irvine, California. ________ Wess Stafford, president emeritus of Compassion International: Wess is an extraordinary leader who grew Compassion International, a child advocacy organization that works only through the local church, to one of the world”s leading nonprofits. Most important, he has helped shape the world”s thinking about the importance of giving hope to

July 15, 2015

Christian Standard

Ian DiOrio’s Thought Leaders

We asked 35 Christian leaders, “Who is the influencer with the biggest impact on your life and ministry?” Most of these leaders listed several influential thinkers, writers, innovators, and leaders more of us should get to know. This response is from Ian DiOrio, lead pastor of Yucaipa (California) Christian Church. ________ Doug Parks and Bart Rendel started Intentional Churches in 2013 after lengthy stints on the leadership teams at Canyon Ridge Christian Church and Central Christian Church in Las Vegas, Nevada. Their vision is to create a movement of like-minded churches who learn, use, and collaborate about the best practices of growing

July 14, 2015

Christian Standard

Liz Curtis Higgs’s Thought Leaders

We asked 35 Christian leaders, “Who is the influencer with the biggest impact on your life and ministry?” Most of these leaders listed several influential thinkers, writers, innovators, and leaders more of us should get to know. This response is from Liz Curtis Higgs, conference speaker and best-selling author of Bad Girls of the Bible. ________ Three remarkable leaders quickly come to mind: Christine Caine thinks globally, speaks passionately, and states her mission clearly: “to make Jesus” last command our first priority: “˜Therefore go and make disciples of all nations”” (Matthew 28:19). Along with her husband, Nick, Christine is deeply involved in

July 14, 2015

Christian Standard

John Derry’s Thought Leaders

We asked 35 Christian leaders, “Who is the influencer with the biggest impact on your life and ministry?” Most of these leaders listed several influential thinkers, writers, innovators, and leaders more of us should get to know. This response is from John Derry, president of Hope International University, Fullerton, California. ________ There are almost 100 books about leadership on the shelves in my office and on my e-reader, representing 40 years worth of reading and studying the subject. Among them are several by Jim Collins, John Maxwell, and Peter Drucker. I have learned much from these prolific writers about what is necessary

July 13, 2015

Christian Standard

Randy Harris’s Thought Leaders

We asked 35 Christian leaders, “Who is the influencer with the biggest impact on your life and ministry?” Most of these leaders listed several influential thinkers, writers, innovators, and leaders more of us should get to know. This response is from Randy Harris, spiritual director with the College of Biblical Studies, Abilene (Texas) Christian University. ________ If I confine myself to largely contemporary figures, the list might look something like this . . . Non-Christian: Thich Nhat Hanh is, in my opinion, the greatest living Zen master, whose very presence brings peace. He is an example of what one can become if one

July 13, 2015

Christian Standard

Glen Elliott’s Thought Leaders

We asked 35 Christian leaders, “Who is the influencer with the biggest impact on your life and ministry?” Most of these leaders listed several influential thinkers, writers, innovators, and leaders more of us should get to know. This response is from Glen Elliott, lead pastor with Pantano Christian Church, Tucson, Arizona. ________ God has used a long list of people to influence me in different seasons of my life, but Henri J.M. Nouwen“”a man I never met””may have had the greatest impact. Nouwen was a Catholic priest, but a reader might rarely sense that; perhaps it”s why he was read by non-Catholics

July 13, 2015

Christian Standard

Laura Buffington’s Thought Leaders

We asked 35 Christian leaders, “Who is the influencer with the biggest impact on your life and ministry?” Most of these leaders listed several influential thinkers, writers, innovators, and leaders more of us should get to know. This response is from Laura Buffington, teaching pastor with SouthBrook Christian Church, Miamisburg, Ohio. ________ Wendell Berry: His poetry, stories, and essays on knowing our place and living in place reshape the world for me every time I read him. Christena Cleveland: Her work on loving through differences is truthful and painful in all the correct ways. Lee Magness: I”m indebted to many teachers

July 11, 2015

Christian Standard

Better Together

By Jennifer Johnson More than 4,000 churches close every year, many because their dwindling attendance can”t support a senior minister or the rising costs of aging buildings. While simply closing their doors may be the best option for some, Creswell Christian Church made a different decision, choosing instead to initiate a merger with Mountain Christian Church.  Today the majority of Creswell”s families are enthusiastic Mountain members, working together to honor the past and build for the future in new ways that neither could have accomplished alone. This article tells how that happened. Creswell Christian Church a 55-year-old congregation in Bel

July 10, 2015

Christian Standard

Bert Crabbe’s Thought Leaders

We asked 35 Christian leaders, “Who is the influencer with the biggest impact on your life and ministry?” Most of these leaders listed several influential thinkers, writers, innovators, and leaders more of us should get to know. This response is from Bert Crabbe, lead pastor of True North Community Church, Bohemia, New York. ________ The biggest influence on my life with regard to leadership is Andy Stanley, North Point Community Church, Alpharetta, Georgia. I”m sure I won”t be the only one to mention him. This guy is the walking definition of “thought leader.” His preaching is great, but his leadership podcasts are

July 10, 2015

Christian Standard

Nate Bush’s Thought Leaders

We asked 35 Christian leaders, “Who is the influencer with the biggest impact on your life and ministry?” Most of these leaders listed several influential thinkers, writers, innovators, and leaders more of us should get to know. This response is from Nate Bush, lead pastor with New City Church, Albuquerque, New Mexico. ________ Very few communicators can seamlessly weave the biblical text, its psychological implications, and its place in the contemporary world like Tim Keller. Many years ago, while I was at Reformed Theological Seminary and teaching in my first ministry, I discovered Keller”s course “Preaching the Gospel in the Post-Modern World”;

July 10, 2015

Christian Standard

Kerry Allen’s Thought Leaders

We asked 35 Christian leaders, “Who is the influencer with the biggest impact on your life and ministry?” Most of these leaders listed several influential thinkers, writers, innovators, and leaders more of us should get to know. This response is from Kerry Allen, an evangelist and executive director with Person to Person Ministries, Hillsboro, Ohio. ________ The greatest blessing in my life is to have a personal and intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. This relationship is not by accident or coincidence. It is the result of numerous individuals God has brought into my life who have taught me, loved me, and

July 6, 2015

Christian Standard

All God”s Children: Loving Our LGBTQ Friends As We Love Ourselves

By Sean Palmer I love gay people. For many, it”s surprising to hear a Christian minister say that””especially an Evangelical minister from a fundamentalist background and with fundamentalist theological training””but I do love them. I really can”t help it. And I don”t love people because I”m a saint. I love them because I know so many by name. I know Jesus asks me to love everyone, but I must be honest; I have trouble loving people I don”t know. A plane crashes in Asia, and I”m saddened for the families of the dead, but I don”t grieve. I don”t love

July 4, 2015

Christian Standard

Five Ways Churches Can Maintain a Faithful Gospel Witness in a Changing Legal Culture

By Christiana Holcomb The Constitution”s freedom of religion guarantee may not be enough to protect your ministry from litigation. But these steps will help. Editor’s note: This article, written before the Supreme Court gay marriage decision, offers strategies even more urgent for churches to adopt today. America is in the midst of a seismic cultural shift in matters of faith, family, and freedom. More than 35 states now issue same-sex marriage licenses. An increasing number of scholars and judges insist that the First Amendment protects only the freedom to believe””not the freedom to live out those beliefs. At least one state

June 27, 2015

Christian Standard

The Softball Sermon

By Daniel D. Schantz My father had a magical way with men. In his 87 years, my father led a host of men to Christ and guided several into the ministry. I think it was because Dad was more than just a preacher. He was first and foremost a truly fine man. Like Jesus, Dad was both godly and human, and men could identify with that. On Sunday, Dad was “the preacher,” but at Friday night church softball, he was just “Ed.” On Sunday my father dressed like a prince. The navy blue suits preachers wore in the 1950s seemed

June 26, 2015

Christian Standard

From Generation to Generation

By Jon Weatherly How can the older generation pass along its faith to the younger? History””even biblical history””shows this is always a perilous proposition. And yet here we are, all these millennia later, still lifting up his name. A review of the Bible”s record can encourage us that it will be true again long after we have passed.  I am a baby boomer, barely. Too young for Woodstock or the Vietnam draft, I watched from the safety of childhood and early adolescence as older boomers turned on, tuned in, and dropped out to create the infamous generation gap. Today, as

June 25, 2015

Christian Standard

‘Jeopardy’ Brings Generations Together

By Becky Ahlberg Back in 1995, Anaheim (California) First Christian Church made the choice to be a multigenerational congregation. That goal has been manifested in a variety of ways, including keeping our families together in worship, having a midweek family night, and seeking out multigenerational experiences. One of our most enjoyable (and rewarding) activities has been our seniors banquet. It was birthed back in 2001 when our youth sponsors were blown away by the generosity of our seniors in helping provide camp scholarships. Our seniors have always been willing givers for our children; student ministries and camps, both winter and

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