Series: Featured

December 15, 2014

Christian Standard

Following Jesus Together in the Inner City

By Stephen Lawson I live in an intentional Christian community called the Lotus House in north St. Louis. When people hear this, sometimes I”m sure they imagine me as an orange-clad Tibetan monk, running a rake through sand making intricate designs. But our name has nothing to do with New Age philosophy or Buddhist-inspired practices. Our house is named after our street, Lotus Avenue. Quite simply, the Lotus House is a community of Christians who are seeking to follow Jesus together by being a faithful presence and a witness to God”s peace in a part of the city known for

December 15, 2014

Christian Standard

Friendship & Poverty

By Stephen Lawson From a certain perspective, my neighborhood looks like a disaster area. Many buildings are vacant and appear to have been bombed out. There are collapsed roofs and precariously leaning walls on many houses. Whole blocks seem to be completely lifeless and abandoned. Nearly every corner has a church, or a school, or a store that is boarded up and closed for good. The streets are littered with broken glass, used tires, and trash. “Urban blight” is what city planners call this””neighborhoods that look like war zones. A better term for it might simply be “visible poverty.” Poverty.

December 13, 2014

Christian Standard

A Biblical View of Poverty

By Mark W. Hamilton A paradox confronting modern Western Christians is this: we who are rich serve a Lord who was poor. At the first Christmas, Jesus and his family did not hang their stockings by the chimney with care. Instead, they haunted stables and fled their home as refugees. Nor did things improve for the adult Jesus, who survived on the generosity of women who embraced his message of the kingdom.  Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor” (Luke 6:20); “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or your body, what you will wear” (Matthew

December 12, 2014

Christian Standard

Uneasy with the Times

By Neal Windham When I grow weary with the poverty that surrounds us, I remember one fact about the One whose birth we celebrate: When Jesus came to earth, he chose to be poor. Defining moments often arrive without warning. Back in my college days, somewhere around 1977, I was returning from work during a pelting thunderstorm when I came across a man who was wandering around in a ditch near the road. He had no raincoat or umbrella, and his hat and clothes were drenched, head to toe. I pulled over, invited him into the car, and asked what

December 11, 2014

Christian Standard

50 Ways Your Church Can Fight Poverty

By Jennifer Johnson Most Christians want to do something to address the problems of poverty. But many of us just don”t know where to start. Here are 50 ideas, shared by 15 Christian leaders from around the world, to help you show the love of Jesus to those who are poor. Almost any of us could try at least one of these strategies.   Get Practical 1. Create a community garden. Each year ours produces thousands of pounds of healthy food that is distributed to hundreds of families in our community who live below the poverty line. They are invited to

December 8, 2014

Christian Standard

Your Privacy Policy

By Chris Jefferson Almost every church and parachurch ministry has a website, and many collect data from those who visit their site.  To manage this information well, the first step””too often overlooked””is a privacy policy. At no time since the Pax Romana have ministries been better equipped to share the gospel and fulfill their mission than in this digital age. Back in the first and second centuries, the intricate road systems of the Romans allowed missionaries””gifted with common Greek and ease of worldwide travel””to connect with cultures far and wide to spread the gospel. Today, digital connectivity provides a new

November 27, 2014

Christian Standard

It’s Good to Be an Alien

By C. Robert Wetzel “Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul”Â (1 Peter 2:11, New International Version ©1984). Many people are convinced of the existence of intelligent life-forms from other planets. Aliens from outer space are a staple in numerous films and television programs. These aliens may take the form of benevolent explorers or, more likely, evil invaders. But according to the apostle Peter, we need not look to outer space for aliens. We can find them in the church. In the summer of 1973, my

November 23, 2014

Christian Standard

Exploring ‘the Call’ to Cross-Cultural Ministry

By Carla Williams Missionaries are normal Christians. They struggle with temptation. Their families are flawed, and they don”t always wake up with a smile on their faces and a song in their hearts. But missionaries are normal Christians who had a moment of faithful obedience. God uses different circumstances and situations to draw his followers into his plans for the nations. He leads his people, but each person chooses how to respond. He calls some who decide to disregard his voice. For others, thankfully, the choice is to step out in trust. Some believers don”t know if they”ve been called

November 22, 2014

Christian Standard

They Are in Prison . . . and We Visited Them

By Gary Armes We trained for five Saturdays to spend four days behind bars with prisoners who discovered new ways to reconnect with God. Seven men from Hickory Valley Christian Church in Chattanooga, Tennessee, joined 40 men from other area churches March 6, 2014, all of them seeking to be obedient to Jesus” call in Matthew 25 to visit those in prison. Our ministry was sponsored by Kairos, an ecumenical, faith-based prison ministry.  We trained for five Saturdays, previewing various talks and reviewing practical suggestions about how we should deal with the prisoners (whom we called “residents”). After many hours

November 21, 2014

Christian Standard

Freedom From Fear

By Jinghong Cai “We, therefore, believe in the inherent dignity of every human being””dignity that no earthly power can take away. And central to that dignity is freedom of religion””the right of every person to practice their faith how they choose, to change their faith if they choose, or to practice no faith at all, and to do this free from persecution and fear.”   “”President Obama On February 6, 2014, President Obama made a remarkable speech at the National Prayer Breakfast. He highlighted freedom of religion as the right of every person to practice their faith free from persecution and fear. It is only

November 20, 2014

Christian Standard

Of Oz and Opportunities

By T.R. Robertson An unexpected career path has opened many doors for this minister to a church and community “down under.” Rob Branham frequently begins his day by playing a game of Jenga with a middle school student. The boy”s teachers were having difficulties dealing with his behavior. He was arriving at school angry nearly every morning because of a troubled home life. So now he stops by the school chaplain”s office for a “pit stop” and a friendly game to help him calm down before classes begin. When Branham began his college journey at his hometown Central Christian College

November 19, 2014

Christian Standard

Journeying Together

By Jennifer Johnson I”m really excited about the 2015 International Conference on Missions. One reason is the president, Jim Tune, asked me to speak. My first sermon was to 1,800 Indian teenagers in a building that could seat 600, the second was for a group of jaded New Yorkers, and now my third will be to a convention hall of a few thousand. I like to focus on easy audiences. But I”m especially looking forward to the convention after talking to Tim Cole at the Virginia Evangelizing Fellowship and learning more about both the church planting emphasis at next year”s

November 17, 2014

Christian Standard

Now They Are Receiving

By Craig and Shirley Woolsey After graduating from Ozark Christian College, we worked for almost three decades in the capital city of Santiago, Chile. When we left the United States, the oldest of our five children was just entering his teens, so we moved into a middle-class neighborhood in Santiago and looked for Chilean schools where some English was spoken.  We found a school, but of greater importance, we realized few of our neighbors had any connection to a church. The higher classes in Chile might have been called an “unreached people group” in the 1970s! Craig began making contacts,

November 16, 2014

Christian Standard

India at a Crossroads

By Abhineeta Matney An April election raises pressing questions, especially for the Christian minority in one of the world”s largest nations. Until a few months ago, the U.S. government boycotted Narendra Modi, the former head of the government in the Indian state of Gujarat. Modi was blacklisted and shunned for his questionably reticent political tactics. He was denied a visa to the U.S. for almost a decade because he allegedly encouraged and/or did nothing to stop the violence that erupted against minorities in Gujarat in 2002. Today Modi is the prime minister of the world”s largest electorate. Hours after this

November 15, 2014

Christian Standard

How Are We Doing with Missions?

We asked five missions leaders in the Christian churches to answer several key questions about missions progress, obstacles, and opportunities: Reggie Hundley is executive director of Missions Services Association, Knoxville, Tennessee. Doug Lucas is president of Team Expansion, Louisville, Kentucky. Doug Priest is executive director of Christian Missionary Fellowship, Indianapolis, Indiana. Greg Pruett is president of Pioneer Bible Translators, Dallas, Texas. Tony Twist is president of TCM International Institute, Indianapolis, Indiana.  What are the most hopeful signs regarding international, cross-cultural evangelism you see in our movement today? Greg Pruett: Many are valuing working among the unreached peoples of the world,

November 10, 2014

Christian Standard

Missions Ministries that Work: Tower Hill Christian Church

By Derrick Ritchie When Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive,” we believe this calling is for not only individual Christians, but the church as well. I confess this is a challenge, because our church will give more than $85,000 to missions this year. There are always things I would love to do with this money inside the walls of our church. Really, I have a long list in my head! But I believe God will bless our local ministry in relation to our generosity to missions and missionaries around the world as we advance his

November 9, 2014

Christian Standard

Missions Ministries that Work: Bright Christian Church

By Jeff Stone Bright, Indiana, is a rural bedroom community located near Cincinnati, Ohio. It has no traffic light or post office, but thankfully, it does have a Skyline Chili. Located in this sleepy town is the Bright Christian Church, a congregation of 1,000 people that has been meeting for 119 years and is continuing to impact the world locally and globally. Bright has always been a faithful mission-supporting church, but over the past several years we”ve stepped up our personal involvement in global missions. Food bagging events with Lifeline Christian Mission created intergenerational participation. In 2009 eight of our

November 8, 2014

Christian Standard

Missions Ministries that Work: Academy Christian Church

By Carol Norris From its beginning in 1973, Academy Christian Church”s leaders and members have emphasized missions. The program”s successes are due, in part, to the formal, documented policies and systems set up to help with decision- making and the ongoing operations of the mission team. These mission policies include a purpose statement, financial and selection policies, and responsibilities of the missionary, the church, and the team. There are also questionnaires for missionaries and organizations that request support; their responses are evaluated against set criteria. Mission support is an integral part of ACC. We believe missionary work is vital to

November 7, 2014

Christian Standard

Missions Ministries that Work: First Christian Church

By Jim Book At First Christian Church, we support missions directly connected with churches of Christ and Christian churches that also value the Restoration Movement plea. The money designated for missions is allocated in three specific areas of ministry. One portion goes directly to Timothys sent from this church who are still directly connected to this church family. We are blessed to have Timothys in South Sudan and Japan, as well as a team preparing to minister in Jordan. A second portion goes to missions directly involved in church planting, discipleship making, and local church leadership training. The third portion

November 7, 2014

Christian Standard

Missions Ministries that Work: Christ’s Church Mandarin

By Jill Thomas We have had great success in missions in the short time I”ve served as local and global outreach director with Christ”s Church, Mandarin Campus, in Jacksonville, Florida. One of our biggest successes in local missions has been in getting many more people involved. Between our neighborhood groups wanting to take on more local projects, and families in the church who want to start serving each month with their children, we”ve seen many new faces serving the community on a more consistent basis. We have also seen more life change because of our missions programs. Several adults and

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