Series: Featured

An Interview with Ravi Zacharias

By David Faust Why have you devoted so much of your life and ministry to Christian apologetics? I come from India, where the Christian faith is clearly a minority.1 When you believe something out of deep conviction that has cost you quite a bit and is not in the mainstream, then you have to answer the questions that arise. There is no escaping it, internally or externally. You are constantly surrounded by deep-seated questions of truth. I myself had many questions as a young person, and came to Christ on a bed of suicide at the age of 17. Thus,

June 14, 2014

A Day with Ravi Zacharias

By David Faust Visiting someone in the hospital doesn”t seem like a big deal. For many of us, it”s a routine part of ministry. About 50 years ago in India, a Christian named Fred David visited a forlorn 17-year-old in the hospital. The young man David visited was hospitalized because he had tried to end his own life by drinking poison. Fortunately, the attempted suicide failed and the teenager was going to recover. Fred handed a Bible to the patient”s mom, showing her the page containing John 14:19, where Jesus says, “Because I live, you also will live.” The young

June 13, 2014

What”s So Distinctive about the Christian Faith?

By Donald S. Tingle The world is full of religions. If Christianity is just one of many faith traditions, what makes it so special, so distinctive from all other religious claims? The answers Christian have given to that question often fit somewhere between two extremes. But somewhere in the middle lie the answers we need to show followers of other religions why Christianity alone truly leads us to God. On the extreme right some might say, “Christianity is true; therefore all non-Christian religions are false. Non-Christians are so thoroughly blinded by Satan that nothing worthwhile can be found among their

June 12, 2014

John Polkinghorne: A Bottom-Up Thinker

By C. Robert Wetzel It must have been sometime in the mid-1980s that I saw the notice that Dr. John Polkinghorne would be giving a lecture at the University of Birmingham. What I did not know when I set out for the university that day was the special occasion that brought John Polkinghorne to Birmingham. He was to give an address on the topic of science and religion to the Joseph Priestly Society, the national professional organization of chemists. Polkinghorne was himself a nationally recognized mathematical physicist who had shocked his colleagues at University of Cambridge when he announced

June 11, 2014

Who Needs Apologetics?

By Chad Ragsdale While attacks abound on faith in general and Christianity in particular, some claim the time for apologetics is past.Â But I say apologetics will always be relevant and essential for two reasons: the nature of our faith, and the nature of our call. “Apologetics is a wonderful thing,” the guest speaker said. “If you live in the 1950s. And in Kansas.” It was an awkward moment. And not just because the crowd included a large number of Kansas students sometimes sensitive about their home state being used as the universal standard for lameness. But also because it

June 9, 2014

Science or Faith?

By Tim Stafford I”ve interviewed 11 scientists who, while disagreeing withÂ each other, share the conviction that a person can embrace both science and faith in God. These days, almost every young American believes he has a choice to make. He can choose faith or he can choose science, but he can”t choose both. It”s extremely hard to choose faith over science, though some do. After all, if you breathe the air around any academic institution, you imbibe the belief that all the good jobs involve math and science. Watch college commercials during bowl or tournament games. Don”t they always””always“”include a

June 8, 2014

Book Reviews Reviews

A Truce in the Creation Wars? (A Book Review)

By Jon Weatherly Creation versus evolution, young earth versus old earth, design versus chance, God versus Darwin””few issues stir as much controversy for and among Christians as the question of origins. The recent debate between Ken Ham, founder of Answers in Genesis, and Bill Nye, PBS”s “the Science Guy,” is but the latest in a series of flashpoints going back at least to the celebrated Scopes “monkey” trial of 1925. In the aftermath of these events, Christians sometimes feel they”ve been surrounded by mortal enemies who must be fought at all costs. Too often what some Christians mount as a

June 7, 2014

The Late Great Ape Debate (Part 2)

By Bayard Taylor What should a Christian believe about God and creation? Some Christians hold firmly to one view, but not all Christians agree about which view is correct. Some have rejected God or the Bible as they”ve studied the science surrounding creation theories. And others, confused by the controversies, just try to avoid the subject. Here, adapted from Bayard Taylor”s book, is a survey of five main creation views, with arguments for or against each of them. (We published Part 1 yesterday — CLICK HERE to read it. And the entire book is available for download fromÂ Standard Publishing’s website.)

June 6, 2014

The Late Great Ape Debate (Part 1)

By Bayard Taylor What should a Christian believe about God and creation? Some Christians hold firmly to one view, but not all Christians agree about which view is correct. Some have rejected God or the Bible as they”ve studied the science surrounding creation theories. And others, confused by the controversies, just try to avoid the subject. Here, adapted from Bayard Taylor”s book, is a survey of five main creation views, with arguments for or against each of them. (The entire book is available for download from Standard Publishing’s website.) Part 1: Two Kinds of Creation Almost 90 years out from

June 5, 2014

Mission & Evangelism

Seven Hours Ahead and Seven Meters Away

By Tom Moen Nairobi, Kenya, is seven time zones ahead of the East CoastÂ of the United States. The last time I was in Kenya this startling thought occurred to me: Have we made it easier to go seven hours ahead on a mission trip to “be Jesus” to people from another culture who speak a different language than to go seven meters away to our next-door neighbors””the people with whom we share both language and culture””to “be Jesus” to them? I will start by saying I am a proponent of short-term mission trips, though I believe we should call them

June 4, 2014

Salvation Theology & Bible

Time to Reconsider Conversion?

By Doug Priest I believe a person is incorporated into the body of Christ at the point of baptism. But if we focus only on baptisms””especially in resistant cultures””we may miss other progress that is leading a person toward salvation. It happened yet again. A missionary working in Thailand among the highly resistant Thai Buddhists received an annual questionnaire from one of his supporting churches. The church, rightly trying to be a responsible steward of its funds, wanted to determine the success of the ministry. The questionnaire included some helpful questions, like the health of the family, the spiritual growth

May 28, 2014

Church & Ministry Church Leadership

A Conversation with Ben Cachiaras

Interview by Jennifer Johnson Meet Our Contributing Editors: The senior pastor of Mountain Christian ChurchÂ in Joppa, Maryland, shares his passion about Christian witness in a post-Christian culture,Â especially how we relate to gays and lesbians. From an ongoing series of interviews with CHRISTIAN STANDARD”s contributing editors. At our recent meeting of CHRISTIAN STANDARD”s contributing editors, you described the 21st-century American church as an exilic community. What did you mean by that? There was a time when Israel was large and in charge, enjoying prominence in the promised land. But the tide turned significantly. Eventually they were chased out of town and

May 26, 2014

Church Leadership

The NFL Draft and Staff Leadership Development

By Mike Faherty One thing I admire about the National Football League is its draft process. The NFL always has a fresh crop of talent flowing into its league. Older players move on and new ones take over. I think the church could learn something from this talent development process. Not too long ago, we had some trouble in church. I couldn”t put my finger on the problem, but things were getting sloppy. Solid departments and initiatives were slowly going downhill, and quality standards were heading in the wrong direction. As the executive pastor, it is my job to make

May 23, 2014

Care & Counseling Grief & Suffering

How You Can Help at a Time of Loss

By M. Ben Williams A funeral is a hard time. Family and friends are dealing with shock and sadness that accompany grief. Their loved ones are also dealing with confusion. What do I do? We have all heard the phrase, “If there is anything I can do, let me know.” In fact, most of us have said those words. Such offers typically are not helpful. The sentiment may be, but the statement is a step short of actually doing something. When dealing with the throes of grief, we do not always know what we need. It takes an enormous amount

May 18, 2014

Church Leadership

Dynamics of a Deadly Church

By Brien Sims Most people know the recluse spider (also known as the fiddleback), the king cobra, and sharks are dangerous and deadly critters capable of seriously wounding and even killing. Ironically, the humble hippo rarely makes the list of deadly animals. There”s something about them . . . they just seem too cute and lumbering. A quick Internet search, however, reveals hippos ferociously defend their territory and kill more people than sharks each year. Yes, cute baby hippos grow into animals that will attack and kill when approached, antagonized, or separated from their young. If you enter a hippo”s

May 17, 2014

Church & Ministry Church Growth

How BIG Is Your Small Church?

By Ryland Brown I struggled with numbers for quite a while. But I”m serving more effectively now that I”ve gained a better perspective on size. I preach for a church that averages 65 people, and most days I like it. We are a small church with the typical small church problems. We struggle with getting the nursery staffed. If a couple of families are out of town on any given Sunday, we miss them. Until recently, we had no one to run the soundboard and would hope for the best during Sunday services. When someone comes to our congregation who

May 16, 2014

Church & Ministry Church Growth

The Measure of a Church

By Will Thomas All churches count “noses” and “nickels.” That”s a good thing. Most of the time, attendance and finances provide a helpful barometer of what”s happening. But other factors also matter. Churches count what they do because they can. The harder-to-measure goals may too often remain hidden beneath the surface. Some churches look beyond the obvious. All churches could. In fact, looking beyond the obvious is probably one of the common characteristics of larger, growing churches. They know numbers for the sake of numbers seldom lead anywhere. Their leaders know a big church needs a big foundation. Churches that

May 15, 2014

Mission & Evangelism

The Church”s Mission in Today’s World

By Robert Reese “During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “˜Come over to Macedonia and help us”” (Acts 16:9).Â In Paul”s vision, a European begged him to share the gospel, which Paul was eager to do. Twenty centuries have passed since then. The world is much different, but has the church taken notice of just how different? What should the church be doing in today”s world? If we had been living a hundred years ago, we would have a totally different view of the church*. At the Edinburgh Conference on World

May 14, 2014