Series: Featured

November 17, 2013

Christian Standard

JUST ONE: Motivation + Ingenuity = Clean Water

TRUE STORIES OF WORLD CHANGERS WHO STARTED ALONE: This month we share stories of individual Christians who couldn”t wait for others to tell them when to help the hurting and share the gospel. Their clear vision of a pressing need pushed them to do what they could as soon as they could. WATERDROP SHOP / www.thewaterdropshop.com   By Shannon Garcia Josh Weingart was 19 and a freshman at Illinois State University when he felt he needed to get out of his comfort zone and do something overseas. A short-term trip in the United States had opened his eyes to missions, but

November 16, 2013

Christian Standard

JUST ONE: Dancing in Freedom

TRUE STORIES OF WORLD CHANGERS WHO STARTED ALONE: This month we share stories of individual Christians who couldn”t wait for others to tell them when to help the hurting and share the gospel. Their clear vision of a pressing need pushed them to do what they could as soon as they could. RAPHA HO– USE / www.raphahouse.org   By Stephanie Freed Ten years ago, I walked into a junkyard in Cambodia, near the Thai border, and came face-to-face with an enslaved child for the first time in my life. People who lived in and operated the junkyard owned her. She was

November 15, 2013

Christian Standard

JUST ONE: Swish!

TRUE STORIES OF WORLD CHANGERS WHO STARTED ALONE: This month we share stories of individual Christians who couldn”t wait for others to tell them when to help the hurting and share the gospel. Their clear vision of a pressing need pushed them to do what they could as soon as they could. HOOPS OF HOPE / www.hoopsofhope.org By Doug Priest Austin Gutwein was just 9 years old in 2004 when he saw a DVD clip about a starving girl named Maggie who lived in Africa with her aged grandmother. Maggie”s parents had died of AIDS. For weeks, Austin could not get

November 14, 2013

Christian Standard

JUST ONE: Walking, Swimming, Running

TRUE STORIES OF WORLD CHANGERS WHO STARTED ALONE: This month we share stories of individual Christians who couldn”t wait for others to tell them when to help the hurting and share the gospel. Their clear vision of a pressing need pushed them to do what they could as soon as they could. ACTIVEWATER / www.activewater.org / www.rundarenrun.com   By Daren Wendell Am I living? I mean, really living? I remember that thought crossing my mind as I sat with my Bible, drinking my morning coffee. As a youth pastor at a large church in Wisconsin, I had to admit, I

November 11, 2013

Christian Standard

A Conversation with Doug Priest

Meet Our Contributing Editors: This month we talk with Doug Priest, executive director of Christian Missionary Fellowship International, about missions trends, short-term missions trips, and the worldwide multiplication of urban squatters. Interview by Jennifer Johnson How did you get started in missions? My parents went to Ethiopia as missionaries before I began high school. We first heard about it when I was a sixth-grader, and I said, “Oh boy, I get to be Tarzan!” My younger sister was very excited because she wanted a monkey. (She actually did have a pet baboon for a while.) I attended a very good boarding

November 10, 2013

Christian Standard

A New Framework for Mission

By Gayla Congdon It was about four years into our work in Mexico that we decided to start building homes in the Tijuana dump. We recognized that most of the children living at the Tijuana Christian Mission were from families squatting there in makeshift houses. We designed a house that could easily be built and dismantled, so in case the families were ever kicked off the land, they could take the materials with them. That became Amor”s framework for mission as more than 17,000 homes have been built these past 29 years. Over the years our vision has expanded to

November 9, 2013

Christian Standard

Are We Being Paternalistic When We Talk about ‘Missions’?

By Michael Sweeney There are problems with the word, and many are beginning to talk about them. We do well to understand what some hear when we say “missions.” But that doesn”t mean we should curtail cross-cultural evangelism. “That”s not “˜PC”!” Have you ever had to deal with that “politically correct” criticism after saying or writing something that inadvertently offended someone because of a set of connotations you did not share? My reaction, when this has happened, has ranged anywhere from frustration to despair to paralysis. How does one even begin to keep up? As a missionary and teacher of

November 8, 2013

Christian Standard

A Pastor Among the Persecuted

By Darrel Rowland Ajai Lall once preached with AK-47s pointed at him. Another time he had 200 bullets fired into his bedroom for sharing the gospel. Many of his fellow Christians in India have been killed, raped, had their homes and church buildings burned, and/or were driven from their jobs and schools because of their faith. “We are a microscopic minority,” Lall says. “Either you are a committed Christian or you are not. You don”t compromise. You live out your faith.” When Lall looks to the United States, he sees how values and standards have slid as committed Christians become

November 7, 2013

Christian Standard

Persecuted Church, Prevailing Church

By Todd Nettleton “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). It”s not hard to see the truth in Jesus” words when you consider what our Christian brothers and sisters are enduring around the world. In Egypt, the “Arab Spring” was supposed to bring about more freedom and more democracy, but under the Muslim Brotherhood, persecution of Christians actually increased. While many Christians were pleased to see the recent overthrow of President Mohammed Morsi, Voice of the Martyrs (VOM) contacts say radical Muslims actually blame Christians for Morsi”s loss of power.

October 28, 2013

Christian Standard

Becoming the “˜Go-To” Church

By Jennifer Johnson “We were doing missional before it was cool,” says Becky Ahlberg with a smile. In 2005, Anaheim (California) First Christian Church decided to stay in its rapidly changing neighborhood, connect with its residents, and work strategically to be part of the solution. Since then the church has elevated its community profile and even founded My Safe Harbor, a nonprofit ministry that empowers low-income single moms with relationships, life skills training, and personal development. Through its own relationship building, the church also has strong partnerships with a variety of community agencies, the school district, city government, and the

October 25, 2013

Christian Standard

“˜What a Shame . . . God Didn”t Make You a Boy”

By Betty L. Aldridge I heard the words nearly 60 years ago, and I have never forgotten them. As I searched for God”s will in my life, the words triggered many questions. It has not been an easy search and, even today, I still have questions, but I give God glory for leading me and for the experiences he has given me. This is my story. I want to share how God has used me. First, I should explain the context for those words. As a high school student, I was asked to preach a sermon at an all-day regional

October 24, 2013

Christian Standard

What I”m Learning from the Suffering so Close to Me

By Dave Smith When I left for seminary more than 27 years ago, I had stars in my eyes and wings on my feet. I knew God was calling me to vocational ministry. After fulfilling my obligation to the United States Army, I resigned my commission and moved to Chicago. And what could go wrong? In my Disney World Discipleship, Candy Land Christianity view of the world, life was going to be easy. After all, why wouldn”t God protect me from difficulties since I was now training for pastoral ministry? And to sweeten the pot for God, I told him

October 21, 2013

Christian Standard

The Ministry of Christian Scholarship

By Thomas Scott Caulley Nearly 20 years ago, Mark Noll, then a professor at Wheaton College, began his book, The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind, with a simple and provocative assertion: “The scandal of the evangelical mind is that there is not much of an evangelical mind.”1 He described his work as a “cry of the heart” on behalf of the intellectual life by one “who embraces the Christian faith in an evangelical form.”2 Compared to other religious groups, Evangelicals fare poorly on the intellectual scene. One symptom of this problem, according to Noll, is they support no specifically Evangelical

October 19, 2013

Christian Standard

You Are Called to Plant a Church

By Carl Kuhl The No. 1 rule of church planting is dead wrong. This rule is repeated in books, at conferences, at boot camps, and everywhere you turn. I believe God has put thousands of people in places across this country and millions around the globe for the purpose of rising to the occasion of planting a church. However, there is one huge problem: they are told they can”t do it. The first rule in church planting is that you must be called. And the people who say this seem to have Scripture on their side. They tell of God”s

October 18, 2013

Christian Standard

Finding the Person Who Can Plant

By Justin Horey One of the most popular axioms in church planting is that new churches are the most effective means of reaching the lost. It is often the first defense given to the skeptic who questions the need for more new churches in North America. But among church planting leaders, another idea is just as prevalent: the most important factor in determining the success of a church is the church planter himself. Brent Foulke, mobilization executive at Stadia, puts it this way: “The single most indicative factor for a church plant”s survival and health is the capable leadership of

October 17, 2013

Christian Standard

Multisite Done Right

By Ed Stetzer Multisite appears to be the new big thing. Multisite churches have been regarded as the cure for all of the church”s ills, the most evil plague on the body of Christ, and everything in between. Opinions of multisite churches run rampant, but facts are often ignored in evaluating what has undoubtedly become the new normal for large and growing churches””and even for some small churches. The number of multisite churches is growing rapidly. In the 1950s, there were just a few. In 2012, there were more than 5,000 different churches with two or more geographic campuses. Sixty-two

October 14, 2013

Christian Standard

Partnering to Plant in Calgary

By Rick Scruggs On May 7 we formalized a journey started 12 months earlier! Unlikely partners bound together by a document, motivated by a love for others, and captivated by a vision that requires we work together and pray for healthy offspring. Planting churches and getting married have some remarkable similarities! This wasn”t the first time Restoration churches in Calgary, Alberta, had attempted a network church plant. Our first plant started strong in 2007 but suffered an untimely demise because of a moral failure. It caused significant discouragement in the ranks. A follow-up effort in 2009 was impeded by an

October 14, 2013

Christian Standard

New Signs of Hope in Eastern Canada

By Jim Tune Eastern Canada (Ontario and the Maritime provinces) was the seedbed for what finally became known as the Restoration Movement in Canada. Long before the thoughts of Barton Stone were circulated north of the 49th parallel, and several decades before Alexander Campbell visited the Canadian churches, a simple movement””similar, but not identical to that in the United States””took root in Canada. It was an appeal to model the church according to the simple doctrine and polity of the New Testament, to pursue unity, and to discard denominational labels and creeds. Scottish “restorationists” arrived upon the shores of New

October 13, 2013

Christian Standard

Big Dreams in Small Places

By Philip Claycomb Our first coaching appointment was a bit awkward. Greg Garcia picked me up at the airport in Houston and started driving to the community where he was starting his new church. Along the way I saw indicators of growing suburbs: construction, traffic, and new rooftops as far as the eye could see! This is a great place to start a church, I thought. But Greg kept driving out into the country””way out in the country! As we pulled into Needville, Texas, population 3,000, I asked myself, How do you tell someone he”s chasing the wrong dream? I

October 12, 2013

Christian Standard

Transforming Our Region

By Glen Elliott Pantano Christian Church exists in a city and region that is facing huge challenges. Over this past spring, there were four reports that captured my attention. We did not fare well in any of these reports. According to Barna Group research, Tucson, Arizona, is the 17th least Bible-minded city, the 11th most unchurched city, and the 12th most post-Christian city. Finally, we are the sixth-poorest city in the nation. We have a community that is far from God and struggling, and that is not OK with God. It must not be OK with the church either. How

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