Series: Featured

June 20, 2013

Christian Standard

A Conversation with Jeff Faull

Meet Our Contributing Editors: This month we begin a series of interviews with CHRISTIAN STANDARD”s contributing editors. What they have to say about the church, the ministry, our fellowship of churches, and anything else on their minds will challenge and interest our readers. Their insights and questions amply illustrate why each of these volunteers is such a valuable part of the CHRISTIAN STANDARD team.   Interview by Jennifer Johnson QUESTION: You and I both sit in on these conversations about the future of the Restoration Movement, and it seems many times they rehash the same topics and complaints. Let”s go

June 10, 2013

Christian Standard

The Power of One

By Todd Bussey Simple, humble people emboldened with great faith and strong conviction give each of us a hint about what we could accomplish. They demonstrate the power of one to make the world a better place. And they have four traits in common. “¢ A young man starts a shoe company. For every pair purchased, a second pair is given to a child in need. The idea explodes into a global phenomenon. “¢ A mother of four puts her young children to bed and spends the evening on her laptop as an “online” missionary to another mother living in a

June 9, 2013

Christian Standard

Our Missional Experiment

By Greg Hubbard It was shared life with a purpose. We laughed together. We cried together. We prayed together. We ate together. When somebody around us had a need, we spontaneously served them together. Meaningful spiritual conversations were frequent. We caught a glimpse of kingdom life as we had rarely experienced it before. In the early 2000s, a church known as Apex came to experience all of this in Las Vegas, Nevada. Quite a journey had brought us to that place. Apex began as an outreach of Canyon Ridge Christian Church as a means to reach young adults. At first

June 8, 2013

Christian Standard

Is Missional Working?

By Stephen Sams At Axis Church in Mason, Ohio, we don”t use the word missional. It”s not that we are opposed to the word, it”s just that we try to use words that people understand. When you are trying to reach people who don”t know Jesus, you must use words that communicate and create mental pictures. If people can”t define it or explain it, then they can”t carry it out or act on it. Nearly everyone in America has a concept of church. They think they understand it. They have predetermined definitions of concepts like discipleship, evangelism, and worship, largely

June 7, 2013

Christian Standard

Beyond Missional

By Jonathan Williams Clara thought she would die. The water from the East River traveled inland to her house on Wolcott Street. It started in her basement and kept rising. Clara and her husband went into their attic and stayed there throughout the night, praying that the water level in their home would subside. When they came down in the morning, their house was ruined. The water had receded and taken everything with it. Most of her possessions were washed right out of the house, stolen by Superstorm Sandy. And that”s where we met Clara, standing outside on a muddy

June 6, 2013

Christian Standard

Missional Plant

By Chris Travis “I think this is what church is supposed to be like,” a young actor said to me. Between us were two empty bowls of chili. I smiled. We cracked jokes about the diversity of our group of 20 people. It looked like we had hired models to make our group look as perfectly diverse as possible. There was a white couple with three daughters; a Dominican single mother with two young children; a couple in their 60s who had been married for decades; an African-American woman; a Korean woman and her New York-native husband who was a

June 3, 2013

Christian Standard

Missional Blessing

By Jon Ferguson God”s approach for changing the world is a “bless” strategy. And for members of Community Christian Church in and around Chicago, change is happening as they apply the strategy day by day.  For as long as I can remember, Community Christian Church”s mission has been “helping people find their way back to God.” And we believe that mission is accomplished as we: REACH people who are far from God, RESTORE God”s dream for the world, and REPRODUCE the mission in others. If you were to survey the people of Community on any given weekend, the majority could

June 2, 2013

Christian Standard

Missional Trip

By Jennifer Johnson In 2005, the leadership team at Southland Christian Church, Lexington, Kentucky, read The Externally Focused Church and believed God was calling them to more intentionally move their ministry into the community. The church began hiring new staff, starting new initiatives, and beginning the long-term process of changing the church culture. Since then, in many places missional has become a buzzword for everything from the occasional community service day to a total rethinking of the church”s purpose. At Southland, however, the mission is clear; over the last eight years it has developed significant goals, determined specific geographic and

June 1, 2013

Christian Standard

Missional Revolution

By Darrel Rowland RiverTree Christian Church in Massillon, Ohio, has not tried to become just a little more missional. Led by visionary minister Greg Nettle, more than three years ago the church made a revolutionary commitment to a missional strategy for all its ministry. The result is breeding influence and disciple-building in a way Nettle believes is vital for the very survival of the church in America. Just a few minutes after Greg Nettle”s message and the closing song, a man with an idea pulls him aside in the hallway. “You know what? I know all these remodelers,” the contractor

May 30, 2013

Christian Standard

Where Missional Is Moving

By Matt Smay Missionaries””they were the devout adventurers who traveled the world helping people from other cultures learn about God. As a boy I admired their pictures posted on the bulletin board of our church lobby, and followed the strings that connected their faces to pins on a map that identified their mission fields. I was impressed. I grew up in church. It was a small, traditional, suburban congregation in Southern California started in the 1940s that ministered to a sprawling city. Like many in the postwar industrial boom, my paternal grandparents relocated with their four young kids from middle

May 30, 2013

Christian Standard

Moving Beyond Average

By Phil Scott   Of the more than 350,000 churches in America, 85 percent are stagnant or declining in membership. This means that “average” churches are actually unhealthy. Healthy growth comes to churches that rise above being typically average. The need of the day is unaverage churches. Average congregations are led by a small number of key older men and some women, paid and volunteer, who replaced previous older leaders. The strong influence of the charter members, founding fathers and mothers, or the founding pastor may be unknown or gone. The first generation is made up of the founding mothers

May 27, 2013

Christian Standard

Foundation Problems

By Karen Rees A mainland Chinese construction company learned a hard lesson about having the right foundation. The company had nearly completed several high-rise apartment blocks across the border from Hong Kong. A number of the units had already been rented. Then a storm blew in and, to the horror of all, one of the buildings toppled over. Several workers were killed or injured. An investigation determined the accident was caused by foundation problems. The builders had constructed 10-story high-rises on foundations that were suited for one- or two-story houses. The storm exposed the truth. The foundations couldn”t handle the

May 26, 2013

Christian Standard

The Envelopes, Please

By Daniel Schantz   I have enjoyed a lifelong romance with envelopes. When I was just a boy, my preacher-father supplied me with several boxes of leftover offering envelopes to play with. I have been in love with envelopes ever since. About the size of an index card, these little envelopes gave me much pleasure. We lived in Springfield, Ohio, at the time, the city where I was born. My cousins lived there, too, and on Saturdays we held a secret club meeting in a dusty corncrib, organized by my oldest cousin, Carol. She appointed herself president of the club, but the purpose of the

May 18, 2013

Christian Standard

A Defining Moment for a New Downtown Church

By Kent E. Fillinger 9/11/11 was the 10-year anniversary of the tragic day when terrorists attacked our nation, but it also marked the launch of Discovery Church at a YMCA in downtown Bristol, Tennessee. Discovery Church witnessed its own tragedy four months later when a well-known, well-loved, 16-year-old student who served as a church greeter and children”s ministry volunteer died in a car accident. Tony Marr, lead pastor, said this tragic event was a defining moment for his new, small church. Marr said the church had to determine how to minister to this key family in the congregation and help

May 18, 2013

Christian Standard

New Home Brings New Growth

By Kent E. Fillinger What a difference a new home makes! Legacy Christian Church of Senoia, Georgia, started in March 2009 with a core group of 59 believers. Legacy met in an inconveniently located elementary school for three and one-half years. The church desired a permanent home and looked for an existing warehouse or storefront to meet its needs. The church”s leaders looked at 66 different properties but couldn”t find one with the right combination of space and parking. Eventually God opened the door to a great 20-acre property two counties away. The new location had excellent visibility from a

May 17, 2013

Christian Standard

Former Attorney Makes a Case for Christ

By Kent E. Fillinger Brian Kruckenberg didn”t grow up in a Christian home, but he attended church several times as a senior in high school. A teacher shared the gospel with him, and he began to understand it. But he finished high school, college, graduate school, and law school without giving faith in God much thought. After a friend invited the young attorney to church, Kruckenberg soon committed his life to Christ and started studying the Bible and serving in several ministries. Kruckenberg”s passion for volunteering in his church continued to grow over the next four years, and in 2004

May 16, 2013

Christian Standard

Growing in the Cape

By Kent E. Fillinger A mother church and a legacy church provided a great foundation for the birth of Crosspoint Christian Church in Cape Coral, Florida, in January 2006. Jeff Swearingen, lead pastor at Crosspoint, was on staff at First Christian Church in Fort Myers when discussions about a church plant started. He initially resisted the idea of planting a church, but God eventually changed his mind. About 150 people from First Christian committed to help birth Crosspoint. The church also benefited financially from a local Christian church that closed, sold its property, and then invested a significant amount into

May 13, 2013

Christian Standard

How a Harley Store Became a Home

By Kent E. Fillinger What do you get when you combine an empty Harley-Davidson store with generous giving? No, this isn”t a bad joke. The answer is a growing church. LifePointe Christian Church, located in Elk Grove, California, launched on February 23, 2003, with a nucleus of about 60 people. It initially met in a local school on the edge of town. The church soon was averaging more than 200 in attendance, and after a few years was averaging more than 300. Then there was some stagnation, said senior pastor Chris Delfs, even though “the congregation loved the church and

May 12, 2013

Christian Standard

“˜If You Build It . . .”

By Kent E. Fillinger “If you build it, they will come” is an adaptation of the famous line from the movie Field of Dreams. This adage doesn”t always apply to churches, but in the case of Academy Christian Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado, its dreams did come true. Academy completed its fourth building expansion project on April 1, 2012, doubling its facility”s square footage and increasing the church”s visibility from the main road. Since then, the average number of weekly guests has increased from four to eight, and average attendance during 2012 increased from 415 to 529 (27 percent). Academy

May 11, 2013

Christian Standard

One Life at a Time

By Kent E. Fillinger Ralph Mehrens served as senior minister at Calvary Christian Church in Bellevue, Nebraska, for 25 years. Mehrens wanted to transition well, so he planned a 15-month succession process and laid a strong foundation to help the congregation follow the next minister. Scott Beckenhauer transitioned from an eight-year youth ministry with the church to the lead minister position in 2008. “I knew the church family and they knew me, so the trust was already built,” said Beckenhauer, who became only the third lead minister in Calvary”s 42-year history. Attendance declined slightly as Beckenhauer gained his footing the

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