March 1, 2024
The Restoration Movement: A History of Separation
Exploring the pivotal issues that gave rise to two major divisions (and a number of smaller ones) . . .
Series: Featured
March 1, 2024
The ‘Only God’ Story of Mountain Christian Church
A 200-year-old church in the Northeast bursting with life, vibrancy, growth, and impact!
March 1, 2024
Oldest Independent Christian Churches and Churches of Christ
A listing of Independent Christian Churches and Churches of Christ started before 1860 . . .
The Solomon Foundation’s Impact
A bottom line measured in outreach, church attendance, and baptisms . . .
January 1, 2024
Weeds in My Garden
HOW A SERMON SERIES ON MENTAL HEALTH BROUGHT HEALING TO A CHURCH A perceived need among church leaders and church members led to a survey on mental health, which led to a dynamic and transformative sermon series. By Clayton Hentzel During the pandemic, I regularly participated in Zoom calls with pastors from across the country. One of those calls was with The Solomon Foundation. Early in the pandemic, Doug Crozier, the CEO of TSF, put counselor Dr. Wes Beavis on retainer. Dr. Beavis briefly shared some mental health tips on each weekly call. He provided everyone with a little help
January 1, 2024
Irreplaceable: How One Church Responded to the Crisis of Youth Suicide
A church, a school system, a community, and a production company joined forces to expose the lies that lead to teen suicide.
January 1, 2024
Investing in Your Leader’s Mental and Emotional Health
By Tim Harlow It’s worth pointing out that I was not asked to write about a deep doctrinal issue, or leadership, or how to respond to a difficult social problem. No, I was asked to share about the benefits of therapy for Christian leaders. I own it. I needed therapy. I need therapy. I have had very few seasons of my life when I had my stuff together. In fact, I wouldn’t be where I am today without the occasional counseling help I’ve received, specifically from the good folks at Blessing Ranch Ministries. I’ll share a specific example from a
January 1, 2024
A Recovery Ministry that Works
By Jim Dennis “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10). What comes to mind when you hear the word recovery? Perhaps your first thought takes you to people with addiction issues. The alcoholic who can’t get his act together who rides a motorized bike around town because of his multiple DUI convictions. Or the emaciated drug addict with sunken eyes. These are just two of the stereotypes recovering people and recovery groups have dealt with for years. Perhaps you envision groups
January 1, 2024
The Best Investment I’ve Ever Made
Experiencing Growth and Community in a Covenant Group By Chad Goucher In my life, I have made some good investments and some bad investments. Let me begin by telling you about one of the really bad ones. I made what was perhaps my worst investment when I was in college. I took out a student loan and used the funds to purchase a membership at a local golf course. It’s the truth. I was in Bible college, and I obviously wasn’t majoring in finance. I loved golf and wasn’t fond of the classroom so—at the time—it made perfect sense to
January 1, 2024
Soul Care Covenant Groups Explained
THIS IS A SIDEBAR TO CHAD GOUCHER’S ARTICLE, “THE BEST INVESTMENT I’VE EVER MADE.” _ _ _ By Alan Ahlgrim What is Soul Care? The model we follow at Covenant Connections for Pastors is typically 4-3-2-1: four leaders (and one experienced facilitator), meeting over three years, twice a year in retreat, and once a month by Zoom or phone calls. This model allows honest, transparent, and even vulnerable sharing as relationships deepen through the consistent devotion of a disciplined community. The group is not out to “fix others” or even to hold others accountable; rather, the commitment to “be close”
January 1, 2024
Tin Man Ministries: Helping Leaders Live from the Heart
Part of the problem people suffer lies in the fact that we tend to compare “our insides” to everybody else’s “outsides.” Compiled by Justin Horey, Jim Nieman, and Shawn McMullen There’s nothing the unbelieving world loves more than to see church leaders succumb to temptation and experience a moral failing. But it’s not just the unbelieving world. The church has been known to eat its own. Christianity Today, for example, produced a popular multipart series of podcasts called “The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill” that focused on the spectacular collapse of a Seattle-based megachurch and its founder/leader Mark Driscoll.
January 1, 2024
How Should Christians View Gender Dysphoria?
By Rubel Shelly Stated in the most basic terms, sex is an objective category defined by empirically discernible and set-at-birth qualities, whereas gender is a subjective self-perception and option for the presentation of oneself to others. The former is biological, while the latter is psychological. The former states who a person is in terms of bodily taxonomy, and the latter offers what a person may feel about one’s placement in the world’s social structures. A biological male with a high-pitched voice, shorter-than-average height, and/or wearing a pink shirt is still male. A biological female whose voice has a lower pitch
January 1, 2024
The Chemistry of Mental Health
By Dr. Wes Beavis The church has shown a growing openness to conversations about mental health. I have been privileged to speak on the subject “Faith and Mental Health” at many Restoration Movement churches across the United States. Recently, Clayton Hentzel of The Crossing in Quincy, Illinois, developed a teaching series called “Weeds in My Garden” that has become a tremendous resource to Restoration Movement churches across the nation. It is encouraging to see churches tackle the subject of mental health. But I am aware of an underlying concern among believers that Christian theology and doctrine are being replaced by
November 1, 2023
The Advent of Jesus into a Wicked World
By Michael C. Mack Each Christmas I faithfully sing the hymn . . . though I question the historical accuracy of the words. Silent night, holy night! All is calm, all is bright. . . . As I read the biblical accounts, I imagine the atmosphere surrounding Jesus’ birth as something other than silent, calm, and bright. More like clamorous and chaotic. The streets of Bethlehem are bustling as people from across the region arrive in their ancestral hometown to register for Caesar Augustus’s census. Joseph and Mary walk wide-eyed through throngs of fellow Jews from King David’s line hectically looking
November 1, 2023
‘As I Have Loved You’
What Loving Others as Jesus Loved Us Looks Like—and the Difference It Makes
November 1, 2023
Staying True? (A Christian Standard Report on Our Colleges)
College Presidents Answer Key Questions on Scripture, Sexuality, and Women in Ministry
November 1, 2023
Why Some College Presidents Were Hesitant to Respond to Our Survey
This is a sidebar to the article, “Staying True? (A Christian Standard Report on Our Colleges)” _ _ _ By Chris Moon To answer or not to answer. That was a question 23 college presidents faced upon receiving a Christian Standard survey asking about their institution’s views on biblical inerrancy, human sexuality, and women in ministry. The survey was sent to presidents of colleges affiliated with the Restoration Movement. In the end, 16 presidents responded. Seven did not. Multiple presidents who responded to the survey said they grappled with the decision because such topics are controversial. Proclaiming one’s views about
November 1, 2023
Survey: Full Responses from Christian College Presidents
This lengthy post carries the full responses from Christian college presidents to our survey asking them about their institution’s views on the topics of biblical inerrancy, human sexuality, and women in ministry. . . .
November 1, 2023
Fighting for Relationships: Striving for Unity in Politically Divisive Times
By Ben Cachiaras Shortly before his recent unexpected passing, my friend, Christian Standard editor Mike Mack, asked me via email: “How can we love one another in a culture where there is so much sharp disagreement? . . . Would you write something on the challenge of fighting for relationships?” Before his untimely death, the burden on Mike’s heart—and likely many of our hearts—was to see Christ followers navigate the nasty culture wars, the lack of civility, and the political polarization to live out faith in God-honoring ways. “How do we disagree without hating?” he asked. Indeed, some people now
November 1, 2023
How to Lead with Love . . . Without Compromising Truth
By Ben Simms “How can we love people without compromising truth?” This is a complex and challenging question, yet Jesus demonstrated it throughout his ministry. In a world that increasingly seems to want to bring down the church and challenge the teachings of Jesus, we must seek to love. As culture wages war with the truth, we are constantly bombarded with messages that run counter to how Scripture calls us to live. One of our primary purposes on earth is to love people toward the kingdom of Jesus. The culture wars, while significant, can be a way for Satan to
