Series: Featured

Church Life

A Building for ‘Outsiders’

By Patrick Furgerson The prophets of the missional church movement tell us it”s a great thing to get out of our buildings and quit spending money to build new ones. “Brick and mortar””bad. Spend your money serving people””good.” Is this a legitimate dichotomy? What if a building serves people? Not your people, but people who are far from God. Imagine a church of 1,000 completing an $11 million building that doesn”t even include an auditorium for worship. New Life Christian Church in Chantilly, Virginia, did. Here”s how. Here”s why. Here”s what has happened as a result. Last year New Life

October 28, 2012

Church Life

Welcoming the Newcomers

By Melissa Brandes Too late we realized our failure. Communion was being served, and we hadn”t adequately prepped our unchurched, international guests. The Communion plate came around, and our guests stared at the two circles of unleavened bread. Bewildered, but trying to honor us the best they could, they picked up the circles and took a big bite, as if they were eating a sandwich. My mother and I and those in the pew behind us looked on in shock. Our guests, aware that something was wrong but not sure what, looked around, uncomfortable and embarrassed. We motioned for them

October 27, 2012

Church Leadership

The 3 R”s to Launching & Landing in Ministry

By Susan Lawrence It”s a great idea! You know it can have an impact on people. You”re excited to get it started. Others sense your excitement as you share with them, and they get excited, too. You”re ready to blast off with the power of a space shuttle. You”re in your comfort zone. Dream big, and shoot for the moon! You make a few plans, share what you imagine the beauty of the view will be once in flight, and press the LAUNCH button. The problem is what gets launched must also land. Without a plan for the journey, the

October 26, 2012

Church & Ministry Church Leadership Preaching

A Place to Stand

By Daniel Schantz A church pulpit is just your basic wooden box, but sometimes it can turn into Pandora”s box. A good pulpit should provide a desktop for the preacher”s notes, hide his bodily imperfections, and give him something to lean on when his knees give out. Desk The first thing I do when I step up to the pulpit is to clean house. A pulpit is a magnet for everyone”s junk, from lost-and-found keys and cellphones, to old sheet music, Bibles, and offering baskets. Some days it looks like a table at a rummage sale. A country church

October 21, 2012

Bible Study Theology & Bible

A Bible Study Program for Everyone

By Carmen Trenton No longer is Bible software reserved for scholars and geeks””even for original language study. Logos 4 has so advanced the art and ease of electronic Bible study that pastors, teachers, professionals, and laypersons alike can now jump aboard. At the Seminary of Lincoln (Illinois) Christian University, our MDiv students have long used Logos to empower exegesis. But for the past eight years, we have taught non-MDiv students to responsibly interpret Scripture using Logos. Here”s how Logos makes a difference. Basics What is Logos? Logos 4 is the latest version of Logos Bible Software. It is a

October 20, 2012

Google Is My Best Friend: Resources for Bible Teaching (Part 5)

By Chuck Sackett “What”s in a name?” “What does the Bible say about God”s honor?” “Taking God”s name in vain.” Those recent searches resulted in an abundance of usable illustrative materials. Which is my way of saying, I don”t use the web for the substance of the sermon, I use it for developing creative means of communicating what the text has revealed through the hard work of Bible study. GoogleÂ is not the only search engine, but it represents a category of tools every preacher must become adept at using. The fact that the web abounds with material is both bane

October 20, 2012

Many Resources””Use Them Well!: Resources for Bible Teaching (Part 4)

By Caleb Kaltenbach My favorite tool for sermon writing isÂ Logos Bible Software. As far as the exegesis of a sermon, nothing can beat it. Logos works quickly and has multiple resources within the program. Not only that, you can download the program onto your smartphone, enabling you to access Logos no matter where you are. A couple of years ago I joinedÂ PreachingToday.com. Some of the best illustrations I”ve used (that aren”t personal) come from this great website. It costs a little each month, but it is worth it. Type in your passage and you”ll find many illustrations to choose from.

October 20, 2012

YouTube for YouTeaching: Resources for Bible Teaching (Part 3)

By Joseph C. Grana The venues of media are mind-boggling, mind-numbing, and virtually limitless. At our fingertips is a virtual world filled with lessons and illustrations to assist our preaching and teaching. I have chosen to briefly discuss the use ofÂ YouTube, which I find to be educational and entertaining. My students are usually riveted to the relatively short videos available on a myriad of topics. Name a topic””you will find it onÂ YouTube. The quality may not be the best because many presentations are produced at home. The advantage is that the topic is seen as well as heard. And in

October 19, 2012

My Two-Pronged Strategy: Resources for Bible Teaching (Part 2)

By Bert Crabbe It”s a widely held maxim among students of church growth that churches tend to rise and fall on their preaching. While it”s not the only important thing, it seems evident a church can get a lot of things wrong and still thrive if the preaching is good. Conversely, a church can do everything else right and still fail if the preaching is bad. So how do preachers keep coming up with great ideas? Assuming the preacher is already spending regular time in God”s Word, I think a two-pronged strategy works best. First, read WIDELY. Begin with periodicals.

October 19, 2012

The Web World I Travel: Resources for Bible Teaching (Part 1)

By Greg Lee I preach . . . so the Internet has become a great friend of mine. Yes, it”s fraught with potential pitfalls. You should avoid wasting time there viewing bad content or downloading a full sermon as a “Saturday Night Special.” But the web at its best is a place I use for the following: Living in the Present Throw away your shoebox of news clippings set aside as illustrations you might useÂ someday. Isn”t it almost always better to have an example from last Tuesday instead of 1998? No shockers here:Â cnn.com,news.google.com,Â people.com,Â espn.com, and the website for a local

October 15, 2012

Addiction Ethics & Moral Issues

Sticky Conversations: Alcohol

THIS IS THE FIRST IN A SERIES OF FIVE “STICKY CONVERSATIONS” By Tim Harlow In matters of opinion, beer?Â “In matters of faith, unity; in matters of opinion, liberty; in all things, love.” It”s such a beautiful sentiment, but how do we know which is which? There wouldn”t be 30,000 different sects of Christianity in the world if it were really that easy. Consider the subject of alcohol. It”s always been confusing to me because, as I grew up in the Christian church, I was always told alcohol was bad/sinful. But Paul told Timothy to drink some wine for his

October 14, 2012

Hope, Despair in India: Find This Book and Read It! (Part 13)

By Jim Tune A Fine Balance Rohinton Mistry St. Louis: Turtleback, 2001 I have given copies of A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry to more of my reading friends than possibly any other book I have read. All the cruelty and corruption, dignity and heroism of India is startlingly captured and made real to the reader. Set in 1975 in an unnamed city by the sea in India, this eye-opening novel looks at the lives of four strangers who have fallen, almost instantly, from a middle-class lifestyle to the ranks of the poor due to sudden economic upheaval. These

October 14, 2012

Epic and Eternal: Find This Book and Read It! (Part 12)

By Charlie W. Starr Epic: The Story God Is Telling and the Role that Is Yours to Play John Eldredge Nashville: Thomas Nelson,Â first published in 2004 When I read this issue in past years, I complained about the lack of fiction books among the choices, even to the point of writing a letter about it to Christian Standard. I”m a literature teacher and a writer. I understand the power of stories. I believe Christians should look more to the imagination for its importance in teaching truth and reaching people. So I”m somewhat self-shocked by the fact I”m choosing a

October 13, 2012

All About Worship: Find This Book and Read It! (Part 11)

By Dale Reeves Â The Air I Breathe:Â Worship as a Way of Life Louie Giglio Colorado Springs: Multnomah, 2009 I”ve had a calling on my life to be a lifelong worshipper of God since I was a little boy sitting in Sunday evening services at Clovernook (now LifeSpring) Christian Church in Cincinnati, Ohio. Back in those days, David Lang led us in singing the great hymns of the faith””all of the verses””and to this day it”s amazing how the lyrics of those hymns are tucked away in my brain. They often rise to the surface during a season of seeking

October 13, 2012

Michael C. Mack

The Vitality of Christian Community: Find This Book and Read It! (Part 10)

By Michael C. Mack The Relational Way:Â From Small Group StructuresÂ to Holistic Life Connections M. Scott Boren Houston: TOUCH Publications, 2007 The model of the church today stands in stark contrast to the church of the New Testament. In this book, Scott Boren calls for a new restoration””a restoration of the “relational way” that is at the very heart of God and his design for his church. The ideas Boren proposes are revolutionary within our culture; indeed, they are counter-cultural, which is exactly what he intends and proposes in this book. If you are not directly involved in small groups,

October 13, 2012

Reading for Enrichment: Find This Book and Read It! (Part 9)

By Marshall Hayden Â It”s great advice! “Read broadly” we have been told. It will enrich your life, your thinking, and your preaching. It”s true. But until retirement came, the stack of interesting books””purchased but unread””just kept getting taller. Now there is the fine advantage of carrying a little electronic thingamajig, rather than a bag or briefcase full of books. Maybe you will start taking that good advice earlier than I did. You may be like our remarkable friend, Roy Lawson, whose reviews you read on the pages of Christian Standard. He is not yet retired. Well, twice retired, but

October 12, 2012

Exploring Authentic Manhood: Find This Book and Read It! (Part 8)

By Eddie Lowen Man Alive: TransformingÂ Your Seven Primal NeedsÂ into a Powerful Spiritual Life Patrick Morley Colorado Springs: Multnomah, 2012 Several people who narrowly escaped the collapse of the World Trade Center towers 11 years ago credited their safety to “a man wearing a red bandana.” The man approached several bewildered people and said, “Follow me. I can help you get out.” He carried one woman on his back down 17 flights of stairs. When the rubble was cleared from where Tower One once stood, the body of a young man wearing a red bandana was found among the bodies

October 12, 2012

An Exciting Family Devotion Resource: Find This Book and Read It! (Part 7)

By Matt Lockhart Discovering God”s Story Jim Eichenberger Cincinnati: Standard Publishing, 2010 Have you ever wrestled with wanting to do a family devotion but struggled with what to use or how to get started? If so, do I have a reading recommendation for you! Discovering God”s Story is a great book to help families engage with God”s Word. It”s a beautifully illustrated, full-color hardcover that provides a chronological overview of major Bible stories and themes in 100 short and visually rich vignettes. While a great reference book for any Bible student, I can tell you from firsthand experience that

October 12, 2012