Series: News

April 10, 2019

Christian Standard

Church Follows John’s Pathway to Easter

By Jim Nieman Greenwood (Ind.) Christian Church has been building up to Easter through a 21-day study of the book of John, including four sermons, daily Bible readings of one chapter of the Gospel each day with companion devotions—both written and video—shared via Facebook, and an emphasis on prayer. GCC’s approach with “Pray 21” has been both simple and surprisingly comprehensive. It’s a series capable of being carried out by much smaller churches, says Matt Giebler, senior minister of Greenwood, which averages about 1,200 for worship each week. “We’ve all been pleased with the overall level of engagement,” Giebler says.

April 10, 2019

Christian Standard

Pastor Donates Kidney to Church Member (Plus News Briefs)

Compiled by Chris Moon and Jim Nieman A Christian church pastor in Virginia donated a kidney to a member of his church. James “Beaver” Terry, pastor of Belmont Christian Church in Christiansburg, Va., gave his kidney to church member Eric Nowlin, whose health was failing after years on dialysis, according to the Roanoke Times. Terry first considered donating his kidney to Nowlin while reading Bob Goff’s Everybody Always, which challenges Christians to help those in need—even if it means giving up one of your kidneys. The more Terry looked into the idea, the more things fell into place. A key factor was his blood type—A

April 3, 2019

Christian Standard

Church Bridges the Gap Between Sundays with Facebook Live

By Jim Nieman Plainfield (Ind.) Christian Church is “bridging the gap” between Sundays and working to connect with people who might otherwise never enter their church through its Weekday Chat on Facebook Live at noon every Wednesday. “We recognized that the front door of the church is no longer the front door of the church,” says Kyle Ferguson, director of media arts with Plainfield, whose team proposed the program to the church’s leaders. The show serves multiple purposes, including allowing two of the church’s ministers to sit down weekly to “dig deeper” into the topic they covered the previous Sunday

April 3, 2019

Christian Standard

‘We’re Not Going to Lose You, Brother!’

Redemption Christian Church in Jasper, Ind., played a crucial role in setting a young man on a path toward Christ—and toward a productive ministry to people in need called L4G (Living for God). “Our mission statement is trust God, be humble and show love,” Mo Peraza told the DuBois County Free Press. Peraza was born in El Salvador and grew up in South Central Los Angeles before moving to small-town Indiana. As a teen, he started selling drugs, which was the “beginning of a downward struggle.” He hung out with the wrong crowd, bounced from job to job, was arrested

April 3, 2019

Christian Standard

Greenview Christian Church Celebrates 150 Years (Plus News Briefs)

Compiled by Chris Moon and Jim Nieman Greenview (Ill.) Christian Church celebrated its 150th anniversary over the weekend. A special service Sunday included visits from previous ministers and then a luncheon. On Saturday, there was a joint service with nearby Sweetwater Christian Church, which started GCC in 1869. The service featured hymns from 150 years ago and a presentation on the history of both congregations. GCC senior minister Andy Nichols told The Courier, “There’s a reason that roughly half of the members have been almost lifelong members. [It’s] because they feel like they are part of a family once they are part of the church.” _ _ _ News

March 27, 2019

Christian Standard

A Fortuitous Announcement for Stadia (Church Planting)

Stadia Church Planting marketing manager Josie Barton had some fun with Google’s announcement that its revolutionary cloud-based gaming system would be called . . . you guessed it: Stadia. “These past few days, we’ve been having fun introducing unsuspecting gamers to our church planting mission,” Barton wrote on Stadia’s website Sunday, noting, “it’s easy to use the wrong handle in the twitterverse.” Cloud-based gaming could mark the end of console-based systems that have ruled since the early 1980s.  If gamers are excited for Stadia, Barton opined, “We need to be as excited [because] Stadia Church Planters is even better.” She then listed several

March 27, 2019

Christian Standard

Lincoln Student Profiled in Forbes (Plus News Briefs)

A recent article in Forbes features Karis Hortin, a student-athlete at Lincoln (Ill.) Christian University, who started a business as part of an entrepreneur program during her senior year in high school. Hortin says God’s been answering prayers throughout the process of starting and operating Jars of Hope, a pre-mixed meal company. The Forbes article states: “Hortin [says] it was her mother’s suggestion to donate part of Jars of Hope’s proceeds to charity. After praying on the topic, however, she decided to do more, donating all her profits to the orphanage where she lived until age 9. After fundraising to cover travel expenses, Hortin visited the orphanage in

March 27, 2019

Christian Standard

New Churches Planted in Texas and California

Two new churches have started in recent weeks. Venture Christian Church, Katy, Texas, held a four-week grand opening from Jan. 20 to Feb. 10 and saw 151 different people come to its services.  Lead planter Nathan Boldt wrote that Venture’s intent is to “reach people with no connection to a church.” He added, “If I were to share one stat, it would be that about 80 percent of our crowd are unchurched. . . . We are thrilled at what God has been up to!”VCC is a plant by Nexus Church Planting and is also supported by several Texas congregations.  Further west, Luminous

March 20, 2019

Christian Standard

How Could a God of Love Allow the Christchurch Massacre?

Jeff Vines, lead pastor of Christ’s Church of the Valley, San Dimas, Calif., is a former 10-year missionary to New Zealand who has shared some challenging thoughts in the aftermath of the mass shootings at a mosque and Islamic center Friday that left 50 dead and dozens injured. Vines—who was in New Zealand when the shootings occurred—wrote “How Could a God of Love Allow the Christchurch Massacre?” for the Vision Christian Media website. VCM broadcasts Christian programming throughout the South Pacific via a large network of radio stations. Vines’s sermons are broadcast on those stations twice each day. Because he was in New Zealand when

March 20, 2019

Christian Standard

Did You Hear What They’re Preaching About?

Preachers can sometimes experience creative lulls, so in the interest of providing inspiration, but not duplication (we hope), here are what some of our churches have been preaching about in recent weeks. By the way, most sermons from these series are available at the respective churches’ websites (and we’ve provided links). ________________________ Christ’s Church of the Valley (Phoenix, Ariz.) aTypical “Society has taken an interesting turn on what’s considered typical; activity-packed schedules, strained relationships, overextended budgets, and piles of debt. If this is what typical looks like, then now is the time to break the mold! Join us for our

March 20, 2019

Christian Standard

Milligan Changing Alcohol Policy (Plus News Briefs)

Compiled by Chris Moon and Jim Nieman Milligan College is loosening its alcohol policy for students.  In a letter to the university community, Milligan president Bill Greer announced the campus would remain dry, but “rather than restricting off-campus alcohol consumption among all traditional students, the college’s new policy allows our students to respect state law in terms of the legal age of consuming alcohol.”  Greer wrote that the new policy demonstrates the university’s trust in students and allows them to learn personal responsibility as it pertains to alcohol use.  “I can’t stress enough that the reason behind me recommending this policy change

March 13, 2019

Christian Standard

Inaugural Hayden Lectureship Scheduled March 26-28 (Plus News Briefs)

Compiled by Chris Moon and Jim Nieman Emmanuel Christian Seminary at Milligan will host its inaugural Hayden Lectureship later this month honoring the legacy of former Christian Standard editor Edwin V. Hayden. The lectureship March 26-28 will feature Dr. Dwight N. Hopkins, an eminent African-American and global theologian who is Alexander Campbell Professor of Theology at the University of Chicago Divinity School. Hopkins’s lecture series, “Being Human: Wealth, Leadership and Values,” will include the following three presentations: “Wealth and Faith in Black American Experiences” (11 a.m. March 26), “Black Liberation Theology and Global Cross-Cultural Leadership” (7:30 p.m. March 27), and

March 13, 2019

Christian Standard

Stone-Campbell Journal Conference Set for April 5, 6

The 18th annual Stone-Campbell Journal (SCJ) Conference will take place next month at Johnson University Tennessee in Knoxville. The conference will be from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. April 5, and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 6. The theme “Acts and Paul: Another Look” will be developed by Craig Keener, F. M. Ada Thompson Professor of Biblical Studies, Asbury (Ky.) Theological Seminary; Jerry Sumney, professor or biblical studies, Lexington (Ky.) Theological Seminary; and David Fiensy, emeritus professor of biblical studies, Kentucky Christian University in Grayson. Keener will present “Interpreting Acts: The Value of Cultural Background” and “Interpreting Romans: The

March 6, 2019

Christian Standard

The Stories Behind Eight Uniquely Named Churches

By Jim Nieman Church names aren’t what they used to be. Today’s church planters are choosing names that signify movement, evoke an emotion or a feeling, and capture the imagination. Even long-established churches are eschewing “old-style” church names in favor of names that convey something spiritual or otherwise meaningful. We wrote to ministers of a number of uniquely named churches across the country and invited them to tell us how and when their church decided on its name. We asked, “Why did you name your church what you did?” We also welcomed hearing interesting anecdotes about their church name. Eight

March 6, 2019

Christian Standard

Milligan Freshman Honored for Volunteerism (Plus News Briefs)

Compiled by Chris Moon Milligan College freshman Chase McGlamery won a big award for his service to his community and church. McGlamery received the Governor’s Volunteer Stars Award; he was one of 108 honorees this year. McGlamery completed more than 300 hours of community service during 2018, even while acclimating himself to life at Milligan, where he is majoring in communications. In total, he completed more than 1,000 hours of community service during high school. He began volunteering at age 8. Much of his work has involved technology. “Since I was in elementary school, teachers would ask me to help

March 1, 2019

Christian Standard

The Most Comprehensive and Accurate List of Christian Churches and Churches of Christ Available Anywhere

UPDATE/MAY 18: The ChurchLink database is in the final testing phase. We hope to have it up and running—and ready for you to use—within the next few days. Thank you for your patience and understanding. ____________ (Christian Standard’s article from the April issue) The Center for Church Leadership and Christian Standard Media Partner to Produce an Updated—and Updatable—Digital Database By Jim Nieman  It’s taken longer than either the Center for Church Leadership or Christian Standard Media had hoped or previously promised, but a partnership to provide an updated—and updatable—online database of Christian churches and churches of Christ called ChurchLink should

February 27, 2019

Christian Standard

‘Run the Race’ an Exercise in Perseverance for Filmmaker

By Chris Moon Last Friday was more than a decade in the making for Trey Brunson. The communications director at Southeast Christian Church in Louisville watched as a film he helped produce, Run the Race, opened in theaters nationwide. The movie was coproduced by Tim and Robby Tebow and marks their first venture into filmmaking. “It doesn’t even seem real,” Brunson told Christian Standard. Brunson and his friend Jake McEntire were students in 2004 at Dallas Baptist University when McEntire came up with the idea for the movie—about two brothers trying to get out of their hometown and the working

February 27, 2019

Christian Standard

News Briefs for Feb. 27, 2019

Ken Idleman will speak at the Mississippi Christian Convention March 29 and 30 at the Coliseum Civic Center in Corinth, Miss. “Dream Small” is the theme. Go to www.midsouthchristian.edu or contact Chuck Hassell at jt*********@*****ok.com for more information. _ _ _ The School of Business at Kentucky Christian University will host its ninth annual Leadership Conference April 4 in Grayson. The conference allows students and area business professionals to learn the art of leadership from a variety of leaders. Participants will include retired minister Bob Russell, Amazon launch and expansion manager Cassie Kiser Brodie, and Center for Disease Control public

February 20, 2019

Christian Standard

Wrestling Champ Gives Shout-out to His Church (Plus News Briefs)

Norfolk (Neb.) High School wrestler Conner Cowling capped a dominant season with a state championship over the weekend, and he credited his church with encouraging him along the way. The senior lost his mother and two grandparents during the last few years. Cowling told the Norfolk Daily News that at one point in high school he started to get into trouble and feel depressed. “But my friend . . . introduced me to Fuel—a youth program at my church, First Christian Church [in Norfolk], and I discovered God and Christianity, which really helped me,” Cowling said. Cowling hasn’t missed a youth

February 13, 2019

Christian Standard

Church Coping with Suicide (Plus News Briefs)

A few weeks after losing one of his pastors to suicide, Rusty George of Real Life Church in Valencia, Calif., spoke on radio station KHTS’s “Aging With Power” program about coping with the suicide of a loved one. “It was shocking for all of us, and it was devastating,” George said of campus pastor Jim Howard’s suicide Jan. 23. George said Howard had struggled with a mental health issue and was on and off medication for years. “We react the way everyone reacts with something like this—with sadness, with a bit of anger, a bit of guilt. And we just

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