Series: News

Open Arms Provides Hope for Kids

By Jennifer Johnson Open Arms provides homes, care, and education for children of all ages who have been neglected and abused. Most of all, Open Arms provides hope. The ministry, located in Switz City, Indiana, started as the Indiana Christian Children”s Home by a Johnson University grad named Bill Tucker more than 40 years ago. Today, Open Arms not only runs “The Miriam Home” for abandoned, abused, and troubled teenagers, but also provides training and support for foster parents and educational opportunities for young adults. “The core of this ministry has always been the children”s home because there”s such a

May 30, 2016

Degrees of Change

By Jennifer Johnson It”s common knowledge that the Internet has transformed traditional approaches to higher education. Although one out of every three academicians considers online learning to be inferior to face-to-face instruction (according to SEO.com), millions of undergrad and graduate students enroll in online classes each semester, and the National Center for Education reported recently that 22 percent of United States graduate students study exclusively online. Many schools have also realized class schedules and degree programs must become more flexible to attract growing numbers of nontraditional students. These changes, along with the growing desire among growing churches to raise up

May 29, 2016

Relationships, Trust Key to Race Car Ministry

By Jennifer Johnson Some people are missionaries in their own countries, sometimes moving to an urban area and putting down roots in new neighborhoods. Others are missionaries to countries far away, where they speak a different language and learn to love new foods. David Storvick is a missionary, too; although he hasn”t left his home in Indianapolis, he”s ministering to a specific group with its own culture and customs””race car drivers. “I spent the first half of my life as an engineer,” Storvick says. “I enjoyed that work, but after I got into racing in 1999 and started working as

May 28, 2016

Church & Ministry Church Growth

Church Fulfilling Its Vision to Go Deeper

By Jennifer Johnson Three years ago, North Boulevard Church of Christ (Murfreesboro, TN) embarked on a “20/20 Vision” initiative to accomplish several goals, including paying off the loan on their current building, devoting themselves to prayer, growing in diversity among their church body, planting more churches””and developing a School of Christian Thought to help people think critically and with a Christian worldview. “The leadership team voted unanimously to pursue this vision, and we began praying about raising the funds and casting the vision for our church,” says RenÃ©e Sproles, director of the school. “We needed $1.6 million to accomplish it

May 27, 2016

Barreto Lectures on ‘Race, Ethnicity, and the Bible Today’

To whet your appetite for our June issue, which features articles that provide insight and encouragement about racial reconciliation and the church, and which also features 11 leaders who tell about how they are bridging the racial divide, we thought we would recommend a video on the subject filmed earlier this week at Emmanuel Christian Seminary at Milligan College in Tennessee. Dr. Eric Barreto, Weyerhaeuser Associate Professor of New Testament at Princeton (NJ) Theological Seminary, spoke Monday night as part of the Myron Taylor Lectureship. His topic was “A People for God”s Name: Race, Ethnicity, and the Bible Today.” The

May 18, 2016

Johnson University Partners to Extend Reach

Johnson University, with campuses in Tennessee, Florida, and online, is launching Johnson University ExtendEd. Through ExtendEd sites, the University will provide Christian education opportunities to more students on a localized basis. Initial launch locations include Indianapolis, IN; Phoenix, AZ; Louisville, KY; and Knoxville, TN. Starting in August 2016, Johnson University ExtendEd will offer affordable, local business and ministry degrees at partner locations around the country. Partners include Southeast Christian Church in Louisville; Christ”s Church of the Valley in Phoenix; Knoxville Interdenominational Bible Institute in Knoxville; and Connection Pointe Christian Church, Greenwood Christian Church, Indian Creek Christian Church, Park Chapel Christian

May 13, 2016

Discovering What They Really Need

By Jennifer Johnson Several years ago, before moving from Orange County to Nashville, I managed to get tickets to a taping of The Ellen DeGeneres Show in Los Angeles. After leaving home at 5 a.m., standing in line for two hours, and then killing another six hours before the show started, I scored a third-row seat for one of the most interesting and fun experiences of my five years in California. The theme of the day was “As Seen on TV,” and the show included Richard Simmons hawking his food steamer (and wearing those short, short shorts, which are even

May 12, 2016

One Girl Sends Help to Children Around the World

By Jennifer Johnson Kendall Kemerly was only 8 years old when her dad, Jason, told her about a little girl raising money for water wells in Africa. “I realized I could do that, too,” she says. “I decided to ask for money that Christmas to buy cows for needy people in other countries.” Today Kendall is 13, and Kendi”s Cows has raised enough money to give several cows to children in India. Although cows are considered sacred there and are not slaughtered for meat, their fresh milk gives vital nutrients to children with HIV and AIDS. “These kids need the

April 24, 2016

Johnson, Lilly Investing in Teens

By Jennifer Johnson Johnson University (Knoxville, TN) is just starting its Future of Hope Institute, but has already been encouraged””and funded””by a $600,000 grant from the Lilly Endowment. The institute is the latest initiative in Johnson”s ongoing work to invest in the Knoxville community. Each summer for the next three years, 30 local high school students will participate in the program, which includes emphasis on spiritual, personal, and professional development. “After a weekend retreat in the mountains, there will be a week of classroom work,” says Dr. Gary David Stratton, dean of the School of Arts and Sciences. “We”ll focus

April 21, 2016

Family & Relationships

No Way to Know

By Jennifer Johnson One of the worst things you can say to a stepparent who is trying to deal with the complications and stresses of a blended family is, “You knew about the kids when you got married.” When you say this you are implying, of course, that because we knew these children existed and had spent time with them, we should also have known what it would be like to share a bathroom with them and teach them to drive and enforce deodorant-wearing rules and be the only adult home when they run over a bunny with the lawn

April 21, 2016

Holy Unintentional

By Jennifer Johnson It all began with a few sandwiches back in 2002. “My wife and I became convicted about whether we really loved poor people,” says Dallas Stamper. “We decided to make sandwiches and give them away to a few people on the beach. We ended up connecting with four homeless men and talking to them for three hours””which surprised them, I think, because they were used to people giving them food and then hurrying away. We asked if we could meet them again the next week, and that was the beginning of People In Need. The second week

March 21, 2016

Putting Life Back in the Community

By Jennifer Johnson For more than 125 years, the house at 516 N. Wall Ave. in Joplin, MO, has reached local residents for Christ””as a private home, as the first campus of Ozark Christian College, and later as the home of North Joplin Christian Church. Today, this historic building continues to facilitate ministry as the Neighborhood Life House, a nonprofit organization that builds relationships with community members and shares the love of Jesus through a variety of programs for children and families. “A group of us at College Heights Christian Church had been working with a ministry to an apartment

March 5, 2016

Restoration Movement History

Lexington Celebrating Restoration 200 on May 15

Restoration 200“”billed as a revival of unity, liberty, and love””happens May 15, 3:00 p.m., at the Courthouse Square Plaza in Lexington, KY. The gathering will celebrate the 200th anniversary of the first Restoration Movement church in Lexington. After the Cane Ridge Revival near Paris, KY, in 1801, Christians across the commonwealth shed their denominations to imitate the church of the New Testament. They said, “We are not the only Christians, but are Christians only.” This revival of the church, often referred to as the Second Great Awakening, brought to light the detriments of separation in the church, and emphasized the

March 4, 2016

Devotionals

What Are You Waiting For?

By Jennifer Johnson As you read this it”s March, but I”m writing it in December. The lead times for print mean I”m usually penning reflections for an issue months before it goes to press, so although you are currently preoccupied with final preparations for Easter, I am in the middle of Advent. I have a love/hate relationship with this part of the church calendar. Christmas is my favorite time of year, but that”s because most of us jump right to the celebrating. Music, lights, special events, too much special food””we go right from Thanksgiving to Emmanuel. But Advent reminds us

March 4, 2016

“˜A Dream in My Heart”

By Jennifer Johnson It all began with a sermon. Several years ago, Josh Howard, director of leadership training at Central India Christian Mission, was listening to a message called “Born to Reproduce” by Dawson Trotman, founder of The Navigators. “He made a comment that it was possible for us to reach the entire world in 10 years,” Howard says. “I thought, There”s no way that”s true. So I got out my calculator and did the math. I realized that if every person reached one person every six months, in 15 years we could reach all of India”s 1.1 billion people.

February 5, 2016

New Testament Theology & Bible

Praiseworthy Parable Continues to Inspire

By Jennifer Johnson As a professor of Greek and New Testament at Milligan College in Tennessee, Lee Magness taught about the exegesis and theology of the parable of the prodigal son for decades. But a few years ago he taught a class on “Jesus and the Arts” with his wife, Patricia Magness, and began noticing the great works of art this parable has inspired through the years. “It sparked an idea””to teach a course that approached the parable from both an exegetical and artistic perspective,” he says. “I also added in some work on the sociological background of the story

February 4, 2016

Grandview Sharpens Focus for Local Missions

By Jennifer Johnson In 2013, the people of Grandview Christian Church (Johnson City, TN) changed the way they thought about local missions””and how they reached out to their community. “In the past we had a “˜community concern committee” that made decisions about which local nonprofits to support,” says Brandon Waite. “But we gave small amounts of money to many different groups and didn”t really build relationships with any of them. We decided to be more intentional about reaching our area and really partnering with a few local organizations.” The new initiative was called JCServe, and Waite was hired to serve

February 1, 2016

Church & Ministry Church Leadership Ministry Training & Education

Dear Aspiring Minister . . .

By Jennifer Johnson You may be attending a Bible college, a Christian college, or a Christian university. That school may be affiliated with the Restoration Movement, with a mainline denomination, or with no particular group at all. And you may dream of someday serving as a preacher, a youth pastor, or a worship leader. No matter where you are in school, no matter what your background, and no matter what your dream, consider this letter my virtual attempt to shove all five feet and two inches of myself in your face (or your shoulder) and demand you stop saying things

January 21, 2016