Articles for tag: Alan Ahlgrim

July 16, 2015

Christian Standard

Rick Grover’s Thought Leaders

We asked 35 Christian leaders, “Who is the influencer with the biggest impact on your life and ministry?” Most of these leaders listed several influential thinkers, writers, innovators, and leaders more of us should get to know. This response is from Rick Grover, senior pastor of East 91st Street Christian Church, Indianapolis, Indiana. ________ Wayne Smith, retired minister from Lexington, Kentucky: Wayne is a lifelong friend who taught me that our commission to love and serve people always trumps my own agenda or strategic plan. Leonard Wymore, retired NACC executive director, Johnson City, Tennessee: Leonard and my grandfather were best friends,

December 21, 2014

Christian Standard

Overwhelmed by Christmas, Again!

By Alan Ahlgrim A few unsuspecting shepherds were minding their own business when they were suddenly overwhelmed by Christmas. According to the classic Christmas text in Luke 2, the message and how it was delivered terrified them. An angel appeared. The radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were told in unmistakable fashion that the Savior had been born! The news was stunningly and extraordinarily good. It’s no wonder the angels were overwhelmed when they heard it. Overwhelmed is a great way to describe how many of us feel much of the time—especially at Christmastime. In fact, I suspect

December 2, 2014

Mark A. Taylor

24 Days Till Christmas!

By Mark A. Taylor  No, this is not more pressure to get your shopping done early. Instead, here”s a list of possibilities for making your December a little less hectic and a little more meaningful. You may decide to follow my advice every day from now till the Big Day. But if only a couple of these ideas sound good to you, that”s enough. The point is to refocus, relax, and remember why we”re celebrating in the first place. Today, December 2″”Make a list of several neighbors and decide how you”ll connect with at least one of them during the

July 21, 2014

Christian Standard

Put It in Print

By Rick Jett (From our series “The Best or Worst Advice I”ve Ever Received.”) The best advice I ever received was from Alan Ahlgrim, former senior minister of Rocky Mountain Christian Church in Colorado. About 20 years ago, Alan was teaching one of the graduate classes I was taking at Cincinnati Christian University. One lesson was about personal growth of a leader. He said good leaders are constantly growing. They will read, take classes, attend conferences, and interview other leaders. He explained that growing leaders will set goals. He walked us through an exercise of writing goals and action steps

July 8, 2014

Christian Standard

Bad Sermons, Big Vision

By Alan Ahlgrim (From our series “The Best or Worst Advice I’ve Ever Received.”) One of my favorite elders is the source of both the best and worst advice I can think of. Just after we occupied our new building, with a huge debt, and just before a Sunday service, Norm said, “This church is just two bad sermons away from disaster!” That was the worst. The best came from the same man a few years later when we were celebrating our 10th anniversary. He delivered the heartfelt and encouraging reminder, “God”s vision for this church has always been bigger

July 25, 2013

Christian Standard

Titles or Testimonies?

By Tim Harlow In his book Who Switched the Price Tags? Tony Campolo tells of an African-American pastor who was preaching to some students who were about to graduate. He said, “Children, you are going to die! One of these days the hearse is going to take you to the cemetery, drop you in a hole and everyone”s going back to the church to eat potato salad. When you were born, you were crying and everyone else was happy. Here is the question, “˜When you die, will you be the only happy one with everyone else crying?” The answer depends

September 8, 2012

Christian Standard

Giving Up!

By Alan Ahlgrim Picture this: Your church launches a new campus with a state-of-the-art, 70,000-square-foot building on 30 acres””just before the economy implodes in the greatest recession most of us have experienced. Meanwhile you are fighting for the church”s life in a lawsuit that costs you $2 million to win. This creates a loss of momentum that results in staff reductions and the departure of many members to another congregation nearby. What do you do in such a situation? Alan Ahlgrim, pastor of Rocky Mountain Christian Church in Colorado, faced all those challenges and more. As he shares in this

March 14, 2012

Christian Standard

Love “em into the Lord”s Work!

By Steve Reeves In my opinion, a young preacher”s first ministry experience lays the groundwork for either a long, healthy ministry career or a short-lived series of job hops that leaves churches and families in a serious state of dysfunction. I”ve heard that the average tenure of a minister is three to four years. It was seven years only a decade ago. What seems to be the problem? While I”m sure there are immature “church-hopping” ministers, I guess there are at least as many “minister-chasing” churches. Most young ministers have school-age children, and I doubt many of them want to

June 5, 2011

Christian Standard

“˜Then the Lord Said to Moses”

By Alan Ahlgrim Once again this year I”m enjoying a slow pilgrimage through the Bible. I don”t read through the entire Bible every year, but my daughter and I are using The One Year Bible, and it”s been wonderfully refreshing and enlightening. The best 30 minutes of my day are at the beginning. They”re the ones spent reading and reflecting on God”s Word. That certainly was true this morning when I was once again gripped with the fact that, at times, God spoke to people directly. I”ve been reading the book of Numbers over the last few days and have

January 14, 2011

Christian Standard

Colorado Church Wins Long Court Fight Over Land Use

On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled it would not hear an appeal from the Boulder County (CO) commissioners in their case against Rocky Mountain Christian Church (Niwot, CO). In a Denver Post article, RMCC lead pastor Alan Ahlgrim said this final, conclusive win for the church could have legal implications for at least 160 other churches around the country. The dispute centered on the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. The county will be required to pay the church”s legal fees; most of the $1.5 million will be covered by the county”s insurance.

October 15, 2010

Christian Standard

Embracing Esperanza

By Mark A. Taylor Trapped in the coal-dark underground of a Chilean mine, Ariel Tacona Yanez made a decision that will live beyond the rest of his life. Along with 32 fellow miners, he was cut off from the watching world for 17 days until a probe penetrated their dungeon and the world heard the news that the miners were alive. During that time of isolation and uncertainty, the 29-year-old father of two thought about his wife and their soon-to-be born baby girl. They had agreed on a name, Carolina, for their daughter. But there in the depths of the

December 20, 2009

Christian Standard

Living with Expectancy

  by Alan Ahlgrim There”s no doubt about it, this is my favorite celebration of the year. There”s just something special about Christmas for young and old alike. Ever since I was a little kid, Christmas Eve has been a night filled with anticipation and Christmas Day a grand celebration of light and love and joy. I can”t ever remember a crummy Christmas. When I was a kid I even got along with my sisters at Christmas. Somehow they seemed nicer. To me everything has always seemed better at Christmas. It has always seemed to me that the decorations are

April 19, 2009

Christian Standard

Megachurches: An Interview with Three Megachurch Ministers

  By Kent Fillinger A SWOT analysis is the classic model for strategic planning. It examines an organization from the standpoint of its internal strengths and weaknesses, as well as the opportunities and threats it faces. We asked three lead pastors of megachurches to comment on their individual congregations and on megachurches in general using the framework of a SWOT analysis: “¢ Jud Wilhite, 37, has been  senior pastor since 2003 of Central Christian Church (Henderson, Nevada), which has an average weekend worship attendance of 12,822. “¢ Scott Enyon, 47, has been senior pastor since 1994 of Community Christian Church

December 23, 2007

Alan Ahlgrim

peace at Christmas

The Sign of Peace

Christmas can be filled with conflict and strain, but Scripture points to true peace through Christ. Pursue peace with others as you’re able, and rest in God’s presence even when circumstances don’t quickly change.

February 14, 2007

Mark A. Taylor

unity and evangelism

The Best Convention Ever!

A look back at a unity-charged North American Christian Convention—and a call to pursue unity’s intended outcome: evangelism. When churches move beyond fellowship to mission, the fruit of unity can be a harvest of new believers.

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