April 13, 2021
A minister transition is a challenging time for a church . . . and the process is not easy on ministers either. Find Your Next Minister/Ministry is a new service from the CCL Network to help both churches and ministers thrive in the transition process.
June 14, 2020
By Jerry Harris Kujenga is the Swahili word for building, and it’s where the name of the building-block game Jenga comes from. The game starts with constructing a tower by stacking identical, rectangular-shaped wooden blocks in opposite rows of three. The fun begins as players take turns removing blocks one at a time and restacking them on the top. This continues until the tower, thoroughly compromised by the removal of blocks and top-heaviness, finally comes crashing down. Our lives can look a lot like this game. We are all building a life, but as priorities are rearranged, instability increases—and we
January 29, 2019
By Jeffrey Derico Two critical challenges facing churches and their leaders today are to identify hurdles that undermine relevant ministry and then to eliminate them. The stakes are high because failure to overcome either hurdle will result in countless people never hearing the gospel, and eventually that church will permanently close its doors—and neither of these are acceptable outcomes. Yet both are becoming more common as churches across America struggle to effectively live out the Great Commission and then decline to the point they can no longer afford to pay the bills. During nearly two decades of teaching and consulting
July 12, 2016
By Mark A. Taylor Like every great novel or memorable movie, your story has a cast of compelling characters. And no matter how much you may hear about telling or improving your story, it will never be about you alone. These other characters in your story set its plot even before you were born. Your parents and theirs, your siblings and your childhood have all colored and directed your story, probably in ways you don”t realize. This is why your counselor pokes and prods to know more about your family and your growing-up years. Your story is not about you
February 28, 2016
By LeRoy Lawson My Bright Abyss: Meditation of a Modern Believer Christian Wiman New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2013 The Civil War as a Theological Crisis (The Steven and Janice Brose Lectures in the Civil War Era) Mark A. Noll Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, reprint edition, 2015 When a speaker is teetering on the brink of death, ravaged by bone marrow cancer, you pay attention. When he is poet Christian Wiman, sharing his personal insight into the Bright Abyss, readers””religious and nonreligious alike””ponder his every thought. Wiman is struggling””against death, against the danger of being
June 7, 2015
By Matt Johnson Is your church liberal or conservative? The question is a land mine, often meant to act as a test of fellowship. Christians who wish to honor God with their hearts as well as their minds see this question as a false choice. For this audience, Adam Hamilton has written Seeing Gray in a World of Black and White: Thoughts on Religion, Morality, and Politics (Abington Press, 2008). Radical Center Hamilton divides his book into three parts. First he lays a foundation for what he calls the “radical center.” His goal is not to arrive at tepid, middle-of-the-road
March 11, 2014
By Mark A. Taylor The following column first appeared at this site in 2008, but it strikes me, with a couple of tweaks, Â as remarkably current still today. So while I’m on vacation this week, let me offer it for your consideration. I’m guessing many readers have forgotten it or missed it when it first appeared! Christ followers outside our movement are often intrigued when they get to know us better. They”re impressed first with the accomplishments of Christian churches and churches of Christ: “¢ Dynamic missions work “¢ World-class church planting initiatives “¢ Creative leadership of new approaches like
July 13, 2008
Answers from Gene Carter, Becky Ahlberg, and Eric Ahlberg Does the Restoration Movement Matter? Answers from Gene Carter, Becky Ahlberg, and Eric Ahlberg Gene Carter is retired in Playa del Rey, California, after 55 years of ministry, 25 in the Midwest and 30 in Southern California. Becky Ahlberg is worship and neighborhood engagement minister at Anaheim (California) First Christian Church and a CHRISTIAN STANDARD contributing editor. Eric Ahlberg is a member of Anaheim First Christian and a forensic structural engineer at Exponent Corporation in Irvine, California. Do you feel as strongly about being a part of the Restoration Movement today
July 13, 2008
Answers from Robert Lowery Does the Restoration Movement Matter? Answers from Robert Lowery. Robert Lowery is professor of New Testament and dean at Lincoln (Illinois) Christian Seminary. Do you feel as strongly about being a part of the Restoration Movement today as you did fifteen years ago? What, if anything, has changed? I remain committed to the principles of the Restoration Movement, yet I am not impressed with our efforts to articulate clearly and implement boldly those principles today. I have heard some say: “We have arrived! We do exactly what the earliest Christians did, no more and no less,
February 27, 2008
By Mark A. Taylor The elders described by Bob Wetzel and Roy Lawson this week seemed sure about what they were supposed to be doing. They didn”t need a Greek scholar to explain shepherd. They didn”t argue about who was “in charge” of their church; they just served it. They didn”t wait to define differences between elders” and the preacher”s role before they encouraged the preacher and interceded for him. Without fanfare or pretense they simply tended the flock of God because they loved the Lord and they loved the flock. The elders described here were a humble lot, like
September 16, 2007
By Gary Zustiak Confused by the terms emerging, emergent, and missional? That would be normal, because many people use the words interchangeably in discussing the current church scene. I apologize if I unfairly portray any group, but we must do some generalizing if we are to provide definitions for these movements to help guide the average church member through the blogs, magazines, and books that focus on them. “¢ An emerging church is an evangelical church that seeks to engage postmodern people, especially the unchurched and postchurched, with the story of the gospel and to challenge them to a radical
October 1, 2006
Jeffrey A. Metzger shares lessons from serving in denominational churches—what he found encouraging, what felt counterproductive, and why he believes local church autonomy better supports mission and biblical faithfulness.
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