August 3, 2021
A ministry that serves the foster care system isn't simple. The situations are complicated and the answers are never easy, but it’s been an incredible honor for Christ's Church of Oronogo to be invited into families’ stories.
May 28, 2019
By Jon Wren Many Christ followers observe Communion as a reminder of God’s grace and goodness and as a gift we receive rather than a prize we must earn. But for many Christians and churches, the desire to show others God’s goodness in action can drift into a need to show others our own goodness. And if we are not careful, we can begin to drift toward a well-intentioned but incredibly destructive life in which we are consumed by the need to be busy or at least seem busy on behalf of Christ. Christian author Barbara Brown Taylor wrote of
March 22, 2016
By Mark A. Taylor “Do you believe you”re serving in the place God can use you best?” A friend surprised me with that question several years ago. And maybe I was equally surprised by my answer. “Yes,” I said. My guess is that many Christians, certainly many Christian leaders, are a lot like me. We think about that question too little. We choose ministries like a young professional plotting his next career move. How will this job position me to work later for the kind of church I really want to serve? Does it pay more than I”m earning now?
September 13, 2015
By T.R. Robertson My sons loved going to church on Wednesday nights when they were little. In 1990 they were stairstep kids, ages 5, 4, and 3, and they were bundles of energy. I have to admit, my boys had a reputation for being a real handful. The teachers needed all the help they could get. Help came in the form of students from Central Christian College of the Bible, Moberly, Missouri, just 30 miles to the north. David, one of those students, remembers the experience well. “I was traveling on Sundays singing for the college during my sophomore year,”
February 20, 2015
By C. Robert Wetzel “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ?” (1 Corinthians 10:16, King James Version). There are so many rich meanings and experiences in the Lord”s Supper! When the apostle Paul spoke of the “cup of blessing” he used a term that had a special meaning for those who understood Jewish dinner tradition. At the end of a Jewish meal the most honored guest at the table took the cup, lifted it up, and said the benediction. Today when we talk of the benediction we probably think of
February 12, 2014
Almost everybody loves to GIVE advice, but whether or not we TAKE advice may depend on who”s giving it! Here at CHRISTIAN STANDARD, we”re wondering, Whose advice would help you most in your Christian life and Christian service? We”re planning a whole issue around this theme. “The Best (and Worst!) Advice I Ever Received.” Our question to you: Whom should we ask? We”ll recruit several dozen Christian leaders to tell us the advice they received and how it turned out for them. Who should be on our list? Please send an e-mail today to tell us. It should simply say,
February 1, 2012
By Mark A. Taylor Most of us have heard stories or read books about preacher”s kids gone bad. We know about unwed pregnancies, unsavory addictions, and other unwise choices among young people who grew up in a parsonage. Without a doubt, the preacher”s home may face unique pressure and scrutiny. That”s why it”s appropriate for us to dedicate several posts to the problems and possibilities shared only by preacher”s kids. But I”m glad to say this week we present far more of the latter than the former. All these articles were written by preacher”s kids who are happy about their
April 24, 2011
By Mark A. Taylor Internet news sites always provide a ready distraction from a deadline. But when those posts contain a dozen stark videos of the unprecedented Japanese earthquake and tsunami, perhaps the procrastination can be forgiven. Each new harsh scene of ships and cars tossed together like bathtub toys, each new account of surprising survivors and shocking destruction, contributes to the jumble washing through my thoughts. Responsibility””what should I do with my plenty to help a population reduced to a struggle for survival? Reevaluation””how can I believe all my attention to what I own and what I earn will
December 22, 2010
By Mark A. Taylor Schoolchildren in a Nairobi slum sing with gusto: Jesus, what a wonder you are! Their boisterous voices reverberate inside the corrugated tin walls of their tiny classroom: Oh my Jesus, what a wonder you are! And any visitor is struck by the wonder that Jesus has moved men and women to serve in this difficult place. A host of smiling teachers stands before thousands of children in classrooms like this one, rising above a sea of 12-by-12 lean-to huts these kids call home. Meanwhile, the school”s well-dressed social workers step over running streams of raw sewage
November 24, 2010
Churches continue to share stories about their “Just One” Sunday. In addition to joining with other participating churches in praying for more laborers for the harvest, Crossroads Christian Church (Newburgh, IN) also used the three weekends before the Nov. 14 emphasis to challenge every Christ follower in the church body to identify “Just One” person with whom they would build a relationship, share Jesus, and include in some expression of Christian community. CCC plans to continue this emphasis on making disciples and raising up Christian leaders throughout 2011. During its services that Sunday, Greencastle (IN) Christian Church displayed pictures of
May 13, 2009
By Mark A. Taylor Every sports fan knows the importance of ending well. We remember games won in the ninth inning, come-from-behind victories cinched in overtime, runners prevailing only in the final lap. All the game was important, but victory was sure only in the final seconds. Every gardener knows a successful harvest is the point of planting. Neat rows of new sprouts are attractive, and beautiful blooms on healthy vegetable vines are encouraging. But if by summer”s end the plants dry up, rot away, or become the food of garden pests, what real good is a garden? So it
March 29, 2009
 By David Faust In a 1910 lecture at Yale, Charles E. Jefferson described the difference between a church and an audience, It is to be regretted that we have come to . . . judge preachers by the number of persons who listen to their sermons. A superficial man is consequently tempted to work, not for a church, but for an audience. An audience, however, is not worth working for. An audience is a group of unrelated people drawn together by a short-lived attraction. . . . It is a fortuitous concourse of human atoms, scattering as soon as
March 19, 2008
By Mark A. Taylor We talk often in CHRISTIAN STANDARD about Christian leaders. But who is a leader? In simplest terms, a leader is someone others follow, which means most local churches have a score of leaders not listed as such. (It often also means some called “leader” don”t qualify for the label, but that”s another editorial!) We”re looking for leaders to name in a recognition Standard Publishing is cosponsoring with Milligan College and Youth in Ministry. The Leaders in Christian Service campaign and Student Servant-Leadership Recognition demonstrate what a leader is. Sometimes an example is the best way to
February 27, 2008
By Brad Dupray Standard Publishing”s Vacation Bible School has provided concentrated, “true-to-the-Bible” Christian education for young people for more than 80 years. VBS is not limited to young people, however. Standard provides correlated study for adults, as well. This year”s theme, “God”s Big Backyard,” is coupled with Tom Ellsworth”s new book, Beyond Your Backyard. Tom recently celebrated his 27th anniversary as senior pastor at Sherwood Oaks Christian Church in Bloomington, Indiana. He is a graduate of St. Louis Christian College and holds a MMin from Cincinnati Bible Seminary. Tom and his wife, Elsie, have been married for 30 years and
June 7, 2006
A weekly task list can breed weariness and self-pity. Mark A. Taylor looks to Paul’s hardships in 2 Corinthians to reset perspective and remember that comfort won’t satisfy like serving others does.
By Mark A. Taylor When we say CHRISTIAN STANDARD is a magazine for leaders in the local church, immediately we create a problem. Just who is a leader? At no time is that question more clearly answered than when we consider the Leaders in Christian Service program cosponsored by Milligan College and Standard Publishing. Leaders in Christian Service recognizes men and women who have discovered the beauty in the paradox presented by Christ: “Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant” (Matthew 20:26, New Living Translation ). Those who have received this reward in the past
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