Articles for tag: Church of Christ

October 28, 2011

Shawn McMullen

You Must Read This . . . Radical

By Shawn McMullen Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream David Platt Colorado Springs: Multnomah Books, 2010 Radical Together: Unleashing the People of God for the Purpose of God By David Platt Colorado Springs: Multnomah Books, 2011 Some books teach us new things. Others remind us of what we already know. David Platt”s recent books, Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream and Radical Together: Unleashing the People of God for the Purpose of God, remind us of our calling in Christ””to live radical lives of service and sacrifice for the glory of God and the

September 10, 2011

Christian Standard

Interview with David Beamer: The Worst Day of My Life

By Darrel Rowland David Beamer and his family will get through today just like they have every day for the past 10 years. “The Beamer clan, the faith and the assurance and frankly the conviction that we had on September 11, has not waned,” he said. “We know that God is sovereign, his word is true. We know that for those who accept the saving blood of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, their future is secure. Having that assurance has enabled us to deal with the attack. Happily, that is not different 10 years later.” Beamer”s son, Todd, is

July 21, 2011

Christian Standard

Interview with Rick Atchley

By Brad Dupray As minister of the Word at The Hills Church of Christ, Rick Atchley leads a congregation that has expanded to three campuses in the Greater Fort Worth, Texas, area and ministers to 5,000 people each weekend. The Hills has a background as an a cappella church of Christ, but has transitioned over the past few years to include instrumental worship in most services. Since graduating from Abilene (Texas) Christian University, Atchley has been in the preaching ministry for 33 years and has served The Hills for the past 22 years. He has written several books, including Together

March 17, 2011

Christian Standard

Reggie Thomas: A “˜Fisher of Men” for 65 Years

By Victor Knowles Reggie Thomas is one of the national treasures of the Christian churches and churches of Christ. Few men in this fellowship have preached as long or enjoyed such results to their preaching as Reggie Thomas. December 5, 2010, marked the 65th anniversary of his first sermon. Only a select few have ever reached this milestone. Early Influences Reggie was born to A. R. and Florence Thomas on January 8, 1929, in Joplin, Missouri. When he was 8, he made the Good Confession and was baptized into Christ at South Joplin Christian Church. In 1943, during the middle

March 12, 2011

Christian Standard

Interview with Douglas Foster

By Brad Dupray Douglas Foster is director of The Center for Restoration Studies at Abilene (Texas) Christian University, where he also serves as professor of church history. ACU is primarily affiliated with the a cappella churches of Christ, but Foster brings a broad knowledge of the Restoration Movement as a co-editor of The Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement and of the forthcoming World History of the Stone-Campbell Movement (due from Chalice Press in 2012). He completed an undergraduate degree at David Lipscomb University and earned a PhD in church history at Vanderbilt University, both in Nashville, Tennessee. Foster has taught

December 29, 2010

Christian Standard

Family Resemblance

Teresa Schantz Williams At first, joining an a cappella church of Christ was like attending a family reunion of second cousins on your father”s side. Sure, we had kin in common; we definitely shared ancestral roots. The potluck spreads were every bit as good””that lovely “table” where everyone can find a seat. Still, we were enough different to feel awkward around our rediscovered family. Raised in independent Christian churches that do use musical instruments, I”d nevertheless been taught that churches of Christ shared the same vision of the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement. In college, and in the years before marriage, I

August 8, 2010

Christian Standard

Were You Old Enough to Be Baptized?

By Mark A. Taylor A discussion of baptism in Christian Standard usually stimulates spirited response, and that will probably happen after readers digest this issue, too. As always, we welcome your letters and e-mails, but we hope readers will keep two things in mind as they write us: Remember that a fourth article, Part 2 of Theresa Welch”s “search for a new model,” will appear next week. She offers a balanced, careful approach, one that does not reject current understandings, but only serves to enrich them. You may want to read the next issue before writing us about this one.

August 1, 2010

Christian Standard

When Ministers Cease to Exist

By Keith Wishum Why do ministers quit? Many do every year. And, reportedly, not enough others enter ministry to fill the vacancies. But why? The answers to that question are as varied as are the men who minister. Here, however, is one possible cause that may be universal to all discouraged ministers. Ministers quit when they cease to exist. They cease to exist as ministers after they cease to exist as individuals. Granted, that odd-sounding idea may take some explaining. It is a thought promp-ted by author Frederick Buechner in The Sacred Journey. Describing a typical child”s perspective on the

May 5, 2010

Christian Standard

Interview with Bill and Mike Buher

Bill Buher and his wife, Mary, raised their two sons in an a cappella church of Christ in southern Indiana and then, a few years ago, transferred membership to Sherwood Oaks Christian Church in Bloomington. Bill was called to serve as an elder at Sherwood Oaks and was one proud dad when his son Mike was similarly called to serve at Mountain Christian Church in Joppa, Maryland. Bill, retired for about 10 years, finds plenty of ways to keep busy serving Christ. Mike is an audit partner for Grant Thornton, an international accounting firm. Did you grow up in the

April 11, 2010

Christian Standard

Megachurches: A Closer Look at the Numbers

By Kent Fillinger What is “Average”? The 54 megachurches” average worship attendance: 4,314 The 60 emerging megachurches” average worship attendance: 1,400 All 114 churches” average attendance: 2,781 Fastest-Growing Churches One-Year Growth Rate: Real Life Christian, Clermont, FL, 65% Generations Christian, Trinity, FL, 51% Eastside Christian, Fullerton, CA, 39% Five-Year Total Growth Rate: Parkview Christian, Orland Park, IL, 127% Central Christian, Henderson, NV, 118% Real Life Ministries, Post Falls, ID, 93% Fastest-Growing Churches of the Decade: Savannah (GA) Christian, 286% Christ”s Church of the Valley, Peoria, AZ, 234% Southeast Christian, Parker, CO, 227% Fastest-Growing Since the First List in 1997: Christ”s

October 25, 2009

Christian Standard

Frankly Speaking

  by Ben Simms Some Ohio State University students thrive on hot dogs as they hang out in the early morning hours on High Street in Columbus. For several years now, Student Christian Fellowship has been giving away free frankfurters at what it calls FFF (short for “Free FrankFurters”).   More than Hot Dogs Christian minister Steve Sjogren says, “Small things done with great love will change the world.” This is really the point of free frankfurter night. The hope is that, at some point in a student”s life at OSU, getting a free hot dog will trigger a conversation

September 27, 2009

Christian Standard

A Look at This Year”s NACC: Going Home

by Thomas F. Jones Jr. See Steve Reeves’s assessment of the 2009 NACC See D. Clay Perkins”s assessment of the 2009 NACC       My hometown is Follansbee, West Virginia. It is located in the northern panhandle of the state about 20 miles north of Wheeling and 40 miles west of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It”s a steel mill town located on the Ohio River and has fewer than 3,000 residents. I don”t go there often these days but when I do, everything seems to fall into place. Going to the North American Christian Convention is like going home once a

July 12, 2009

Christian Standard

The Lord”s Supper: The Great Ordinance of Unity and Love

  By Victor Knowles This article is no longer available online, but articles about the Lord’s Supper that appeared in the July 12/19, 2009, and June 10, 2007, issues of CHRISTIAN STANDARD–plus more–are available for purchase as a single, redisigned, easy-to-read and easy-to-use downloadable resource/pdf (a fuller explanation is below).          The Lord’s Supper: A Memory and More Item D021535209  “¢Â Â $2.99     If you keep doing something often enough, long enough, it will change you. Take, for example, the Lord”s Supper. If we practice the Lord”s Supper in a meaningful way, week after week, it will change us for the

August 24, 2008

Christian Standard

Life-Influencers

By Sam E. Stone When we read Paul”s list of greetings near the end of his letter to the church in Rome, we may be tempted to skip over the names (Romans 16:3-15; 21-24). Although we don”t know the people, each must have played an important role in the apostle”s life. He saw each one as he wrote the name. Remembering those who made a positive difference in your life can be valuable. Let me tell you about a few Christians who contributed to mine. They may remind you of folk who influenced you over the years, as well as

June 1, 2008

Christian Standard

What Do You Know About the Declaration and Address?

By Victor Knowles Read the main article, “One Body,” by Victor Knowles.       1. The Declaration and Address was written by: a. Alexander Campbell b. Thomas Campbell c. Benjamin Franklin d. Walter Scott e. Barton W. Stone 2. The Declaration and Address was published in the year: a. 1793 b. 1801 c. 1809 d. 1866 e. 1906 3. The Declaration and Address was largely a: a. Pattern for organizing New Testament churches b. Call to secede from the Union c. Primer on hermeneutics d. Document advocating Christian unity e. Treatise on instrumental music 4. Arguably the most memorable

April 9, 2008

Christian Standard

About Megachurches, for Every Church

By Mark A. Taylor There”s much to feel good about in this year”s annual megachurch issue. Read through these reports carefully. Look at all the numbers in the small-print sidebars. The statistics indicate many victories won, many reasons to celebrate what these churches are accomplishing. There”s Hillside Christian Church, Amarillo, Texas, for example, the fastest growing church (62 percent in one year!) reported here. Or Christ”s Church of the Valley in Peoria, Arizona, whose growth rate since 1997 is a whopping 451 percent! With 700 baptisms in 2007, Christ”s Church of the Valley was one of five churches from our

March 30, 2008

Christian Standard

Living with Poor People Changed Me

By Greg Taylor Living seven years in poverty in Uganda changed my life. We didn”t make a lot of money by American standards””$27,500 annually””but we were rich compared to our Ugandan neighbors who live on less than $2 a day. We had 30 times more money than our Ugandan friends! They seemed to think we had a bottomless bucket of money, and we soon realized they viewed our wealth as we might look at that of Bill Gates. Some wondered why we couldn”t always help them with medical problems, school expenses, or a good business idea that needed funding. Incredible

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