November 5, 2025
For the One: A Call to Radical Alignment
The Great Commission isn't a random utterance of Jesus. It's the marching orders for the church that still stand today, including you and your church.
Articles for tag: Church Programs
November 5, 2025
Taking the Gospel Back to Post-Christian Europe
What if the next great move of God isn’t coming from Europe but is going back to it? At ONE&ALL Church in Southern California, we’re preparing to send hundreds of young adults to replant the gospel in the very lands that once sent it to us.
November 5, 2025
The Missing Piece of the Great Commission
As those who have been charged with carrying out the Great Commission to go to all the world making disciples, let's remember that baptizing and teaching is not complete if obedience is not also taught and modeled by those who claim to follow Jesus.
November 1, 2011
A Simpler Way
By Matt Bortmess Why does it have to be so complicated? Because I crave simplicity in my life and my ministry, this is a question I find myself wrestling with more and more these days. My life has become so complex. Sixteen years into our marriage, now with four kids and a dog, my wife and I are finding a busy calendar crammed with appointments, ball games, birthday parties, school events, and . . . the list goes on and on. Add to that a church calendar filled with meetings, studies, and luncheons, and I”m presented with so many choices
August 25, 2010
I Can See You, September
As summer slips away, Mark A. Taylor reflects on the sadness and gratitude that come with changing seasons—and the fresh ministry opportunities churches often find as fall schedules and routines return.
May 9, 2010
How Churches Can Help Families
By Paul Alexander I”ve heard hundreds of sermons on marriage and family living. But one stands above the rest. Thirteen years ago the pastor of the largest Christian church in our area came to Hope International University and spoke at our chapel service. He had been asked to speak on the most important thing he could think of to prepare people to go out and serve the church and impact the world for Christ. He told us he had considered talking about ministry, trials, devotion to God, and other topics. But ultimately, he said, the most important thing he could
May 31, 2009
Simple Church: Returning to God”s Process for Making Disciples
An Overview of “Simple Church” by David Ray “Tis the gift to be simple,  “tis the gift to be free,  “tis the gift to come down where you ought to be, And when we find ourselves in the place just right, It will be in the valley of love and delight.1  If today”s church leaders were to tell the truth, many would admit they arenot “in the place just right,” because most churches have become anything but “simple,” and the stress in leading them is nothing like finding yourself in any “valley of love and delight.” Why? Because churches have
December 10, 2008
A Picture of the Elders in Our Churches, Part One: posted 12/10/2008
By Mark A. Taylor As CHRISTIAN STANDARD”s Year of the Elder comes to a close, we want to keep our promise to share results from the Elders Survey that appeared here September 24. Your answers yielded few surprises, but you did confirm the need for the Year of the Elder features. In fact, we”re convinced that helps for elders should continue in CHRISTIAN STANDARD, even after this 2008 emphasis comes to an end. Most who responded to the survey are from churches with 4-6 elders (42 percent of the 562 respondents). In most of these congregations (almost 61 percent) the
June 14, 2006
Quantity, Quality, and Presentation
Mark A. Taylor reflects on spiritual formation and asks whether packed church calendars can mask empty souls. Spiritual progress is a process, not a program—moving beyond busyness toward being formed to please God.
