Articles for tag: Communication

August 10, 2014

Christian Standard

What Every College Kid Needs

By Mike Kerrick From a campus minister, ideas for the students in your life. What do you give someone who is going off to college? A new laptop computer? A phone/data upgrade? A devotional book on keeping faith at college, with a nice note inside: “Praying for you every day”? These are all good ideas, especially because they point to the thing needed most in college: healthy relationships. From my experience ministering to college students, let me tell you what I mean.   Healthy Relationships Begin with God According to the Barna group*, up to 61 percent of Christian students

April 9, 2014

Christian Standard

Praying by Design

By Casey Tygrett My research has convinced me of this: When our experience and temperament interact with the presence of God, something very special happens. When I”m teaching people how to pray, often they ask me, “What do I say?” In other words, people want to know what “counts” when it comes to prayer. What is prayer and what isn”t prayer? It isn”t a silly question, but it can be difficult to answer as we look at all the different kinds of prayer in the Bible. We have selfish prayers like those of Pharaoh (Exodus 8:8), sacrificial prayers like those

April 6, 2014

Christian Standard

Does Everyone Worship?

By Ken E. Read “Want to see the next trend in worship?” It was a decade ago. My daughter started the video halfway through the song, with the camera sweeping across the crowd. They were certainly enthusiastic (“filled with God”), raising their arms and swaying as they pressed up near the stage and sang along with the contemporary band. Thousands of people in the crowd were singing full-voiced, their faces turned upward, arms extended skyward, and waving in united praise, their eyes gazing off into space while they sang. The camera changed to show the performers on the stage. I

April 5, 2014

Christian Standard

When Praying Becomes Hard

By Danny R. Von Kanel Dot lost a son and daughter””her son died in an accident and her daughter from cancer. Praying became difficult. The pain silenced any attempt to approach God. Her dilemma seemed insurmountable. Yet, over time, communication returned, her pain eased, and life became livable again. Dot stumbled upon some keys to reopening communication with God after praying becomes difficult. These six keys can help restore that dialogue.   1. Tell God It”s Hard to Pray When you tell God it”s hard to pray, you are praying. Simply say, “God, it”s too hard to pray to you

January 25, 2014

Christian Standard

The Elder and Staff Relationships

By David Roadcup For centuries, the devil”s playground in a congregation has been the relational web between the paid staff and elders. Love, encouragement, support, understanding, and communication must flow between staff and elders. In many cases however, struggle, misunderstanding, lack of communication, and sometimes extreme frustration are more likely to be prevalent. Ministers need the relational support and undergirding of the elders. Elders need the encouragement and support of the paid staff members. It”s a two-way street. The need flows both ways. This issue is important in the life of a church because when unity is broken and a

December 12, 2013

Jim Nieman

‘Happy Incarnation Day’

By Matt Proctor Your theology of the incarnation matters. It affects how you view your body, your problems, your ministry””and your celebration of the holiday before us. Your theology of the incarnation matters. Santa Claus thought so. Saint Nicholas, the bishop of Myra in Asia Minor in the early fourth century, is the historical basis for the Santa myth. Born to a wealthy family, Nicholas used his entire inheritance to help the poor, sick, and children in need. Stories of Saint Nick describe him saving young women from slavery, providing grain in a famine, and sparing innocents from execution. It”s

September 30, 2013

Christian Standard

Who Will Sing to George?

By Vangie Rodenbeck As the designated facilitator of this networking lunch, I sought to engage each member at the table in the discussion. The topic was special needs ministry, and the specific issue of discussion was how to “name” a ministry to such persons. These ministers were asking questions like: What do we call this ministry? Should we use the term “handicapped” or “disabled?” If we use language like “persons with different abilities,” will people understand what this ministry is about? But one man at the table sat quietly as the conversation whirled around him. Soon there was a lull

August 10, 2013

Christian Standard

A Conversation with Arron Chambers

Meet Our Contributing Editors: This month we continue a series of interviews with CHRISTIAN STANDARD”s contributing editors. Arron Chambers, lead minister with Journey Christian Church in Greeley, Colorado, talks about intimacy in marriage and intimacy with Jesus and says the two are remarkably similar. Interview by Jennifer Johnson What”s going on at Journey these days? We”ve been looking for a new facility, and a church in town has a great building that”s twice as big as ours. They suggested we buy their building and they buy ours. To raise the money, we decided to scrap the capital campaign and do something that fits

July 28, 2013

Christian Standard

Interview with Russ Kuykendall

By Paul Boatman   Russ Kuykendall is a lifelong Christian who spent his youth and young adulthood preparing for ministry. For the past 20 years he has ministered in the arena of Canadian politics.   How did you happen to choose a career in politics? I did not really choose a political career. I chose to live a life in ministry. I was raised on a farm near Grande Prairie, Alberta. My family loved the church and wanted us to live a Christian life in interface with our wider community and events of the world. Serving Christ was my life”s

March 21, 2013

Christian Standard

Scholar Professors and Our Schools: Thoughts for the Future

By William R. Baker Higher education in the colleges, universities, and seminaries supported by Christian churches has come to a critical juncture. Efforts to improve service to the church and students have led to hiring highly qualified professors with terminal degrees in their fields (PhD, ThD, DMin). This corps of bright, young scholars feels a personal responsibility not only to become excellent teachers but also to address the larger academy in their fields of expertise. This is not for ego or fame, but is just recognized as part of what God has called them to do. They have the talent

March 10, 2013

Christian Standard

The Impact of Our Internships

By Bill Baumgardner “I have to do an internship?” “It is not that you must do an internship,” I say to the student before me. “You get to do an internship.” This is typical of many conversations I have at Cincinnati Christian University. As the director of service learning, I help students with their supervised internship for college credit. The internships are supervised because we feel there is a great value when a student works alongside someone who is in his or her field of study. This is why we match up students studying for the preaching ministry with preaching

September 30, 2012

Christian Standard

Encouraging Healthy Controversy

By Brian Giese We live in an age when the world invites Christians to keep their faith to themselves and out of the limelight. This is also a day when no one wants to confront anyone, and nobody wants to be confronted. The rule seems to be: “Let each person make his own choices, and don”t judge him or her. Don”t make waves, just love everybody.” No one can deny that the world needs more love, but what kind of love? When one reaches adulthood, he can look back and see that the correction and punishment his parents gave him

August 29, 2012

Christian Standard

Surprise!

By Eddie Lowen On my 30th birthday, a sweet woman from the church I served interrupted the close of the worship service. She walked up the center aisle holding a large birthday cake decorated with my name in icing. Everyone sang “Happy Birthday.” It was a very kind gesture and, looking back, it was a harmless moment, perhaps even helpful. At the time, however, I didn”t like it. Why? I don”t like surprises””especially during the worship service! Since that birthday surprise, I”ve learned that minimizing surprises is feasible, but eliminating surprises is impossible. When you throw hundreds (or thousands) of

June 14, 2012

Christian Standard

Rah-Rah for the Christian Standard

By J.K. Jones Jr. “Rah-Rah” for the CHRISTIAN STANDARD! This is so unlike me to want to lead a cheer for a 146-year-old magazine (founded in 1866 by Isaac Errett), but here I am acting the fool. Those who know me could attest that I prefer a quiet life outside of the public eye. I tend toward encouraging others to stand up and speak out, but at least in this one instance, I find myself uncontrollably vocal. I”d like to take a few minutes and tell you why I”m imitating King David who “was dancing before the Lord with all

May 17, 2012

Christian Standard

A Call for Passionate Commitment

By Kent E. Fillinger Crossroads Christian Church (Corona, California), has grown from 5,400 to more than 8,400 in average worship attendance during Chuck Booher”s first four years, with annual growth rates of 17 to 21 percent. Beyond that, Crossroads has had the best baptism ratio among megachurches for three consecutive years. Last year, Crossroads baptized people at twice the rate of the average megachurch, based on the number of baptisms per 100 people in attendance. Booher quickly identified the biggest contributor to this recent growth surge as the conscious shift from a “seeker sensitive” approach to a call for passionate

May 1, 2012

Christian Standard

Turning Around Our Middle School Ministry

By Kile Baker “What are you doing here?” One student”s question started a process that led us to evaluate all our strategies and activities with the students we were trying to reach and teach. “What are you doing here?” That question was directed at me as I sat at a table with a handful of my students in one of the local middle schools. It was lunchtime on a Tuesday, and it seemed rather odd to the students that I was there poking at the school”s version of a burrito, muttering under my breath about the “meat” being rather gym-mat-like.

December 8, 2011

Christian Standard

Praying for Tunisia As Never Before

Most Christians want to obey Jesus” command to “ask the Lord of the harvest . . . to send out workers into his harvest field” (Matthew 9:38), but they struggle to know how to pray for a nation they”ve never visited and missionaries they seldom see. Do you want to join thousands of other Christians in united prayer for unreached people? Do you want to receive daily, specific, insightful prayer requests that will empower and intensify your prayers? The website and associated movement www.Pray4Tunisia.com is bringing God”s people together and changing the way we approach prayer for the harvest fields.

October 22, 2011

Christian Standard

Getting the Most from the Epistles (Part One)

By Matt Proctor Think of them as love letters. Read them out loud like a sermon. Notice the wide range of literary tools their authors employed. Discover the truth and power waiting for every reader in these inspired letters from God. Some time ago, my wife, Katie, and I were rummaging through a box of old college keepsakes. I reached for a large manila envelope, wondering what was inside. Old love letters! I pulled out a thick stack of envelopes Katie had sent me one summer when we were dating. We had been apart all that summer, and I remember waiting eagerly for

October 3, 2011

Christian Standard

Fellow Elder

By Steve Reeves My wife and I spent Cinco de Mayo in a Midwestern city watching a wide variety of Americans dancing and celebrating. The event commemorates the Mexican army”s defeat of the French on May 5, 1862. I noticed that, generally, it took two to tango, but there were a few who tried to do the tango by themselves. So, understanding that there are two sides to every story, and it usually takes two to tango, I want to discuss a disturbing pattern among churches of all sizes. Here”s how it works . . . A preacher goes on

August 22, 2011

Christian Standard

Life Lessons on Prayer

By Brian Giese It is easy to neglect prayer. The devil does all he can to distract us from it. We can rationalize it to the back burner because of our busyness. We can go day after day without anybody other than God knowing we have neglected prayer. This writer has been a slow learner in the school of prayer. I had been preaching 15 years before I began to take prayer seriously. That was 30 years ago, and God has taught me a few things about prayer during that time, for example:   Prayer deserves priority. A national poll

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