Articles for tag: Dave Smith

May 27, 2016

Christian Standard

The Best Sermon I”ve Ever Heard (11)

By Arron Chambers In this edition of “The Best Sermon I”ve Ever Heard,” we are showcasing the opinions of students at Ozark Christian College in Joplin, Missouri.  Drake Holderman  Drake Holderman is a senior studying student ministry at Ozark Christian College. He is working part-time on the student ministry team at First Church, a multisite church in northeast Oklahoma. Drake is married to Andrea, who has an associate”s degree from Ozark and is pursuing a degree in elementary education at Missouri Southern State University. Drake”s Best Sermon: Here is the best sermon (in seven parts) I”ve heard on God”s grace

October 24, 2013

Christian Standard

What I”m Learning from the Suffering so Close to Me

By Dave Smith When I left for seminary more than 27 years ago, I had stars in my eyes and wings on my feet. I knew God was calling me to vocational ministry. After fulfilling my obligation to the United States Army, I resigned my commission and moved to Chicago. And what could go wrong? In my Disney World Discipleship, Candy Land Christianity view of the world, life was going to be easy. After all, why wouldn”t God protect me from difficulties since I was now training for pastoral ministry? And to sweeten the pot for God, I told him

September 29, 2013

Christian Standard

When ‘Les Mis’ Comes to Life

By Dave Smith I remember the first time I heard songs from Les Misérables. It was 1988, and I was riding in a van to Chicago with Tim Streett and a couple other guys. Tim and I were interning at our home church, East 91st Street Christian Church in Indianapolis. We were on our way to Chicago for a conference. Tim did not say much that day. He just kept playing songs from Les Misérables, over and over again. Many know Les Misérables as a powerful story of grace and forgiveness: but no one knows this better than Tim. Late

March 9, 2013

Christian Standard

Class in the City

By Dave Smith For almost six years, students from Ozark Christian College have attended class in New York City. They have overcome their fear of urban areas, learned from diverse church leaders, and begun to discover their fit in this globalized world. This journey from Joplin, Missouri, to New York City traveled by way of California. In 2000, Ken Idleman, Ozark Christian College”s president at the time, took a one-year sabbatical to help his son, Kyle, plant a church in Southern California. President Idleman experienced firsthand how God uses new churches to reach people far from God. He returned to

September 19, 2011

Christian Standard

Opening His Word, Discovering His Love

By Dave Smith When I reflect on my almost 30 years of following Jesus, God”s Word has always been central. I remember my first feeble attempts at a quiet time. It was 1982, I was a new Christian, and trying to know God through Bible study and prayer felt awkward. But gradually I experienced the reality of communing with God and having his Spirit-empowered Word transform my life. In the spring of 1983, I knew God was calling me to vocational ministry. I still had more than two years left on my Army commitment. During those years, as my wife,

January 10, 2010

Christian Standard

We Call It Kids Camp

By Dave Smith “I like you Mr. Dave.” I looked down at 6-year-old Max, son of Polish parents, and one of the children at Northshore Christian Church”s Kids” Camp, and replied, “I like you too, Max.” And after a week of shepherding some 15 second-graders, I decided I also liked kids” camp. Many of our new churches throughout the Northeast have a summer kid”s camp. In other places, we call them Vacation Bible Schools. This year I spent a week helping Northshore with its fifth kids” camp. Northshore Christian Church began in the fall of 2005 in Riverhead, New York,

November 11, 2009

Christian Standard

The Most Important Leadership Task

By Mark A. Taylor Say leader to someone who is not a leader, and he”s likely to picture a public person: the convincing speaker, the meeting chairman, the decision-maker with the last word or the authority to sign-off. Those who actually lead, however, know much of their work happens in private, behind the scenes, one-on-one, or even alone. But leaders as well as followers sometimes miss one dimension of leadership, and that”s the responsibility highlighted in this week”s issue: Leaders must develop new leaders. The leaders writing this week know this. They speak in the context of a new church,

August 27, 2006

Dave Smith

God’s love for rebels

The God Who Loves Rebels

A chapel moment of anger turns into gratitude as Dave Smith explores Jonah’s rebel heart—and the relentless love of God shown through discipline, grace, and perseverance toward those who resist him.

May 21, 2006

Dave Smith

known by the mark

The Mark

Dave Smith reflects on how Christians can be known by the mark of love—formed through surrender, trust, and knowing God, then demonstrated in generosity, unity, and pursuing outsiders with the heart of Jesus.

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