Articles for tag: Dennis Bratton

May 19, 2019

Mark A. Taylor

What Are You Doing Now?

Compiled by Mark A. Taylor _ _ _ Alan Ahlgrim Retired: Founding pastor with Rocky Mountain Christian Church, Niwot, Colorado, March 2013 What are you doing now? Continues to encourage and mentor church leaders. Director of Covenant Groups with the Center for Church Leadership. Thoughts on retirement: “The best is yet to be for every kingdom leader. I jokingly say if I had known this season would be so fulfilling, I would have started with this first and stuck with it! I’ve traded unrelenting responsibility for a soul-enriching opportunity.” _ _ _ Dick Alexander Retired: Senior minister, LifeSpring Christian Church,

March 25, 2019

Mark A. Taylor

Kindness, Opportunities, Resources, Evangelism

Mark A. Taylor Dennis and Brenda Bratton founded the KORE Foundation after his retirement in 2010 with the goal, as the foundation’s website explains, “to provide sustainable solutions to extreme poverty for the people of Haiti.” Taking its name from the Old Testament businessman appointed to distribute generous offerings to those in need (2 Chronicles 31), the foundation adopted an acrostic to explain its mission: Kindness: the touch of Christ in practical ways Opportunities: not a handout, but a way out of poverty Resources: a foothold away from poverty toward self-reliance Evangelism: education and enterprise are transformational tools for the

October 20, 2017

Jerry Harris

KORE: Beyond Relief

By Jerry Harris KORE”s story begins with three Indian children. In 2000, Dennis and Brenda Bratton were finishing their first short-term mission trip and getting ready to head back home to Mandarin Christian Church in Jacksonville, Florida. They were standing on a missionary”s front porch, about to leave for the airport, overloaded by the experience of witnessing India”s extreme poverty firsthand. They saw three Indian children walking down the road; the children were albino, diseased, sight-impaired, malnourished, and their hair was infested. They were dressed in rags. The sight of these children was too much for the Brattons. Dennis told

April 30, 2017

Jerry Harris

Securing a Future

By Jerry Harris What”s going on with the CHRISTIAN STANDARD and The Lookout? As a pastor of a church and a founding board member of The Solomon Foundation, I was interested in the answer to that question. Both magazines have been staples of the Restoration Movement from early on, and I, like many, had assumed they would always be there. When I heard in our board meeting the CHRISTIAN STANDARD and The Lookout could be shut down because their owners had found no buyers for them, I was deeply troubled. The chairman of the Publishing Committee had informed Doug Crozier,

January 9, 2017

Christian Standard

I Love the Church . . . Because It”s Finding New Ways

By Dennis Bratton “It”s what you do” is the theme for an entire series of insurance commercials. If, for example, you”re a parrot, “you repeat things. It”s what you do!” What would a Christian version of that commercial look like? “If you”re a Christian, you [blank]. It”s what you do!” The possibilities are endless. There are legitimate options on every page of the Bible, and there are pressing needs and opportunities everywhere you look. And where there is a legitimate need, within the family of God, there are spiritual gifts sufficient to respond. Hebrews 6 encourages Christians to “keep doing”

September 25, 2015

Christian Standard

The Best Sermon I’ve Ever Heard (3)

By Arron Chambers Christian leaders, some of them preachers themselves, tell us about a sermon they can”t forget””and maybe you won”t either. Interestingly, this month”s submissions include two sermons delivered at the same church but by different speakers, and two sermons by fathers of the contributors. Enjoy! Jennifer Farber Jennifer is executive director of the KORE Foundation. She works with the Small Holder Poultry Project in Haiti and oversees stateside operations. Jennifer”s Best Sermon: The best sermon on reaching, serving, and helping people to live better lives by Dennis Bratton (Jennifer”s father). This sermon was delivered at Journey Christian Church

July 13, 2014

Christian Standard

Work Day

By Dennis Bratton (From our series “The Best or Worst Advice I’ve Ever Received.”) It was going to be the biggest and best church workday I”d ever organized. Dozens of leaders were assigned specific tasks, given a team of workers, and provided with tools and supplies. Donuts and coffee would greet everybody at 7 a.m. sharp. I”d done my work. All that remained was to carry my clipboard around checking off boxes. Rudy Williams, an elder and leader in our congregation, called Friday night and said, “Meet me at church at 5 a.m. sharp.” When I got there he handed

November 26, 2013

Mark A. Taylor

Giving to Those Who Can”t Give Back

By Mark A. Taylor Looking for a different way to infuse your Christmas celebration with meaning? Gayla Congdon has an idea. During our November 21 Beyond the Standard BlogTalkRadio program*, she mentioned a program with lots of possibilities. “We”re encouraging families to participate in 24 days of disruption, starting December 1,” she said. “Each day visitors to our blog or Facebook page will receive another idea for family activities to create a meaningful Christmas.” Here”s how Amor”s website describes the challenge: The 24 Days of Advent journey will stretch you. It will cause you to rethink your economy of Christmas

August 12, 2013

Christian Standard

What about the Preacher”s Family?

By Dennis Bratton Fifty percent of preachers” marriages will end in divorce. Eighty percent of preachers believe pastoral ministry has negatively affected their families. Thirty-three percent say being in the ministry is an outright hazard to their family. Local churches can change this picture. Here are some simple ideas any congregation can follow to make sure their preacher”s family is an example for every family. Preachers live in a continuum of unfinished tasks. At the end of nearly every day, the preacher can think of calls he needs to return, a sermon or lesson he needs to write, someone who requires a personal visit,

December 7, 2011

Christian Standard

KORE””Chicken Coops and More in Haiti

By Dennis Bratton KORE Foundation is a unique ministry that pursues sustainable solutions to extreme poverty within the Christian community of Haiti. One billion people in the world””and half the population of Haiti””exist on $1 a day or less. Extreme poverty is simple to define, but it is hideous to behold. It is debilitating. It does not allow dreams or hopes. It strikes and crushes the most vulnerable on earth. It is time for the church to consider a reasoned Christian response to this destructive burden. Jesus acknowledged economic realities in his ministry (Luke 4:16-30). He offered care for both

November 14, 2011

Christian Standard

Talking Church

By Dennis Bratton During a discussion about mentoring, talk turned toward the idea of a coaching cohort. The term coaching struck a cord of familiarity. I”d taken part in peer coaching for years. We didn”t call it that. It was just a group of preachers who got together once a year to talk church, play some golf, and talk church some more. The benefits of those connections were far-reaching in my ministry. I was in a growing church and regularly facing issues and challenges for which I often felt ill equipped. My best source of counsel came consistently from those

July 8, 2011

Christian Standard

Our “˜God Is Able” Verse

By Dennis Bratton He walked into the classroom and drew three stair steps on the blackboard. On the bottom rung he wrote “To Know.” On the second rung he wrote “To Feel.” And finally the third rung received the phrase “To Do.” This was J.B. Richardson”s formula for Christian education, and I never forgot it. I like things that are simple, make sense, and work. When preaching, for instance, I would use the “stair steps” to evaluate the sermon. To Know“”what is the truth this sermon exposes? To Feel“”is the truth presented in a way that can reach the heart

Help Keep Christian Standard Free & Accessible with a Tax Deductible Donation

We can do more together!

Every gift makes a difference!

No, thank you.
100% secure transactions - receipts provided.
Does Your Church Want to Support Christian Standard?

Would your church consider including support for Christian Standard in its annual missions budget? Your support would help us not only continue the 160-year legacy of this unifying ministry, but also expand the free resources, cooperative opportunities, and practical guidance we provide to strengthen churches in the U.S. and around the world.

We can do more together!

Every gift makes a difference!

No, thank you.
100% secure transactions - receipts provided.
Secret Link