November 17, 2015
Mike Schrage, executive director with Good News Productions International talks about the need for churches to make better use of technology and how that will be the subject of the 2016 International Conference on Missions, scheduled to meet in Lexington, November 17-20. (He”s the president.) Click here to see this interview with Mark A. Taylor.
November 12, 2015
By Mike Schrage Go and make disciples. This 2,000-year-old command from Jesus is just as compelling and encompassing as ever. It”s a command for obedience. It”s a command for commitment. What must we do today to obey the command? Robert Coleman said, “Evangelism is not an optional accessory to our life. It is the heartbeat of all that we were called to be and do.”1 How”s the American church doing with this command to go and make disciples? Let me share a heart that”s full of concern for the bride of Christ found within our nation”s borders. We”re living in
November 21, 2014
Mike Schrage, president of the 2016 International Conference on Missions to be held in Lexington, Kentucky, talked about the work of Good News Productions, the impact through the decades of the missionary conference, and his plans for 2016. See the video interview with Editor Mark Taylor, from the exhibit floor of the 2014 ICOM, here.
By Matt Proctor Several years ago, two of my nephews accompanied their mom on a visit to a friend”s house. Ben was 8. Brian was 6. Their mother”s friend was a very neat lady, to the point of being obsessive-compulsive. (I have a friend who says, “I have OCD, only I like to call it CDO because then it”s in alphabetical order.”) This woman had a place for everything and everything in its place. Though childless, she did have a few toys and handed Ben and Brian a bucket of Lego bricks: “Here boys, you can play with these.” What”s
July 25, 2014
By Ziden Nutt (From our series “The Best or Worst Advice I”ve Ever Received.”) The date: October 24, 1952. The place: East Gary, Indiana. I was sitting in the front row, in the third chair from the right side. A very frail gentleman stood on the platform speaking. He had just spent 15 months in a Communist China prison, from March 22, 1951, to June 20, 1952. Among the torture methods used was a giant nutcracker, large enough to apply pressure to a human head. He said the only thing to help him keep his sanity was quoting Scripture over
November 23, 2012
By David Empson In November 2010, Restoration Revolution was started at the former National Missionary Convention””now the International Conference On Missions (ICOM)””in Lexington, Kentucky. For almost 18 months prior to its launch, more than 100 leaders representing all kinds of ministries among Christian churches and churches of Christ had been meeting to consider what could be done for the kingdom of God over the next 10 years. Here is a report on progress with these goals so far. Restoration Revolution”s vision statement calls it “a 10-year collaboration that desires to share Jesus with all people.” The four points of Restoration
February 20, 2012
By Jennifer Taylor Good News Productions International (Founded 1976) P.O. Box 222, Joplin, MO 64802 www.gnpi.org Mike Schrage, Executive Director Many organizations exist to evangelize the world; the mission of Good News Productions International is accelerating the work with relevant, culturally sensitive media strategies. “We offer the church an opportunity to use first-world technology to reach Third World cultures,” says Executive Director Mike Schrage. “Our team in Joplin is just a small part of our ministry””we have regional production centers around the world and we touch a million people each week with our audio, video, and print projects.” These initiatives
January 19, 2012
By Jennifer Taylor  “How can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?” (Romans 10:14). Good News Productions, International (Joplin, MO), has created a new way to reach the many people groups who have not yet heard about Christ because they do not have access to the Bible or cannot read. This fall it launched The Global Gospel, a three-disc illustrated DVD storybook and dramatic reading of the Gospels. “The Global Gospel series was created to be easily adapted for use around the world,” shares GNPI. “The project can be shared with people in nearly every tongue,
December 31, 2010
By Gordon R. Clymer Recently six Timothys of Indiana”s Black Oak Church of Christ returned to say thank-you to the church where each was baptized. Located between Hammond and Gary, the community has become more inner-city than metropolitan. Fewer than 100 people now meet to worship with this congregation. In years past it was never a large church, but it had a vision of outreach. These six men sent out to preach the gospel include James North, professor of church history at Cincinnati (Ohio) Christian University; Ziden Nutt, executive director of Good News Productions, International (Joplin, Missouri); Gordon Clymer, professor
February 28, 2010
By John Caldwell My first experience with the National Missionary Convention was when it came to Joplin, Missouri, in 1965 while I was a student at Ozark Bible College. A few hundred people met at Memorial Hall with Woodrow Phillips, Ozark”s missions professor, serving as president. The halls were lined with displays, mostly homemade. Quite honestly, there is little else I can remember except that I felt honored to be in the presence of missionaries from all around the world whom I considered to be heroes of the faith. It would be many years before I would attend the convention
December 31, 2009
(Listed alphabetically) Gerald D. “Jerry” Bright, 94, died March 2, 2009, at the Stanton (KY) Nursing Home. He was born March 27, 1914, in Akron, OH, to Henry Proctor Bright and Minnie Shoup Bright. The 1938 graduate of Kentucky Christian University (known then as Grayson Normal Institute) also attended Butler University School of Religion, Indianapolis, IN. In 1938 he began his first full-time ministry with the Church of Christ in East Liberty, OH, during which time he met his wife, Mabel, of Bluffton, OH. They married June 15, 1941, and he continued as minister there until 1944. They served churches
November 29, 2009
by Greg Pruett From my house I could see the column of flame and cinders rising like a superheated tornado threatening to devour the whole village of grass huts. Two homes already blazed white-hot””competing with the intensity of the West African sun as the whole community stood helplessly wailing in distress. Men desperately dismantled nearby structures to contain the inferno and keep the rest of the village from burning. I gaped at the sight of my terrified friends weeping, but my mind kept wandering over to the tanks of water I had been storing up at my house less
February 1, 2009
Ziden Nutt reflects on the National Missionary Convention, the “honeymoon express,” and decades of relationships, commitments, and mission service shaped through those gatherings.
February 10, 2008
A recap of the 60th National Missionary Convention (2007) in Cincinnati, highlighting the “Compelled” theme, main-session preaching, workshops and exhibits, and the convention’s closing call to prayer and service.
February 10, 2008
Hundreds of unseen servants supported the National Missionary Convention through persistent prayer. From months of preparation to backstage intercession during main sessions, their quiet faithfulness encouraged workers and strengthened mission commitments.
June 24, 2007
A year after a historic “family reunion” at the 2006 NACC, Victor Knowles recounts growing cooperation between churches of Christ and Christian churches—shared worship, mission work, and renewed commitment to unity “that the world may believe.”
January 29, 2006
A mission trip to Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, revealed “bundles of joy”—believers dancing forward to give sacrificially in the midst of hardship. Their generosity and hope offer a lasting lesson in joyful giving.
October 23, 2005
In Joplin, Missouri, Victory in Prayer (VIP) Fellowship gathers ministry leaders to encourage one another and pray for each other’s work. What began in a crisis became a steady rhythm of unity, cooperation, and shared intercession.
September 18, 2005
A call to pray, give, and go as peace opens new opportunity in southern Sudan. The article highlights the endurance of the Sudanese church and urges believers to partner in gospel work, training, and compassionate service.
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