November 16, 2023
"Why not be thankful this year?" minister Orval M. Morgan wrote at the height of the Great Depression. "What are a few years of depression when compared to God’s eternity? . . . God is still God; Christ is still the Saviour of the world; the Holy Spirit our Comforter; prayer our privilege and the Bible our open Book. . . ."
This short news item from 1933 is notable mainly for describing the lengths to which the congregation in Streator, Ill., went to heat their church building during the Great Depression. . . .
September 16, 2022
Alberta Bible College is celebrating its 90th anniversary this weekend with three days of festivities beginning today (Sept. 16).
July 20, 2021
From a financial standpoint, most churches performed amazingly well during the course of COVID-19. Now, with unprecedented levels of cash on hand, church leaders must strategize how best to steward these resources.
October 24, 2020
By Kip Lines People use the term “unprecedented” to describe the COVID-19 global pandemic. But in the grand story of God’s mission in the world, we are not living in unprecedented times. There have been pandemics before. There have been times God’s people could not gather, and yet the church has persevered and grown. Even during the last 100 years, the Restoration Movement has dealt with uncertainty and challenges. In fact, after the first few North American Christian Conventions were held from 1927 to 1929, the Great Depression and World War II dictated that the gathering would happen only seven
January 31, 2019
Announcement of John Derry’s retirement as president of Hope International University this coming August after 15 years in that office served to remind me it is the 90th anniversary of that institution, which originally was known as Pacific Bible Seminary. Christian Standard announced the launch of that school with a front-page story Dec. 1, 1928, and also with an editorial in that same issue. Following are excerpts from the article, but some of its details open up a bit of mystery. _ _ _ Pacific Bible Seminary New School for the Training of Loyal Christian Preachers Is Launched in Los
September 14, 2018
E2: Effective Elders Blog Editor’s Note: Each Friday we publish a new blog post from our partners in ministry, E2: Effective Elders. We publish it here simultaneous to E2’s posting on their site. The leaders of E2 write an article for our print and online magazine every month as well. Those articles are full of wisdom and practical help for elders. Please check them out! _____ By Ken Idleman My father lived a very full life of 94 years. He started out as the youngest of four boys—not an enviable place in the “pecking order.” He grew up in a two-bedroom,
January 14, 2018
By Haydn Shaw People now live 30 years longer than they once did. In 1900 the average life span was 48; today it’s 78. But as people live longer—for which we’re all grateful—it presents new challenges that previous eras didn’t face. In previous eras, there were only three generations. The oldest generation had the money and made the decisions, and the younger generation of adults raised the children and did what the older generation asked them to until their parents died, and then their turn came to be in control. Changes in families and churches came slowly and naturally, with
October 9, 2014
By Tim Hartman Even though I was a Bible major at Milligan College during the early 1980s, I was convinced my future would include some unforeseeable role in what I liked to call the Christian arts. Whatever that is. I thought it was imperative to find some way to integrate my faith with my artistic skill set. Milligan College didn”t really have a theater program when I was a student there, but the kids who loved performing had plenty of opportunities. The problem we had in college, though, is the same problem I have had to deal with for the
June 15, 2011
By Frederick W. Norris Earthquakes, a Pacific tsunami that reached California, shifting yet continuous wars, shaky economies. These events grab our attention with ghastly pictures of eroding life. There are, however, flashes of light that remind us of our abiding hope in Christ. God is not dead; neither does God sleep. The loss of schools for educating church leaders in the 1930s during the Depression, cultural secularism, and movement toward world war provided the conditions for the birth of our colleges. We made it then, and we can make it now, because God still rules. The courageous people who backed
January 10, 2010
By LeRoy Lawson Amity Shlaes, The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression (New York: HarperCollins, 2007). Chris Anderson, Free: The Future of a Radical Price (New York: Hyperion, 2009). Harvey Cox, The Future of Faith (New York: HarperOne, 2009). Here”s the thing about reading: it”s addictive. Read a good book and it whets your appetite to read more on the subject, or by the author, or to satisfy your curiosity. This month”s column is mostly about that curiosity. Bearing the Brunt The Forgotten Man is a good example. In a recent column I reviewed David Wessel”s In
June 15, 2008
By John Samples This article mentions a photograph that appeared in publications that subscribe to the services of the Associated Press. While CHRISTIAN STANDARD purchased the rights to run the photo run with this article in our printed version, we do not have permission to post the image with the online version of this article. According to the old adage, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” However, here is one picture worth several thousand words. It is a picture of seven siblings who have attained at least 50 years of marriage. The two brothers and five sisters pictured have
November 4, 2007
By Daniel Schantz An angry young man blocked my exit from my college classroom. He thrust a term paper in my face, and with quivering voice said, “How come I only got a B on this paper?” “Well,” I replied, “a B is an excellent grade.” He was not satisfied with my answer. He is one of the self-esteem generation who expects to get nothing but As. To them, anything that is not an A is an F. Now, the excellence generation has taken the reins of the church. It is a generation with astronomical expectations. “Excellence” is their mantra.
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