December 30, 2024
We Have Been There Before
God has helped us in ages past, and he won’t forsake us in the new year ahead.
Articles for tag: Innovation
James Garfield’s European Vacation
James A. Garfield was the 20th president of the United States and an original investor in Christian Standard. He grew up in northeastern Ohio and was baptized in 1850 at age 18. He preached frequently during the 1850s while attending the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute (which became Hiram College in 1867) and then Williams College (Williamstown, Mass.), and after returning to Hiram, Ohio, in 1856 to serve on faculty and as principal (commencing in 1857). In 1861 he entered military service with the Union Army during the Civil War. Soon after the war, he helped make arrangements to establish this
October 12, 2017
Innovation Is Born Out of Constraint
By Chuck Dennie Why does Twitter have a 140-character limit? An article titled “Best Practices” at Twitter.com states, “Creativity loves constraints and simplicity is at our core. Tweets are limited to 140 characters so they can be consumed easily anywhere, even via mobile text messages.” Twitter users most likely will tell you that being limited to 140Â characters has forced them to be more focused, creative, and clear about what they”re trying to communicate. The multisite church is a beautiful example of innovating in response to constraint and limitations. We can now reach more people in more areas in our communities
September 19, 2016
Why I Quit Being a Pastor to Train Elephants
By Brian Mavis I”m calling on the church, government, arts, and business to work together for the sake of kids. “Our greatest dignity as creatures is not in initiative but in response.” “”C. S. Lewis “For we are God”s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” “”Paul, in Ephesians 2:10 It”s been a great 20-plus years, but God has called me to a new challenge””training elephants. People are pretty pumped about it, but allow me to tell you the backstory before I get to the elephants. My Wife, Orphans,
September 30, 2012
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
April 16, 2012
Trends, Turns, and Trailblazing
By Brian Mavis CHRISTIAN STANDARD asked me to write a column about “what”s next,” and I said, “OK.” When will I learn? I”m not a futurologist. I don”t know anything about horoscopes. I brewed my tea leaves, and my Magic 8 Ball is stuck on “Reply hazy, try again.” When I look into the future, the only thing I see are people confronting me with, “Hey Mavis! Where are those flying cars with onboard waffle makers you said we would have by now?” Let me clarify the purpose of this column. It”s not about predictions or prophecies; it”s about looking
February 7, 2011
Improvisation Is Hard Work
By Kyle Baker A jazz musician and a church leader walk into a bar. No wait, the jazz musician walks into a bar, the church leader walks into a church. The jazz musician walks into a room with a band of misfits who will improvise on standard material. The church leader walks into a room with a team of experts who will play parts they”ve honed for years. No wait, the church leader has the band of improvising misfits; it”s the jazz musician who has the team of experts. I had the good fortune to study jazz trombone with Delfeayo
