July 18, 2016
Dave Stone, 2016 North American Christian Convention president, shares where this year”s theme, “A Better Story,” came from. In this exclusive interview with contributing editor Ben Cachiaras, Dave thanks California churches for the convention”s success and shares reactions to Christian churches and churches of Christ he”s receiving from Christian leaders outside that fellowship. (Click here to view the interview.)
July 16, 2016
Jeff Stone shares ideas to help any Christian seize moments with evangelistic potential in his summary of his workshop, “Creative Ways to Share Your Story.” Exclusive interview at the 2016 North American Christian Convention with editor Mark A. Taylor, here.
July 15, 2016
Melissa Sandel and Rob Kastens, two megachurch executive pastors, talk about the unique challenges of the role and what they wish someone had told them before they took it on. Exclusive interview from the 2016 North American Christian Convention with CHRISTIAN STANDARD contributing editor Jennifer Johnson, here.
June 10, 2016
By Gincy Hartin My first encounters with Dr. Jerry Taylor took place back in the 1970s and “80s, when I was a child growing up in the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, area. My family”s spiritual roots are in the historically black a cappella churches of Christ, and throughout my childhood, we frequently attended gospel meetings, singing fellowships, and other activities at numerous church of Christ congregations throughout that area. It was at these gatherings we would often hear the deep, rich baritone voice of Jerry Taylor””sometimes leading songs, sometimes preaching the gospel, and on numerous occasions, doing both. In every case,
February 22, 2016
By Jennifer Johnson The president of Financial Planning Ministry since 1994 explains what FPM does and why it”s important. So let”s start with an overview of what Financial Planning Ministry is all about. Ultimately FPM is about helping people be better stewards. We accomplish this by educating people about their estate planning options and providing an estate planning solution called a living trust that allows them to easily avoid huge costs in probate and pass that “saved” money along to family members and ministries they care about. What”s a living trust? How is it different from a will? A will
December 6, 2015
By Jennifer Johnson Randy Gill is the worship and creative arts minister at Otter Creek Church, a noninstrumental church of Christ in Nashville, Tennessee. He is also a songwriter and arranger for the ZOE Group. He talked with us about worship as spiritual formation, why exuberant worship experiences aren”t enough, and how the use of instruments makes worship planning more difficult. Let”s start by talking about some big-picture values for corporate worship before diving into the specifics of different artistic forms. You”ve said that worship is not about emotional catharsis or having an “experience”; it”s actually about spiritual formation. There
December 4, 2015
John W. Samples from the Christian Holy Land Foundation and Saleem Hanna, pastor in Nazareth, Israel, join Mark Taylor for a conversation about the state of Christianity in Israel in this video interview.
December 2, 2015
Robert Crews, director of 3:18 Ministries, a work with Apache Indians based in Globe, Arizona, talks about the overlooked population of Native Americans and his call to bring them the gospel. Hear his discussion with Editor Mark Taylor in this video interview.
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 16, 2015
Joe Wilson, director of the Eastern Christian Conference, describes how church work in the Eastern United States has changed for congregations identifying with the Restoration Movement. See this interview with Mark A. Taylor here.
November 15, 2015
Kendi Kemerly began Kendi”s Cows of Grace when she was only 9 years old. Click here to see her interview with editor Mark A. Taylor and learn more about how even a young girl can work with others to change lives on the other side of the globe.
November 13, 2015
Gary Johnson, senior minister at The Creek in Indianapolis, Indiana, talks with editor Mark A. Taylor about the unique DNA at that church and the importance of combining compassion with testimony as we make friends with those who aren”t Christians. See the exclusive interview here.
October 19, 2015
An interview with John Walker By Alan Ahlgrim What would you like a struggling leader to know? First of all, they need to know they”re not alone. Everyone has struggled, is struggling, or will struggle with a life-limiting or ministry-threatening issue. Everyone. Sadly, too many not only struggle, but fail to the point of falling out. Is there a pattern to the failure situations you”ve seen in ministry? Not really, except to say that to some degree, sooner or later everyone messes up or gets stuck. We”re not about blame, shame, or punishment. We”re concerned about restoration and healing. That”s
August 2, 2015
By Greg Swinney Richard Nixon was president, a first-class postage stamp cost 6 cents, Neil Armstrong said, “That”s one small step for man,” and Gary Hawes began as campus minister at Michigan State University in East Lansing. It was 1969. We spoke with Gary earlier this year, after his 45 years of fruitful labors and nearly 4,000 university students baptized into Christ. How did you decide to enter campus ministry? Who influenced you? It was late in the 1960s and it was a wonderful time to get started in campus ministry. The Jesus movement was really moving. They held an entirely different
July 22, 2015
John Perkins, one of the leading evangelical voices coming out of the U.S. civil rights movement, spoke with contributing editor Jennifer Johnson at the North American Christian Convention, June 2015. In this exclusive interview, he explains why many efforts toward racial reconciliation are like trying to cure cancer with Tylenol and what the church’s role in racial healing must be. See the interview here.
July 15, 2015
CHRISTIAN STANDARD Editor Mark A. Taylor speaks with Rich Knopp and Mark Mittelberg about an apologetics initiative called Room for Doubt that is designed to both reinforce Christians in their faith while also reaching non-Christians. The idea is to defend Christian faith with mercy and grace. Knopp is a professor of philosophy and Christian apologetics at Lincoln (IL) Christian University and Mittelberg is a Christian writer and speaker. Watch the interview.
July 14, 2015
Jodi Hickerson, programming director with Mission Church in Ventura, California, talks about her journey and how God has opened doors for her to serve his church. See the exclusive interview with Lookout Editor Kelly Carr here.
July 9, 2015
Daniel Overdorf shares his enthusiasm for training Christian workers and comments on how the church and the college can tap each others’ best to do a better job of equipping Christian leaders. This preaching professor also talks about how preaching has changed””not only for good””and how it needs to change. See the exclusive interview with Mark Taylor here.
July 6, 2015
John Mark Hicks tells what thrills him when he looks at the Christian churches and churches of Christ. “We need an infusion of church-planting enthusiasm among the a cappella churches of Christ,” he says. In this exclusive interview with Editor Mark Taylor, he explains the trend he sees with Baptists and Stone-Campbell churches coming closer to each other on the position of baptism. “Does God do something through baptism?” Answers to the question are creating new dialogue. See the interview here.
July 3, 2015
Roy Lawson, 2015 North American Christian Convention speaker, spoke with Mark Taylor about how and why the NACC has changed and prospered and how an older Christian can guard against depression, bitterness, or cynicism as he or she experiences advancing years. See our exclusive interview here.
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