Articles for tag: Just One Challenge

March 9, 2011

Christian Standard

Why We Won”t “˜Lose Our Light”

By Gary Tiffin Christian church colleges and universities could be in trouble in ways we have not considered. Books about similar institutions in the last few years raise quite a few questions. Here is how the story often plays out: a Christian group founds a college, but over decades the relationship weakens and eventually the college frees itself from any obligation or actual alignment with its founding group. Then the college becomes independent and more secular than religious, with few if any remaining traces of its religious roots*. This scenario is not ours! We are not in danger of “losing

November 24, 2010

Christian Standard

More Stories About “˜Just One” Sunday

Churches continue to share stories about their “Just One” Sunday. In addition to joining with other participating churches in praying for more laborers for the harvest, Crossroads Christian Church (Newburgh, IN) also used the three weekends before the Nov. 14 emphasis to challenge every Christ follower in the church body to identify “Just One” person with whom they would build a relationship, share Jesus, and include in some expression of Christian community. CCC plans to continue this emphasis on making disciples and raising up Christian leaders throughout 2011. During its services that Sunday, Greencastle (IN) Christian Church displayed pictures of

November 17, 2010

Christian Standard

Churches Participate in “˜Just One Sunday”

By Jennifer Taylor Churches around the country have participated in “Just One Sunday,” a challenge from Christian college and university presidents to pray for “just one” person who might become a vocational kingdom worker and to make Matthew 9:38 a special prayer emphasis during worship services. Parkway Christian Church (Surprise, AZ) created a “Just One Challenge” card for each child at the church, from newborns to high school students. During the service, PCC members each selected a card and committed to pray for that young person at least once a day. David Doty, senior minister at Woodland Hills Church of

October 25, 2010

Christian Standard

What Your Church Can Do

By Guthrie Veech and Bill Behrman Use these ideas to increase the number of students from your church who choose to attend Christian colleges. Implementing “just one” of these will multiply servant leaders for kingdom work. “¢ Start encouraging young children ages 8-10 to consider ministry. The planted seeds bloom later as those students choose to become ministers. Tell those young people you are praying for them and God has a great plan for them. “¢ Every year have at least one lesson or sermon about the importance of every student spending one year in a Christian college. The resources

October 24, 2010

Christian Standard

The Influence of Just One

By Mike Kilgallin and Clay Perkins One servant in God”s hands can truly make a difference. Consider the story of G.H. “Dean” Cachiaras, a teenage immigrant from Greece who ended up polishing shoes. One day as he polished the shoes of a doctor casually reading a newspaper, the man discovered the boy was from Greece. The doctor lowered the newspaper and spoke to him in his native language, “Young man, what do you plan to do with your life?” The doctor encouraged G.H. to attend his alma mater, Johnson Bible College in Knoxville, Tennessee. The boy enrolled, began studying the

October 23, 2010

Christian Standard

A Challenge for All of Us

By Mark A. Taylor I”m grateful for a preacher who did what Bob Russell didn”t. In his interview this week, Bob says he wishes he”d started a “Preacher Boys Club” as a part of his local-church ministry. When I was in junior high and high school, the minister did exactly that. Actually two ministers led our group at the Christian church in Waukegan, Illinois. It was started by Robert Sheets and continued by Steve Willis who followed him in ministry there. We met before Sunday-evening youth group and learned about different kinds of sermons and how to deliver them. We

October 22, 2010

Christian Standard

The Best Preparation Possible

By Tracy Marx and Mike Sweeney Why attend a Bible college, Christian college/university, or seminary? Are we not all ministers of the church? In a movement that recognizes no distinction between clergy and laity, what”s the point of sending people on for a theological education? Does having a bachelor”s degree in Bible or a master of divinity degree make someone a better harvest worker for the kingdom of God? While no one would claim that a college degree somehow confers spiritual maturity on a person, we believe a strong biblical case can be made for Christian higher education for those

October 22, 2010

Christian Standard

Common Ground and a Common Goal

By John Derry What would it take for 30 colleges and universities ranging in size from less than 100 to more than 1,000 students, from various regions of the country, and each with unique strengths, to collaborate on a project? The institutions would need to find common ground on which they could come together in a spirit of unity, joining forces to achieve something they could not do alone. The Matthew 9:38 Just One Challenge provides this common ground. It resonates with the leadership of all schools in our fellowship, because without exception they share a common mission of equipping

October 21, 2010

Christian Standard

This is Everybody”s Job (an Interview with Bob Russell)

By Dean Collins Since Bob Russell”s retirement from Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky, in 2006 he has encouraged ministry in the local church in a variety of ways. This year, he partnered with our Christian college presidents in the Just One Challenge. Shortly after the North American Christian Convention in July, I talked with Bob about his passion for recruiting the next generation of kingdom workers. DEAN COLLINS: What role should local churches play in recruiting kingdom workers, both to our colleges and to the harvest field? BOB RUSSELL: One of my regrets, when I look back, is that

October 20, 2010

Christian Standard

The Just One Challenge

        By Kevin Ingram and Matt Proctor Bob Russell believes the Restoration Movement has a problem. The retired senior minister of Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, sees a declining number of students interested in ministry. “As I talk with our Bible college presidents, I”m seeing a real drop in students who want to preach the gospel,” says Bob Russell. Why? “Various factors may contribute,” he answers. “The secularization of society, the postmodern mind-set that denigrates anything authoritative, the declining number of teens in Christian service camps, and the passive involvement of ministers in the lives of teens.”

October 20, 2010

Christian Standard

Just One Sunday (a Special Emphasis on Nov. 14)

Imagine what could happen if every church in North America began to pray for the Lord to raise up preachers, missionaries, and other harvest workers! New kingdom leaders would be recruited, mission fields would be reached, churches would be planted, God”s Word would be preached, souls would be saved, wounded hearts would be healed, and God would be praised. So join with churches across the nation November 14, the Sunday before the National Missionary Convention, to be a part of the Just One Challenge. Make Matthew 9:38 a special prayer emphasis in your worship service that day. Visit www.justonechallenge.org for

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