Articles for tag: Las Vegas

July 27, 2014

Christian Standard

Intimacy and Influence

By Vince Antonucci (From our series “The Best or Worst Advice I”ve Ever Received.”) The best advice I”ve received is from one of my spiritual mentors, Dean Trune. In fact, you can find this advice in every e-mail Dean sends out. The advice is that the most essential thing I can do today is spend quality time with God. Jesus said we can accomplish nothing apart from him. He said as we stay connected to him, we will produce much fruit. Intimacy with God leads to influence in the world. Dean lives that, and I want to. Vince Antonucci serves

September 12, 2013

Christian Standard

Leading with Love in Las Vegas

By Vince Antonucci Travis moved from New York City to Las Vegas to make money. He was a photographer and started showing up at nightclubs and strip clubs asking, “How about you make me your photographer?” Travis became the photographer for many of Vegas”s nightclubs and strip clubs, and then strippers. Before long, Travis was sleeping with the strippers. Travis”s wife found out, and she moved out with their kids. Travis began convincing strippers that they could make more money, and soon he became their pimp. Travis is the kind of person I moved to Las Vegas to reach. We

June 9, 2013

Christian Standard

Our Missional Experiment

By Greg Hubbard It was shared life with a purpose. We laughed together. We cried together. We prayed together. We ate together. When somebody around us had a need, we spontaneously served them together. Meaningful spiritual conversations were frequent. We caught a glimpse of kingdom life as we had rarely experienced it before. In the early 2000s, a church known as Apex came to experience all of this in Las Vegas, Nevada. Quite a journey had brought us to that place. Apex began as an outreach of Canyon Ridge Christian Church as a means to reach young adults. At first

February 21, 2013

Christian Standard

Cocooning Instead of Congregating?

By Mark A. Taylor Even though I”m an extrovert by nature, I love a weekend evening at home with my wife, sharing the couch and something fun to eat, and watching a program or movie we both enjoy on TV. This is especially nice at the end of a busy week, with several nights away from home, and workdays filled with multiple obligations. It”s great to settle in, put away the to-do lists, and just enjoy good food and good entertainment with my best friend. Several decades ago, trend forecaster Faith Popcorn coined a term for a pastime like this.

April 10, 2011

Christian Standard

The Crossing, A Christian Church

By Kent E. Fillinger An apple doesn”t fall far from the tree. The Crossing, A Christian Church, located in the southwest quadrant of Las Vegas, Nevada, embodies this idiom. The Crossing was planted by Canyon Ridge Christian Church on September 24, 2000, and is the youngest megachurch with an average worship attendance of 2,224 last year. Canyon Ridge, located in the northwest valley of Las Vegas, was birthed by Central Christian Church in 1993 and averaged almost 6,000 in attendance last year. Central Christian, also in Las Vegas, averaged close to 18,000 in worship last year. Those are some great

October 22, 2010

Christian Standard

Starting a Church for People Who Don’t Like Church

This week Verve, a Christian church in Las Vegas, held “Vault,” a church planting lab “where current and future church planters can learn how to start a church for people who don”t like church.” The event began Monday and ends today, and included sessions on a variety of topics including “Understanding & Starting an Indigenous Church for Your Community” and “Marketing to the Unchurched.” Click here to learn more.

June 6, 2010

Christian Standard

What Is a Sermon? My Definition Has Changed Over the Years

By Jud White A wise and seasoned leader said to me once, “Jud, stop trying to preach great sermons. Preach good sermons and love your people, and they will love you for it.” That may sound like odd advice. He could tell I was trying so hard to preach well that it was suffocating my loving well. His advice freed me to be more concerned about caring for people and getting God”s truth out there week in and week out, rather than hitting a grand slam each weekend in my preaching. Ultimately, it freed me to make my preaching more about

April 11, 2010

Christian Standard

Megachurches: Fun Facts Gleaned from This Year”s List

By Kent Fillinger An average of 317,003 people attended the 114 megachurches and emerging megachurches every weekend in 2009. If these people extended hands and formed a human chain along Interstate 90, it would stretch from Chicago to Cleveland. Likewise, if these 317,003 people stood on top of one another, the human tower would stretch 350 miles above the earth (the International Space Station orbits 200 miles above earth). Three churches have grown 10 percent or more each of the last three years and “Cross” is in all of their names: The Crossing, Quincy, IL; The Crossing, A Christian Church,

April 11, 2010

Christian Standard

Megachurches: A Closer Look at the Numbers

By Kent Fillinger What is “Average”? The 54 megachurches” average worship attendance: 4,314 The 60 emerging megachurches” average worship attendance: 1,400 All 114 churches” average attendance: 2,781 Fastest-Growing Churches One-Year Growth Rate: Real Life Christian, Clermont, FL, 65% Generations Christian, Trinity, FL, 51% Eastside Christian, Fullerton, CA, 39% Five-Year Total Growth Rate: Parkview Christian, Orland Park, IL, 127% Central Christian, Henderson, NV, 118% Real Life Ministries, Post Falls, ID, 93% Fastest-Growing Churches of the Decade: Savannah (GA) Christian, 286% Christ”s Church of the Valley, Peoria, AZ, 234% Southeast Christian, Parker, CO, 227% Fastest-Growing Since the First List in 1997: Christ”s

June 24, 2009

Christian Standard

The Baptism Bandwagon

By Mark A. Taylor As Jennifer Taylor indicated in her blog May 6, it”s easy to be cynical about bandwagons. But most of us will agree with her that it”s difficult to argue with the results of what may become a trend in Christian churches: spontaneous baptism weekends. So far we”ve heard about a half-dozen churches that have hosted these events. The preacher presents Bible teaching about baptism and then invites anyone in the crowd who hasn”t been baptized to come forward on the spot. The churches don”t make provision for changing rooms and robes. Those who respond are immersed

May 17, 2009

Christian Standard

What Church Leaders Need to Know About Ministry to Aging Baby Boomers

  By Amy Hanson Chances are you”ve heard some of these statistics, but try to take a fresh look and really let them soak in: “¢ Americans 65 and older are the fastest-growing segment of the population. “¢ In the past century, the number of people in the United States under the age of 65 has tripled; however, the number of people over 65 has increased by more than a factor of 12. “¢ Today, there are approximately 78 million baby boomers in the U.S., with the oldest boomer turning 63 this year (2009). “¢ By the year 2030 there

August 3, 2008

Christian Standard

The Culture War Is Over

By Jud Wilhite Afew years ago I had a transformative experience on Las Vegas Boulevard. I was standing in front of a multibillion dollar hotel, knowing what Las Vegas is built on, where its roots are, and thinking of the waves of people walking past me. It was like a light came on and I realized the culture war is over””we lost. Let me repeat. WE LOST! The culture war dominated much of the 1980s and 1990s as an argumentative and aggressive political posture, mainly myopic about homosexuality and abortion. That posture led to a perception of moral and religious

April 13, 2008

Christian Standard

By the Numbers (Megachurches and Emerging Megachurches)

By Kent Fillinger and Ben Simms WHAT IS “AVERAGE”? The 52 megachurches” average size: 4,019 The 61 emerging megachurches” average size: 1,441 All 113 churches average size: 2,628 Total attendance of all 113 churches on an average weekend: 296,926 Total attendance for Easter 2007: 486,677 Total baptisms for all of 2007: 19,107 STATE BY STATE Number of churches reported in each state: 17″”Indiana 11″”California, Ohio 8″”Arizona, Illinois, Kentucky 6″”Florida 5″”Colorado, Texas 4″”Missouri, Nevada 3″”Idaho, Kansas, North Carolina, Washington 2″”Georgia, Oregon, Wisconsin 1″”Maryland, Michigan, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia 26 states have a megachurch listed FASTEST GROWING Fastest-Growing Churches

February 17, 2008

Christian Standard

The Assassin of Character Creep

By Jud Wilhite Jud Wilhite is senior pastor of Central Christian Church, a pioneering community of faith in the Las Vegas area. More than 12,000 attend Central”s campuses each weekend. Jud is the author of several books including Stripped: Uncensored Grace on the Streets of Vegas, That Crazy Little Thing Called Love, and Deadly Viper Character Assassins. Under Jud”s leadership, Central is dedicated to helping people find their way to God. He is known for his authentic and relevant approach to teaching the Bible, and his passion is to equip people to know God and love him more. Jud and

August 26, 2007

Christian Standard

A Christian Church Opportunity

By Paul S. Williams It was my recent pleasure to receive a coffee-table book that had a picture of every Christian church in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. John Eldon Cornett, the author of In Search of Heaven on Earth in Kentucky, considered the task a labor of love.* As I looked through the pages I was taken by how aggressively our forefathers planted churches almost 200 years ago in what was then one of the fastest-growing areas in America. Christian churches sprouted all across the Midwest, South, and West as America pursued its “Manifest Destiny.” As a result, the Restoration

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