Articles for tag: LeRoy Lawson

July 6, 2013

Christian Standard

40 Under 40: Amy Hanson

AMY HANSON Speaker, writer, and consultant When I first heard about Amy Hanson, I had to ask twice to be certain my unreliable hearing hadn”t deceived me. She”s the 50s-plus ministry director? At the huge Central Christian Church in Las Vegas? And she”s how old? Yes, I had heard it right. She was not yet 30 and was in charge of a megachurch”s older adult programming. Dr. Amy Hanson is one of the most dynamic young leaders among us. You don”t have to take my word for it. You can check out Amy”s blog at amyhanson.org, where you”ll find her addressing

June 28, 2013

Christian Standard

From the Trivial (but Interesting) to the Eternal (and Compelling)

By LeRoy Lawson At Home: A Short History of Private Life Bill Bryson New York: Doubleday, 2010 The Divine Embrace: Recovering the Passionate Spiritual Life Robert E. Webber Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2006 Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus: How the Jewishness of Jesus Can Transform Your Faith Ann Spangler and Lois Tverberg Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2009 Some authors are hard to resist. I”d already read several Bill Bryson books (Mother Tongue, Notes from a Small Island, A Walk in the Woods, A Short History of Nearly Everything), so when I came across At Home: A Short History of

May 25, 2013

Christian Standard

From Three of My Favorite Female Authors

By LeRoy Lawson   Animals Make Us Human: Creating the Best Life for Animals Temple Grandin and Catherine Johnson Boston and New York: Mariner Books (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), 2009, 2010 An Altar in the World: A Geography of Faith Barbara Brown Taylor New York: HarperCollins e-books, 2009 (HarperOne) Acedia and Me: A Marriage, Monks, and a Writer”s Life Kathleen Norris New York: Riverhead Books (Penguin Group), 2008   This month”s books are by three favorite female writers. Each has earned respect by life well-lived and books well-written. The first is Temple Grandin”s Animals Make Us Human, perhaps a surprising choice

April 28, 2013

Christian Standard

Churches, Brains, and Change

By LeRoy Lawson   Messy: God Likes It that Way A. J. Swoboda Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 2012 Social Intelligence: The New Science of Human Relationships Daniel Goleman New York: Bantam Books, 2006 Memoirs of an Addicted Brain: A Neuroscientist Examines His Former Life on Drugs Marc Lewis New York: PublicAffairs, 2012 Gutenberg the Geek Jeff Jarvis Kindle Single, 2012 Early in my ministry I took comfort in a joke””probably already stale””that made the rounds in preacher circles. A pastor ran into a former colleague who was now making his living working in a funeral home. When he asked him why

March 31, 2013

Christian Standard

Shared Secrets for Ministers, Useful Advice for Elders

By LeRoy Lawson   Open Secrets: A Memoir of Faith and Discovery Richard Lischer New York: Broadway Books, 2001 Answer His Call (2009) Reflect His Character (2009) Lead His Church (2010) Enjoy His People (2011) Jim Estep, David Roadcup, and Gary Johnson Joplin: College Press The Healthy Elder: Vital Signs of a Strong Leader Jim Estep, David Roadcup, and Gary Johnson e2 Effective Elders, 2012 Effective Elders: What Every Elder Should Know””a digital curriculum (CD/DVD combo) Jim Estep, Gary Johnson, and David Roadcup e2 Effective Elders  A colleague recently asked for recommendations for articles or books on the subject of

February 25, 2013

Christian Standard

Failing, Fathering, and Falling Toward Maturity

By LeRoy Lawson   The Damnation of Theron Ware Harold Frederic Various editions; first published in 1896 Gilead Marilynne Robinson New York: Picador, 2004 Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life Richard Rohr San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2011 Pastoral ministry can be among the hardest jobs there are””or the easiest. Since pastors are granted freedom to set their own schedules and priorities, the conscientious minister tends to work too hard and the indolent one finds every excuse to take it easy. What this means is ministry attracts””or creates””the finest of characters or the worst. I”m exaggerating of course,

February 1, 2013

Christian Standard

Leadership Proverbs and Models of Change

The Leadership Wisdom of Solomon: 28 Essential Strategies for Leading with Integrity Pat Williams with Jim Denney Cincinnati: Standard Publishing, 2010 Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard Chip Heath and Dan Heath New York: Crown Business, 2010 Better Off: Flipping the Switch on Technology (Two People, One Year, Zero Watts) Eric Brende New York: Harper Perennial, 2004 Of the writing of leadership books there is no end. So much of what you read in one seems to be copied from others of them. In Pat Williams”s The Leadership Wisdom of Solomon, though, what impresses is not that there is

December 16, 2012

Christian Standard

Choosing to Love, Discovering the Enemy

By LeRoy Lawson   I Shall Not Hate: A Gaza Doctor”s Journey on the Road to Peace and Human Dignity Izzeldin Abuelaish London: Bloomsbury, 2010 Son of Hamas Mosab Hassan Yousef, with Ron Brackin Carol Stream: SaltRiver, an imprint of Tyndale House, 2010, 2011 For many years I led tours to the Holy Land. It never failed that as we prepared to go, someone would ask, “Don”t you think you should wait until there”s peace in the Middle East?” My answer? “We have been waiting for 4,000 years now. I don”t think we can wait any longer.” Flippant, admittedly. But

November 20, 2012

Christian Standard

Missionary Books, Missionary Enterprise, and Workings of the Mind

By LeRoy Lawson The Jesus Documents (The Missiology of Alan R. Tippett Series) Alan R. Tippett (Shawn Redford, editor) Pasadena: William Carey Library, 2012   River of God: An Introduction to World Mission Doug Priest and Stephen Burris, editors Eugene: Wipf & Stock, 2012   Thinking, Fast and Slow Daniel Kahneman New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2011 (accessed at Audible.com) I remember when Alan R. Tippett came to study at the fledgling Church Growth Institute, which was then meeting on the campus of my alma mater, Northwest Christian College (now University) in Eugene, Oregon. Donald McGavran had only recently

October 22, 2012

Christian Standard

Africa and Afghanistan, Ethics and Unity

By LeRoy Lawson Say You”re One of Them Uwem Akpan New York: Little Brown and Company, 2008 The Places in Between Rory Stewart Orlando: Harvest Original/Harcourt, 2004 Just Ministry: Professional Ethics for Pastoral Ministers Richard M. Gula Mahwah: Paulist Press, 2010 The History of the Open Forum on the Mission of the Church 1983″“2009 John Mills Middleburg Heights: Open Forum/Southwest Christian Church, 2011 Oprah”s Book Club is not my usual source to find a good read. Not that good books aren”t there. It”s just that my interests and her recommendations haven”t often jibed. That is, until now. Or until 2009,

September 14, 2012

Christian Standard

Shakespeare, Steve, Science, and Scripture

By LeRoy Lawson   Shakespeare: The World as Stage Bill Bryson New York: HarperCollins, 2007 (Audible.com version)  Steve Jobs Walter Isaacson New York: Simon and Schuster, 2011 The Language of Science and Faith: Straight Answers to Genuine Questions Karl W. Giberson and Francis S. Collins Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2011 It”s been a long time since I had the fun of introducing high school and college students to a lifelong fascination of mine: William Shakespeare, beyond dispute the greatest poet in the English language and among the handful of greatest poets in the world. Well, maybe not beyond dispute. The

August 19, 2012

Christian Standard

Pondering Religion, the Bible, and How to Grow a Church

By LeRoy Lawson   Roadside Religion: In Search of the Sacred, the Strange, and the Substance of Faith Timothy Beal Boston: Beacon Press, 2005 The Rise and Fall of the Bible: The Unexpected History of an Accidental Book Timothy Beal Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011 God-Size Your Church John Jackson Colorado Springs: Biblica, 2008, 2011 Timothy Beal, professor of religion at Case Western Reserve University, is a new discovery. A good friend recently sent me two of his books without explanation or recommendation, so I read them without expectations. Well, that”s not quite right. When I started Roadside Religion my guard

July 19, 2012

Christian Standard

Preaching, Prevailing, and Seeking

By LeRoy Lawson The Collected Sermons of Fred B. Craddock Fred B. Craddock Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2011 When You Come Home: The True Love Story of a Soldier”s Heroism and His Wife”s Sacrifice Nancy Cavin Pitts Kingsport: Christian Devotions Ministry, 2011 The Celtic Way of Evangelism: How Christianity Can Reach the West . . . AGAIN (10th Anniversary Edition) George C. Hunter III Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2010 I”ve known of Fred Craddock almost as long as I”ve been preaching, but I”ve never met him. When I was a guest preacher at the Christian Church in Newport, Tennessee, his ghost filled the church. He wasn”t dead,

July 10, 2012

Christian Standard

Externally Focused AND Evangelistic?

By Staff Most churches have heard about the “externally focused” emphasis that has prompted Christians everywhere to get out of their church buildings and into their communities to serve. Meanwhile, the attractional/missional debate has also prodded the push to be about going out instead of inviting people into the church. We talked about this trend at the annual CHRISTIAN STANDARD contributing editors retreat to explore the effect of this service emphasis on the church”s vision and mission. Can we effectively help and heal bodies AND save souls? CHRISTIAN STANDARD editors gathered the following leaders for this discussion: Ben Cachiaras, senior pastor

June 14, 2012

Christian Standard

Rah-Rah for the Christian Standard

By J.K. Jones Jr. “Rah-Rah” for the CHRISTIAN STANDARD! This is so unlike me to want to lead a cheer for a 146-year-old magazine (founded in 1866 by Isaac Errett), but here I am acting the fool. Those who know me could attest that I prefer a quiet life outside of the public eye. I tend toward encouraging others to stand up and speak out, but at least in this one instance, I find myself uncontrollably vocal. I”d like to take a few minutes and tell you why I”m imitating King David who “was dancing before the Lord with all

May 21, 2012

Christian Standard

Pursuing God, the Cure for Narcissism

By LeRoy Lawson The Pastor: A Memoir Eugene H. Peterson New York: HarperCollins E-books The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of Entitlement Jean M. Twenge and W. Keith Campbell New York: Free Press, 2009 13 Things that Don”t Make Sense: The Most Baffling Scientific Mysteries of Our Time Michael Brooks New York: Vintage Books, 2009 Eugene Peterson was feeding his fellow Christians long before he published The Message, his paraphrase of the Bible in contemporary English, but that amazing tour de force raised our gratitude even higher. His insights into church and ministry have refreshed many a weary minister,

April 27, 2012

Christian Standard

Angels, Demons, and the Future of the Church

The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined Steven Pinker New York: Viking Penguin, 2011 Charles Dickens: A Life Claire Tomalin New York: The Penguin Press, 2011 The Meeting of the Waters: 7 Global Currents That Will Propel the Future Church Fritz Kling Colorado Springs: David C. Cook, 2010 Every now and then a book comes along that won”t let go of you. It takes what everybody knows, shakes it up, and puts it back down head-first. That”s Steven Pinker”s The Better Angels of Our Nature. Go to any church you want and you can count on the

March 23, 2012

Christian Standard

To End, to Follow, to Believe

By LeRoy Lawson Necessary Endings: The Employees, Businesses, and Relationships that All of Us Have to Give Up in Order to Move Forward Henry Cloud New York: Harper Business, 2010 Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus Kyle Idleman Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2011 Hannah”s Child: A Theologian”s Memoir Stanley Hauerwas Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2010 Not long ago a friend urged me to read Henry Cloud”s Necessary Endings. It has inspired and instructed him, he said, because as he leads his megachurch into its next phase of growth, he knows he faces some very difficult decisions.

March 19, 2012

Christian Standard

What Good Is a College Education These Days?

By LeRoy Lawson With ever larger numbers of college alumni running the country, and not doing such a good job of it, what good is a college degree, anyhow? Are colleges just cranking out more dumb people with diplomas? A friend recently asked my opinion of the “dumbing down of America.” He was referring to the general agreement that, in spite of record numbers of college graduates out there, Americans as a whole appear to be less civil, less informed, less able to reason, and less articulate than ever. (Even the term “dumbing down” is evidence, isn”t it? Is there

February 26, 2012

Christian Standard

Provocative Approaches to Purity, Dementia, and the Afterlife

By LeRoy Lawson Unclean: Meditations on Purity, Hospitality, and Mortality Richard Beck Eugene: Cascade Books, 2011 Turn of Mind Alice LaPlante New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2011 Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives David Engleman New York: Pantheon Books, 2009 Richard Beck”s Unclean is not a nice book. It”s about the disgusting things that shape our spirituality. While most people like their religion neat and clean””it”s what we usually mean by “holy”””life isn”t neat, and many of the people Jesus sends his disciples to reach aren”t clean. What then? The author, a professor at Abilene Christian University, is convinced that

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