June 26, 2025
“How Will Revival Come?,” A Christian Standard Article from May 25, 1957
It is our sincere conviction that a genuine Christian revival in our generation must begin with and be channeled through the local church.
Articles for tag: Local Church
July 24, 2023
July 30 | Application (‘Heaven’s Branch Offices’)
Jesus of Nazareth fulfilled this messianic prophecy about “a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely” (Jeremiah 23:5). Isn’t it interesting that Jesus, the Righteous Branch, called his disciples branches, too? . . .
November 8, 2022
10 Ways to Minister to Your Church’s College Students
A student who leaves for college too often leaves the church for good, but students who receive special attention from their home church will realize they are valuable to the body of Christ. Consider some of the following strategies to help your church go the extra mile with your college students, whether they attend a Christian or secular college.
August 3, 2021
How the Local Church Can Make a Difference in Foster Care
A ministry that serves the foster care system isn't simple. The situations are complicated and the answers are never easy, but it’s been an incredible honor for Christ's Church of Oronogo to be invited into families’ stories.
January 21, 2017
Our Link in the Chain
By Andy Daniell How a small, struggling local church found new vitality by simply meeting the need across the street. Almost all church growth and leadership models are built around these main factors: “¢ being true to your church”s DNA and finding your role in the kingdom; “¢ being willing to test and employ various approaches related to the vision that fulfills that role; “¢ being willing to change and/or shut down ministries and initiatives based on the first two factors; “¢ allowing room for God to bless the activities and use them in ways that are beyond what”s humanly
December 22, 2016
The Wrong Kind of Strong
By Eddie Lowen Three attributes we should seek when we say we want a strong leader. In Disney”s animated film Beauty and the Beast, a strapping young man named Gaston cannot fathom why Belle (the Beauty, herself) is so disinterested in him. After all, Gaston is Mr. Everything. As the song sung by Gaston”s sidekick exclaims, he”s the slickest and quickest, and his neck is the thickest! No one can “hit” or “match wits” like Gaston. And for the record, no one can spit like him, either! With a bio like that, what young French maiden could resist? Answer: Belle. She
October 27, 2016
The Trouble with Trying to Do a Good Job
By Angela Sanders Nothing sets up a person for failure more effectively than an intense desire to do a good job when the definition of that “good job” is vague, subjective, and a matter of public interest. I ought to know. I am a minister”s wife. For my husband, my church, and myself, I”ve wanted few things more than to wear well the title “minister”s wife.” Now, before you start tsk-tsk-ing me and pointing out problems with that statement, let me save you the trouble and admit that some of my thinking early on””and intermittently over the years””has been skewed.
July 21, 2016
An Interview with Jerry Taylor
Contributing editor Ben Cachiaras speaks with Dr. Jerry Taylor at the 2016 North American Christian Convention about racial unity and the problem with political correctness today. In this exclusive interview, he suggests what the local church can do in troubled times like those we”re experiencing today.
July 20, 2016
An Interview with Gene Appel
Contributing editor Ben Cachiaras speaks with Gene Appel, minister with Eastside Christian Church, Anaheim, California, about next year”s North American Christian Convention (he”s president), why he loves the “tribe” of Christian churches/churches of Christ, and how to lead change in a local church. See this exclusive interview here.
April 26, 2016
Not Common Enough
By Mark A. Taylor An old friend was catching me up on his career in Internet technology project management. More than once he”s been thrust into dysfunctional situations in companies struggling to reach goals and meet deadlines. These aren”t Christian enterprises, but my friend told me what he”s discovered about how to make progress: “Good management generally is a matter of Christian principles combined with common sense.” Excuses he”s heard: She”s wrong. He”s late. They”re incompetent. “That”s not what we”re going to be about,” he tells employees. “We”re all in the same boat, heading toward the same goal.” Common sense:
April 4, 2016
Is Baseball Really Dead?
By Joe Boyd Some of my favorite family memories are the yearly trips into Cincinnati from my home in eastern Kentucky to watch the Reds play baseball. There”s nothing like walking into a Major League Baseball stadium for the first time, turning a corner, and seeing that vast green grass ocean spread before you. Baseball is a throwback to an older, slower time. There is no clock. Games play out at their own pace. Unlike other popular sports, losses are expected. A team can lose 80 games and still win the World Series. The season is a marathon, long like
March 12, 2016
My Call Has Shaped My Ministry
By Weston Williams Too often we think of call solely in terms of a personal leading. It definitely includes that, but a true call from God is so much more. In Acts 13, the Holy Spirit issued a call to Paul and Barnabas for a mission, which was affirmed (and heard) by the entire church. It wasn”t just Paul”s personal desire to go into ministry; the entire church heard and supported that call. My call, while not as dramatic, was amazingly affirmed by my ordaining church. I”ve talked with many other ministers in our tradition and have learned that not
September 15, 2015
Volunteers: They”re Vital!
By Mark A. Taylor Not long after I left ministry in the local church to come to the nine-to-five office environment at Standard Publishing, I had an epiphany. I had taken for granted the volunteers who had helped me at the church. When I needed them to come to a meeting, they came. When I asked them to teach a class, they taught. When I recruited them to give up time to keep my latest notion from failing, they were there. Meanwhile, I counted everything I did for the church as part of the job they were paying me for.
December 14, 2014
For Anyone Concerned about Poverty
By LeRoy Lawson Dead Aid: Why Aid Is Not Working and How There Is a Better Way for Africa Dambisa Moyo New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2009 Toxic Charity: How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help Robert D. Lupton New York: HarperCollins, 2011 When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty without Hurting the Poor . . . and Yourself Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2009 Grace at the Garbage Dump: Making Sense of Mission in the Twenty-First Century Jesse A. Zink Eugene: Cascade Books, 2012 I”m writing this month about poverty. Maybe you are on your
October 12, 2013
Transforming Our Region
By Glen Elliott Pantano Christian Church exists in a city and region that is facing huge challenges. Over this past spring, there were four reports that captured my attention. We did not fare well in any of these reports. According to Barna Group research, Tucson, Arizona, is the 17th least Bible-minded city, the 11th most unchurched city, and the 12th most post-Christian city. Finally, we are the sixth-poorest city in the nation. We have a community that is far from God and struggling, and that is not OK with God. It must not be OK with the church either. How
July 26, 2013
Interview with Mark Scott
Mark Scott explains his new approach to studying Revelation and also considers how the Christian college and the local church should relate to each other. See the interview with CHRISTIAN STANDARD Editor Mark Taylor by clicking here. (This conversation was recorded in July at the North American Christian Convention in Louisville, Kentucky.)
July 4, 2013
40 Under 40: Trevor DeVage
TREVOR DeVAGE Lead minister, Christ”s Church at Mason, Mason, Ohio I was thrilled when I heard my friend Trevor DeVage had been named the new lead pastor at Christ”s Church of Mason. I believe Trevor is going to have a deep impact in the Greater Cincinnati area for many years to come. Trevor is among the most gifted proclaimers of the gospel in our brotherhood today. I served alongside him for nearly a decade and was blessed by his teachable spirit, and was able to see firsthand the countless people Trevor led to the Lord. His commitment to biblical preaching, his contagious
July 2, 2013
40 for Today and Tomorrow
By Mark A. Taylor We liked the sound of “40 Leaders Under 40″ when we first started playing with the idea late last year. But could we even find 40 parachurch or local church leaders making an influence outside their own community or constituency? We immediately thought of a few men and women all of us should be watching. They”re setting trends, living as examples, blazing new paths, and at the same time lifting up the ancient gospel with fresh images to attract a new generation. But 40 of them? We didn”t think so. And then we started asking. We
December 4, 2012
A Past Mistake and Three Challenges for Elders
By Casey Tygrett He had been leading in various capacities at our church for at least 20 years. As a newbie in my first “real” ministry (translated “full time with financial implications”), I was confronted with a church that had been embroiled in conflict for at least 50 years. The man in question had created some of this conflict, and in the midst of confronting him, I came across a troubling piece of evidence. “I don”t really read the Bible,” he said. “I”m not much of a reader.” From the tone of the statement and the expression of his
The Local Church Needs Scholars
By Fred Hansen  WHAT IS A SCHOLAR? According to the definitions in The Oxford English Dictionary, the word scholar can describe anyone from a person who reads or writes well to someone well acquainted with the Greek and Latin languages. In other words, scholarship is often in the eye of the beholder. And the meaning of the word has changed throughout history. In the Elizabethan period, for example, it referred to university graduates who could not find employment in a professional field but sought to make a living by writing. Our use of the word is broader than that,
