Articles for tag: Matthew 1:1

February 3, 2012

Christian Standard

What Are We Trying to Restore?

By Gary Weedman For the past 100 years or so, churches and Christians in our fellowship generally have professed to be part of the Restoration Movement. We have not always been clear, however, about what exactly we are working to restore. To this day, perhaps with a bit too much hubris, we say of our early leaders that Thomas Campbell restored the ancient book, Alexander Campbell the ancient order, Walter Scott the ancient gospel, and Barton Stone the ancient life. Work done. Case closed. But for much of the 20th century, many of the heirs of this historical movement thought

August 19, 2011

Christian Standard

A Call for All-age Worship

By Verna Weber I can read your mind. The objections that fill the air at the title of this piece probably are not new to me. Let me guess at a few. Children won”t get anything out of the church”s main worship service. Children are distracting. They need an age-appropriate setting. We need them to be somewhere else. This is my time (usually uttered by tired parents). Ultimately, the responses boil down to one point””the greatest barrier to bringing the whole church together for worship is children. It used to be that children were to be seen and not heard.

August 12, 2011

Christian Standard

An Embarrassment of Riches (Part 3: The Most Popular Translations)

By Mark S. Krause   Last week we looked at numbers eight through five on the list of top-selling English Bibles. The article included a survey of the presuppositions behind the translations, and their audiences. This week we will look at the top four. As before, we will compare the treatment of Psalm 8:4 and Matthew 16:18 in each version reviewed (see bottom for fuller explanation of our test verses).   4. New Living Translation The New Living Translation (NLT) first appeared in 1996 with a substantial update in 2007. Its roots can be traced to Kenneth Taylor”s The Living

August 3, 2011

Christian Standard

An Embarrassment of Riches (Part 2: Four Popular Translations)

By Mark S. Krause Last week we looked at five factors that shape an English translation of the Bible: interpretation, version genealogy, translation theory, audience, and gender-neutral language. This week and next week, we will take a quick look at eight translations.   Popular English Translations There are too many English translations of the Bible to write about each one, but we will focus on a few. In each case, we will look at the presuppositions behind the translation, its audience, and a couple of test verses: Psalm 8:4 and Matthew 16:18. Psalm 8:4 is well-known for its ringing question,

September 1, 2010

Christian Standard

Growing Like Jesus: Wisdom You Can Touch

By Eddie Lowen (Eddie Lowen was among eight Christian leaders asked to share what helps them mature just as Jesus did. Lowen, a member of Standard Publishing”s Publishing Committee, is senior minister with West Side Christian Church, Springfield, Illinois.) ___________________ A television commercial for cars.com depicted a fictional young genius named David Abernathy during several phases of his life. In the first scene, as a newborn, David shocked the obstetrician who de- livered him by reaching up to shake hands with him! As a preschooler, David amazed his parents by using graphs and PowerPoint slides to successfully negotiate a later bedtime.

May 23, 2010

Christian Standard

Leading People Toward Redemption and Restoration (Part 2)

By Ken Swatman Read part 1 of this 3-part series “He that falls into sin is a man; that grieves at it, is a saint; that boasteth of it, is a devil.” “”Thomas Fuller, The Holy State and the Profane State On the Day of Pentecost, Peter stood before the thousands who had gathered and confronted them about two great truths: that Jesus was indeed the Son of God and that they had sinned against Jesus. When the people heard Peter”s confrontational words, they were “cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “˜Brothers, what shall we

March 21, 2010

Christian Standard

Building Bonds Between Elders and Ministers (Part 1)

By Bob Russell One of the most intense topics in church leadership seminars these days is elder/preacher relationships. One minister said, “In our church I get the impression that it”s the preacher”s job to cast vision and the elder”s job to prevent it from happening.” But it”s not always the elders who are to blame for conflicts with the minister. Many times the problem lies with a preacher or staff member who is lazy, unethical, controlling, defiant, or spiritually immature. I”ve observed four ministries recently that looked impressive from the outside, but suddenly the preacher was asked to resign. People

November 22, 2009

Christian Standard

Revolution

  by Glen Elliott Jesus was leading a revolution. He was far from conventional or status quo. In every way, Jesus was a radical. He gave his life to ignite a spiritual revolution that would invade and influence every nation and power on earth.  The “Jesus revolution,” also called the kingdom of God, is about radical change. The kingdom is anywhere God”s influence is supreme. I believe following Jesus is all about engaging in a revolution.   THE WORDS OF REVOLUTION Where do we find this idea of revolution in Jesus and the Gospels? His words were the words of

March 1, 2009

Christian Standard

Not the Only Christians

  by Robert O. Fife This article is no longer available online, but all of the articles about baptism that appeared in the March 1 and 8, 2009, issues of CHRISTIAN STANDARD–plus this bonus article–are available for purchase as a single, redisigned, easy-to-read and easy-to-use downloadable resource/pdf (a fuller explanation is below).   Baptism: 7 Practical Perspectives  Item 02973  “¢Â  $2.99   What does the Bible teach about baptism? What does baptism symbolize and what does it accomplish? Why is there so much disagreement? Seven writers offer their insights on this controversial but fundamental topic in this 14-page resource that””with the exception

March 9, 2008

Christian Standard

Confidentiality: Always Helpful or Not?

By Tim Woodroof and Leland Vickers You are serving as an elder (or minister, volunteer leader, Bible class teacher, or pastor) for your local congregation and you are approached on Sunday by a longtime member””let”s call her Susan””who says she would like to talk with you about a “personal problem.” You agree to meet her for coffee, but Susan prefaces her discussion with a request, “This must stay only between the two of us. Can we agree that our discussion be completely confidential?” What is your response? The current church culture leads people to assume they have the right to

September 30, 2007

Christian Standard

Conflict: Apt Words, Adequate Intervention

By Barney Wells In the middle of the 20th century, the United States Department of Agriculture undertook one of the grandest efforts at mass change ever attempted. It set out to convince the nation”s corn farmers to switch from planting open-pollinated corn to hybrid seed corn. To accomplish this task it trained an army of “county agents” and sent them into corn-producing counties. These county agents had been trained to know all the benefits of hybrid seed and effective methods for growing the corn. They could explain every reason a farmer should switch, but just by talking they could convince

May 27, 2007

Christian Standard

Discipleship for Slow Learners

By Larry and Judy Niemeyer Two of us began discipleship mobilization in Nairobi, Kenya, in 1984. The design we settled on put us with one person for 18 months so they could become reproductive disciple makers. Needless to say, our initial growth was very slow””two became four and four became eight, etc. We engaged in many other church and mission activities while we waited. Today, we have seen 21,000 people become disciples and 27 percent of them (5,670) have been making disciples in 1,200 teams scattered throughout seven African nations. The experience has provided a wealth of lessons, and it

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