February 15, 2023
My wife and I made the hourlong drive to Asbury University to witness the continuing revival taking place there. I was still an anxious skeptic as we entered the chapel service; I hoped we hadn’t wasted our time. . . .
April 28, 2021
Outlook Christian Church in McCordsville, Ind., will plant a new church early next year in a vulnerable neighborhood in the Indianapolis metro.
November 6, 2019
By Chris Moon A church plant is in the works at Johnson University Florida. Encounter Church is expected to launch at the Kissimmee campus in September 2020. It will be led by pastor Gonzalo Venegas and is backed by Florida Church Partners and Nexus Church Planting. “Things have gone pretty fast,” Venegas said. The church already has 53 committed adults involved in its prelaunch phase. Venegas was featured in March 2019 article in Christian Standard as he embarked on planting a church in Florida after leaving his former home in Michigan. Part of Venegas’s story is his history as a
January 3, 2019
By Mel McGowan Imagine you’re rearranging your office. You move your desk to one corner, your bookshelf to another. You move the lamps around to get the light just right. You adjust the couch so you can see your guests better. At the end of the day, you look around with satisfaction that all your office furniture, equipment, and supplies are in the right places. Why is this so important to us? Because the furnishings of our offices are tools that facilitate things like ideas, hard work, and skills. It should come as no surprise, then, that your sacred space
June 28, 2018
Relentless Church Answers the Call to Create a Multiethnic Congregation in North Carolina By Justin Horey David Jones is white. He grew up in the South, went to Bible college in the South, and married his high school sweetheart. Rafael Gonzalez is of Puerto Rican heritage. He grew up in the Northeast, excelled in high school football and basketball, and came to faith in Christ at age 28. Joy Bey is African-American. She grew up in South Central Los Angeles, was saved in a Pentecostal church, and served in overseas missions before spending five years on staff at a
June 15, 2018
By Michael C. Mack Like Rick Chromey, I love the Restoration Movement . . . but for very different reasons. Rick grew up in an independent Christian church. I had never heard of these churches until I was 27. In his article, “Why I Love the Restoration Movement,” Rick says he is thankful for his upbringing in the church; I’m thankful for a church, and a movement of churches, that exist to carry out the mission of Jesus to go and make disciples. I am an example of someone whose life was forever changed because a church in our
June 25, 2016
By Brian Jennings and José Heredia If you walked around our urban neighborhood, you”d find a mix of ethnicities, cultures, and skin colors (about 30 percent minority and growing). You”d meet widows who”ve lived in their homes for 40 years and couples restoring the floors of their first home. You”d also see lots of apartments, several of which house people with poverty, hunger, disability, or struggles with mental illness. A few years ago, the Holy Spirit began compelling us to take steps toward ethnic, generational, and socioeconomic diversity. We have a great church of loving people, but we acknowledged that issues
June 24, 2016
By Matthew McGue After planting a multiethnic, community-impacting church in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 2004, God clearly called my wife and me to plant another intentional multiethnic church in Jackson, Mississippi. We launched One Church on March 23, 2014. Planting an intentional, multiethnic, gospel-centered, community-impacting church in a very traditional, Deep South city with historic segregation might seem crazy. It can be even more challenging as a Northerner, affectionately referred to as a “Damn Yankee,” with no local relationship connections. As a church planter, you had better be sure the Lord is calling you to a specific place, especially when
June 23, 2016
By Mike Goldsworthy In 2007, I was sitting in a room filled with other pastors from Long Beach, California. We were a predominately Anglo audience listening to an expert describe the city”s rapidly changing demographics. According to the last two census reports, Long Beach is one of the most diverse large cities in the United States. This in a city that for many years had been fondly referred to as “Iowa by the Sea” because of the large number of residents who are migrants from Iowa. As I sat in that room, I was in the midst of a two-year
June 13, 2016
Compiled by Travis Hurley Divided By Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America, by Michael O. Emerson and Christian Smith (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000) “” Despite its age, this remains essential reading for anyone looking to get a grasp on evangelical religion and the problem of race in America. There are helpful historical summaries of the church and race in America in early chapters, and once you understand their explanation of the “white evangelical tool kit,” you”ll start to see how using these tools actually hinders reconciliatory progress before it even begins. Reconciliation Blues: A Black Evangelical”s
June 9, 2016
By Travis and Dena Hurley Society”s efforts to build racial unity are not succeeding. Only the gospel offers the possibility for easing racial tensions and bringing together those who have long stayed apart with suspicion toward each other. The church can make the difference””if we will. When the American Crime Story miniseries revisited the O.J. Simpson trial this spring, it reminded us of the “not guilty” verdict in 1995. At the time, the evidence of Simpson”s guilt seemed overwhelming. We were baffled by what appeared to be scenes of celebration among the black community. Was there no respect for the
April 10, 2016
We asked several Christian leaders, “What should churches served by CHRISTIAN STANDARD strive to be or do or look like in the next decades?” ____ By Cam Huxford During the Christmas holidays a dream came true for me. I had a conversation with a man who shared with me his son”s plan to attend Point University in the fall to begin his preparations for ministry. This young man is a great leader at school and in our student ministry. He is bright, gifted, articulate, likable, and passionate about his faith. He is also from a Hispanic family. As I visited with this father
January 15, 2016
By Bill Belew Jesus was an immigrant child. His original home is not where he grew up. That fact can move us to reach and serve the children of immigrants all around us. A couple of years ago, a friend of mine became a naturalized citizen of the United States. He was thrilled when I invited myself to watch his swearing in. None of his Persian (Iranian) family members or friends were able to make it. There were more than 1,500 new citizens from 140 to 150 different countries being sworn in that day. As the names of the countries
November 23, 2015
By Kendi Howells Douglas Our increasingly urban world requires a commitment to embracing diversity and pursuing reconciliation as we plant churches in cosmopolitan environments. Our world is more urban than rural for the first time in history1, and in addition to rethinking how we prepare people to minister in an urban world, we must look at church planting efforts in light of this new reality. In researching the history of the Restoration Movement in urban areas, I have discovered some factors that have kept many of our churches out of cities in the past. One issue was failure to be
November 22, 2015
Review by Dick Alexander Leading a Healthy Multi-Ethnic Church: Seven Common Challenges and How to Overcome Them Mark DeYmaz and Harry Li Zondervan 2013 Why would a person be interested in a book titled Leading a Healthy Multi-Ethnic Church? Most likely for the same reason Mark DeYmaz got interested in the subject””a growing burden, born of a prompting of the Holy Spirit, that the church on earth should look more like the church in Heaven. If that”s you, and if you”re seeking answers to complex questions and direction for the journey, DeYmaz can help. Biblical Principles, Practical Strategies Leading a Healthy
September 7, 2013
By Thomas F. Jones Jr. I met Kevin Haah in a church planting assessment event in Johnson City, Tennessee. I was immediately impressed by this bright, but humble, Korean-American Christian. Haah”s path to church planting was not a simple one. After graduating from Cornell Law School he married Grace (also a lawyer), and they had three kids. He became partner at a prestigious law firm in Los Angeles only to give up law to pursue a master of divinity degree at Fuller Theological Seminary. Soon he became a pastor, and then a church planter. And now he is the key
May 23, 2012
By Kent E. Fillinger What does it mean to be a church anyone can come to? This question drives Caleb Kaltenbach and Valley View Christian Church in Dallas, Texas. Kaltenbach fully understands it is messy to reach people who would make most Christians feel uncomfortable. When Kaltenbach arrived at Valley View two years ago, it was a predominantly white, fairly traditional, established church that had experienced its share of ups and downs. In short, it was like many other churches across the country. Now Valley View is the place of worship for homosexual couples who walk through the church lobby
January 7, 2012
Nothing challenges us to think about changing times more than the transition from one year to the next. On this first day of 2012, we asked six Christian leaders to think about the church a year from now and to draw a picture of our progress””and our problems””then. * * * By Eleanor Daniel It is so vivid””identifiable people and places, actions, colors, and sounds. The year is somewhere beyond 2012. I see a church that intrigues me. The people include those of all colors, ethnic backgrounds, and languages. Names like Gomez and Vegas, Wong and Hasmani, as well as
September 16, 2010
By Kent E. Fillinger Preacher Paints Grace in a Fresh Way “We”re not great at anything, and everything here is a work in progress,” says senior minister Mike Gunderson. In spite of various internal challenges, Oak Park Christian Church in Grover Beach, California, was the fastest-growing medium-sized church last year, growing 42 percent and breaking the 200 barrier. Since 2008, Oak Park has grown 53 percent to an average worship attendance of 266. Oak Park is located near Pismo Beach in an isolated, affluent, and growing retirement community of 45,000 people. There are only two other small Christian churches in
May 28, 2006
Revelation pictures heaven as a multitude from every nation and language. Ken Gosnell offers practical “ACROSS” steps for churches to reach immigrants with acceptance, strategy, and culturally sensitive evangelism.
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