April 21, 2024
Dr. Richard E. “Dick” Brown, 86, who served many years as professor and academic dean at Nebraska Christian College, died peacefully, with his wife by his side, at Atlantic (Iowa) Specialty Care on April 17, 2024. Dr. Brown also serve many churches throughout the Midwest. . . .
February 22, 2022
After 53 years of vocational ministry that included service in church, college, and mission settings, Bill Weber says, "No matter how diverse the ministry activities or the people one works with, the focus must always be on Jesus."
February 1, 2022
Duane King, who founded Deaf Missions in 1970 “to reach Deaf people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ,” died Jan. 25.
July 15, 2020
Afzal (not his real name) found Bob Milliken by chance. In fact, he somehow stumbled upon the Facebook page for Bob’s rural church and started commenting on some of the posts. Bob, the pastor of the church, and Afzal, a musician in the Middle East, began a correspondence that led to a friendship. Before long, they were talking worship, and Afzal told Bob he is a Christian worship leader in his strict Muslim community. Afzal is passionate about helping Christian musicians learn how to lead worship in their own communities. He had been discipling a group of 10 to 15
June 3, 2020
Compiled by Jim Nieman and Chris Moon A team of 45 volunteers from Real Life Christian Church in Clermont, Fla., created more than 3,000 custom-made masks for local public high school seniors to wear during their graduation ceremonies. The masks were fitted with the students’ school colors and mascots. They were delivered to Lake County Schools Superintendent Diane Kornegay. “I’m extremely grateful for the support of this community,” Kornegay told the Daily Commercial. “They have rallied to make masks for all of our seniors. Keeping our seniors and our guests safe is our top priority.” _ _ _ The Daily
May 13, 2020
Compiled by Chris Moon and Jim Nieman Churches are taking different approaches to reopening their doors as local governments begin to lift social distancing requirements. Lead pastor Glen Elliott provided insight to the Arizona Daily Star about Pantano Christian Church’s decision to remain closed at least until June. Elliott said the challenges of cleaning the Tucson church—including children’s areas—between each of its three services of more than 1,000 people each make it “near impossible to open,” he said. “Can you imagine the incredible challenges we’d have just cleaning every classroom for kids between every service? And then cleaning doors, cleaning bathrooms,”
May 1, 2020
By Laura McKillip Wood Andrzej Korytkowski survived a complicated and traumatic family life that resulted in his parents’ messy divorce when he was 13. His mother became preoccupied with recovering from the breakup of her marriage and re-establishing herself, so she did not focus much energy on Andrzej and his brother. The boys spent most of their days with friends, at school, and finding things to fill their free time. They became independent, but they did not have much of a family life or support from parents. Andrzej especially missed having a father figure in his life. At this vulnerable
By Chris Moon In his 24 years at Ozark Christian College—10 as a professor and 14 now as president—Matt Proctor has never experienced a spring semester like this one. “We’re all learning,” he said. The university in Joplin, Mo., just finished its first week of being an online-only school amid the campus closures that have affected colleges across the nation during the coronavirus pandemic. Proctor said things haven’t been easy, but they haven’t been overwhelming, either. “I am blessed with an amazing team,” he said. “I have been able to see our team at Ozark just rally together and do
By Jim Nieman Nebraska Christian College will close at the end of this semester. The announcement was made this afternoon after a decision by the Hope International University board of trustees. HIU and NCC had merged in 2016. “To give you an idea of our current challenge, our spring enrollment there [at NCC] has fallen to under 90 students, which is the lowest in 30 years,” said Paul Alexander, president of the combined university, via a video posted at NCC’s website. “The number of students required to cover our costs there is just about 200. So, that gap is simply
March 18, 2020
Compiled by Jim Nieman and Chris Moon Tom and Debbie Jones recently received a new award from Stadia Church Planting that is named in their honor. The Dr. Thomas and Debbie Jones Church Planting Impact Award was presented to the Joneses at Stadia’s annual Celebration and Dessert Party at Exponential in Orlando, Fla., on March 3. In the future, the award will be presented to leaders like the Joneses who champion the cause of church planting. Together, the Joneses planted two churches, before Tom joined Stadia in 2003. He soon became executive director of the nationwide church planting organization. His
January 8, 2020
The president and trustees of the newly formed Christian Church Leadership Foundation are seeking prayer support this Saturday from those who desire the continuation of Cincinnati ministry education in the wake of the closing of Cincinnati Christian University. The CCLF was created largely through the efforts of Central Christian College of the Bible, Moberly, Mo., and contains the work of what were CCU’s Russell School of Ministry, the Center for Church Leadership, and the George Mark Elliott Library. The 24-hour “virtual prayer vigil” will begin at 12:01 a.m. Saturday. During that day, each member of CCLF’s leadership will pray for
April 10, 2019
Compiled by Chris Moon and Jim Nieman A Christian church pastor in Virginia donated a kidney to a member of his church. James “Beaver” Terry, pastor of Belmont Christian Church in Christiansburg, Va., gave his kidney to church member Eric Nowlin, whose health was failing after years on dialysis, according to the Roanoke Times. Terry first considered donating his kidney to Nowlin while reading Bob Goff’s Everybody Always, which challenges Christians to help those in need—even if it means giving up one of your kidneys. The more Terry looked into the idea, the more things fell into place. A key factor was his blood type—A
February 6, 2019
Christian colleges have planned numerous opportunities for fellowship and spiritual enrichment this spring. We scoured their websites and came up with this calendar of activities. If we happened to miss an event or two, please let us know at **@********************ia.com and we will be happy to add to this chronological list. _ _ _ Summit Christian College, Gering, Neb., is offering a series of “Bridge Seminars” throughout the spring. Attend the free events in person or online. Seminars led by SCC professors begin at 6:30 p.m. Thursdays and last about 45 minutes. Church groups are welcome. Learn more at www.summitcc.net.
January 2, 2019
By Chris Moon Dick Creek has been busy lately—and it’s the result of having knee surgery. A year and a half ago, he launched The Pastor’s Project, an initiative to help struggling pastors. The effort has grown since then to include a “Rapid Response” ministry for pastors who find themselves in crisis and a “Rural Church Initiative” to connect thriving churches with those that might be struggling, in hopes of sparking a revitalization. And all of this emerged from the time Creek was stuck in his chair, healing up from knee replacement surgery. “I had a lot of time on
October 12, 2018
E2: Effective Elders Blog Editor’s Note: Each Friday we publish a new blog post from our partners in ministry, E2: Effective Elders. We publish it here simultaneous to E2’s posting on their site. The leaders of E2 write an article for our print and online magazine every month as well. Those articles are full of wisdom and practical help for elders. Please check them out! _____ By Dick Wamsley I was beginning my eighth year as dean of students and professor of pastoral care at Nebraska Christian College. The college was in the first phase of a leadership transition. The president
September 12, 2018
The Carl Spain Center on Race Studies and Spiritual Action at Moody Coliseum on the campus of Abilene (Texas) Christian University will open next Tuesday (Sept. 18) with a ribbon-cutting at 11 a.m., a luncheon at noon, and sessions throughout the day. At the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Dr. Jerry Taylor will speak on “God Imagines Our Future: Being Filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:1-21).” There will also be a 6 p.m. reception in the Williams Performing Arts Center, followed at 7 p.m. by a performance of The Mountaintop, depicting the last night of Dr. Martin Luther King’s life. Carl Spain Center
September 27, 2017
By Mark S. Krause Shirley Temple was one of America”s greatest actors, winning a special Academy Award when she was just 6 years old. Her greatest film may have been The Little Princess. In the movie, Shirley plays Sarah, a young girl in London during Queen Victoria”s reign. Sarah”s mother is gone, and her father is sent away to war. A while later, her father is reported as missing in action, and some believe he is dead. With this, Sarah”s life takes a turn, and the cruel headmistress at her boarding school begins treating her badly. Sarah does not give
July 21, 2017
Baptisms Surge at Kentucky Church Thanks to Jail Ministry A Kentucky church is using a jail ministry to add hundreds of lives to God”s kingdom each year. Jessamine Christian Church baptized 227 people during 2016″”a number that is notable because the church averages 525 in weekly worship attendance. That”s an average of 43 baptisms per 100 people in attendance. Only a handful of churches in Christian Standard“s annual church statistics issue””which was compiled by Kent Fillinger and published in May””reached a baptism ratio of 10 per 100 in attendance. Wally Rendel, senior minister of the church in Nicholasville, a city
November 22, 2016
By Mark A. Taylor I got to the Lexington Center at 1:15 Saturday afternoon, a little before I”d promised to be there. We were planning a special 2:00 event in our International Conference on Missions booth, and the attendant had promised to be there at 1:30 to help us get ready. But as soon as I entered the exhibit hall, I knew she was already on the job. I could smell the popcorn popping. Soon the aroma was filling the whole, huge facility. And even before our announced start time, we relented and allowed the people lining up to grab
November 21, 2016
By Jennifer Johnson Several of the colleges and universities affiliated with our movement understand the need to reach their own cities while preparing students for an urban future. Here”s what one of them is doing. ________ HOPE INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY Fullerton, California The U.S. Census Bureau defines an urban area as “comprising one or more central places, and the adjacent densely-settled surrounding territory, that together have a minimum of 50,000 people.” So while cities like New York and Chicago certainly qualify as urban, so do urban sprawl areas like Anaheim, California. “Anaheim is home to 350,000 people,” says Kip Lines, professor
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