Articles for tag: New Testament

What We’re Learning on Our Walk (Part 1)

By Jim Probst At Eastview Christian Church (Bloomington, IL), we were searching for a way to convey spiritual formation to our congregation. For many, this would be a new idea. Others would see it as the next step in their journey. For all of us the right metaphor could frame a common experience with a common language. In our church, which has grown well beyond 5,000 on a typical Sunday, this would be a major effort requiring coordination between church leaders and many departments. After months of praying, planning, and writing, we determined to develop a churchwide study through our

God”s Love on Display at Sex Show

By Jennifer Johnson Building wheelchair ramps for the disabled . . . leading VBS sessions in South America . . . digging wells in Third World countries . . . all of these are popular short-term mission trips. But volunteering at a trade show for the sex industry? Although this type of mission experience is far less common, it was the focus of a four-day trip for several women from SouthBrook Christian Church (Miamisburg, OH) last month. “For the last four years we have partnered strategically with XXX Church, an organization that offers resources and support to fight porn addiction,”

An Exciting Family Devotion Resource: Find This Book and Read It! (Part 7)

By Matt Lockhart   Discovering God”s Story Jim Eichenberger Cincinnati: Standard Publishing, 2010 Have you ever wrestled with wanting to do a family devotion but struggled with what to use or how to get started? If so, do I have a reading recommendation for you! Discovering God”s Story is a great book to help families engage with God”s Word. It”s a beautifully illustrated, full-color hardcover that provides a chronological overview of major Bible stories and themes in 100 short and visually rich vignettes. While a great reference book for any Bible student, I can tell you from firsthand experience that

Emmanuel Offers Web-based Degree Completion

By Jennifer Taylor Last month, Emmanuel Christian Seminary (Johnson City, TN) began offering a new independent study course called “Current Trends in Theological Education” to help students complete unfinished degrees. The online course is designed for previous Emmanuel students who have been absent from course work for more than five years and have completed every degree requirement except the thesis. The new course covers each of the five academic areas studied at ECS””Old Testament, New Testament, church history, doctrine, and Christian ministries. In each area students will complete about 400 pages of reading, review lectures by various faculty members, and

Why New Testament Christians Should Study the Old Testament

By Steve Hooks The Stone-Campbell Movement has served Christendom well through its invitation of all believers to practice “New Testament Christianity.” An unintended and unfortunate consequence of this plea, however, has been the historical neglect of the Old Testament in the preaching and teaching of many Restoration churches. Regarding the New Testament as the “only rule of faith and practice,” some in our fellowship have come to view the Old Testament as no longer relevant for the believer. The Old Testament, it is argued, was for the Jews. Having brought us to Christ it has now served its intended purpose

The Impact of God”s Word on My Heart

By Dean Trune I desperately need daily input from the Bible. Because it is “alive and active,” according to Hebrews 4:12, I can examine the same verse or passage from time to time, and the Holy Spirit will “speak” truth in applicable ways for what is happening in my life at that particular time. God”s Word is so powerful! Since I need a steady flow of God”s Word into my life, God has orchestrated four ways for me to receive its input.   I read God”s Word from cover to cover each calendar year. It is not simply a goal,

How We Got THIS Bible (Part 1)

By Jon Weatherly Where did the Bible come from? Was it delivered by angels to King James I in a leather binding with gilt-edged pages? Was it the product of church councils seeking to squelch dissent? Was it immediately and universally recognized as God”s Word until the recent rise of secular humanism? Today the Bible is the world”s most widely read and widely debated book. We Christians revere it as God”s Word, the full and final authority for what the church believes and does. But the Bible is not necessarily what people expect in God”s Word. It has many sections

Church Raises Funds to Send BibleSticks to Soldiers

This past Sunday, Granby (MO) Christian Church finished its fund-raising campaign to send “BibleSticks,” small digital audio players preloaded with a recording of the New Testament, to U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan. For $25 church members could send a BibleStick overseas, plus response cards for the servicemen and women to request Bibles for family members. The church worked with Faith Comes By Hearing (Albuquerque, NM). “Chaplains from every branch of the military have been flooding FCBH with requests . . . more than 400 chaplains themselves [are] using BibleSticks in pre-deployment briefings, counseling sessions, Bible studies, weekly chapels and other spiritual

The Cure for Moralistic Therapeutic Deism

By Jon Weatherly Nothing alarms church folk quite so much as problems with the young folk. So it was about five years ago with Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist Denton”s book, Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers. Smith and Denton”s research produced the phrase “moralistic therapeutic deism” to describe the typical American teen”s view of God. It”s “deism” because the god of the typical teen is mostly distant and uninvolved. It”s “therapeutic” because that distant god still wants everyone to have a happy life and occasionally is willing to get involved when a person has an

What Baptism Requests

By Jon Weatherly 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 a 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

Interview with Bob Carter

By Brad Dupray You couldn”t write the history of Standard Publishing without devoting a chapter to John Carter Sr., who served the organization for 34 years. Likewise, John”s son, Bob, has devoted himself to a lifetime of ministry. Bob”s work has taken him in a different direction as he has recently completed work on the translation of the Bible into Pijin, the unofficial national language of the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific. Bob and Amy, his wife of 24 years, reside in Waxhaw, North Carolina, where they work with SIL International, a sister organization of Wycliffe Bible Translators. Bob

The Christ, the Church, and the Christian

By Knofel Staton Is “Christ yes, but the church no” viable? How about, “I”ll support Christ, but not the church?” Is that really possible? The Korean War was in full swing when I graduated from high school, so I enlisted in the Air Force. During boot camp, the military career counselor told me, “Your aptitude test reveals you would make a good control tower operator; may I request that for you?” There were several things about his statement I didn”t understand: (1) I did not know I had taken an aptitude test; (2) I had no idea what the word

Light on Our Path

By Diane Stortz Wondering what your small group should study next, or how to help group members truly connect? Looking for material to inspire the small group leaders at your church? Rather than choosing a study based on the Bible, how about reading through the Bible itself? On the first Monday night of 2000, I sat with 16 other women in the living room of Beth Neuenschwander, coleader of a newly forming group at LifeSpring Christian Church in Cincinnati, Ohio. “We”re here to get to know God by reading through the Bible in a year,” Beth said. “We”ll read about

How God”s Word Has Come to Us (Part 1): God”s Word Written

By H. Lynn Gardner ABOUT THIS SERIES: This Week””God”s Word Written. How did God communicate through prophets and Scripture writers? Next Week””God”s Word Collected. What is the canon and how can we be sure our Bibles contain the right books? February 3″”God”s Word Preserved. How close to the original are the Bible manuscripts we have today? February 10″”God”s Word Translated. How true to God”s Word are the English words available for us to read?     The Bible did not drop out of Heaven with a black leather cover, printed in English on paper, with 66 books bound in one

How Kentucky Christian University Is Training Second-Career Ministers

By David Fiensy Kentucky Christian University, Grayson, Kentucky (www.kcu.edu) The Graduate School of Kentucky Christian University offers two 36-hour Master of Arts degrees with several concentrations. The MA in New Testament requires both biblical languages, a core of foundational classes, and 15 hours of exegetical courses. The MA in Christian Leadership requires an 18-hour core of foundational classes plus a concentration of 18 hours. The concentrations granted in the MA in Christian Leadership degree include Theological Studies, Leadership Studies, Pastoral Care, and Christian Ministry. Students may choose either the thesis or the comprehensive exams option as the capstone of their

Do What? Bounded Freedom at the Table

This article is no longer available online, but articles about the Lord’s Supper that appeared in the July 12/19, 2009, and June 10, 2007, issues of CHRISTIAN STANDARD–plus more–are available for purchase as a single, redisigned, easy-to-read and easy-to-use downloadable resource/pdf (a fuller explanation is below). The Lord’s Supper: A Memory and More Item D021535209  “¢Â  $2.99 If you keep doing something often enough, long enough, it will change you. Take, for example, the Lord”s Supper. If we practice the Lord”s Supper in a meaningful way, week after week, it will change us for the better by helping us grow closer to God.

Communion: Weekly or Weakly?

This article is no longer available online, but articles about the Lord’s Supper that appeared in the July 12/19, 2009, and June 10, 2007, issues of CHRISTIAN STANDARD–plus more–are available for purchase as a single, redisigned, easy-to-read and easy-to-use downloadable resource/pdf (a fuller explanation is below).     The Lord’s Supper: A Memory and More Item D021535209  “¢Â  $2.99 If you keep doing something often enough, long enough, it will change you. Take, for example, the Lord”s Supper. If we practice the Lord”s Supper in a meaningful way, week after week, it will change us for the better by helping us grow closer

Do Some Missions Committees Interpret Their Strategies Too Narrowly?

By Michael Sweeney There are times I think being on a missions committee is even tougher than being a missionary. Just how do you decide where to put the church”s money when you are so inundated with requests? Some people think of a missionary”s handshake as one with the palm up, waiting for a donation. And it”s true. We missionaries seem to ask for money a lot; there never seems to be enough to meet all the needs we see. So I apologize in advance for trying to make your job even harder. Because of the constant demand on the

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