December 25, 2024
Christian Standard’s ‘Christmas Memories’ for 2024
Stories of Christmas Memories by 8 Christian leaders from across the country and around the world.
Articles for tag: Peace On Earth Ministries
December 18, 2024
The Christmas that Stank to High Heaven
Victor Knowles, the Founder and President of Peace On Earth Ministries (POEM) and Editor of One Body Magazine, shares a childhood Christmas memory.
September 19, 2023
‘One Body’ Marks 40 Years of Promoting Christian Unity
"One Body," edited by Victor Knowles, has promoted the unity of all Christians for the sake of world evangelism (as Jesus prayed for in John 17:21) for 40 years, but its focus has been on unity within the Restoration Movement . . .
May 1, 2023
Distinct Views on Christian Unity
3 Christian Leaders Share Their Perspectives on a Crucial Topic for Today’s Church
May 1, 2022
A Passion for John 17: The Legacy of Don DeWelt
By Chris DeWelt Sometimes a cataclysmic event can sharpen one’s focus. Sometimes a difficult trial can give new meaning to all the pieces in one’s life. Sometimes suffering is the key in finding clarity of vision. My father, Don DeWelt, possessed a passion for the body of Christ to live out the prayer of Jesus for his followers: I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in
March 20, 2022
UKRAINE: Christian Ministries in Poland Organize Relief
Ministries across Poland are opening their doors to the flood of refugees fleeing the fighting in Ukraine. Said one, “We want to create a space where all our refugees can come [and] take whatever they need, so they don’t have to worry about it.”
February 25, 2022
Pray for Peace in Ukraine
I met Oksana Kuklinowsky when I was preaching in several churches in Ukraine. Her husband, Valeri, was minister of the church in Zdolbunov, in eastern Ukraine. . . . Several years later, Valeri was killed in a tragic accident, leaving Oksana to raise their five children. . . . I tell you all this because I need to put a face, or faces, on Christian families in Ukraine. . . .
January 13, 2021
Walls’ Lifelong Service Honored (Plus News Briefs)
A December blog post by CMF International spotlighted Will and Ruth Walls for their years of service with the global mission organization. Will served as a campus minister at Ball State University, Muncie, Ind., from 1972 to 1995, then he and Ruth served as CMF missionaries in England (pastoral care, team training, and development with the church-planting team). Upon returning to the States in 2005, Will served in CMF’s office in Indianapolis. The couple officially retired in October. “The Walls are examples of lifelong service to the kingdom for all of us,” said CMF executive director Kip Lines. “It is
December 2, 2020
50 Things I’ve Learned in 50 Years of Preaching
Victor Knowles recommends you ask yourself these questions as you preach or prepare to preach.
July 15, 2020
Remembering Marshall Leggett
We asked several Christian leaders to share their memories of Marshall Leggett, a Christian minister and college administrator who served as president of Milligan College in Tennessee from 1982 to 1997. He died March 2 at the age of 90. _ _ _ In 1965 the elders of Southeast Christian approached Marshall about becoming the preacher of their new church in Louisville. They had narrowed their preference down to two men: Bob Shannon and Marshall Leggett, the two best young preachers in our brotherhood. Both men saw the potential in the new church but at the last minute both decided
May 23, 2019
Ozark Christian College Weathers Storm that Kills 3 in Missouri
By Jim Nieman News outlets are reporting that storms and tornadoes injured several people in Carl Junction, Mo., and killed three people in Golden City on Wednesday. Carl Junction is just a few miles north of Joplin, Mo., where Ozark Christian College is located. The storms occurred on the eighth anniversary of tornadoes that killed 161 people in Joplin. Matt Proctor, president of OCC, said, “At the moment, we know of one student’s house in nearby Carl Junction that experienced storm damage (roof damage and blown-out window), but no one was hurt, for which we’re grateful.” Proctor said there is
August 5, 2016
The Summer of “66
By Victor Knowles It was the summer of 1966, and I was set to enter my junior year in Bible college in August. Three shocking events transpired that sultry summer 50 years ago. On June 6, civil rights activist James Meredith was shot while traveling in Mississippi. Fortunately, he survived. A few days later, on July 14, the city of Chicago became the scene of a horrific mass murder when Richard Speck killed eight student nurses. And just when I thought things couldn”t get worse, on August 1 an ex-Marine, Charles Whitman, barricaded himself atop the University of Texas Tower
November 20, 2015
Condescension that Brought Redemption
By Victor Knowles Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death””even death on a cross! (Philippians 2:6-8). Communion is an incredible story of condescension. The Christ, the Son of the living God and the creator of the cosmos, condescended first to a lowly manger and then to a rugged Roman cross. It never happened
November 6, 2015
The Cup of Thanksgiving
By Victor Knowles “Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf” (1 Corinthians 10:16, 17). If there is ever a time to be truly thankful, it is when we gather around the Lord”s table to remember Jesus Christ. Our Savior instituted the Lord”s Supper during the Passover meal. The third cup in the meal was called “the
July 17, 2015
Victor Knowles’s Thought Leaders
We asked 35 Christian leaders, “Who is the influencer with the biggest impact on your life and ministry?” Most of these leaders listed several influential thinkers, writers, innovators, and leaders more of us should get to know. This response is from Victor Knowles, founder and director of POEM (Peace on Earth Ministries), Joplin, Missouri. ________ Leroy Garrett is perhaps best known for his magnum opus The Stone-Campbell Movement, but I think his best work is his transparent autobiography, A Lover”s Quarrel. It caused me to tear up a number of times. Anyone who can touch your heart can reach your head. This
May 25, 2011
Responding to Joplin Tornado Disaster
News this week focuses on the many churches, parachurch ministries, and families affected by the tornado that struck Joplin, MO, on Sunday. Victor Knowles, president of Joplin-based Peace on Earth Ministries, shares the good news that all 37 Christian church/church of Christ parachurch organizations in Joplin came through the storm without significant damage to their buildings. However, a number of staff from these ministries did lose their homes. And one of the many people killed in the storms was Natalia Puebla, a freshman at Ozark Christian College from Carthage, MO. Doug Welch, a professor at OCC, shared yesterday, “I still had a stack
July 12, 2009
The Lord”s Supper: Great Communion”“October 4, 2009
 By Victor Knowles About 25,000 people gathered at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on October 17, 1909, for a special Communion service commemorating the Centennial Celebration of Thomas Campbell”s Declaration and Address. In that historic document Campbell called the Lord”s Supper “that great ordinance of unity and love.” On October 4, 2009, thousands of people will be gathering together for a “Great Communion.” This time, however, it will not be limited to just one city (although a special service is being planned in Pittsburgh). All over the world members of the Restoration (or Stone-Campbell) Movement will be meeting to
June 24, 2007
Traveling the Unity Road
By Victor Knowles A year ago, June 27-30, 2006, a historic “family reunion” between churches of Christ and Christian churches/churches of Christ took place at the North American Christian Convention in Louisville, Kentucky. The two groups, whose combined membership is about 2.6 million, were acknowledging a sad division that had taken place in 1906. The intentional coming together again saw more than 10,000 people from all over the United States welcoming and accepting one another in Christ. Last Summer Those who attended the groundbreaking event were effusive in their praise. Thomas E. Mackey of Granville, Ohio, said, “I”ve never felt
October 23, 2005
“Victory in Prayer”
In Joplin, Missouri, Victory in Prayer (VIP) Fellowship gathers ministry leaders to encourage one another and pray for each other’s work. What began in a crisis became a steady rhythm of unity, cooperation, and shared intercession.
