Articles for tag: Risk

March 2, 2016

Christian Standard

What Are the Odds?

By Jim Tune As I write this, the Zika virus is just beginning to make headlines. Claudia and I are only 10 days away from embarking on our first-ever cruise. Our seven-day, Western-Caribbean cruise was a surprise I arranged for my wife to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. One of our ports of call is in a country for which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has already issued this midlevel travel alert: “Practice enhanced precautions.” Who knows what another 10 days will bring? This virus is spreading aggressively. The virus, which is spread mainly by mosquitoes, appears to

February 15, 2016

Christian Standard

My Theology and My Leadership

By Matt Proctor A few years ago, I was asked to give a class lecture on “how my theology affects my leadership.” What a helpful exercise! I tried to dig beneath the surface of my leadership practices to find my underlying motivating beliefs. As I brought these to the surface, I could see whether they squared well with Scripture. I ended up listing 10 ways my theology shaped my leadership. A few examples: Me vs. Us Despite my natural Lone Ranger tendencies, I have moved to a more team leadership approach. When I began as president, I was the only

December 30, 2015

Christian Standard

Empty

By Jim Tune Madeline Levine had been practicing psychology for more than 25 years when she began to observe a new category of unhappy teenager. As her book The Price of Privilege relates: “America”s newly identified at-risk group is preteens and teens from affluent, well-educated families.” Social and economic advantages notwithstanding, children of affluence “experience among the highest rates of depression, substance abuse, anxiety disorders, somatic complaints, and unhappiness of any group of children in this country.” Levine admits to being startled when a bright, socially adept, 15-year-old girl from a loving, wealthy family came into the office with the

December 22, 2015

Christian Standard

Meditating on Joy: December 22

By Becky Ahlberg Tuesday, December 22 “We consider Christmas as the encounter, the great encounter, the historical encounter, the decisive encounter, between God and mankind. He who has faith knows this truly; let him rejoice.”””Pope Paul VI The incarnation is a moment in history, but it also is a moment (or moments) for each one of us when “God with us” becomes a personal encounter. Recognizing that encounter changes things. There”s a palpable “before and after” that may not be definable, but it is discernable. It may come over time or in a deep “aha!” moment, but its effects are

September 7, 2015

Christian Standard

Baker Knew Speaker Choice Was Unconventional

By Darrel Rowland “I did not set out to do radical stuff,” says this year”s NACC president, Mike Baker. But he knew “it was going to be a bit of a risk to our tradition” to schedule a woman to preach at a main session, for one of the very few times in convention history. “There”s two things about me,” Baker said. “I”m an old-school Christian churcher, so I know full well that both my dad and my grandfather, who have passed on, would not approve of me having a woman speaker. But I”m also a word guy, and I”m

March 25, 2015

Christian Standard

I Can”t Change the World

By Jim Tune Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by the needs of the world. I think the small part I play won”t make a difference. Mother Teresa nips this doubt in the bud, saying, “If you can”t feed a hundred people, then feed just one.” We can talk about love, preach sermons about love, quote Scriptures about love, and long to love. Still, I think the bottom line is something like this: The best way to learn the ways of love is to live it, try it, do it, and risk it””enter into another person”s life and let someone into ours.

October 4, 2014

Christian Standard

FOR the City, Not Just IN It

By Rich Gorman When we waited on God and watched to see what he was already doing here, we discovered how he would work through us to accomplish his will. The voicemail we received the day after we moved to Chicago ended up having a greater impact than we could have imagined. My wife, Dori, and I could not remember who this woman was, though she knew of us from our ministry in Johnson City, Tennessee, during our time at Emmanuel Christian Seminary.  She said, “This may seem weird, but I was praying this morning and felt that God told

August 3, 2014

Christian Standard

Gut Feelings

By Jennifer Johnson Scientists have told us for years there is a strong link between our feelings and the state of our stomach. The “enteric nervous system,” or ENS, in our digestive system has sometimes been called the “second brain,” and a 2013 study found that introducing different bacteria to the stomach can cause changes to our emotions. Chalk one more up for the ancient Greeks; long before today”s research, they”d coined the word splagna, which roughly translates to “compassion” but literally means one”s guts. They knew that when we feel empathy in our hearts, we can also feel it

September 13, 2013

Christian Standard

Careful on the Way Down

By David Ray Someone who”s done a  study about mountain climbing made an interesting discovery. As risk-filled as the ascent may be, more than half of all climbing fatalities occur on the way down. For example, of the fatalities that had occurred on Mount Everest””the world”s tallest mountain””about 60 percent of them happened while the climbers were descending back to base camp. Different reasons for this phenomenon have been suggested, but there is often a natural letdown that comes after any great goal has been accomplished. With adrenaline pumping and a summit in sight, climbers may master an ascent. But

June 24, 2012

Christian Standard

What Would Bubba Do?

By Eddie Lowen I”m on the Bubba Bandwagon. This year”s Masters golf tournament concluded on Easter Sunday when a professional golfer named Bubba Watson hit an ultraremarkable winning shot from a grove of pine trees. “Bubba” is a surprising name for a Masters champion, but it”s better than being named “Boo.” Boo Weekley is a fellow pro who, ironically, hails from the same small Florida town as Bubba. Bubba and Boo””they sound like characters from the History Channel reality show Swamp People. But they have become to professional golf what the Blue Collar guys are to comedy. Trust me, their

January 6, 2012

Christian Standard

In Just One Year: Pundit Predictions

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 Paul Boatman To predict what we”ll be saying about the church one year from now is difficult, and it”s easy to see why: The January 2013 evaluators of our predictions will have the benefit of hindsight. With information that was simply not available to us at the dawn

February 23, 2011

Christian Standard

Radical Hospitality

By Gaye Clark I look back now and wonder what it would look like if more Christians were willing to take such a risk. Marcia”s voice cracked as she spoke. “Hello, Mrs. Clark, is your husband home? I”d like to wish him Happy Father”s Day.” I handed the phone to Jim, smiled, and said, “Your other daughter is calling.” Months before, while I sat at my computer, an e-mail caught my attention. The subject line read, “Young woman, broken and alone.” The sender was Dr. Robert Campbell, a local internal medicine specialist who had opened an inner-city clinic1 to reach

September 1, 2010

Christian Standard

Growing Like Jesus: The Bad Bounce

By Jim Tune (Jim Tune was among eight Christian leaders asked to share what helps them mature just as Jesus did. Tune is executive director of Impact Canada, a church-planting ministry based outside Toronto, Canada (www.impactcanada.org), and a contributing editor for CHRISTIAN STANDARD.) __________________ Soccer”s World Cup is a big deal in the multicultural city of Toronto. Who knew one of the most controversial components of the tournament would be the ball itself? The ball is the Adidas Jubulani and it had goalkeepers and strikers worrying and complaining from the start of the contest. The manufacturer claims it is the most

July 22, 2009

Christian Standard

Choosing My Focus, Protecting My Ministry

I told a friend about the book we”re excerpting this week, Anne Jackson”s Mad Church Disease. “The author paints a pretty bleak picture of pain and dysfunction among those serving in local churches,” I said. My friend travels more and visits far more churches than I do, so I wanted his opinion. “Is it really that bad out there?” He answered without hesitating. “Oh, my, yes.” Some time later I listened as three Christian college professors talked about their graduates who had tried professional ministry and then left it. The details of the stories varied: unreasonable elders (or one unreasonable

September 9, 2007

Cody Moore

institutional vs missional church

Missional Sending

Cody Moore contrasts the institutional church with the missional church, arguing that Christians are called out and sent back into the world. He urges communities to measure spiritual fruit, not just budgets and attendance.

October 29, 2006

Christian Standard

Confessions of a Compulsive Adventurer

By Paul Boatman “Grandpa, my friends don”t know I”m this kind of girl.” Six-year-old Allison was reflecting on our day of hiking in the canyons of Indiana”s Turkey Run State Park. “What kind of girl do they think you are?” “They think I”m a girly girl, but I”m an adventure girl!” Adventure! The term is a dominant theme in contemporary culture. I receive winsome advertisements for “adventure travel.” So-called reality television shows contrive adventures for their casts of exhibitionist participants. Interactive Internet adventure games invite virtual participation in activities ranging from mysterious to obscene, all intended to stir a sense

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