Articles for tag: Southeast Christian Church

July 14, 2016

Christian Standard

From the Mess to a Message of Hope

By Dave Stone Lindsay Knight remembers the hopelessness. It stalked her as a college student, when she had seen too much and been loved too little. It was in the back of her mind as she chased self-worth in being pretty, thin, a good athlete, popular, and successful. After a long string of abusive, destructive relationships left her homeless, alone, and broke, she took the one “yes” she found””to work at a local strip club. It didn”t take long for her to see life at the club wasn”t so glamorous””she didn”t make a lot of money and she didn”t like

May 18, 2016

Christian Standard

Johnson University Partners to Extend Reach

Johnson University, with campuses in Tennessee, Florida, and online, is launching Johnson University ExtendEd. Through ExtendEd sites, the University will provide Christian education opportunities to more students on a localized basis. Initial launch locations include Indianapolis, IN; Phoenix, AZ; Louisville, KY; and Knoxville, TN. Starting in August 2016, Johnson University ExtendEd will offer affordable, local business and ministry degrees at partner locations around the country. Partners include Southeast Christian Church in Louisville; Christ”s Church of the Valley in Phoenix; Knoxville Interdenominational Bible Institute in Knoxville; and Connection Pointe Christian Church, Greenwood Christian Church, Indian Creek Christian Church, Park Chapel Christian

May 3, 2016

Mark A. Taylor

Join the Celebration

By Mark A. Taylor Sure, you enjoy reading posts at this website, but now may be the time for you to give our print magazine a try. We have an offer that gives you so much more than the posts we add to this site each month. It”s our 150th anniversary, and we have a special (read “low cost”) way for you to join the celebration. Now you can get a whole year of CHRISTIAN STANDARD delivered to your home for only $15.00. That”s way less than HALF our normal subscription price! In fact, it”s lower than almost all of

April 23, 2016

Michael C. Mack

Who”s “IN” At Your Church?

By Michael C. Mack In November 2015, Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky, reset its membership database to 0.  (All other parts of the database remained intact; only the membership numbers were cleared.) On November 8, senior pastor Dave Stone preached a message titled “I”m In,” asking everyone to commit for the first time or make a recommitment, and providing clear instructions for each category of people. For the five weeks previous to the “I”m In” weekend, Stone, Kyle Idleman, and others provided the five beliefs or core characteristics that describe what Southeast wants to be as a church. Why

April 19, 2016

Mark A. Taylor

All Growth Matters

By Mark A. Taylor Since 1997 CHRISTIAN STANDARD has been publishing annual lists of megachurches among the Christian churches and churches of Christ. In those 19 years, the megachurch phenomenon has exploded, not only in this fellowship but across the whole evangelical world. And with the growth has come criticism, cynicism, and complaint. Two years ago I interviewed Jud Wilhite, Dave Stone, and Don Wilson for our Beyond the Standard program. Each of them led one of the largest megachurches on that year”s list. I still remember what I wrote about that experience. These three “shared practical ideas and thoughtful

March 28, 2016

Christian Standard

The Best Sermon I”ve Ever Heard (9)

By Arron Chambers Christian leaders, some of them preachers themselves, tell us about a sermon they can”t forget””and maybe you won”t either. Titus Benton Titus Benton is a student pastor at Current””A Christian Church in Katy, Texas, as well as the executive director of The 25 Group, a nonprofit he and his wife started in 2014. His life”s mission is to preach, write, and give for the glory of Jesus. And bacon. His life also revolves around bacon. Titus”s Best Sermon: The best sermon on sacrifice was by David Platt, preacher at The Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Alabama.

February 19, 2016

Christian Standard

NACC 2016: California, Here We Come!

By Dave Stone It”s the right place and the right time for all of us to discover “A Better Story.” Several years ago the North American Christian Convention called to ask me a two-part question: “Would you be willing to serve as the president in 2016 AND would you be willing to have the conference in California (where it hasn”t been in 24 years)?” Before I answered, I asked for some time to pray about it and talk with various pastors in the Southern California area. The next couple of months became a time of incredible discovery. I heard story after

December 3, 2015

Christian Standard

The Best Sermon I”ve Ever Heard (5)

By Arron Chambers   Larry Lewis Larry and his wife, Teri, are missionaries for Open Door Libraries in Berlin, Germany. He has a Bachelor of Theology in Missions from Ozark Christian College. Larry”s Best Sermon: The best sermon I”ve heard on the identity of Jesus is “Was It a Waste?” by Dr. Roger Chambers of Florida Christian College (now Johnson University Florida), available at https://soundcloud.com/larry-lewis-46/rc-was-it-a-waste. (Roger Chambers is Larry”s uncle and this columnist”s father.) Why Larry likes this sermon: “This sermon changed my life. I first heard it about 15 years ago while editing tape files of Uncle Roger”s old

July 25, 2015

Christian Standard

Bob Russell’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 Bob Russell, retired senior minister of Southeast Christian Church, Louisville, Kentucky. ________ Those who have most significantly influenced my thinking in recent years would be: Ben Merold, retired minister, Harvester Christian Church, St. Charles, Missouri. I”ve learned a lot from observing Ben”s ministries and am thankful we”ve become close friends while conducting mentoring retreats together. At age 88, Ben”s joyful, energetic,

July 24, 2015

Christian Standard

The Best Sermon I”ve Ever Heard

By Arron Chambers Christian leaders, some of them preachers themselves, tell us about a sermon they can”t forget””and maybe you won”t either. Geoff Surratt Geoff Surratt has served on the leadership teams at Seacoast Church and Saddleback Church, and as managing director of Exponential. He is an author of The Multi-Site Church Revolution, The Multi-Site Church Roadtrip, and Ten Stupid Things that Keep Churches from Growing. He now serves as pastor of church planting at Southeast Christian Church in Parker, Colorado, as well as coaching churches and leaders around the country. Geoff lives in Denver, Colorado, with his wife, Sherry.

March 24, 2015

Mark A. Taylor

Bookin” It

By Mark A. Taylor I remember a conversation 30 years or more ago about book publishing by writers in the Christian church and church of Christ. “Evangelical publishers won”t publish books by Christian church writers,” a Standard Publishing salesman said. “And if Standard Publishing publishes books by Christian church writers, Christian bookstores won”t sell them.” I don”t know if that was true then, but I can promise you it”s not true today. Last year we published essays about book writing by Mark Atteberry, Arron Chambers, Dave Ferguson, Anne Milam, Daniel Overdorf, and Jamie Snyder. Each of them is a leader among Restoration Movement churches.

January 2, 2015

Christian Standard

ICOM Relaunches “˜Light the Fire”

By Kim Butts With ICOM”s “Vertical” theme this year, hundreds of people, young and old, had the opportunity to be a part of something that had never been done at the conference. Two interactive, station-based prayer rooms were set up as sacred spaces for people to engage with God in compellingly creative ways, day and night, from the first hour of ICOM to the last. The largest prayer space was located in the middle of the exhibit hall. The area, graciously designed and set up by the prayer and missions teams of Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky, was open

October 21, 2014

Christian Standard

Diverse, Dynamic, and Difficult to Summarize

By Mark A. Taylor Suppose you were asked to summarize the current condition of Christian churches and churches of Christ to an interested but largely uninformed audience. That was my assignment at the Sunday-evening worship service sponsored by the Stone-Campbell Dialogue in Austin, Texas, October 5. As I reported in this space last week, I was one of three speakers, each with a similar assignment; the others spoke, respectively, about the a cappella churches of Christ and the Christian Church/Disciples of Christ. Realizing that no one in our group can represent the whole group and no one can know everything

September 1, 2014

Christian Standard

Five Steps for Leading a Neighborhood Prayer Walk

By Jon Weiner 1. Keep your eyes open as you walk! 2. Keep the eyes of your heart open for your neighbors” needs. 3. Keep moving””it may seem creepy to stand in front of a house praying! 4. Observe: What do you see that may provide clues for how you can pray for people? 5. Ask God to open doors to meet and connect with neighbors. Jon Weiner serves as neighborhood groups pastor at Southeast Christian Church, Louisville, Kentucky  

July 21, 2014

Christian Standard

Small Vision

By Bob Russell (From our series “The Best or Worst Advice I”ve Ever Received.”) In 1983, when we began planning our first relocation project, I asked Jack Coffee, the building committee chairman, to limit the size of the new auditorium to 1,500 seats. “We have 1,000 in attendance now in a building that seats 500,” I said. “If we have 1,500 seats in the new auditorium, we can accommodate 3,000 people in two services, and we”ll never get any larger than that. But if the room is bigger than 1,500 seats, it will be too spacious for meaningful meetings on

July 19, 2014

Christian Standard

Intentional About Intentions

By Matt Proctor (From our series “The Best or Worst Advice I”ve Ever Received.”) I worked for a time at Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky, and in a talk with church staff, senior minister Bob Russell once described the inevitability of conflict, “We”re not always going to get along. Someone said, “˜Where two or three are gathered in my name . . . there”s going to be an argument.”” He then pointed out the human tendency, in the midst of conflict, to suspect the worst about the other person. We assume their motives are malicious, or at least less-than-trustworthy.

July 11, 2014

Christian Standard

Advice to a Dad

By Dave Stone (From our series “The Best or Worst Advice I’ve Ever Received.”) The best advice I ever received was this: “The best way to be a good father is to be a good husband.” It was given to me by Chuck Lee, a former staff member, who shared it with me soon after the birth of our first child. Dave Stone serves as senior pastor with Southeast Christian Church, Louisville, Kentucky.

July 8, 2014

Mark A. Taylor

Their Advice””and Ours

By Mark A. Taylor Some of the best advice I ever received was from Roy Lawson, longtime member of Standard Publishing”s Publishing Committee, and one of this magazine”s original contributing editors. “Emphasize people,” he told me when I asked for ways to make CHRISTIAN STANDARD more effective. “Highlight what people are doing. Promote their ministries and their accomplishments.” Through the years I”ve followed that advice in more ways than one, including a series of special posts you”ll be seeing at this site starting today, all of them from our July print edition”s central feature, “The Best (or Worst!) Advice I

May 20, 2014

Mark A. Taylor

Internal Security

By Mark A. Taylor Everyone serving the Lord struggles sometimes with tension between external actions and internal motives. Am I singing or preaching or teaching because I love to be in front of people, or because I love to communicate God”s Word? Do I give out of guilt or out of gratitude? Do I approach Bible study, prayer, or weekly worship solely out of duty, or are they a delight to me? And when it comes to ministers who lead growing churches, the tensions multiply. Am I seeking church growth to build the kingdom or to build my ego? Am

May 8, 2014

Christian Standard

A Closer Look at the Numbers*

By Kent Fillinger   AVERAGE SIZE Megachurches: 4,810 Emerging Megachurches: 1,354 Combined average weekly attendance: 382,144 The three largest megachurches account for more than 20 percent of all megachurch attendees.   GROWTH RATES Megachurches: 5.6 percent (up from 3 percent in 2012); overall, 73 percent of megachurches grew. Emerging Megachurches: 2.4 percent (down from 4 percent in 2012); overall, 52 percent of emerging megachurches grew.   FASTEST-GROWING CHURCHES 2|42 Community Church, Brighton, MI, 112% Third City Christian Church, Grand Island, NE, 31.6% Eastside Christian Church, Anaheim, CA, 26.3% Current””A Christian Church, Katy, TX, 22.1% Ten Mile Christian Church, Meridian, ID,

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