Articles for tag: Spiritual Renewal

January 1, 2024

By Jerry Harris All church leaders are dealing with stress right now. Stress can come from every area of our lives. You might be under pressure, facing big changes, feeling a lack of control, shouldering heavy responsibility, or feeling uncertain about the future. You might be facing multiple issues simultaneously or feeling the effects of past experiences. Your stress might be triggered by illness, injury, parenting, infertility, bereavement, abuse, marriage, divorce, relationships, or caregiving. You might have lost your job, or be seeking a new job, or just started in a new role. Perhaps you retired recently. You might be

September 1, 2023

Shawn McMullen

Church & Ministry Church Leadership Pastoral Transitions & Succession

Helping the Church Thrive Between Ministers

An Interview with Leaders from Transitional Interim Pastor Services By Shawn McMullen Recently Christian Standard met with three leaders who serve with Transitional Interim Pastor Services, a ministry of NXTStep Church Services (yourncs.org), to learn about their unique approach to interim ministry. John Cutshall, a graduate of Cincinnati Christian University, has been in ministry for more than 40 years. He spent his first 20 years in youth ministry before serving in senior ministry positions. Greg Comp, also a graduate of CCU, is a second-generation minister. Following his graduation from Bible college, Comp served as an associate minister. At age 30

January 1, 2021

Rick Chromey

Care & Counseling

God’s Messenger in Seat 21C

Sometimes God shows up in strange places . . . like an afternoon United Airlines flight from Denver to Houston. At the time, my life was a wreck. My career was gone. My marriage in trouble. My dreams paused. My faith wearing thin. The Great Recession had left me unemployed and broke. I was depressed, skeptical, cynical, and angry. I survived through sporadic speaking and preaching but now wearied from the travel. I didn’t want to go to Houston. I was ready to quit the ministry, find a decent paying job, and live in peace. I despised ever accepting God’s

May 16, 2014

Christian Standard

Devotionals

Time to Recharge the Batteries

Nancy Karpenske Have you ever suddenly been awakened in the middle of the night? You lay in bed, wondering what woke you. About 30 seconds later you have almost fallen back to sleep when it happens again. Your smoke alarm emits that tiny chirping sound. Oh, it”s not detecting smoke””that noise is loud and blaring. Instead, the annoying little chirp is warning you that the battery is losing its power. Wouldn”t it be great if your spiritual life gave you a little warning chirp when your spiritual batteries are losing power? Wouldn”t it be great if you could be just

December 21, 2011

Christian Standard

Devotionals

Bethlehem: Inspired by a Preacher”s Renewal

By Bob Russell Phillips Brooks was nearly burned out. The man many regarded as the most inspirational preacher of his time had lost his fervor and couldn”t seem to recover. He requested and was granted a sabbatical from the church and took a trip to the Holy Land. On Christmas Eve in Jerusalem, he and a couple of friends mounted horses and took off riding. It was a wonderful, life-changing afternoon for him. He prayed and spent time alone with God. At dusk, when the first stars came out, he rode into the tiny village of Bethlehem. The town had

January 17, 2010

Christian Standard

Church Life

A Sabbatical for Volunteers

By Wilbur Reid III Volunteer church leaders are busy. In addition to the typically demanding workweek, they have family responsibilities: driving kids to practices, maintaining the lawn, staying up with housework and laundry, and everything else that makes a healthy and happy home. On top of that, they feel a calling and responsibility to support the kingdom of God in their local church. They spend hours each week as elders, deacons, Sunday school teachers, nursery workers, and small group leaders. They maintain the building and grounds, sing in the choir, and work with the youth group. This busyness leads to

October 12, 2005

Mark A. Taylor

Organizations & Events Conferences & Gatherings

An Interview With the Director

NACC executive director Allan Dunbar reflects on this year’s regional conferences—highlighting intimacy, renewal, and a standout minister and spouse retreat—while urging broad participation in the historic 2006 Louisville convention.