October 13, 2025
The Poor Rich Church
This is the second in a series of weekly articles based on Christ’s letters to the seven churches in the book of Revelation. This week’s church is Smyrna.
Articles for tag: Stake
October 31, 2024
Explaining the Word, Capturing the Heart
Illustrations and stories enhanced a message by making it more relatable and applicable to modern life, but it is the explanation of the Word of God that captured the heart.
July 8, 2024
July 14 Study | She Found Courage
Times got tough for Mordecai and Esther when the king's right-hand man, Haman, went crazy . . .
March 26, 2024
GLCC Meets with Accreditor to Discuss Its Financial Health
Hopes are high this week at Great Lakes Christian College as it meets with its accreditor to discuss its financial condition—and possibly emerge from a painful probationary period. . . .
September 1, 2022
The Growing Influence of Glowing Rectangles
Help Your Children Use Tech Wisely and Limit the Dangers
December 19, 2021
‘It Was Our Time to Shine’
All this week, Christian leaders will be sharing favorite Christmas memories with readers. Today we hear from Johnson University educator Kendi Howells Douglas, who recalls being in children's Christmas programs at her Minnesota church. Check back every morning, through Christmas Day, for more recollections.
December 22, 2013
The World in a Stable
By Robert F. Hull Jr. Only the Gospel of Luke gives us a manger scene, and we love it. It has become a standard part of our Christmas decorations. But if our manger scenes were modeled strictly after what Luke tells us, they would be quite sparse. There would be Mary and Joseph, and of course, the baby Jesus in a manger, and some shepherds. That”s it. The nativity scene at our house has only one shepherd, but a couple of sheep have followed him from the fields to the stable, and the shepherd has another one draped around his
March 22, 2011
Another Statement About What”s at Stake
By Mark A. Taylor A longtime reader of CHRISTIAN STANDARD paid us a wonderful compliment earlier this year. “Thank you for giving us a magazine that makes us think,” he said. This likely would have seemed a small achievement just a generation or two ago. There was a day when many in the Christian churches and churches of Christ spent more energy defining orthodoxy than questioning tradition. But fresh winds are blowing today””new churches, growing congregations, multisites and multimedia and external focus””all of it energized by a crop of younger leaders sold out to finding new ways to evangelize. “It”s
February 22, 2011
We Have Met the Enemy
By Mark A. Taylor Jim Tune says in “Stake” that the NACC is better, but less necessary, than ever. His rationale resonates with that of Gary Weedman who contributed one of several “viewpoints” on the NACC for our September 21, 2008, issue. The NACC was created in 1927 as a reaction to what was seen as encroachment of liberal theology and of “open membership” practiced by missionaries. . . . The majority of the leaders of the International Convention . . . were seen to be supportive, or at least tolerant, of the theological liberalism and practice of open membership.
June 14, 2009
FROM MY BOOKSHELF: Learning to Communicate, Examining History
By LeRoy Lawson Temple Grandin and Catherine Johnson, Animals in Translation: Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior (Orlando: Harvest, 2005). Temple Grandin is autistic and a shatterer of stereotypes. She”s not retarded; she holds a PhD in animal science. She”s not dependent on others to take care of her. She lives alone, is one of the country”s leading consultants in animal behavior, and she”s an amazingly productive author of hundreds of articles, many books, and dozens of lectures a year. So much for stereotypes. AHA! MOMENTS I wish I could have read her Animals in Translation years
November 16, 2008
What Elders Don”t Understand About Ministers
By Darrel Lowland 1. Most ministers are unequipped for management and economics. 2. Ministers need support to be successful. 3. It is the elder”s role to make the church and minister successful. 4. A minister has a vision for the church, and the elders must support that vision or get it changed lovingly. 5. The minister has problems just like everyone else. 6. Ministers are trained to “be in charge.” 7. A compliment from an elder means more than one from someone else. “”Bob Russell (retired), Southeast Christian Church, Louisville, KY Primarily, what elders (probably) don”t understand about ministers
September 9, 2007
Missional Sending
By Cody Moore Not long ago, a minister friend encouraged me to read a book about international trends in Christianity. It spoke of explosive church growth in countries with few resources. My friend was excited about how Christianity in these contexts was unencumbered by many of the things we American Christians find necessary, such as buildings, paid staff, and church programs. He boldly proclaimed, “This is the church of the future!” and I agree. Western Christians of old were sent forth from worship with the dismissive words “Ite, Missa Est” (“go, you are dismissed”), sent forth out of the presence
November 19, 2006
Five Books About Open Theism
By William R. Baker The Openness of God:Â A Biblical Challenge to the Traditional Understanding of God InterVarsity, 1994 The most important volume available on open theology is the one that launched this new perspective into the academic limelight. It is an academic book, with chapters devoted to the impact of this view on five areas of thought from five different authors. Richard Rice lays the foundation from the Bible; John Sanders tackles history; Clark Pinnock, theology; William Hasker, philosophy; and David Basinger, practicality. Footnotes are pushed to the back to help general readers absorb the new thoughts being presented. All
July 17, 2005
‘Safe Passage’
A late-night bus ride in Manhattan becomes a living illustration of Matthew 25. A former paramedic turned bus driver shows what it means to offer safe passage—meeting needs, welcoming strangers, restoring dignity, and walking with others toward freedom.
