Articles for tag: The Wall Street Journal

July 17, 2015

Christian Standard

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

March 19, 2013

Christian Standard

A New Kind of Leadership?

By Mark A. Taylor Today Pope Francis, the first Pope from the Americas, will be formally installed in a mass that will headline news reports everywhere. Many nondenominational Christians will ignore the ceremony, while some will take the occasion to express their disdain for the abuses or errors of the church that claims 1.2 billion adherents worldwide. But we need not agree with Roman Catholic tradition or dogma to learn something from the unpretentious man who now heads that church. News of his unassuming humility is everywhere. Christopher M. Belitto, writing for CNN, described Francis”s first appearance to the masses

April 7, 2012

Christian Standard

My Wish for the Irregulars

By Mark A. Taylor   Regular churchgoers sometimes resent the come-on-Easter crowd, suspecting shallow motives among those who don”t make it to worship more often. But this Easter, as I think about seeing folks I don”t know or haven”t seen at church in months, I”m more inclined to feel sad than mad. Think of all they”re missing by not joining us week after week! We need each other, and how do people find support and encouragement and friendship without the church to lean on? Earlier this year, The Wall Street Journal featured one man”s answer to that question. Alain de

October 8, 2008

Christian Standard

Church Health and Attendance Numbers”“How Do They Relate?

By Mark A. Taylor Is growing attendance a reliable indicator of church health? American Christians generally answer yes. Perhaps this is because we live with the effects of corporate pressure for quarter-by-quarter growth in sales and profits. For several decades now, the American mind-set has equated “bigger” with “better.” But not everyone accepts that conclusion any longer. Speaking at the Energizing Smaller Churches Network conference in Lincoln, Illinois, last month, Paul Williams listed 10 signs of a healthy smaller church. His first point: “Measure by relational growth as well as by numbers growth.” Many of the smaller church”s problems can

April 16, 2008

Christian Standard

Struggles in High Places

By Mark A. Taylor Like leaders you may know, Mark Zuckerberg is struggling. Zuckerberg, 23-year-old CEO of the phenomenally popular social networking Web site Facebook, is figuring out how to cope with his own success. His brainchild began as an idea he pursued as a college dropout. Now, a little more than three years later, the site is attracting at least 101 million visitors and the dollars of investors like Microsoft (the company spent $240 million for a stake in Facebook last year). Although Facebook”s revenues reportedly reached $150 million in 2007, the company still isn”t profitable. And Zuckerberg”s efforts

February 6, 2008

Christian Standard

Mike Huckabee, Cultural Decay, and Christians Like Us

By Mark A. Taylor Don”t criticize presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee without expecting some feedback. That”s evidently one piece of advice Peggy Noonan could offer. The former speechwriter for President Reagan said she”d been hearing from Huckabee supporters since making negative comments about him in her weekly column for The Wall Street Journal. “As I have read their letters, I have felt nothing but respect,” she wrote. “They believe that what ails America and threatens its continued existence is not economic collapse or jihad. It is our culture.” Most CHRISTIAN STANDARD readers would agree. We see evidence of cultural decay all

December 12, 2007

Christian Standard

What About a Happy Christmas?

By Mark A. Taylor As we finished putting together this issue in the middle of November, retailers were worrying about this Christmas. It seems consumer confidence in the economy is lagging, and quite a few households are planning to spend less this holiday than in past years. Since many retailers measure their profit for the whole year by the volume of holiday shopping, this was a concerning omen. And yet many would say it”s a good thing to cut back on Christmas spending. Wouldn”t we? After all, haven”t we for years encouraged folks to remember the “real” reason for Christmas?

November 14, 2007

Christian Standard

While We Are Waiting

By Mark A. Taylor What happens to you when you wait? You”re third in line at the grocery-store checkout, and the person at the register found the one item in the store with no price tag or bar code. Nothing else can happen till the teen bagger runs to and from the right aisle to verify the price. What are you thinking while you wait? A company owes you money. It”s been seven weeks since you called them, but they told you then the check would be mailed in a month. How do you react? Freeway traffic grinds to a

August 15, 2007

Christian Standard

The Cure for Cultural Dysfunction

By Mark A. Taylor One stirring moment at this year”s North American Christian Convention was a video clip from Forefront Christian Church in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Vince Antonucci is the preacher there, and the video preceded his NACC message Wednesday morning. “Before I Came to Forefront” featured the testimonies of former drunks and drug abusers and other lost souls whose lives had fallen apart by the time they were young adults. But they were attracted to Forefront, introduced to Jesus, and transformed into people with hope and peace and purpose. We tend to concentrate on the spiritual victories in such

February 7, 2007

Mark A. Taylor

work from home

Now More Than Ever

As work shifts from offices to phones and kitchen tables, families face new pressures and new freedoms. This reflection urges Christian parents and leaders to keep biblical priorities, resist materialism, and protect godly parenting in any era.

April 12, 2006

Mark A. Taylor

Hemant Mehta church critique

It”s About Easter

An atheist sells “the chance to save his soul” and attends church to critique it publicly. Mark A. Taylor argues Christianity can’t be judged into belief—Easter points to Jesus himself as the center of faith.

August 10, 2005

Mark A. Taylor

Aging Well

The Stage I’m In

Stress and aging are linked, but strong friendships can help. Mark A. Taylor reflects on entering a new stage of life and points to the church’s “one another” life as a practical path to support and aging well.

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