Articles for tag: Tim Harlow

March 27, 2014

Christian Standard

Evangelism & Discipleship

By Tim Harlow Imagine this scenario with me. You”re at a wedding. The idyllic young bride and groom are exchanging vows with that faraway look in their eyes, pledging their everlasting faithfulness. Warm fuzzies galore. That night, the groom returns to his bachelor pad, alone. The couple keeps separate checking accounts, independent schedules, and their own apartments. When you get a chance to speak with the mother of the groom, she defends the arrangement: “Well, he”s only 25, you know! He”s not ready to be a full-time husband. They don”t really have the same taste in food or furniture .

March 8, 2014

Christian Standard

Become a Better Leader with 50 Free Videos!

By Dick Alexander “¢ Encouragement “¢ Connecting “¢ Ideas “¢ Challenge “¢ Inner life “¢ Leadership And all in a few minutes each week. It sounds like a lot to promise, but Tim Harlow, 2014 North American Christian Convention president, makes and keeps big promises. Last year at a pastors” conference, Tim pulled together 50 outstanding Christian church leaders and asked each of them to share one thought, principle, or idea on leading churches that will reach the world. The result is a series of short videos being shared by the NACC, one each week via e-mail, with follow-up ideas

March 7, 2014

Christian Standard

Your NACC Planner

By Jennifer Johnson In American Religion: Contemporary Trends, author Mark Chaves reports the percentage of people in the United States who say they “never” attend church has risen steadily over the last 30 years, and that if current trends continue, we will soon be a “Protestant-minority” country. Warren Bird, director of research for Leadership Network, recently blogged that 125 million Americans””more than 1 out of 3″”haven”t attended any religious services in the last year, and writes, “That number alone would be the 10th largest country in the world!” At this year”s North American Christian Convention, President Tim Harlow will challenge

January 18, 2014

Christian Standard

We”re Not the Only Christians

By Tim Harlow I”m sure you”ve heard the joke in a sermon somewhere. It”s versatile””you can target any denomination. Peter is showing someone around Heaven. As he walks down the hallway, he says, “Here is the Lutheran room, here is the Methodist room, here is the Presbyterian room,” and then he starts whispering. “Shhh, we have to be quiet walking by this one. It”s the (fill in the blank) room, and they think they are the only ones here.” I grew up in the independent Christian churches, where it was my experience “independents” were the fill in the blank. I

November 2, 2013

Christian Standard

Are They Wrong””or Are They Lost?

By Tim Harlow A friend and I were talking recently about the moral decline in the United States and the distinctly different reactions Christians are having toward the post-Christian era in which we live. When I was growing up, especially in the Bible Belt, people knew what was right and what was wrong. They didn”t always do the right things, but they knew the 10 Commandments and the Bible were the standards by which all things should be measured. But now the Supreme Court can”t even correctly define marriage. This leads some Christians to grab a soapbox and tell everyone

September 19, 2013

Christian Standard

I Did a Cannonball in the Jordan River

By Tim Harlow I”m writing this from Israel. We brought a group here to walk where Jesus walked, pray where Jesus prayed, and get baptized where Jesus got baptized. I did a cannonball. A cannonball is when you jump into the water with your arms holding your knees tight against your chest. It makes a huge splash. I thought it would make a good video moment for our church as we are in the last months of a capital campaign we”ve called “Cannonball””All in and Making Waves.” We borrowed the metaphor from our friends at Mountain Christian Church in Joppa,

September 1, 2013

Christian Standard

A Serious Issue That Is a Matter of Conscience

By Jennifer Johnson As I wrote about Daron Earlewine”s Pub Theology ministry, I reread two recent Christian Standard articles on drinking. These pieces, by Tim Harlow and John Caldwell, are both available on the CS website and both worth your time. I loved Tim”s observation that the popular rationalization for Jesus turning water into wine””that the wine was watered down””would simply give it the alcohol content of beer, and I courted whiplash nodding my head vigorously at his comment that “alcohol is not the No. 1 health problem in America””it”s obesity. So it”s a tad confusing to the world when

July 25, 2013

Christian Standard

Titles or Testimonies?

By Tim Harlow In his book Who Switched the Price Tags? Tony Campolo tells of an African-American pastor who was preaching to some students who were about to graduate. He said, “Children, you are going to die! One of these days the hearse is going to take you to the cemetery, drop you in a hole and everyone”s going back to the church to eat potato salad. When you were born, you were crying and everyone else was happy. Here is the question, “˜When you die, will you be the only happy one with everyone else crying?” The answer depends

July 20, 2013

Christian Standard

40 Under 40: Jon Weece

JON WEECE Lead follower,  Southland Christian Church  Lexington, Kentucky The new pope is giving hope to many because he”s a Jesuit. He”s humble and cares for the poor. He”s named for St. Francis. Jon Weece gives me the same hope. He has the heart of a missionary and the humility and leadership of Moses. He comes from some of the finest stock in the Christian church and carries the Weece name proudly. Southland is innovative, but not to be chic. The church exhibited its innovation by starting a huge campus in the middle of an under-resourced area, which has enabled

June 18, 2013

Christian Standard

Real Churches, Missional Ministry

By Mark A. Taylor Of all the articles about missional ministry we”ve posted this month, I like the stories from churches most. Maybe you agree. Although we”re energized by the insights of missional leaders like Matt Smay and Alan Hirsch, their ideas come to life in the strategies, experiences, successes, and failures of local congregations. Rivertree Christian Church, Massillon, Ohio; Community Christian Church, Naperville, Illinois; and Southland Christian Church, Lexington, Kentucky, encourage us with the new paths they”re blazing. And now you can hear leaders from these three churches discuss their ministry. We”re bringing them to you via CHRISTIAN STANDARD”s

June 4, 2013

Christian Standard

Getting It Lived

By Mark A. Taylor We were talking about truth and grace. It was toward the end of a lively conversation during our first blogtalkradio program, Beyond the Standard; this episode was about how to influence life change. George Ross, Tim Harlow, and Brian Mavis discussed the challenges of standing for the truth while standing with the sinner. How do we love and listen to people, leading them to the truth without hitting them over the head with it? Brian told about a friend of his with “grace” and “truth” tattoos, one on each wrist. “Since I”m right-handed, “˜grace” is on my

May 21, 2013

Christian Standard

Now You Can Go “Beyond the Standard”

By Mark A. Taylor  Beginning this week, CHRISTIAN STANDARD is offering a new, free monthly radio program available to you via the web at BlogTalkRadio.com. Log on and listen in to “Beyond the Standard” this Thursday, May 23, at 11 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time to see what I mean. Listeners that day will hear and interact with three contributors to our website. (Each of them also wrote for the May issue of our monthly print magazine.) George Ross, North Vernon, Indiana, talks about developing disciples, regardless of their past or the challenges of their current situation. He”s demonstrating a refreshing

May 20, 2013

Christian Standard

Dan Cathy = WWJD?

By Tim Harlow Dan Cathy is the president of Chick-fil-A and has borne the brunt of a great deal of criticism in the gay marriage debate because of a statement he made affirming biblical marriage values. That is NOT why I think he represents “What Would Jesus Do?” I know Jesus would affirm his Father”s plan for human sexuality, but he would never stop there. This Chick-fil-A debate was very unfortunate, in my opinion, because of the polarization it caused between the two sides. Cathy became the whipping boy for the gay lobby, representing all things evil about Christianity. I

March 22, 2013

Christian Standard

The Rise of the “˜Nones”

By Tim Harlow The front page of USA Today said, “Protestants lose majority status in the US” (October 9, 2012). It just happened to catch my eye as I walked past a newsstand. I thought to myself, OK, but what could have taken its place? Catholicism is dying””is this about Mormonism? The article explained that Protestant numbers are down from 53 percent in 2007 to 48 percent today. But these Protestants didn”t switch to a new religious brand. They just let go of any faith affiliation or label. According to the Pew Forum, one in five Americans now claims no religious identity.

January 12, 2013

Christian Standard

When You Can”t Find Your Donkey

By Tim Harlow One day, Kish lost some donkeys, so he sent his son Saul out to find them. Saul looked for days but couldn”t find the donkeys anywhere, so he went to Samuel the prophet for advice. Little did Saul know God orchestrated the whole thing so that he and Samuel would meet, because God decided Saul would be the new king of Israel. When Samuel told Saul about God”s vision of leadership, Saul was understandably reluctant. One minute he was out looking for some stubborn animals, and the next he was being told God had picked him for

November 26, 2012

Christian Standard

What”s Your “˜However?”

By Tim Harlow It seems one can”t attend a gathering of church leaders without hearing a sad discussion about some brother or sister who has fallen. Sometimes it almost seems like having a fulfilling and successful life in the Lord is just as much about the things you DON”T do, as the things you DO. Sure, giftedness is important, and attitude, and a good team, and vision, and all of that. But you can have all of that and blow it just once and have it all come crashing down. There is always forgiveness and grace; and none of us

October 15, 2012

Christian Standard

Sticky Conversations: Alcohol

THIS IS THE FIRST IN A SERIES OF FIVE “STICKY CONVERSATIONS”   By Tim Harlow In matters of opinion, beer? “In matters of faith, unity; in matters of opinion, liberty; in all things, love.” It”s such a beautiful sentiment, but how do we know which is which? There wouldn”t be 30,000 different sects of Christianity in the world if it were really that easy. Consider the subject of alcohol. It”s always been confusing to me because, as I grew up in the Christian church, I was always told alcohol was bad/sinful. But Paul told Timothy to drink some wine for his

September 4, 2012

Christian Standard

The Whole in Our Gospel

By Tim Harlow The slogan I”m repeating these days: We”re called to bring Heaven to earth and take earth to Heaven. How well are we doing both? I took my dad to the World Series in Detroit in 2006. The Tigers were playing our beloved St. Louis Cardinals (we are lifelong Cardinal fans), and we had connections, so we went. I had never been to Tiger Stadium, so I relied on MapQuest to guide us there. We arrived at a stadium, but it looked pretty old and run down; the lights weren”t on, and there were no cars in the

August 5, 2012

Christian Standard

Hanging with Naughty Matt

By Tim Harlow Imagine the party when the tax collector got some friends together to meet Jesus. Matthew was a tax collector. The Jews hated tax collectors because they were usually swindlers and “sellouts” who worked for the Romans. You couldn”t get any lower than a tax collector. They even had their own category: there were “sinners,” and there were “tax collectors.” Jesus and the disciples came upon Matthew one day and Jesus said, “Why don”t you quit your job and follow me?” Matthew said “yes,” and the next thing you know Jesus was at a party at Matthew”s house.

July 12, 2012

Christian Standard

Discussions Just Begun

By Mark A. Taylor “Wherever two or three are gathered together . . . someone’s wrong!” That was one of a hundred one-liners Chonda Pierce delivered during her alternately hilarious and heart-touching monologue during the Thursday-night evening session at the North American Christian Convention in Orlando, July 12. Chonda hadn’t attended two special seminars I heard earlier that day. But each of them contained questions and ideas that at least someone in the church would call wrong. This is one more thing good about this year’s North American Christian Convention. It stretched us by challenging us with ideas we may

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