Articles for tag: University Christian Church

July 29, 2020

Christian Standard

Faber Continuing to Influence Boise Students after 40 Years (Plus News Briefs)

When Charles “Chuck” Faber began as a full-time professor at Boise Bible College, he committed three years to the school before considering anything else. Forty years later he is still at BBC, influencing young and old to study, think, and live God’s way. Faber, who grew up a missionary kid in Japan, attended Cincinnati Bible College and Seminary, where he graduated with honors. In 1980, when invited to move his family to Boise, Idaho, for his first job after college, Faber and his wife, Patti, sold their house in the Cincinnati area, rented a truck, and drove to Idaho with

September 25, 2018

Christian Standard

He’s Right Here

By Mandy Smith  Outsiders watching Christians take part in the Lord’s Supper over and over might feel sorry for us. We take a tiny piece of bread and a tiny sip of juice and remember someone who had a real meal with his friends a long time ago. It might seem foolish or sad that we keep doing this. “Jesus is gone,” they might say. “Move on.” But they don’t know what we know. We know that when Jesus left, he promised he would never leave. It’s a strange truth, but it’s what he said. Although he stopped walking around

September 18, 2018

Christian Standard

Awaiting a Wedding Feast

By Mandy Smith First Corinthians 11:26 says: “For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” So simply by taking this bread and juice today, we remember and retell the story of Jesus’ death, every time, over and over again. We keep telling the story as we eat the bread and as we sip the juice. We tell it to ourselves as we taste it and we tell it to each other as we do it together. Christians have been doing this for thousands of years, and Christians will do this

September 11, 2018

Christian Standard

Jesus’ Controversial Approach to Food and Eating

By Mandy Smith Jesus often caused a stir, and it’s surprising how often food was at the center of things. Whom he ate with caused controversy. When he ate and what he ate upset the religious leaders who seemed to be watching his every move. Mark 2 provides various examples. First the Pharisees judge Jesus for eating with tax collectors and sinners. And Jesus simply replies, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners” (v. 17). Then the Pharisees get upset with Jesus because he doesn’t

September 4, 2018

Christian Standard

Grandparent’s Day: Paving a Path to Communion

By Mandy Smith  We don’t know as much about Timothy as we do the apostle Paul, but we know Paul trusted Timothy deeply. Paul sent Timothy as his representative to churches he had planted. Paul listed Timothy as a co-sender of several of his letters, and the New Testament includes two letters Paul wrote directly to Timothy. In them, we get a picture of a trustworthy and incredibly faithful young leader who had an important role in the development of the early church. So it’s significant Paul remembered the source of Timothy’s faith. In his second letter to Timothy, Paul

August 28, 2018

Christian Standard

A Rest from Our Labor . . . and in His Work

By Mandy Smith On Labor Day weekend we reflect on both the value of work and the value of rest. The Department of Labor’s statement on Labor Day says, in part, “It is appropriate . . . that the nation pay tribute on Labor Day to the creator of so much of the nation’s strength, freedom, and leadership—the American worker.” It’s fitting for a nation to show appreciation to those workers by giving them a day off from their work. On Labor Day we rest from our own work. There’s a different holiday we celebrate every Sunday—an invitation to rest

October 18, 2017

Christian Standard

Lower Is Better

By Mandy Smith Mountaineer Joe Simpson tells his chilling story in the book and movie Touching the Void. Thousands of feet up the side of the 20,814-foot Siula Grande mountain, Joe”s safety line was cut, leaving him to slide, with a broken leg, into a deep crevasse. After several desperate attempts to climb up and out of the crevasse, he realized his injury made that impossible. And so, against all survival instinct, he made the excruciating choice to lower himself deeper into the crevasse, in the hope that there would be other exits further down. All the time he was

October 4, 2017

Christian Standard

Out of Our Depth

By Mandy Smith   What makes you feel out of your depth? Starting a new job? Taking an exam? Having a child? So many situations in life force us to face the size of our own limitations. And when we do, we deal with those feelings of fear and inadequacy in our own ways””by running away, by working extra hard, by becoming anxious. Sometimes it”s not until after we”ve tried all those options that we finally stop to ask for help. But asking for help isn”t the first choice, because it requires us to admit to someone else, “I can”t

September 20, 2017

Christian Standard

Come to the Table

By Mandy Smith The phrase “come to the table” can mean gathering to find understanding, as in meeting to discuss how to solve a problem or end a disagreement. Lawyers “come to the table” to reconcile quarreling spouses. Warring nations “come to the table” to discuss how to end the fighting. We often think of reconciliation in these legal and political ways. But what if the table were not in an office or a war room? What if, instead of a conference or strategy table, it was a dinner table, groaning under the weight of a sumptuous feast? We often

April 8, 2016

Christian Standard

WHAT’S NEXT?: Remember the Spirit

We asked several Christian leaders, “What should churches served by CHRISTIAN STANDARD strive to be or do or look like in the next decades?” ____ By Mandy Smith We in the Christian churches have the Cane Ridge Revival in our history, but we”re not comfortable with the Holy Spirit. We”ve seen so many abuses of the Spirit that it”s easy to throw the baby out with the bathwater. So what would it look like to rediscover a scriptural approach to the Spirit”s work in our lives? I”m still learning this, but let me share two ways I”m stepping into it: 1. Guidance “But

September 10, 2015

Christian Standard

I Felt Most Appreciated When . . .

Six seasoned church leaders share appreciation testimonies. I”VE FELT MOST appreciated when offered opportunities to move to a larger church or a bigger salary. Those moments forced me to reflect on my current situation and to realize I would never find a church that loved me more or treated me better than the one I am in. I”ve been with this congregation more than a quarter of a century, mostly because of the way I”ve been treated. “”Mark Atteberry, preaching minister Poinciana Christian Church, Kissimmee, Florida ___ I FELT MOST appreciated when, during a time of crisis and great stress, the entire eldership

October 18, 2013

Christian Standard

Flash Mob

By Mandy Smith On a seemingly ordinary morning, in a busy Belgian train station, the announcements of arrivals and departures were suddenly interrupted by Julie Andrews”s familiar voice intoning, “Let”s start at the very beginning . . .” A few commuters paused for a second to wonder why the train station would air “Do-Re-Mi,” before returning to their morning rush. Then, in the center of the atrium”s tiled floor, a single man started to dance, and before long a passing little girl had joined in. A crowd began to form to watch the spectacle but, at each measure, members of

August 16, 2012

Christian Standard

Deployed

By Kavan Rogness Several months ago at University Christian Church in Manhattan, Kansas, we came up with an idea to get the church involved in the community. The bulk of the inspiration came from a staff member who attended the February 2011 Preaching and Teaching Conference at Ozark Christian College. There he heard about Vince Antonucci”s book Guerilla Lovers and the “guerilla” assignments Antonucci developed to encourage Christians to get outside their comfort zones and show God”s love through acts of kindness. We decided to challenge our congregation with the idea. The result was a military-themed sermon series called “Deployed” that not

August 2, 2012

Christian Standard

Ohio Prophetic Voices Promotes Biblical Justice

By Jennifer Taylor Fifteen years ago, University Christian Church (Cincinnati, OH) was the first white, Evangelical church to join The Amos Project, a group focused on developing the leadership skills of low-income and working families. This spring, University Christian pastor Troy Jackson helped launch a new initiative called Ohio Prophetic Voices, a collaboration of more than 100 faith leaders across the state. “For the last five or six years I”ve been growing in my passion for biblical justice and trying to figure out how to be salt and light,” Jackson says. “I want to see Evangelicals engaged in a way

July 5, 2012

Christian Standard

You May Not Know You Know Me

By Mandy Smith Meet Marco Saavedra-Mendez, a young man as “American” as any you”ll meet. An undocumented immigrant with an uncertain future. I”m an immigrant to this country. I first came on a student visa, then had a temporary work visa, then a permanent work visa (or “green card”), before becoming a citizen. I read the fine print, filled in all the right forms, provided all the required information, consulted legal professionals, paid the visa application fees. And waited. Many times. So when the immigration issue comes up, my initial thought is often something like, I had to go through

June 30, 2012

Christian Standard

Liberty & Love

By Troy Jackson Sadly I”ve discovered that our country”s heart and the church”s compassion for the immigrant are much smaller than I would have imagined. Twenty years ago, I set out on an East Coast road trip to look at potential seminaries and graduate schools. Reared in Indiana, I had never been to New York City, Philadelphia, or Boston. I was excited to see those great American cities and some of the iconic landmarks of our nation. As I rambled down the New Jersey Turnpike, approaching New York, I caught the city”s famous skyline in the distance. As the traffic

April 8, 2012

Christian Standard

Style Conscious

By Nathan Smith A few years back, I led worship on a regular basis at a midsized suburban church that was made up primarily of white, middle-class Americans. I often would speak with the pastor, a good friend, about the church”s “brand” and where he felt God was leading it. The worship gatherings were musically and aesthetically appealing, but I couldn”t get over the fact that we were “selling” a product completely disconnected from the worshipping body. The services were being designed for visitor Q rather than the Christian church member. (A bit of a disclaimer here, I do believe

October 17, 2011

Christian Standard

Lesson for Oct. 23, 2011: Finding True Love (Song of Solomon 4:1″“5:1)

This week”s treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson (for October 23) is written by Mandy Smith, associate pastor at University Christian Church, Cincinnati, Ohio, and author of Making a Mess and Meeting God: Unruly Ideas and Everyday Experiments for Worship, available at www.standardpub.com/makingamess. ____________ Finding True Love (Song of Solomon 4:1–5:1) By Mandy Smith At first reading, the fourth chapter of Song of Solomon seems a little ridiculous to modern ears. In fact, when my Old Testament professor in college heard I like to draw, he asked me to create a literal depiction of these metaphors, and I ended

September 22, 2011

Christian Standard

Doing Nothing Is Doing Something

By Mandy Smith The first 35 years of my life I honored God by doing. My plan for the next 35 years is also to honor him by not doing. Exodus 34:21 helped bring me to this turning point. It says: “Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during the plowing season and harvest you must rest.” Around my 35th year I found I had worked myself out and had nothing more to give. My plan to single-handedly save the world was failing miserably since I could barely manage the grocery shopping. So

December 8, 2010

Christian Standard

Two Ohio Pastors Support Undocumented Immigrant, DREAM

By Jennifer Taylor Last week, a Canton, OH-area newspaper reported the story of a Cincinnati teen and the local pastors championing his cause. The student, Bernard Pastor, was brought to the United States as a 3-year-old and taken into custody last month as an undocumented immigrant. Greg Nettle, senior pastor at RiverTree Christian Church (Massillon, OH) and Troy Jackson, senior pastor at University Christian Church (Cincinnati, OH) are among the leaders calling for the passage of the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act. “At the heart of all of this, we’re talking about caring for children,” Nettle

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