Influence Podcast
253 episodes - English - Latest episode: 5 days ago - ★★★★★ - 58 ratingsThe Influence Magazine Podcast is a chance for you to hear from the premiere voices in church leadership…voices who are redefining what church leadership looks like. It's the audio companion to Influence Magazine, a resource full of practical tools, informative news and powerful biblical principals aimed at empowering all leaders. Visit us online at InfluenceMagazine.com
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Episodes
349. Helping the Called on Their Leadership Journeys
April 25, 2024 16:03 - 28 minutes - 53 MB“God didn’t call the perfect version of you, the version that has years of experience or the version that has it all figured out.” writes John Zick. “In fact, He has no desire for a version of you that does not desperately need him. Paul understood this when he said in 2 Corinthians 12:9 [NLT], ‘I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.’” In this episode of the Influence Podcast, I talk to Zick about being called into ministry, recognizing per...
348. How and Why to De-Size the Church
April 18, 2024 08:00 - 27 minutes - 51.2 MB“Church size matters to us far more than it should. From the pride it brings when the numbers are up to the shame and frustration it causes when the numbers are static or down, none of this provides a healthy foundation on which to build a healthy church body,” writes Karl Vaters. He goes on to suggest a solution: “We need to de-size the church.” In this episode of the Influence Podcast, I talk to Vaters about why bigness is a problem, why de-sizing the church is a solution, and how to d...
347. Succeeding in NextGen Ministry
April 10, 2024 08:00 - 32 minutes - 60 MB“To invest one’s life in the next generation for the sake of the kingdom of God is to do the work that Jesus did,” writes Lee Rogers. “Few will notice the nobility and spiritual richness of the work, yet for those who minister to the next generation, the value is high — and the impact is eternal.” In this episode of the Influence Podcast, I talk to Rogers about what NextGen ministry is, why it’s important, and what factors contribute to long-term effectiveness. I’m George P. Wood, execut...
346. How to Deal with Spiritual Abusers
April 04, 2024 08:00 - 46 minutes - 85.4 MB“The entire second half of 1 Samuel is the story of an abuser hunting down a victim,” according to Jim Bradford. The abuser is King Saul, and his intended victim is David. “Saul literally threw spears,” Bradford notes; “abusive leaders do so figuratively. I recently heard Bradford preach a sermon about responding to abusive authority based on 1 Samuel and thought it would make an excellent podcast. After all, it seems that every few weeks news breaks about a pastor who has used their posit...
345. A Case for Church Planting
March 07, 2024 09:00 - 34 minutes - 63.9 MB“There has never been a better day to plant churches than now in the Assemblies of God.” Mike McCrary recently made that statement in a presentation to the employees of the AG national office. I was so impressed by the presentation that I invited him to join me on the Influence Podcast. So, in this episode, I talk to him about why he thinks that’s the case. Along the way, we also talk about why America needs more churches, church planting myths, and how every church — even already existi...
344. Keep Christianity Weird!
February 28, 2024 09:00 - 47 minutes - 87.7 MB“The first Christians were weird,” writes Nijay Gupta. “I am not talking about their clothing, music preferences, or hobbies. When I say ‘weird’ or ‘strange,’ I am talking about deviation from cultural norms and society’s expectations for how things ought to be done. Especially when it came to religion … the Christians were as backwards and as odd as you could be.” Well, that’s how the Romans viewed them anyway. In this episode of the Influence Podcast, I talk to Gupta about how Christia...
343. Healthy Pastor, Thriving Church
February 23, 2024 09:00 - 38 minutes - 70 MB“The complex challenges and demands faced by today’s leaders will not be overcome by simply applying administrative techniques or business best practices,” writes Justin A. Irving. “Today’s leaders need something more — they need wisdom to lead their communities through complex times.” In this episode of the Influence Podcast, I talk to Irving about what that wisdom looks like in terms of self-leadership; people and teams; organizational dynamics, especially culture; and external dynamics,...
342. What the AG Believes About Abortion
January 26, 2024 09:00 - 45 minutes - 83.3 MBOn January 22, 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its decision in Roe v. Wade, effectively overturning numerous state laws against abortion and legalizing the practice throughout the land. That decision stood until June 24, 2022, when the Supreme Court reversed itself in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization and overturned Roe. This didn’t end the abortion debate, however. Rather, it returned the debates about whether and how to restrict abortion to the states. Ever since, Ame...
341. After Youth Group, What?
January 18, 2024 09:00 - 30 minutes - 55.5 MBIn their new book, Faith Beyond Youth Group, Kara Powell, Jen Bradbury and Brad M. Griffin offer this startling statistic about students’ faith after high school graduation: “While spiritual and religious activity under age eighteen seems to slightly increase the odds of faith lasting after youth group, a compilation of studies indicates that about 40 to 50 percent of youth group kids drift from God and the faith community after graduation.” In this episode of the Influence Podcast, I’m ...
340. First, Leaders Pray
January 11, 2024 09:00 - 34 minutes - 62.8 MB“An intentional prayer life is the nonnegotiable constant of lasting, fruitful Christian life and ministry,” write Ryan Skoog, Peter Greer and Cameron Doolittle in Lead with Prayer. Unfortunately, most Christian leaders report having lackluster prayer lives. A 2005 study by Lifeway Resources found that just 16% of pastors are “very satisfied” with their prayer lives. A 2021 Lifeway study found that 72% percent struggle with consistent personal prayer. Lead with Prayer aims to help Christ...
339. What 2024 Holds for the Assemblies of God
January 04, 2024 09:00 - 33 minutes - 61.8 MBWilliam E. Vaughan once wrote, “An optimist stays up until midnight to see the new year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves.” There’s a lot of truth in Vaughan’s statement. Opportunities abound in 2024. What are we doing to welcome them? No doubt there will also be challenges to face, however. The crucial question is how do we face them both and make progress at the same time? In this episode of the Influence Podcast, I’m talking to Doug Clay about big events, chall...
338. Praying for Awakening in 2024
December 21, 2023 09:00 - 32 minutes - 60 MBJanuary 7–13, 2024 is the 82nd Annual Assemblies of God Week of Prayer. The theme verse of the week is Habakkuk 3:2: “Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord. Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.” For more information about this event, as well as for daily prayer points, print resources, free downloads, and videos, visit WeekOfPrayer.AG.org. In this episode of the Influence Podcast, I’m talking to Joe Oden about how p...
337. Did Christmas Really Happen? Part 2
December 14, 2023 09:00 - 33 minutes - 61.8 MBThis is part two of my conversation with Craig Keener about the historicity of the details of Jesus’ birth. According to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, Christ’s birth was attended by many miracles: angelic visitations, prophetic dreams, the miraculous birth of John the Baptist, and the virginal conception of Christ himself. The first Christmas, then, was a thoroughly supernatural event. Those miraculous elements have led many to question whether Jesus was born the way the Gospels say H...
336. Did Christmas Really Happen? Part 1
December 07, 2023 09:00 - 28 minutes - 52.9 MBAccording to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, the birth of Jesus Christ was attended by many miracles: angelic visitations, prophetic dreams, the miraculous birth of John the Baptist, and the virginal conception of Christ himself. The first Christmas, then, was a thoroughly supernatural event. Those miraculous elements have led many to question whether Jesus was born the way the Gospels say He was, however. In this episode of the Influence Podcast, I’m talking to Craig Keener about wheth...
335. How War Can Be Just
November 28, 2023 09:00 - 51 minutes - 94 MBThe October 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas, and Israel’s response to it, has raised anew questions about the morality of warfare. Throughout their long history, Christian thinkers have not had one mind about these questions, but the majority of them have adhered to the just war tradition. This tradition acknowledges that “political authorities are responsible for promoting the good and deterring evil,” as Eric Patterson puts it. That responsibility may involve waging war. In this epi...
334. The Local Church as the Seedbed of Missions
November 02, 2023 08:00 - 35 minutes - 65 MBOn October 1, Dr. John Easter began his duties as executive director of Assemblies of God World Missions (AGWM), succeeding the retiring Greg Mundis. Delegates elected Easter to the position this past August during General Council in Columbus, Ohio. In a leadership profile published in the fall 2023 issue of Influence, Easter said, “We need to increase the missionary sending capacity of the local church.” He went on to explain, “Missionaries don’t fall out of the sky. They are nurtured w...
333. What Is a Pentecostal Worldview?
October 26, 2023 08:00 - 47 minutes - 87.7 MB“To live holistically in the Spirit requires knowing that the Spirit guides us toward beauty, goodness and truth,” write Dr. Steven Félix-Jäger and Dr. Yoon Shin in their new book, Renewing Christian Worldview. “It also requires living out and desiring beauty, goodness, and truth as week to truly know them. If we don’t embody beauty, goodness, and truth as we seek to truly know them, they’ll persist as ideal abstractions, betraying our renewal spirituality,” they go on to explain. In thi...
332. Humility — A Biblical Path to Christian Character
October 19, 2023 08:00 - 40 minutes - 74.9 MB“The church’s growing irrelevance in parts of the United States as well as some other places in the world is not because Christianity has lost its brain but because it seems to have lost its heart,” writes Dr. Dennis Edwards. The solution to this problem is straightforward, he believes: “The church … needs to recover, respect, and reenact biblical humility.” In this episode of the Influence Podcast, I talk with him about humility as a biblical path back to Christian character. I’m George...
331. Reading the Psalms Christianly
October 12, 2023 08:00 - 45 minutes - 83.3 MB“Imagine a treasure hunter on a new expedition,” writes Dr. Ian Vaillancourt. “Although they are equipped with the best digging and locating equipment available, they don’t need it for this venture: as soon as they arrive at their destination, they find masses of treasure on the surface of the ground” (emphasis in original). “This is a little bit like encountering the book of Psalms for the first time: even an initial reading turns up glorious, surface-level gospel treasure for the taking,...
330. How to Learn from Your Ministry Mistakes
October 05, 2023 08:00 - 35 minutes - 64.3 MBMinistry is “packed with difficult choices that require wisdom; and often, we have to face problems we’ve never encountered before,” writes Brian Dollar. “Mistakes are inevitable — sometimes really big ones! No matter how hard we try to do things right, the question isn’t, ‘Will I make mistakes?’ but ‘How will I respond to my mistakes?’” In this episode of the Influence Podcast, I’m talking with Dollar about how to learn from your ministry mistakes. I’m George P. Wood, executive editor o...
329. How to Live at the End of Time
September 28, 2023 08:00 - 44 minutes - 81.8 MBWhen John the Baptist began his ministry, he proclaimed, “The axe is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire” (Luke 3:9). The crowd responded by asking, “What should we do then?” John’s answer? “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same” (3:10–11). We see a similar pattern in Acts 2, where Peter’s messages about “the last days” results in ...
328. How to Grieve Better
September 21, 2023 08:00 - 29 minutes - 54.4 MB“Grief is normal,” writes Natasha Smith. She goes on to describe her personal experience how difficult grief can be, however: “I walked around in a fog, hoping, praying, and wishing for the grief to go away. Pushing it down, pushing it away, and choosing to block uncomfortable memories. But I realized to pretend grief doesn’t exist won’t heal or fix it. So I learned to let it out in safe places, to safe people.” In this episode of the Influence Podcast, I talk with Smith about how Christ...
327. How to Respond to the Great Dechurching
September 07, 2023 08:00 - 43 minutes - 79.6 MB“In the United States, we are currently experiencing the largest and fastest religious shift in the history of our country, as tens of millions of formerly regular Christian worshipers nationwide have decided they no longer desire to attend church at all.” So write Jim Davis and Michael Graham in their new book, The Great Dechurching. In this episode of the Influence Podcast, I’m talking with Davis and Graham about what dechurching is, why it’s happening, and how churches can respond effec...
326. Why Theology Matters to Ministry
August 31, 2023 08:00 - 47 minutes - 87.8 MBIn a January 27, 1855, sermon, C. H. Spurgeon proclaimed, “I know nothing which can so comfort the soul; so calm the swelling billows of sorrow and grief; so speak peace to the winds of trial, as a devout musing upon the subject of the Godhead.” Spurgeon clearly believed that theology matters to life, and because he was a preacher, to ministry as well. The question is, do we? In this episode of the Influence Podcast, I’m talking with Dr. Allen Tennison about the practical importance of t...
325. Wisdom to Lead
August 24, 2023 08:00 - 34 minutes - 62.9 MB“Over the past few years, I’ve been diving deeply into the Book of Proverbs — especially the first nine chapters,” writes Dr. Greg Mundis. “Here’s what I’ve concluded from Proverbs: Wise words have no effect if they are not received by willing hearts.” That’s a valuable life lesson for everyone, but especially for leaders. So, in this episode of the Influence Podcast, I’m talking to Dr. Mundis about what wisdom the Book of Proverbs shines on the task of leadership. I’m George P. Wood, ex...
324. How Is the Assemblies of God Doing?
August 17, 2023 08:00 - 34 minutes - 62.4 MBThe Assemblies of God held its 60th General Council two weeks ago in Columbus, Ohio. Dr. Michael Clarensau presented a report to the General Presbytery about statistical trends among AG churches and ministers. “2022 data demonstrated a strong step forward in many important measures, suggesting that recovery from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is clearly underway,” he wrote. “Consider the following: Main worship attendance increased 10% over 2021, the largest single-year increase of ...
323. In Defense of Free Speech
August 10, 2023 08:00 - 39 minutes - 72.5 MBThis past June, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its decision in 303 Creative v. Elenis. That case involved a website designer named Lorie Smith who believed that a provision of the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act violated her rights under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Specifically, Smith believed that CADA compelled her to create speech contrary to her personal convictions. The Supreme Court found in Smith’s favor, ruling: “The First Amendment prohibits Colorado from fo...
322. Five Prayer Altars Every Church Needs
August 03, 2023 08:00 - 42 minutes - 77.9 MB“By prayer, God invites us to participate in the outcomes of our world,” writes Rick DuBose. “That is a profound and humbling truth. You need to recognize the responsibility of the authority God has given you.” He goes on to say, “The future of all you are responsible for is determined at the altar. It is determined by your willingness to go there and pray.” In this episode of the Influence Podcast, I’m talking with DuBose about five altars Christians must build if they and their churche...
321. Normalize Men and Women Working Together!
July 21, 2023 08:00 - 43 minutes - 79.8 MB“Whether or not women are on an equal plane with men in work and ministry does not seem like it should be a subject of debate,” writes Dr. JoAnn Butrin. “Many Christian organizations … would say they welcome female leadership and make opportunities for them.” Even so, many women leaders experience a gap between what is theologically affirmed and what is actually practiced. “The best chance of seeing this hurt and needy world won for Jesus is when men and women join forces,” Butrin argues. ...
320. Embracing Hope in Times of Despair
July 13, 2023 08:00 - 40 minutes - 74 MBOn Monday, March 16, 2020, EMTs rushed Greg Mundis to the hospital. He had a high fever, was very weak, and worryingly, his oxygen level was 60. (Normal is 90 or higher.) At the hospital, doctors immediately intubated him and put him on a ventilator, beginning a 60-day battle with COVID. He was the first patient to be ventilated at a local hospital in Springfield, Missouri. In this episode of the Influence Podcast, I’m talking with Greg’s wife Sandra about what it’s like to go through an...
319. The Spiritual Discipline of Deconstruction
July 07, 2023 20:00 - 31 minutes - 58.4 MB“The Incarnation declares that God loves us, isn’t scared of us, and wants us to be unafraid of him. So how do we declare these truths to the masters of suspicion in our age? The deconstructing, disoriented, disengaged skeptic,” writes Preston Ulmer. He goes to say, surprisingly, “We become like him, minus the skepticism.” In this episode of the Influence Podcast, I’m talking with Preston Ulmer about the spiritual discipline of deconstruction, based on his new book, Deconstruct Faith, Di...
318. Declaring the Wonders of God
June 08, 2023 08:00 - 1 hour - 113 MB“The tongues of Pentecost declare the wonders of God,” writes Dr. Frank Macchia. “Theology as speech about God speaks about such mysteries and their roots in the divine self-giving to us in Christ and the Spirit.” In this episode of the Influence Podcast, I’m talking to Dr. Macchia about key themes in his new systematic theology, Tongues of Fire. I’m George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host. Frank Macchia is professor of systematic theology at Vanguard Univers...
317. Christian Spirituality as a Lifestyle
June 01, 2023 08:00 - 42 minutes - 77.4 MB“It is possible for a Christian spirituality to be theistic — to have room for God in it — but only in a philosophical, conceptual sense,” writes Dr. Gary Tyra. In Introduction to Spirituality, he makes the case for an alternative approach: “a fully trinitarian understanding of God that is not only theistic but also theologically real.” According to a theologically real spirituality, “it is possible for God’s human image-bearers … to really know and experience their Creator in some real, p...
316. To Seek and to Save the Lost
May 25, 2023 08:00 - 32 minutes - 59.1 MBThose of us who grew up in church are familiar with the children’s song about Zacchaeus. “Zacchaeus was a wee little man, and a wee little man was he.” What we often forget is that Zacchaeus’ encounter with the Lord ended with Jesus clearly stating his mission on earth: “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). Founded in 2022, Seek and Save is an Assemblies of God ministry that organizes “collaborative outreach events to bring hope to communities in America.” It...
315. How Women Ministered in the Early Church
May 18, 2023 08:00 - 56 minutes - 103 MBA well-known evangelical pastor recently announced that he will not speak at conferences that include women speakers. “There’s a line at which you can’t cross because someone is blatantly disobedient to Scripture,” he said. “ A conference that platforms men and women is “a total violation of Scripture,” he explained. But does Scripture actually prohibit women speaking to conferences or leading Christian ministries? Dr. Nijay Gupta doesn’t think so. In Tell Her Story, published in March b...
314. A Missionary Looks Back
May 11, 2023 08:00 - 51 minutes - 93.7 MBFor the past 12 years, Dr. Greg Mundis has served as executive director of Assemblies of God World Missions. AGWM is the missions arm of the U.S. Assemblies of God and fields 2,640 missionaries serving 252 countries, territories and provinces. Mundis has announced his retirement, effective September 30, 2023. In a statement announcing his retirement, Mundis and his wife Sandie wrote this to AGWM personnel: “Our hearts are filled with gratitude as we reflect on your faithfulness and prayers...
313. Restoring Peace Through Words
May 04, 2023 08:00 - 35 minutes - 64.3 MB“Words create worlds,” writes Mark Batterson in Please, Sorry, Thanks. If so, what kinds of worlds are we creating? Do our words give life or deal death (Proverbs 18:21)? Batterson is pastor of National Community Church in Washington DC. More than any other city in America, our capital is a place where people eat the fruit of their words, turning the nation’s stomach sour. And what happens in DC doesn’t stay in DC. It radiates out to every nook and cranny of America. Our public discourse i...
312. How to Relaunch Your Church
April 27, 2023 08:00 - 37 minutes - 68.4 MBThe Assemblies of God is comprised of 12,830 congregations in the United States. Between 2013 and 2022, the AG chartered 2,985 churches. During that same time, though, it closed 2,958 churches. In other words, just to remain the same size, the AG had to plant nearly one-quarter of its churches over the last ten years. That’s certainly a statistical argument for church planting. But what if we had been able to strengthen the other churches so that they didn’t have to close? In this episod...
311. Critiquing the New Apostolic Reformation
April 13, 2023 08:00 - 59 minutes - 109 MBIn Episode 310 of the Influence Podcast, I talked with Dr. Allen Tennison about the New Apostolic Reformation. We focused on describing the four distinctive theological doctrines and practices of that movement. In this episode, we are going to take a more critical look at those doctrines and practices. The central claim of the New Apostolic Reformation is that the contemporary church needs to be led by apostles and prophets. Other doctrines and practices are associated with the movement...
310. Describing the New Apostolic Reformation
April 06, 2023 08:00 - 42 minutes - 77.7 MBMust the contemporary church be led by apostles and prophets? Advocates of the so-called New Apostolic Reformation answer that question with a hearty yes. Others, including classical Pentecostals, aren’t so sure. The idea that churches must be led by apostles and prophets isn’t the only controversial teaching associated with the New Apostolic Reformation. Others include strategic-level spiritual warfare, ordinary believers as a miracle-workers, and Christian dominion in society. In thi...
309. What Pastors Can Learn from Journalists
March 30, 2023 08:00 - 28 minutes - 52.6 MBPhilip Graham, the Washington Post’s legendary publisher, once said, “Journalism is the first rough draft of history.” If that’s the case, then with approximately 2,000 stories to his credit, John Kennedy has been writing the first draft of Assemblies of God history for nearly a quarter of a century. In this episode of the Influence Podcast, I talk with him about what led him into journalism, his favorite stories, and what pastors can learn from journalists about more effective communicati...
308. Overcoming Solo-Pastor Challenges
March 02, 2023 09:00 - 36 minutes - 66.4 MB“The average pastor’s job is harder than average,” Lyle Schaller once quipped. That’s especially true of the majority of American pastors who lead their churches alone. They face a variety of unique challenges that make their jobs especially difficult. How to lead church effectively when you’re the only staff member is the subject of Dr. Gary McIntosh’s new book, The Solo Pastor. In this episode of the Influence Podcast, I talk to him about how to overcome the unique challenges of pastorin...
307. The State of Global Christianity
February 16, 2023 09:00 - 35 minutes - 65.8 MBChristianity is the world’s largest religion. In 1900, approximately 558 million people around the globe identified as Christian. By 2020, that number had grown to approximately 2.5 billion. Despite that numerical growth, Christianity shrank as a percentage of the world’s population, from 34% in 1900 to 32% in 2020. Atheism and agnosticism grew from 0.2% to 12% of the global population during the same time period, and Islam doubled from 12% to 24%. Demographers estimate that by 2050, Chris...
306. Following Jesus in All of Life
January 19, 2023 09:00 - 41 minutes - 75.9 MBThe words of the Great Commission are well known: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Christians often interpret the Great Commission as their mandate for evangelism. According to Jesus, though, it’s about holistic discipleship. What does it mean to follow Jesus in every dimension of life? That’s the question I ask Charlie Self, Johan Mos...
305. Books for Busy Pastors
January 12, 2023 09:00 - 30 minutes - 56.4 MBOn average, American adults read 12.6 books a year, according to a January 2022 Gallup survey. That’s about a book a month. Reliable data on pastor-readers is harder to come by, but a 2013 Barna study found that pastors bought 3.8 books a month. If pastors read what they buy, they read about a book a week. In this episode of the Influence Podcast, I’m talking with pastor-reader Heather Weber about why pastors should read, as well as how often and what they should read. I’m George P. Wood,...
304. The State of the Fellowship 2023
January 05, 2023 09:00 - 22 minutes - 41 MBOn behalf of the staff of Influence magazine, I’d like to wish all our readers — especially those who listen to the Influence Podcast — a very happy new year! In this episode of the podcast, the first of many to come in 2023, I talk to Doug Clay about the state of the Assemblies of God. What is going well in our Fellowship? What is challenging? And what is forthcoming? We’ll talk about those questions and more. I’m George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host. Dou...
303. How and Why to Pray in 2023
December 21, 2022 15:42 - 38 minutes - 70 MBPrayer is a hallmark of Pentecostal spirituality, both in the New Testament and today. Acts 2:42 says of the first generation of believers, “They devoted themselves … to prayer.” According to the Assemblies of God Constitution, “the priority reason for being of the Assemblies of God is to be … a corporate body in which man may worship God.” In this episode of the Influence Podcast, I talk to Rick DuBose about why and how believers should pray in 2023, as well about prayer initiatives that ...
302. Debunking Christmas Myths
December 15, 2022 09:00 - 42 minutes - 77.4 MBWhen the Christmas season begins, you can always count on at least one major media company to publish a story debunking the myths of Christmas. The effect, if not the intent, of such stories is to question the historical value of the New Testament. From a Christian perspective, that’s not a good thing. But the reality is that there are Christmas myths that need to be debunked. Some of those are popular myths that conflate details of birth stories in the Gospels. Other popular myths are bas...
301. Mental Health Ministry in the Local Church
November 18, 2022 09:00 - 43 minutes - 79.4 MB“There have always been people with mental and relational health problems in the church,” writes Dr. Jared Pingleton. “Unfortunately, we just haven’t done a very good job helping pastors to know how to recognize and minister effectively to these pronounced and realistic needs.” How can churches improve their ministries in this critical area? And why should they? Those are the questions I ask Dr. Pingleton in this episode of the Influence Podcast. I’m George P. Wood, executive editor of I...
300. A Better Way to Do Pastoral Succession
November 10, 2022 11:00 - 32 minutes - 59.1 MB“Many transition specialists, denominational leaders, and local churches are starting to question whether the traditional method of pastoral selection is effective,” writes Gene Roncone in Mentored Succession. “The model of bringing in outsiders with no understanding of the church culture, community, and congregation seems to be creating a continual cycle of short-term pastorates.” Is there a better way for churches to plan for pastoral succession? That’s the question I ask Gene Roncone ...