According to Pew Research Center, the percentage of Americans who say homosexuality should be approved by society grew from 46% in 1994 to 70% in 2017. Over the same period, the share who say it should be discouraged declined from 49% to 24%. Public attitudes toward same-sex marriage have followed a similar trajectory. Pew reports that in 2004, 60% of Americans opposed same-sex marriage, while 31% favored it. By 2019, those numbers had reversed, with 61% favoring it and 31% opposing it.
These data points create tensions for Christians who want to uphold the biblical view of sexual morality: fidelity within marriage, defined as the lifelong union of a man and a woman, and chastity outside of it. In this episode of the Influence Podcast, I’m talking with Joe Dallas about the most poignant tension: what to do when someone you love is gay.
I’m George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host. Joe Dallas is a Christian counselor and author of numerous books about a Christian view of sexuality, including When Homosexuality Hits Home: What to Do When a Loved One Says, “I’m Gay.” He serves on the Board of Directors for ReStory Ministries, whose mission is “resourcing local [Assemblies of God] churches to address homosexuality and gender identity.”
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This episode of the Influence Podcast is brought to you by My Healthy Church, distributors of Tru Fire Curriculum:
Children’s leaders often feel worn down by curriculum that doesn’t give them what they need to be effective. Tru Fire provides leaders with engaging lessons and empowers them to connect kids to the Holy Spirit so that they can feel confident their kids are developing lifetime faith through experiences with God they’ll never forget.
“Life is complicated, and it’s easy to lose clarity in the face of daily, pressing needs,” writes Dr. Brandon Crowe. “To cut through the complexity and begin to make progress, you need a plan of attack.” In Every Day Matters, Dr. Crowe offers sound advice for how to “think biblically about how to get things done,” as well as how to maximize “your time and energy toward the most important things in everyday life.”
In this episode of the Influence Podcast, I’m talking to Dr. Crowe about this biblical approach to productivity. I’m George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host.
Dr. Brandon Crowe is associate professor of New Testament at Westminster Theological Seminary, book review editor for the Westminster Theological Journal, and author of Every Day Matters: A Biblical Approach to Productivity, one of three leadership book recommendations in the March/April 2020 issue of Influence magazine.
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This episode of the Influence Podcast is brought to you by My Healthy Church, the distributors of Trustworthy, a Bible study on the life and character of Daniel.
As someone who walks the same path you do, author Kay Burnett shows how lessons from Daniel’s life connect to the struggles you face daily. Embark on this 7-week study and answer God’s call to be faithful and trustworthy, becoming the woman of integrity God designed you to be. Trustworthy is also available in Spanish.
For more information, visit TrustworthyBook.com.
John Mark Comer lived many pastors’ dream. He led a growing congregation (adding 1,000 adherents annually for seven years running) in the Pacific Northwest (one of the nation’s most secular regions). You’d think he’d be happy, but he wasn’t. He was burnt out, enduring most pastors’ nightmare.
Busyness, which according to Comer is “where your life is full with things that matter,” wasn’t the problem. The problem was hurriedness, “when you have too much to do and the only way to keep the quota up is to hurry.” Jesus was busy, but He never hurried. Hurry is of the devil.
In this episode of the Influence Podcast, I’m talking to John Mark Comer about how to ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life and ministry. I’m George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host.
John Mark Comer is pastor for teaching and vision at Bridgetown Church in Portland, Oregon, whose mission is to practice the way of Jesus, together, in Portland. He is also author of The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, published by Waterbrook.
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This episode of the Influence Podcast is brought to you by My Healthy Church, distributors of Leveling the Praying Field:
Ever felt like prayer's just not your “thing”? This book is for you. Donna Barrett shows you how easy it is to shift your prayer perspective so you can stop feeling uneasy about talking to God and start having conversations you enjoy. Leveling the Praying Field is also available in Spanish.
For more information, or to purchase your copy of the book, visit LevelingthePrayingField.com.
When I went off to college, my mom concluded every letter she sent me by quoting Proverbs 3:5–6:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.
Those verses capture the essence of the Book of Proverbs. They teach us about God, our relationship to Him, and how we ought to live in a pithy, memorable way. Indeed, the whole book is filled with gems like this one. That probably explains why Proverbs is so popular with Christians.
And yet, anyone who has preached or taught from the book of Proverbs knows that it’s harder than it looks. This is especially true if you’re trying to organize an expository series on the book. In this episode of the Influence Podcast, I’m talking to Dr. Meghan Musy about how to read Proverbs for preaching. We’ll talk about both how to interpret individual proverbs as well as how to organize a sermon or series on the book.
I’m George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence Magazine and your host. Dr. Meghan Musy is an ordained Assemblies of God minister, director of Competency-Based Theological Education, and assistant professor of Old Testament at Evangel University in Springfield, Missouri.
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This episode of the Influence Podcast is brought to you by My Healthy Church, distributors of Leaving a Spiritual Legacy, part of the Momentum Training Series.
Discover how to model and mentor God’s message throughout all your teaching. With this resource, you can be assured your influence not only shows your students how to be caring, compassionate people, but also advances God’s kingdom.
For more information visit MomentumTrainingSeries.com.
“Church boards exist in all shapes and sizes, and they vary across theologies and tradition. But what if you compared those boards that view themselves as ‘effective’ against those who do not? What would you learn?”
That’s the question asked in Unleashing Your Church Board’s Potential, a new study by the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA). It’s also the question I’m asking Dan Busby and Warren Bird in Episode 209 of the Influence Podcast. I’m George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host.
Dan Busby and Warren Bird serve with ECFA, whose mission is “Enhancing trust in Christ-centered nonprofits.” Busby is president of ECFA, and Bird is vice president of Research and Equipping. Both are published authors. Most recently, Busby coauthored More Lessons from the Nonprofit Boardroom with John Pearson, and Bird coauthored Liquid Churchwith Tim Lucas.
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This episode of the Influence Podcast is brought to you by My Healthy Church, distributors of MEGA Sports Camp, a unique VBS that makes it easy to reach new families.
Children’s ministry leaders often feel frustrated and disappointed that their summer outreach program doesn’t bring in new kids. MEGA Sports Camp gives leaders a fun, unique summer outreach program so that they can welcome new families, engage new volunteers, and impact the community.
To find out more, visit MegaSportsCamp.com.
“Throughout my life,” writes Pastor Tommy Barnett in his new memoir, “God has continually prodded and prompted me to ask, ‘What if?’” He goes on to say, “Through all these years, ‘What if?’ has been quickly followed by ‘Why not?’ and then ‘Wow! God is doing amazing things.’”
In this episode of the Influence Podcast, I’m talking to Pastor Barnett about this what-if-why-not-wow dynamic of spiritual leadership. I’m George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host.
Tommy Barnett is the Global Pastor of Dream City Church in Phoenix, Arizona, founder of the LA Dream Center, and chancellor of Southeastern University in Lakeland, Florida. He is author, most recently, of What If? My Story of Believing God for More…Always More, published by ARC Resources. It goes on sale Tuesday, February 4, 2020.
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This episode of the Influence Podcast is brought to you by My Healthy Church, distributors of Tru Fire Curriculum:
Children’s leaders often feel worn down by curriculum that doesn’t give them what they need to be effective. Tru Fireprovides leaders with engaging lessons and empowers them to connect kids to the Holy Spirit so that they can feel confident their kids are developing lifetime faith through experiences with God they’ll never forget.
To download free sample lessons, visit TruFireCurriculum.com.
Welcome to the Influence Podcast, a collection of inspiring and challenging conversations, aimed at empowering the entire spectrum of church leadership, from lead pastor to lead volunteer
In Episode 207, I’m talking to Doug Clay about the good things God is doing in the Assemblies of God. I’m George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host. Doug Clay is general superintendent of the Assemblies of God. He will share his unique perspective on our Fellowship after a brief word from our sponsor.
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This episode of the Influence Podcast is brought to you by My Healthy Church, distributors of Including Children with Disabilities, part of the Momentum Training Series.
Whether you already have children in your church with disabilities or just want to be prepared for all students, this resource will show you how to share the love of Jesus with everyone who enters your class. Including Children with Disabilities is also available in Spanish.
For more information visit MomentumTrainingSeries.com.
According to the National Sexual Violence Research Center, “One in five women and one in 71 men will be raped at some point in their lives.” The center also reports that “one in three women and one in six men [will experience] some form of contact sexual violence in their lifetime.” These statistics show that sexual violence affects millions of women and men.
But when was the last time you heard a sermon or Sunday school lesson about sexual violence? If churches aren’t aware of or talking about the problem of sexual violence, how can we effectively minister to those who have experienced it?
That’s the question I’m talking to Amy Farley about in Episode 206 of the Influence Podcast. I’m George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host. Amy Farley is an ordained Assemblies of God minister; senior pastor of an international church in Southeast Asia; and a survivor of sexual violence.
She’ll bring her unique perspective to bear on this topic in today's podcast.
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This episode of the Influence Podcast is brought to you by My Healthy Church, distributors of Sticky Lessons, part of the Momentum Training Series.
Get the tips you need to teach lessons that stick in kids’ memories, are thought about over and over again in quiet moments, and get discussed at kitchen tables.
For more information visit MomentumTrainingSeries.com.
Preaching and teaching God’s Word is an essential skill in pastoral ministry, whether you’re a senior pastor, youth pastor, children’s pastor, or the like. As with any skill, your preaching can improve with intentional practice. In Episode 205 of the Influence Podcast, the second podcast of the New Year, I’m talking with Matthew Kim about how to improve your preaching in 2020.
I’m George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host.
My guest is associate professor of preaching and ministry at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in South Hamilton, Massachusetts, as well as director of its Haddon W. Robinson Center for Preaching. He is author of A Little Book for New Preachers (IVP Academic) and Preaching with Cultural Intelligence (Baker Academic), among other books.
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This episode of the Influence Podcast is brought to you by My Healthy Church, distributors of Balanced Budget, Balanced Life:
People don’t plan on having money troubles, which is exactly the problem: they don’t plan! Rollie Dimos shows you how to make a biblically sound financial plan and stick to it. Get back the time and resources you need to stop stressing out about money, and start enjoying the balance of a truly abundant life.
For more information visit BalancedBudgetBalancedLife.com.
“At Oaks Church we don’t open the agenda with prayer,” writes Scott Wilson, “we set the agenda with prayer.” He goes on: “We don’t want to just acknowledge God when we meet, we want to hear Him speak and lead us.”
In Episode 204 of the Influence Podcast—the first episode of 2020—I’m talking with Scott Wilson about how prayer can set the agenda for your church. I’m George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host.
Scott Wilson is pastor of Oaks Church in Red Oak, Texas, and author of several books. His most recent is P3: Praying…in the Spirit, with Understanding, and in Agreement, which can be downloaded free at P3Book.org.
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This episode of the Influence Podcast is brought to you by My Healthy Church, distributors of MEGA Sports Camp, a unique VBS that makes it easy to reach new families.
Children’s ministry leaders often feel frustrated and disappointed that their summer outreach programs don’t bring in new kids. MEGA Sports Camp gives leaders a fun, unique summer outreach program so that they can welcome new families, engage new volunteers, and impact the community.
To find out more, visit MegaSportsCamp.com.