In contemporary culture, people who identify as LGBT have a clear narrative. Their lives became better after they “came out” as lesbian, gay, or transgender. Society should celebrate with them. Individuals who don’t are “homophobic” and “transphobic.”
ReStory Ministries believes that the coming-out narrative is not the only story. They believe people find true life when they give their hearts to Jesus Christ and live out sexuality according to biblical norms.
In this episode of the Influence Podcast, I’m talking to Linda Seiler and Joe Dallas about this second story. I’m George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host.
Linda Seiler, Ph.D., is executive director of ReStory Ministries, which helps Assemblies of God churches more effectively minister to LGBT persons and their families. Joe Dallas is a board member of ReStory, a Christian counselor, and author of numerous books on LGBT topics.
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This episode of the Influence Podcast is brought to you the ReStoried 2022 Conference. This year’s theme is “Beyond LGBT — Stories of Redemption, Tools of Ministry.”
ReStoried 2022 is a one-day conference about effective ministry to LGBT people. It meets on Saturday, September 24, at Central Assembly in Springfield, Missouri.
Visit ReStoryministries.org/ReStoried22 for more information and to register.
Phillips Brooks, the nineteenth-century minister who wrote “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” defined preaching as “the communication of Truth through Personality.”
Truth is “the most authoritative statement of God’s will,” he said. Personality refers to a preacher’s “character, his affections, his whole intellectual and moral being.” (As Pentecostals, we would add “or her” to Brooks’ statement.)
Absent genuine character, a preacher is merely a “printing machine” or a “trumpet,” not “a real messenger of God.”
In this episode of the Influence Podcast, I’m talking to Bob Eby about the relationship of preaching to the character or virtues of the preacher. I’m George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host.
Bob Eby is director of the Cordas C. Burnett Preaching Center and associate professor of Biblical Exposition and Preaching at Assemblies of God Theological Seminary in Springfield, Missouri. He is author of Virtue Hermeneutics: New Horizons in Textual Understanding, published by Pickwick Publications.
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This episode of the Influence Podcast is brought to you by My Healthy Church, distributors of Bible Engagement Project.
Bible Engagement Project gives churches access to a library of kids curriculum and small group resources all in one subscription.
Visit BibleEngagementProject.com to download sample lessons.
When it comes to planting and revitalizing churches, rural America is a forgotten field. It faces a variety of demographic and economic challenges, and the rural pastorate often means bivocational ministry in small congregations. In consequence, rural ministry is not an option for many would-be pastors.
Gerad Strong thinks it should be. I’ll be talking to him about effective ministry in small rural churches in this episode of the Influence Podcast. I’m George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host.
Gerad Strong served as lead pastor of Bethel Church in Rapid City, South Dakota, before becoming director of Discovery and Development for the Church Multiplication Network in Springfield, Missouri. He pioneered Bethel’s use of multisite models to serve rural churches in his region, and is author of The Forgotten Field: Using Multisite Models to Reach and Revive Rural Communities with the Gospel, published by Baxter Press.
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This episode of the Influence Podcast is brought to you by My Healthy Church, distributors of Bible Engagement Project.
Bible Engagement Project gives churches access to a library of kids curriculum and small group resources all in one subscription.
Visit BibleEngagementProject.com to download sample lessons.