What should Christians believe about Islam? And how should Christians treat their Muslim neighbors? Contemporary events both abroad and in the U.S. require thoughtful Christians to answer these questions.
In Episode 174 of the Influence Podcast, George P. Wood, Influencemagazine’s executive editor, interviews Mark Brink, Mark Hausfeld, and Mark Refroe about Islam and Christian mission. All three are veteran Assemblies of God missionaries to Muslim-majority nations.
Mark Brink is international director of Global Initiative, a ministry of Assemblies of God World Missionswhose mission statement is “To equip the global church to reach Muslims because every Muslim must know the truth about Jesus.” Mark Hausfeld is professor of Urban and Islamic Studiesat the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary. And Mark Renfroe is director of Reaching Africa’s Muslims, an AGWM initiative to plant the Church among Africa’s 806 Muslim unreached people groups.
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Jesus Christ is the greatest news the world has ever heard, and the internet and social media give contemporary Christians effective means to share it. Unfortunately, a lot of Christians are blowing their chance, as even a quick glance at Christians online shows. How can we better use these communication tools for greater gospel influence?
In Episode 172 of the Influence Podcast, Influence magazine Executive Editor George P. Wood talks with Matt Brown about the biblical formula for influence, whether you’re online or off. Matt is founder of the evangelistic ministry Think Eternity, and author of Truth Plus Love: The Jesus Way to Influence, forthcoming from Zondervan. He lives with his wife Michelle and their two boys near Minnesota’s Twin Cities.
According to the International Labour Organizationof the United Nations, over 40 million people around the world are victims of modern slavery. Nearly 5 million are victims of forced sexual exploitation. This exploitation disproportionally affects women and girls, who constitute 99 percent of victims in the commercial sex industry.
How should Pentecostals respond to this particular evil? More generally, how should they speak out prophetically against social injustice? That’s the question Influencemagazine’s executive editor, George P. Wood, explores with Dr. Beth Grant in Episode 171 of the Influence Podcast.
Dr. Grant is coufounder, with her husband David, of Project Rescue, whose mission is “to rescue and restore victims of sexual slavery through the love and power of Jesus Christ.” It ministers to approximately 40,000 victims of sexual trafficking in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Moldova, Tajikistan, Spain, and France. The ministry operates aftercare homes, vocational training, afterschool programs, night care shelters, HIV/Aids and medical clinics, red light district churches and Sunday schools, and awareness and prevention programs for affected women and children.
The Book of Psalms is the prayer book of the Church. It shows Christians all the ways to pray through all the seasons of life, the good and the bad, the high and the low. No wonder the New Testament quotes it more than any other Old Testament book!
In this episode of the Influence Podcast, Dr. George O. Wood explains how to read the Book of Psalms for preaching and pastoral ministry. Dr. Wood is chairman of the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, former general superintendent of the Assemblies of God (USA), and author of A Psalm in Your Heart.
“Almost Half of Practicing Christian Millennials Say Evangelism Is Wrong,” reads the headline of a story about a new report from Barna Group. Titled Reviving Evangelism, that report details the erosion of support for evangelism among next-generation Christians. In Episode 169 of the Influence Podcast, David Kinnaman shares the findings of that report with George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine.
Kinnaman is president of Barna Group, a leading research and communications company that works with churches, nonprofits, and businesses ranging from film studios to financial services. He is also the author of several bestselling books, including Good Faith,You Lost Me, and unChristian. He and his wife live in California with their three children.
Racism has been described as America’s original sin. While great strides have been made in the journey toward equality between blacks and whites, there still is much work to do.
In Episode 168 of the Influence Podcast, George P. Wood talks to Jemar Tisby about the history of racism in American Christianity, as well as what steps need to be taken for authentic racial reconciliation to occur.
Wood is executive editor of Influence magazine and the host of the Influence Podcast.
Tisby is author of The Color of Compromise: The Truth about the American's Church's Complicit in Racism (Zondervan, 2019). He is president of The Witness: A Black Christian Collective, where he writes about race, religion, politics, and culture. He is also cohost of the Pass the Mic podcast. Tisby is a Ph.D. candidate in history from the University of Mississippi.
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,” writes the apostle Paul in 2 Timothy 3:16.
While all Christians agree that Scripture is useful, we don’t often understand how to use it. In today’s podcast, Influence magazine’s executive editor, George P. Wood, begins a series of occasional podcasts designed to help pastors improve how they read Scripture so that they can preach Scripture better.
Joining Wood in this conversation is Rick Wadholm Jr. Wadholm is associate professor of biblical and theological studies at Trinity Bible College and Graduate School in Ellendale, North Dakota. He received his Ph.D. from Bangor University in Wales, and is author of the recently published book, A Theology of the Spirit in the Former Prophets.
“If you want to make a difference,” writes Rod Loy, “if you want to fulfill God’s calling for your life, if you want to be a leader, you have to be willing to pay the price. This is the difference between changing the world and living your life without impact.”
In Episode 165 of the Influence Podcast, Influence magazine’s executive editor, George P. Wood, talks to Rod Loy about this and other leadership insights from his new book, Help! I’m in Charge.
Rod Loy is senior pastor of First Assembly of God in North Little Rock, Arkansas, and executive presbyter for the General Council of the Assemblies of God. In addition to Help! I’m in Charge, he’s the author of Immediate Obedience, 3 Questions, and After the Honeymoon, all of which are available in both English and Spanish.
The Americans with Disability Act defines a disability as “a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activity.” How many Americans suffer from a disability? Estimates range from 13 percentof the U.S. populace to 20 percent. That’s between 40 and 60 million persons.
In Episode 165 of the Influence Podcast, Influencemagazine’s executive editor, George P. Wood, talks to Charlie Chivers about how to make your church disability friendly.
Chivers is founder and CEO of Special Touch Ministry, a non-profit faith-based organization, committed to serving people with intellectual or physical disabilities, their families and caregivers. Special Touch is interdenominational in scope, but Chivers is an ordained Assemblies of God minister and a missionary with AG U.S. Missions.
“What your marriage will become is determined by how you pray,” write Joel and Nina Schmidgall in their new book, Praying Circles Around Your Marriage. “Prayers for your marriage will allow you to claim God-given promises, fulfill God-given dreams for your family, and seize a God-ordained legacy for generations.”
In Episode 164 of the Influence Podcast, Influence magazine executive editor George P. Wood talks to the Schmidgalls about their book, which offers great advice about prayer, marriage, and family life.
Joel and Nina Schmidgall are on staff at National Community Church in Washington, DC. Joel serves as executive pastor as well as president of the DC Dream Center, a community center committed to inspiring and equipping youth and adults to reach their God-given potential. Nina serves as director of family ministry. The Schmidgalls live on Capitol Hill with their three kids.
Every New Year, millions of Americans take time to write resolutions about who they would like to become or what they would like to do in the next 365 days. Researchers at the University of Scranton suggest that only 8 percentof people keep their resolutions. According to U.S. News & World Report, 80 percentof those resolutions fail by the second week of February.
What if we’re chasing the wrong thing? What if we need new habits, not New Year’s resolutions?
That’s the question raised by Justin Whitmel Earley’s new book, The Common Rule: Habits of Purpose for an Age of Distraction, which InterVarsity Press will publish on February 5th. According to him, “We are all living according to a specific regimen of habits, and those habits shape most of our life.” He goes on to propose eight purposeful habits Christians should develop to lead spiritually focused lives.
In Episode 163 of the Influence Podcast, Influence magazine executive editor George P. Wood, talks to Justin about his new book, those eight habits, and what to do when we fail.
Justin Whitmel Earley is the creator of The Common Rule, a program of habits designed to form us in the love of God and neighbor. If his name sounds familiar, that’s because he wrote “Habits of the Tech-Wise Heart,”the cover story of the November-December 2018 issue of Influence. He is also a mergers and acquisitions lawyer in Richmond, Virginia, who previously spent several years in China as a missionary. He and his wife, Lauren, have four sons and live in Richmond, Virginia.
For most people, the Christmas holiday is a wonderful time of the year. Families come together to celebrate Christ’s birth and exchange gifts. Churches welcome one and all to worship Christ, the real Reason for the season. The words “Merry Christmas!” and “Happy Holidays!” seem to be on everyone’s lips.
Not everyone is having a good time, though. It’s a myth that suicides increase at Christmastime. But it’s a very real fact that some people are sad and lonely during this season. As Christian leaders, how do we help the hurting during the holidays?
That’s the question I’m talking about with Dr. Don Lichi in Episode 162 of the Influence Podcast. Dr. Lichi is a licensed psychologist and interim president of Emerge Counseling Services in Akron, Ohio.
Andy Williams sang that Christmas is “the most wonderful time of the year.” He was right, though for the wrong reasons. Now, don’t get me wrong! “Parties for hosting, marshmallows for toasting, and caroling out in the snow” are great and everything, but they’re not what Christmas is ultimately about.
In Episode 161 of the Influence Podcast, I talk to Dr. Joseph Castleberry about the real reason why Christmas is such a wonderful time of the year. We also debunk a few myths people believe about Christmas.
Dr. Castleberry is president of Northwest University in Kirkland, Washington, an ordained Assemblies of God minister, and a former missionary to Central America. More germane to this podcast, he’s author of 40 Days of Christmas, published by Broadstreet.
When a problem hits a church, who’s responsible for fixing it?
That’s the question Influencemagazine’s executive editor George P. Wood discusses with Rob Ketterling in Episode 160 of the Influence Podcast.
Ketterling is the founder and lead pastor of River Valley Church, a multisite congregation that currently serves more than 10,000 people weekly in greater metropolitan Minneapolis, Minnesota. He’s also author of the just-released book, Fix It!, which talks about three categories of ownership for problem-solving.
America is angry. Turn on TV news, tune into talk radio, check your timeline on social media, and chances are good you’ll see someone angry—outraged!—about something. Some commentators even worry that our nation is on the verge of a civil war.
It would be nice to say that Christians in America are tamping down the fires of outrage, but unfortunately, that’s not always true. Instead, some Christians are fanning the flames. They’re kicking outrage up to 11.
One Christian leader who’s trying to turn the outrage down is Ed Stetzer. He thinks outrage is unbiblical and anti-Great Commission. In his new book, Christians in the Age of Outrage, he explains why Americans are mad, why that’s bad, and what Christians should do about it.
Stetzer is Billy Graham Distinguished Professor of Church, Mission, and Evangelism at Wheaton College; dean of its School of Mission, Ministry, and Leadership; and executive director of the Billy Graham Center. He talks about his new book with Influencemagazine executive editor George P. Wood in Episode 159 of the Influence Podcast.
According to an October 8, 2018, Pew Research Center report, 62 percent of Americans believe that marijuana use should be legal. That represents a doubling of public support for pot legalization since 2000, and a quintupling since 1969.
Although the federal government still classifies marijuana as a prohibited drug, nine states and the District of Columbia permit its use. On Election Day 2018, several other states will consider referenda to legalize recreational and/or medical marijuana usage.
How should Christians think about these things?
That’s the question Influence magazine executive editor George P. Wood explores with Phil Steiger and Chad Graham in Episode 158 of the Influence Podcast.
Steiger and Graham are ordained Assemblies of God ministers and pastors of Living Hope Church and University Assembly, respectively. Both churches are located in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Colorado was the first state in the Union to legalize recreational pot.
To hear more of their thoughts about a Christian view of marijuana use and legalization, check out their Thinker Sensitive Podcast series.
It’s been said that teamwork makes the dream work. That’s true for any organization, but it’s especially true for churches. After all, the business of Church isrelationship—with God and with others.
Unfortunately, many churches experience relational dysfunction in the leadership team, the congregation as a whole, or both. They also often fail to realize the vision for the Church laid out by Christ in the Great Commission. In High Impact Teams, Lance Witt explains why churches don’t have to choose between relationships and results. He then shows how to bring those two things together for greater effectiveness in ministry.
Witt is founder of Replenish, a ministry with two goals: (1) to help individuals live and lead from a healthy soul and (2) to teams and organizations become healthy and high-performing. Before launching Replenish, he served twenty years as a senior pastor and six years as an executive and teaching pastor for Rick Warren at Saddleback Church.
He’s the guest on Episode 157 of the Influence Podcast, which is hosted by George P. Wood, executive editor of Influencemagazine.
Psalm 23 is one of the best recognized and most loved passages of Scripture. For three millennia, its words have comforted believers in good times and bad.
In his new book, Grace in the Valley, Heath Adamson explores a baker’s dozen of lessons the psalm teaches about life and ministry under the Shepherdhood of God.
Heath Adamson serves as chief of staff at Convoy of Hope, “a faith-based, nonprofit organization with a driving passion to feed the world through children’s feeding initiatives, community outreaches and disaster response.” He also serves in leadership roles for Empowered21’s Next Gen Networkand the Next Generation Commissionof the World Assemblies of God Fellowship.
Publishers harvested a bumper crop of atheist book in 2006 and 2007. Letters to a Christian Nationby Sam Harris, The God Delusionby Richard Dawkins, Breaking the Spellby Daniel C. Dennett, and God Is (Not) Greatby Christopher Hitchens come readily to mind, among many others. Each of these book claimed in one way or another that belief in God was intellectually deficient, a matter of faith rather than reason.
The philosophers who contributed to Two Dozen (or So) Arguments for Godbeg to differ. They think there are good reasons to believe that God exists. In Episode 155 of the Influence Podcast, Influencemagazine executive editor George P. Wood talks to Jerry L. Walls about good arguments for God.
Walls is Scholar in Residence and Professor of Philosophy at Houston Baptist University, as well as co-editor with Trent Dougherty of Two Dozen (or So) Arguments for God, which is published by Oxford University Press.
Hospitality is a Christian virtue. “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers,” Hebrews 13:2 tells us, “for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.” According to the apostle Paul, one of the requirements for holding church office is being “hospitable” (1 Timothy 3:2, Titus 1:8). At minimum, hospitality means providing food and shelter for those in need.
But what if that’s only the start? What if hospitality is a mindset that has multiple expressions affecting every aspect of leadership? That’s the question Influencemagazine executive editor George P. Wood explores with Terry A. Smith in Episode 154 of the Influence Podcast.
Terry A. Smith is lead pastor of The Life Christian Churchin West Orange, New Jersey, as well as author of The Hospitable Leader: Create Environments Where People and Dreams Flourish, published by Bethany House. You can learn more about his book at this webpage, specifically created for Influence Podcast listeners.
God designed the Church to run on volunteer power. Every member of the congregation is a spiritually gifted individual, after all, called and empowered to do “the work of ministry” (Ephesians 4:12 ESV). And yet, many churches experience a chronic shortage of volunteers.
What is the cause of this shortage, and what can pastors and other church leaders do about it?
Those are the questions Influence magazine executive editor George P. Wood explores with Jill Fox in Episode 153 of the Influence Podcast. Fox is Ministry Initiatives and Next Gen pastor at Westwood Community Church in Excelsior, Minnesota, and co-author, with Leith Anderson, of two books: The Volunteer Churchand Volunteering, both published by Zondervan.
Cynicism. Compromise. Disconnection. Irrelevance. Pride. Burnout. Emptiness.
No one expects to experience these negative feelings, but everyone does. As Christians and as leaders in the church, the question we need to ask ourselves is what we should do about them.
That’s the question Influence magazine executive editor George P. Wood explores with Carey Nieuwhof in Episode 152 of the Influence Podcast. Carey Nieuwhof is pastor of Connexus Church in Barrie, Ontario, and author of Didn’t See It Coming, published by WaterBrook.
This past summer, thousands of Assemblies of God churchgoers went on short-term missions trips. These trips often do much good. They certainly change the people who go on them for the better. But is it a good idea to shift a church’s missions strategy to short-term missions?
Similarly, churches are increasingly supporting “social justice” causes such as anti-human trafficking initiatives and water well drilling as an important part of missions. Granted, these are great causes, but are they missions?
In today’s episode of the Influence Podcast, Influence magazine executive editor George P. Wood talks with Doug Clay and Greg Mundis about what missions is and why missions need long-term missionaries. Doug Clay is general superintendent of the Assemblies of God (USA), and Greg Mundis is executive director of Assemblies of God World Missions.
America is in the midst of a generational sea change. Baby Boomers are no longer the nation’s largest generational cohort. Instead, Millennials are.
Unfortunately, Millennials are the least religious generational cohort in our nation’s history. If the Church wants to reach Millennials, it cannot rely on strategies that worked with Boomers. The generations are simply too different.
In today’s episode, Influence magazine executive editor George P. Wood talks to Geoff Surratt about five tensions churches must manage to successfully engage Millennials.
Together with his wife, Sherry, Geoff is the founder of Ministry Together, which “partners with “ministry leaders for relational health, organizational growth and Kingdom impact.” He is also author of the free e-book, The Church Will Thrive.
Roughly half the U.S. population is male, but fewer men attend church on average than women do. In the Assemblies of God, for example, the latest statistics indicate that men account for 31.5 percent of Sunday morning attendees, while women account for 40.4 percent. This gap in attendance reveals a ministry opportunity.
Earlier this year, Michael Zigarelli — professor of Leadership and Strategy at Messiah College in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania — conducted a qualitative survey of seven Protestant churches with greater parity in attendance between men and women. His working paper, “Churches that Attract Men,” identified transferable principles of man-friendly churches and is the springboard for today’s Influence Podcast conversation between him and Influence magazine’s executive editor, George P. Wood.
Topics of conversation include why attracting men is a good church-growth strategy and what man-friendly churches have in common. But Zigarelli also addresses “pushback questions”: Why are we talking about man-friendly churches in a culture that’s talking about “toxic masculinity”? Does being man-friendly trade on shopworn gender stereotypes or complementarian views of church leadership? And does attracting men create a void of ministry to women and children?
It’s an interesting, informative conversation, so make sure to listen to the entire thing!