Today on the Influence Podcast, I interview Dr. George O. Wood — aka, “Dad” — about how to leave a legacy of influence in ministry. Dad is retiring as general superintendent of the Assemblies of God (USA), and has a … Continue reading Leaving a Legacy of Influence | Influence Podcast
Over on my Facebook page, I posted the Facts & Trends story, “Where Are All the Megachurches?” earlier this morning. However, I dug around a bit in the data underlying this story and found out that the Assemblies of God … Continue reading The Assemblies of God among the Megachurches
From Enrichment Journal: That’s a critical point for young women who are very sincere and see this servant model of leadership in Christ and are not comfortable with a rights issue. This has nothing to do with rights for men or women in ministry. That’s not the rationale for following Jesus in leadership in ministry. Don’t we cripple ourselves in the Kingdom by not empowering both men and women to use their God-given gifts? Wood: I’ll tell you a sad story. Just a few months ago, a very competent, young, ordained, seminary-trained, female graduate interviewed for a pastoral position of a church … Continue reading The Best Is Yet to Come: Why Credentialed Women Ministers Matter to the Assemblies of God
In the fall 2013 issue of Enrichment, Zollie L. Smith Jr. writes: As we can attest, “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin condemns any people” (Proverbs 14:34). The righteousness of the Church is the answer to an oppressed people. Jesus’ prayer of unity on behalf of the Church has become my focal point, and I am more committed than ever to see it fulfilled. The challenges we face in America are going to require the services of every Christian becoming unified in the war against sin. We must clothe ourselves with the garment of love and reach out to the … Continue reading ‘Believing God for a Mobilized Church’ by Zollie L. Smith Jr.
In the fall 2013 issue of Enrichment, Doug Clay writes: Prophetic relevance does not mean reciting a litany of passages from Minor Prophets in the Old Testament about God’s judgment on people. It does not mean getting in the face of others with a bullhorn to your mouth and a placard in your hand. It does not mean standing on the steps in a sports stadium shouting “Repent or die!” No, the practical way to have a prophetic voice in a secular culture when the world’s values are not the same is learning the art and practicing the science of … Continue reading ‘Believing God for a Prophetically Relevant Church’ by Doug Clay
In the fall 2013 issue of Enrichment, Jim Bradford writes: Louis Pasteur lived at a time when thousands of people died each year of rabies. Pasteur, a scientist, had worked for years on a vaccine. Just as he was about to begin experimenting on himself, a rabid dog bit Joseph Meister, a 9-year-old boy. The boy’s mother begged Pasteur to experiment on her son. Pasteur injected Joseph for 10 days, and the boy lived. Decades later, of all the things Louis Pasteur could have asked to have written on his gravestone, he asked for just three words: Joseph Meister Lived. … Continue reading ‘Believing God for Jesus-Style Leaders’ by Jim Bradford
From the fall 2013 issue of Enrichment: Sadly, it appears that believers in many corners of the church are either abandoning Spirit-empowerment or have failed to access it in the first place. I fear that if the Holy Spirit were taken completely from a church, many elements of the work of that church would go on as if nothing had happened. What a travesty of what every church was meant to be. And can this also be true of our personal lives? Are many of us in our area of ministry calling churning out “Christian” activity day to day that has … Continue reading ‘Believing God for Spirit-Empowerment’ by Alton Garrison
The theme of the fall 2013 issue of Enrichment is “Believe,” which was also the theme of the 55th General Council in Orlando, Florida. Enrichment interviewed Dr. George O. Wood about this theme. In the final question, he offered words of encouragement to pastors struggling to believe in their current season of ministry: My parents were pioneer ministers in the Fellowship. Their names were never in the “lights.” They were not well known. They were never asked to speak at a district council or General Council — in fact, they could not even afford to go to most of them. … Continue reading Believing God for Greater Things: An Interview with George O. Wood
Warren D. Bullock, Your Next Pastor: Guidelines for Finding God’s Person for Your Church (Springfield, MO: Gospel Publishing House, 2013). $12.99, 168 pages. Paperback / Kindle Few decisions are more important to a local Christian congregation than the choice of its pastor. Pastors function as their congregation’s theologian-in-chief, not to mention as the public face of its mission, vision, and values. If, as John Maxwell says, “everything rises and falls on leadership,” then the life of a congregation rises and falls with the man or woman it calls to be its leader. Warren D. Bullock is an Assemblies of God … Continue reading Review of ‘Your Next Pastor’ by Warren D. Bullock
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