“Ever been in a season of life that seemed to lack forward momentum?” asks Jeffery Portmann “You’re doing everything you can to experience growth, maybe even repeating what’s worked before. But then there’s a moment … where what you expected, … Continue reading Slow-Motion Growth in a Fast-Paced World | Influence Podcast
On January 6, 2002, reporters for the The Boston Globe began publishing a series of stories about clergy sexual abuse of minors in the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston. Their revelations went on to garner a Pulitzer Prize and shine a … Continue reading What Churches Should Learn from Religious Scandals | Influence Podcast
Leading change is one of a pastor’s most important jobs. The changes pastors lead are spiritual, moral, and missional in nature. In other words, they help people come to Christ (spiritual), become like Christ (moral), and go out as witnesses … Continue reading Leading Congregational Change Collaboratively | Influence Podcast
How can pastors lead healthy, productive, and long-lasting change in their congregations? Mike Clarensau answers that question in Subject to Change. An ordained Assemblies of God minister, church consultant, and author, his advice comes from decades of ministry in local-church … Continue reading Subject to Change | Book Review
“Imagine a steep and deadly cliff,” write Shayne Moore, Sandra Morgan, and Kimberly McOwen Yim. “Today, most churches and nonprofit organizations working in anti-human-trafficking efforts are focused solely on the victims who have already fallen or been thrown off the … Continue reading How Churches Can Help End Human Trafficking | Influence Podcast
Two years after Covid arrived in the United States, the pandemic seems to be winding down and normalcy seems to be returning. Even so, the pandemic and the governmental responses to it were incredibly disruptive. So, what does the new … Continue reading Where Is the Assemblies of God Heading? | Influence Podcast
“Young people are increasingly less likely to be engaged with institutional forms of religious expression,” writes Josh Packard. “Decades-long trends continue: for a large and growing segment of young people, religiosity is increasingly decoupled from institutions, even as they express … Continue reading Why Aren’t Young People Going to Church | Influence Podcast
Church planting has been around since New Testament times. Today, however, it means more than starting a single congregation. It often means one congregation multiplying itself through other congregations. In Twelve Trends in Multiplication, Jeff Leake identifies different ways existing … Continue reading Twelve Trends in Multiplication | Book Review
“People who don’t take risks generally make about two big mistakes a year,” says Peter Drucker. “People who do take risks generally make about two big mistakes a year.” In other words, one way or another, you’re going to make … Continue reading How to Make Mistakes Well | Influence Podcast
“What troubles me is that much of the modern evangelical movement in America does not seem to grasp the priority of the call of apprenticeship to Jesus,” writes Ryan Post. “Rather than teaching people to obey everything Jesus has commanded … Continue reading How the Beatitudes Shape Discipleship | Influence Podcast
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