Early in his ministry, Jeff Leake faced a problem common to growing churches: He needed a new larger building but didn’t have enough money. So he prayed, “God, we have a problem, and it seems that You are not offering … Continue reading How Churches Can Multiply Themselves | 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
Personal evangelism doesn’t require you to use a method that feels forced and unnatural. In his new book, Contagious Faith, Mark Mittelberg writes, “There are a variety of natural approaches we can take to reach the people around us — … Continue reading Five Styles of Personal Evangelism | Influence Podcast
According to Jay Moon and Bud Simon, intercultural evangelism is “the process of putting Christ at the center of someone’s worldview in order to initiate them into Christian discipleship through culturally relevant starting points.” In this episode of the Influence … Continue reading Effective Intercultural Evangelism | Influence Podcast
Many Christians feel ambivalence about evangelism. On the one hand, Jesus’ good news has captured their hearts, so they want to share it. On the other hand, they are unsure how to do so. This uncertainty often arises because they … Continue reading Contagious Faith | Book Review
When I was a kid, Dad paid me to read biographies of missionaries. He believed doing so would both inform and inspire my faith. I remember reading about Adoniram Judson, David Livingstone, and George Mueller in Moody Publisher’s Golden Oldies … Continue reading Born to Give
The rise of the nones, and the corresponding fall of Christian affiliation, is arguably the most important trend in 21st-century American religion. According to the General Social Survey, between 1972 and 2018, the religiously unaffiliated grew from 5.1% of the … Continue reading The Doubters’ Club | Book Review
The mission Jesus gave the Church extends to “all nations” (Matthew 28:19), meaning ethno-linguistic people groups, not countries. In the modern period, missions involved going from the West (Christendom) to the Rest (the Majority World). Today, however, the nations are … Continue reading Effective Intercultural Evangelism | Book Review
What is the relationship between evangelism and compassion in the Church’s mission? Historically, Pentecostals prioritized evangelism. Pentecostal missionaries believed the Spirit called and empowered them to proclaim the gospel and plant indigenous churches in cultures where Christ was not known. … Continue reading The Missionary Spirit | Book Review
The Great Commission (Matthew 28:16–20) includes three elements: authority, mission, and presence. The authority and presence are Christ’s, but the mission is Christians’. Christ commands us to “make disciples of all nations,” incorporating them into the Church through baptism and … Continue reading Change the Map
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