A well-known evangelical pastor recently announced that he will not speak at conferences that include women speakers. “There’s a line at which you can’t cross because someone is blatantly disobedient to Scripture,” he said. “ A conference that platforms men … Continue reading How Women Ministered in the Early Church | Influence Podcast
The Resurrection is the hinge on which Christianity turns. “If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith,” the apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:14. Why would our preaching be useless? Because we … Continue reading The Hinge of Christianity
Philip Graham, the Washington Post’s legendary publisher, once said, “Journalism is the first rough draft of history.” If that’s the case, then with approximately 2,000 stories to his credit, John Kennedy has been writing the first draft of Assemblies of … Continue reading What Pastors Can Learn from Journalists | Influence Podcast
“Countless pastors, preachers, teachers, and ministry leaders are dismayed at the dysfunction engulfing the church and the wider culture,” write Matt Kim and Paul Hoffman. “Every day, headlines reveal a world divided across ethnic, class, sex, and political lines. We … Continue reading Preaching for Reconciliation and Unity | Influence Podcast
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, … Continue reading Why Preaching Requires Virtue | Influence Podcast
Pastors often hear complaints about church from members of their congregations. These negative comments can create a doom-and-gloom mentality among church leaders, as if everything in their congregation is going wrong. According to The Congregational Scorecard, a new report from … Continue reading What Do Churchgoers Want? | Influence Podcast
“Imagine that you have the following choice to make for your listeners,” writes Matthew D. Kim in the opening paragraph of Preaching to People in Pain: “(1) They can listen to sermons that only address the topic of success in … Continue reading Preaching to People in Pain | Book Review
“Suffering is ubiquitous, success is not,” writes Matthew D. Kim in Preaching to People in Pain. Ironically, the content of many, if not most, sermons focuses on success more than suffering, however. Are pastors missing an opportunity to speak into … Continue reading How to Preach When People Are Suffering | Influence Podcast
Preaching is hard work. Intellectually, it requires the ability to discern the original meaning and contemporary relevance of a Bible passage, then to communicate both in a memorable way. Practically, it demands that pastors do this for different texts on … Continue reading The Big Idea Companion for Preaching and Teaching | Book Review
Preaching is one of a pastor’s most important duties. It’s also one of the most difficult. Every week, pastors stand before their congregations and proclaim the Word of God. And often, they leave the pulpit feeling that they have failed. … Continue reading Improving Your Preaching in the Coming Year | Influence Podcast
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