“Is There a Santa Claus?” is a hilarious post written by Linda Harden that uses the laws of physics to prove that Saint Nick doesn’t exist. Or rather, as her conclusion puts it, “If Santa ever DID deliver presents on … Continue reading I Blew It! | Book Review
“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
“Tough relationships are inevitable,” writes Brian Noble at the outset of Living Reconciled. This is because sin alienates people both from God and from one another. If we don’t want to experience alienation, then our sin must be dealt with. … Continue reading Living Reconciled | Book Review
One of the central debates among evangelical missiologists in the past century concerned the relationship between evangelism and social concern. In the mid- to late-twentieth century, many evangelical missiologists prioritized the former to the later, primarily in the West. In … Continue reading Whole and Reconciled | Book Review
The events of the past week have set America on fire. It began on Monday, March 25th, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with the death of George Floyd, a black man. Video of the event showed the white arresting officer, Derek Chauvin, … Continue reading What Racial Reconciliation Requires | Influence Podcast
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, I’m talking 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. 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. … Continue reading The Color of Compromise | Influence Podcast
The most heated conversations I’ve witnessed on Facebook had to do with race. Whether the topic was Confederate statues or Black Lives Matter, the conversations typically began politely enough but almost inevitably degenerated into the online equivalent of a shouting match. Many words appeared in ALL CAPS. These conversations both surprised and disappointed me. Unfortunately, most of these conversations were between Christians. American society is divided, and American churches all too often reflect rather than correct those divisions. That saddens me immensely. We can do better. For the sake of the gospel, we must. One Blood, according to its subtitle, … Continue reading One Blood | Book Review
In this episode of the Influence Podcast, I talk to Ryan Lokkesmoe about leadership lessons we can learn from the New Testament church. Lokkesmoe is lead pastor of Real Hope Community Church in Houston, Texas. He has a Ph.D. in New Testament from the University of Denver, and he is author, most recently, of Paul and His Team, published in 2017 by Moody. Here’s my review of his book: Ryan Lokkesmoe is the lead pastor of Real Hope Community Church in Houston, and has a Ph.D. in New Testament studies. In Paul and His Team:What the Early Church Can Teach Us About … Continue reading Leadership Lessons of the Apostle Paul | Influence Podcast
In episode 123 of the Influence Podcast, I interview Pastor Walter Harvey about “Pentecostals, Race, Justice and Reconciliation.” Harvey is pastor of Parklawn Assembly of God in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as well as vice president of the National Black Fellowship of … Continue reading Pentecostals, Race, Justice and Reconciliation | Influence Podcast
John Stott’s Confess Your Sins is a little gem of a book. Originally published in 1964, it has been reissued by Eerdmans. As far as I can tell, the only change to the original is that Scripture quotations, unless otherwise … Continue reading Confess Your Sins | Book Review
GeorgePWood.com 