Good News for Today

 Episode 520

Start Of Fiscal Year For Churches, Sermon Paintings By Artist & Congregation May Tune Out Your Sermon

For most pastors, the start of a new calendar year also indicates the start of a new fiscal year for their churches. A large blank canvas sits on an easel as Richard Pope, senior pastor of Canvas Church in Salisbury, Maryland, begins his Sunday sermon. And, if you’re a preacher or a teacher…you know when the listeners is tuned in and when they’re tuned out.

Host

Brandon Porter

Resources

Most churches’ fiscal years begin in January, more variety in who makes the budget

Artist’s goal for sermon paintings is to ‘help connect people to God’

International Mission Board

10 reasons some folks didn’t listen to your preaching or teaching this weekend

Transcript

For most pastors, the start of a new calendar year also indicates the start of a new fiscal year for their churches. But there is much more variety among pastors when it comes to who is involved in making the budget for the fiscal year.

According to a study from Lifeway Research, 74% of Protestant pastors say their church’s fiscal year starts in January. One in 20 say their fiscal year starts in July (5%), September (4%) or October (4%).
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A large blank canvas sits on an easel as Richard Pope, senior pastor of Canvas Church in Salisbury, Maryland, begins his Sunday sermon. As Scripture unfolds, so does the image on the canvas, as Ali Jacobs uses her artistic talent and vision to paint a vivid picture most of us can only imagine. She brings the message to light with beauty and artistic flair.

Jacobs grew up in Baltimore County in a family of artists where she attended church and distinctly remembers feeling the presence of God with her. As she honed her artistic skills with study and work, God was continuing to hone her heart. One memory, from a youth retreat she attended as a leader, stands out. The pastor asked if anyone wanted to be baptized.

The decision was not only good for her soul but for three others who followed her.

Currently, the paintings are in storage at Jacobs’ home and at and the pastor’s house. Canvas Church rents its meeting space, so the paintings are set aside awaiting their next purpose, whether for the walls of a future building or sold with the proceeds going toward ministry.
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Every day, hundreds of thousands of people die without the hope of Jesus. Your faithful prayers will make a difference. That’s why the IMB created a free 18-month calendar, called “Impacting Lostness Through Prayer”. It provides guidance, reminders and encouragement as you pray for individuals and communities who have yet to hear the gospel. Learn more about this free resource at IMB.org/prayerca...

 Episode 519

Global Religious Violence Database, West Point Cadet Transformed By Faith & Pastors Lack Of Work-Life Balance

A new searchable global database of violent religious persecution encompassing Christianity and other faiths is available free to the public, Global Christian Relief CEO David Curry announced Jan. 5. In a profound journey of faith, West Point cadet Austin Hemminger’s story is one of transformation amid the rigors of basic training. And, pastors can face significant challenges as they try to balance their family and their work. Sam Rainer offers some reasons in a Baptist Press article.

Host

Brandon Porter

Resources

Global religious violence database launched by watchdog groups

West Point cadet’s faith becomes path from jealousy

International Mission Board

4 reasons pastors lack work-life balance

Transcript

A new searchable global database of violent religious persecution encompassing Christianity and other faiths is available free to the public, Global Christian Relief CEO David Curry announced Jan. 5.

Global Christian Relief finances the database maintained by the International Institute for Religious Freedom (IIRF), which will collect, record and analyze publicly sourced reports of persecution for the database, available here.

Curry markets the resource as the first and only events-based global religious freedom dataset that will also offer a high level of verification.
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In a profound journey of faith, West Point cadet Austin Hemminger’s story is one of transformation amid the rigors of basic training.

Struggling with identity and a challenging relationship, Hemminger realized the need for change as he befriended a fellow cadet named William. Raised in a divorced family, faith was initially a non-factor for Hemminger but his military experience led him to sense that “the only way I’m going to find myself is through God and through Christianity.”

The two became active in a campus ministry at West Point.

Hemminger’s baptism in late September 2022 marked a profound commitment to his newfound faith costing him relationships and the need for great change.

Hemminger’s transformed life stands as a testament to the power of faith and resilience.
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Every day, hundreds of thousands of people die without the hope of Jesus. Your faithful prayers will make a difference. That’s why the IMB created a free 18-month calendar, called “Impacting Lostness Through Prayer”. It provides guidance, reminders and encouragement as you pray for individuals and communities who have yet to hear the gospel. Learn more about this free resource at IMB.org/prayercalendar.
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Pastors can face significant challenges as they try to balance their family and their work. Sam Rainer offers some reasons in a Baptist Press article.

1. The Always-On Phenomenon. Most churches expect pastors to be...

 Episode 518

Cuba Trip Yields Thousands To Christ, Nigeria Escapes Religious Freedom Violator List & Read More With Pleasure

As 2024 dawns, more than 4,800 people in western Cuba are walking into the new year with new spiritual life found only in Jesus Christ. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken omitted Nigeria from the 2024 list of egregious religious freedom violators Jan. 4, disregarding widespread outcry from advocacy groups including the SBC’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. And, Dan Darling believes you can read more and with pleasure in 2024.

Host

Brandon Porter

Resources

Florida Baptists’ Cuba trip yields nearly 5,000 decisions for Christ

Nigeria again escapes State Department’s list of religious freedom violators

International Mission Board

How to read more and with pleasure

Transcript

As 2024 dawns, more than 4,800 people in western Cuba are walking into the new year with new spiritual life found only in Jesus Christ.

During a late 2023 trip to the island nation, eight Christian leaders from Florida came alongside a group of Cuban leaders for eight days of evangelistic outreach and preaching, resulting in 4,820 professions of faith. The preachers from Florida divided into teams of two and preached in 45 churches and missions scattered across the provinces of Villa Clara and Cienfuegos.

It’s a partnership that been developing since 1997.

One of the Florida pastors says he’s receiving pictures from Cuba of new believers being baptized, being discipled and now serving.
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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken omitted Nigeria from the 2024 list of egregious religious freedom violators Jan. 4, disregarding widespread outcry from advocacy groups including the SBC’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission.

The State Department has only listed Nigeria, the deadliest country for Christians, as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) in 2020 and 2021. The CPC designation indicates a national government has “engaged in or tolerated particularly severe violations of religious freedom,” and alerts Congress to impose policies or economic measures against the countries to promote international religious freedom.

ERLC President Brent Leatherwood, among several signatories on a December letter from advocacy groups urging Congress to address religious persecution in Nigeria, called Blinken’s omission of Nigeria a failure.
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Every day, hundreds of thousands of people die without the hope of Jesus. Your faithful prayers will make a difference. That’s why the IMB created a free 18-month calendar, called “Impacting Lostness Through Prayer”. It provides guidance, reminders and encouragement as you pray for indi...

 Episode 517

Missionaries in South Africa, Reaching Gen Z & Actively Waiting On The Lord

The summer before Leslie Montgomery started 8th grade, her church hired a youth pastor whose parents served as missionaries in Tanzania. The new year brings new beginnings, but a lot needs to be said for consistency. Ministry needs to be face-to-face as much as possible and Gospel-centric, not activity based, veteran youth leaders say. And, an Lifeway Bible Study reminds us, “No one likes to wait for God to move. We are an impatient, impetuous people. But waiting is often a necessary step for our growth and ability to receive God’s blessings.”

Host

Brandon Porter

Resources

To reach Gen Z, commit to face time

International Mission Board

Bible Study: Actively waiting on the Lord

Transcript

The summer before Leslie Montgomery started 8th grade, her church hired a youth pastor whose parents served as missionaries in Tanzania. Hearing them share what they had experienced and what God was doing in Africa at camp that summer “literally changed my life,” she said.

Life happened. She didn’t feel ready as a teenager or college student to go on a mission trip. Then, she got married. She had a baby. There was a global pandemic. Leslie had no idea when her young family would bring the gospel to Africans who needed to hear it.

But in the spring of 2022, things changed. Leslie’s husband Luke told her God had been working in his heart and he believed they were being called to go on the mission field. So they did.

By the next March they were headed to South Africa where they are helping university student grow as disciples of Jesus.
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The new year brings new beginnings, but a lot needs to be said for consistency. Ministry needs to be face-to-face as much as possible and Gospel-centric, not activity based, veteran youth leaders say.

Due to scheduling conflicts where the church often loses out to sports and other activities, it’s important to maintain contact with students as much as possible, said Jonathan Meyer, a veteran student ministry leader who started in 1994 and is currently senior high pastor at Grace Church in Des Moines.
Chris Trent, whose 30-plus years of student ministry led to his current role as Next Gen catalyst for the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, cited a 2020 study by Springtide Research Institute that addressed young people’s desire to have a mentor.
When there are five or more mentors involved such as parents, family members, pastors, teachers, coaches…he added, 91 percent of young people say they feel their life has meaning and purpose.
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Every day, hundreds of thousands of people die without the hope of Jesus. Your faithful prayers will make a difference. That’s why the IMB created a free 18-month calendar, called “Impacting Lostness Through Prayer”. It provides guidance, reminders and encouragement as you pray for individuals and communities who have yet to hear the gospel. Learn more about this free resource at IMB.org/prayercalendar.

 Episode 516

Beloved Junior Hill Dies, Gym Members Turns Into Church & Checking On Church Members

When a believer dies, it is a time of sorrow and joy. The family of Junior Hill is walking through the season today. The longtime evangelist died this week at the age of 87 in his home in Hartselle, Alabama. As many people are hitting the gym as a new year begins, some believers on the other side of the world are utilizing a gym for more than just physical health. They are strengthening their spiritual muscles. And, when a lead pastor leaves a church, it affects the entire congregation. In a piece in the Baptist Press Toolbox, Stephen Vail who serves as the executive pastor at First Church in Charlotte, North Carolina says the right kind of communication can go a long way.

Host

Brandon Porter

Resources

Junior Hill, ‘country preacher’ embraced by the SBC, dies

Gym church members work out their faith

International Mission Board

Transcript

When a believer dies, it is a time of sorrow and joy. The family of Junior Hill is walking through the season today. The longtime evangelist died this week at the age of 87 in his home in Hartselle, Alabama.

The beloved Hill is said to have preached more than 1,800 revivals and crusades in his decades of ministry. Without doubt, thousands have come to faith through Hill’s ministry…though he never kept count saying he’d wait for the Lord to provide him the totals.

Hill’s storytelling and ability to connect with an audience opened the door for him to speak hard truths in ways that touched hearts. God used Him to communicate with a wide variety of audiences and helped draw many to Jesus.

Hill is survived by his wife, Carole, their two children and five grandchildren.

In his latter years, he was often heard asking people to pray that he would finish his race well. On January 3, he did and entered into the joy of being present with his Lord.
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As many people are hitting the gym as a new year begins, some believers on the other side of the world are utilizing a gym for more than just physical health. They are strengthening their spiritual muscles.

In a part of the world where sharing the gospel can be difficult, a gym owner dreamed of using his facility to house a church. But he needed.

Gospel workers Nathan and Stephanie Crandal joined the gym when they arrived in the city and the Lord used that membership to form a relationship that has spread all the way to the gym being used for a church to gather.

The tight knit group enjoys working out but they say they enjoy fellowship around the Word of God even more.

Just more evidence that the gospel is not bound.
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Every day, hundreds of thousands of people die without the hope of Jesus. Your faithful prayers will make a difference. That’s why the IMB created a free 18-month calendar, called “Impacting Lostness Through Prayer”. It provides guidance, reminders and encouragement as you pray for individuals and communities who have yet to hear the gospel. Learn more about this free resource at IMB.org/prayercalendar.

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 Episode 515

Jeremiah Castille Reflects On Faith, Rebuilding Churches After Hurricane & Fasting And Praying For The New Year

From the age of 7, Jeremiah Castille had a vision of one day playing professional football, following in the footsteps of those players he watched in recaps of NFL games. Back then, however, he had no idea how God would end up using this vision. Believers from Texas and Mexico continue to provide aid to victims of Hurricane Otis. The category-five storm claimed at least 50 lives and did more than $10 billion in property damage in Acapulco in late October. And, in a piece in the Baptist Press Toolbox, Kie Bowman says, “Prayer connects us to Heaven.

Host

Brandon Porter

Resources

Crimson Tide chaplain Jeremiah Castille reflects on faith, sports and investing in future generations

Mexico Baptists help churches rebuild after hurricane

International Mission Board

How to start the New Year fasting and praying

Transcript

From the age of 7, Jeremiah Castille had a vision of one day playing professional football, following in the footsteps of those players he watched in recaps of NFL games. Back then, however, he had no idea how God would end up using this vision.

Most of Castille’s life has revolved around football, but his faith has been a steady guide on the journey. The former University of Alabama football player, NFL player and current chaplain for the University of Alabama football team is the associate pastor of Covenant Heirs International Church in Birmingham. He is also a motivational speaker who focuses on mentoring the next generation, strengthening marriages and teaching about intentional grandparenting. 

Castille played for legendary coach Paul “Bear” Bryant in the late 70s and early 80s. He went on to play in the Super Bowl twice.

But he says one of the most significant moments in his sports career came just a few years ago when he had the chance to baptize Alabama standout and Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young.
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Believers from Texas and Mexico continue to provide aid to victims of Hurricane Otis. The category-five storm claimed at least 50 lives and did more than $10 billion in property damage in Acapulco in late October.

So far, believers have helped oversee a community feeding center, provide materials and tools needed to rebuild church buildings, and sent financial aid for pastors whose income has been greatly impacted by the natural disaster. 

Every day, hundreds of thousands of people die without the hope of Jesus. Your faithful prayers will make a difference. That’s why the IMB created a free 18-month calendar, called “Impacting Lostness Through Prayer”. It provides guidance, reminders and encouragement as you pray for individuals and communities who have yet to hear the gospel. Learn more about this free resource at IMB.org/prayercalendar.
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In a piece in the Baptist Press Toolbox, Kie Bowman says,...

 Episode 513

The Beatys’ Ministry & A Grateful Church

A stranger slid into Carina Beaty’s Instagram DMs. The message opened not just chat windows but doors to discipleship Carina couldn’t have imagined when she and her husband opened their apartment windows years ago. And, an grateful church is a church we should all desire. A Lifeway Research article provides some ways a church can help its members be grateful.

Host

Resources

Transcript

A stranger slid into Carina Beaty’s Instagram DMs. The message opened not just chat windows but doors to discipleship Carina couldn’t have imagined when she and her husband opened their apartment windows years ago. 

On Easter Sunday in 2020, Caleb and Carina Beaty stood by their windows and played worship music that echoed through the central courtyard of their Madrid apartment complex. While their concert led to conversations with neighbors, new friends, invitations to neighbors’ houses and times of fellowship, the Beatys say the most substantial result happened because of an IMB story about it. Not long after the story was posted, a woman messaged Carina on Instagram to say she watched the video and explained she had a Spanish exchange student named Maria living with her in Arkansas. She asked if she could connect them. The exchange student had become a Christian and wanted to be discipled.

After Maria returned to Spain, she kickstarted the Beatys’ ministry. Caleb and Carina had arrived in Madrid just ahead of the COVID-19 lockdowns, so the early days of their missions career looked quite different from what they had envisioned. 

Maria invited her family and friends to their small group. She didn’t stop at invitations to Bible studies. She’s brought a friend to church and frequently shares with neighbors, classmates, teachers, aunts, grandparents and cousins. 

Carina said this connection was “not because of anything that we’ve done. It’s the Lord working, and it just happened that her host mom saw our video and got in touch with me.”
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Every day, hundreds of thousands of people die without the hope of Jesus. Your faithful prayers
will make a difference. That’s why the IMB created a free 18-month calendar, called “Impacting
Lostness Through Prayer”. It provides guidance, reminders and encouragement as you pray for
individuals and communities who have yet to hear the gospel. Learn more about this free
resource at IMB.org/prayercalendar.
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A grateful church is a church we should all desire. A Lifeway Research article provides some ways a church can help its members be grateful. “The primary way to become a grateful church is to have leadership that dwells on the gospel in all things. One of the clearest pictures of gratitude in Scripture is in Luke 17 when Jesus heals 10 men with leprosy. In response to truly life-altering healing, only one of the men acknowledged what Jesus did for him and took the time to give Him thanks. Jesus referred to the man’s gratitude as a demonstration of his faith and an example of giving glory to God.”

“From the pulpit to the nursery, the gospel should permeate every aspect of your church’s life together. Becoming a grateful church begins with acknowledging how the One who owes us nothing has given us everything. As you reflect on this truth together, thanksgiving to God becomes the natural overflow of your heart.”
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Find stories like this and more at Baptist Press.com. There you can learn how ...

 Episode 513

Ebeyers’ Outreach To The Village & Reconsidering Church Attendance

It started with a coffee run. On a trip to the closest city, International Mission Board missionaries Jason and Robin Ebeyer were praying to find a “person of peace” – someone who would welcome them and help in their ministry efforts. And, in an article for Lifeway Research, church health consultant Mark Dance encourages pastors to reconsider how they are related to attendance at their church.

Host

Brandon Porter

Resources

International Mission Board

Transcript

It started with a coffee run.

On a trip to the closest city, International Mission Board missionaries Jason and Robin Ebeyer were praying to find a “person of peace” – someone who would welcome them and help in their ministry efforts.

The Ebeyers have been working for the last few years with the people in Isan, a region in Thailand. The Village of Three Temples had no Christian presence, and they needed someone to help them meet the people.

When the Ebeyers stopped to get coffee about five miles from the village, they met Tia. Tia is a mother and wife in her mid-40s. She was a Buddhist and knew the cost of leaving her religion. She’d be betraying her family. In Buddhist traditions, no one would attend her funeral when she dies.

When the Ebeyers met Tia, she was extraordinarily kind as she served them coffee and was patient with them as they stumbled through the language barrier. They repeatedly returned to Tia’s coffee shop.

In bits and pieces, the couple explained the gospel to Tia. She’d been weighing the cost of following Christ since she started to hear the good news of Jesus. The Lord did a work in her heart, and she prayed to receive Christ.

Tia blazed the trail for the Ebeyers’ outreach to the village. Seven people made professions of faith in less than two months.
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Every day, hundreds of thousands of people die without the hope of Jesus. Your faithful prayers will make a difference. That’s why the IMB created a free 18-month calendar, called “Impacting Lostness Through Prayer”. It provides guidance, reminders and encouragement as you pray for individuals and communities who have yet to hear the gospel. Learn more about this free resource at IMB.org/prayercalendar.
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In an article for Lifeway Research, church health consultant Mark Dance encourages pastors to reconsider how they are related to attendance at their church.

In the article, he discusses how attendance is used as a measurement of church health and some ways church leaders might need to reconsider their measuring.

He writes, “Real church growth is kingdom growth which is measured by baptisms—period. Resist the temptation to brag about transfer growth or high watermark Sundays. Instead, double down on advancing the gospel and your attendance growth will follow the kingdom growth.”
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Find stories like this and more at Baptist Press.com. There you can learn how to sign up for our daily emails. They’re free and come to your inbox morning or evening. Visit Baptist Press.com to learn more.

 Episode 512

Resolutions In The New Year & Making The Best Use Of Our Time

Many people will make resolutions in the New Year. What if you asked some questions first? Here are a few suggestions from Donald Whitney. And, what’s the single biggest time-waster in your life, and how can you redeem the time? Social media? TV? Video games? Sports? Hobbies? Actively replacing it with something better helps us in “making the best use of the time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:16).

Host

Brandon Porter

Resources

The Voice of the Martyrs

Transcript

Many people will make resolutions in the New Year. What if you asked some questions first?
Here are a few suggestions from Donald Whitney:

What’s one thing you can do this year to increase your enjoyment of God?

Our enjoyment of God comes primarily through the means of grace he has given us. He has promised to bless us most directly and consistently through means such as his word, prayer, and the church. One specific suggestion I’d offer would be to include some meditation on Scripture along with your daily reading. It’s better to read less — if necessary — and yet as the result of meditation remember something, than to read more and remember nothing.

What’s an impossible prayer you can pray?

There are more than a dozen “but God” statements in Scripture, such as in Romans 5:8, which reads, “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Situations that were humanly impossible were transformed by “but God” (Ephesians 2:1–7). What’s a “but God” prayer you can pray for the coming year?

What’s the most important thing you could do to improve your family life?

If your family doesn’t practice family worship, beginning there is the single best recommendation I could make. Just ten minutes a day, simply reading the Bible, praying, and singing together — an event that requires no preparation — is all it takes. My little book titled Family Worship can tell you more.
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Good News for Today is sponsored by The Voice of the Martyrs

Good News for Today is made possible through our friends at The Voice of the Martyrs, a nonprofit organization that serves persecuted Christians around the world. Founded in 1967 by Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand, VOM is dedicated to inspiring believers to deepen their commitment to Christ and to fulfill His Great Commission — no matter the cost. Find out more and sign up for their free monthly magazine at vom.org/goodnews.
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What’s the single biggest time-waster in your life, and how can you redeem the time? Social media? TV? Video games? Sports? Hobbies? It’s easy for any of these (or something else) to take too much of our hearts and time. Is repentance required? Trying to stop, by itself, is probably not the answer. Actively replacing it with something better helps us in “making the best use of the time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:16).

For whose salvation will you pray most fervently this year?

Praying frequently and fervently for someone’s salvation makes us more sensitive to opportunities to share the gospel with him or her. Will you commit to praying for at least one person’s salvation every day this new year?

What single thing can you play this year that will matter most in ten years? In eternity? Short-term deadlines tend to dominate our attention. Busyness and fatigue often limit our vision to just getting through today. But don’t let the tyranny of the urgent distract you from something you’re neglect...

 Episode 511

Things That Every Church Needs On Their Website & Amazing Grace

According to Lifeway Research, the majority of people moving to a new town utilized in-person visits to churches (69%) and recommendations from family, friends, neighbors, and/or colleagues. And, Amazing Grace was first sung in 1773 on New Year’s Day at Lord Dartmouth’s Great Hall in Olney, England. John Newton wrote it to accompany his New Year’s sermon from 1 Chronicles 17, encouraging worshipers to remember the Lord’s “past mercies and future hopes,” the Museum of the Bible records in an online exhibit.

Host

Brandon Porter

Resources

8 things I would look for on a church’s website if I were looking for a new church

The Voice of the Martyrs

John Newton’s Amazing Grace maintains eclectic appeal at 250 years

Transcript

According to Lifeway Research, the majority of people moving to a new town utilized in-person visits to churches (69%) and recommendations from family, friends, neighbors, and/or colleagues.

While less common, movers also use church websites (40%), social media sites (32%), online search tools (30%), and phone book or local advertisements (12%) in their search.

Chuck Lawless offers these eight things he thinks every church needs on their website to help communicate who they are as a church:

 A doctrinal statement. A website that includes no doctrinal statement still speaks by its silence—saying at best that nobody was thinking about theology when they put the site together.

 A church history. The history need not be a long account, but I would want to know how and when the church started. I would also want to know how many pastors the church has had, especially if every recent pastorate didn’t last long. Consecutive short pastorates usually tell us something about the church.

 Congregational pictures. I want to “see” the church before going there. Done well, pictures show potential guests the demographics of the church. Just be sure to indicate in some way that the pictures are not just stock pictures; they’re pictures of current members.

 Conversion stories. Few churches include this suggestion, but I’d want to know that God is transforming lives through the church. Brief (2-3 minutes), well-done, recorded testimonies from church members under a heading of something like, “Stories of God’s Life-changing Power at _______ Church,” will unquestionably grab my attention.

 Missions stories. Again, I realize a professor of evangelism and missions who also works for a missions agency would want this inclusion. Nevertheless, the Great Commission (Matt 28:18-20) is not optional for any church—and accounts of the church’s work to reach the nations would help me better understand the church’s focus. Here’s another case, too, where recorded testimonies would be good.

 Service recordings. I’m not alone in wanting to know the music and preaching styles of a church I might attend. Both really do matter. Poor worship music and/or problematic preaching would be at least a “caution flag” to me. Recordings cannot adequately take us into the service itself, but they can give us some sense of the church.

 Pastor and family story. Even in a church with a plur...