Influence Podcast

“Many people simply take it for granted that miracles don’t happen,” writes Craig Keener. But is that assumption true? Or is it the case that God performs miracles in the modern world?

In Miracles Today, Keener answers those questions by describing scores of documented reports of healing and even resurrection. These reports don’t come from long ago or faraway places. They’re happening here and now.

In this episode of the Influence Podcast, I’m talking with Keener about this empirical case for miracles. I’m George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host.

Craig Keener is F.M. and Ada Thompson Professor of Biblical Studies at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky, and author, most recently, of Miracles Today: The Supernatural Work of God in the Modern World, published by Baker Academic.

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This episode of the Influence Podcast is brought to you by My Healthy Church, distributors of Bible Engagement Project.

Most people have access to the Bible, but few regularly engage with it. Bible Engagement Project equips churches with digital Bible study resources to help people of all ages read and understand Scripture so they can become more like Jesus and live radically changed lives. Bible Engagement Project is available in both English and Spanish.

Visit BibleEngagementProject.com to learn more.

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 — things we can say and do that fit our own God-given personalities.” That’s what Mittelberg calls “the good news about the Good News.”

In this episode of the Influence Podcast, I’m talking to Mittelberg about the five styles of personal evangelism he describes in his book. I’m George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host.

Mark Mittelberg is executive director of the Lee Strobel Center for Evangelism and Applied Apologetics at Colorado Christianity University in Lakewood, Colorado, as well as a best-selling author and international speaker. His most recent book is Contagious Faith: Discover Your Natural Style for Sharing Jesus with Others.

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This episode of the Influence Podcast is brought to you by My Healthy Church, distributors of Bible Engagement Project.

Most people have access to the Bible, but few regularly engage with it. Bible Engagement Project equips churches with digital Bible study resources to help people of all ages read and understand Scripture so they can become more like Jesus and live radically changed lives. Bible Engagement Project is available in both English and Spanish.

Visit BibleEngagementProject.com to learn more.

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 Podcast, I’m talking to Moon and Simon about why it’s important for Christians to practice such evangelism, as well as how to do it more effectively. I’m George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host.

Jay Moon is professor of church planting and evangelism at Asbury Theological Seminary and a veteran missionary to Ghana. Bud Simon is a mission consultant with TMS Global and a veteran missionary to Brazil. They are coauthors of Effective Intercultural Evangelism, published by InterVarsity Press.

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This episode of the Influence Podcast is brought to you by My Healthy Church, distributors of Bible Engagement Project.

Most people have access to the Bible, but few regularly engage with it. Bible Engagement Project equips churches with digital Bible study resources to help people of all ages read and understand Scripture so they can become more like Jesus and live radically changed lives. Bible Engagement Project is available in both English and Spanish.

Visit BibleEngagementProject.com to learn more.

According to church growth expert Thom Rainer, “The median tenure of a pastor at a church is around four years. Simply stated, over one-half of pastors leave a church before their fourth anniversary.” The question is not whether church staff transition is happening, then, but whether it is happening well.

In this episode of the Influence Podcast, I’m talking to Mike Burnette about how pastors can effectively transition themselves and staff pastors both out of and into new ministry assignments. I’m George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host.

Mike Burnette is lead pastor of LifePoint Church in Clarksville, Tennessee, and an Assemblies of God minister. LifePoint was Outreach magazine’s fastest growing church in America in 2018. He is also author of Parable Church, which we discussed in Episode 248 of the Influence Podcast.

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This episode of the Influence Podcast is brought to you by My Healthy Church, distributors of Bible Engagement Project.

Most people have access to the Bible, but few regularly engage with it. Bible Engagement Project equips churches with digital Bible study resources to help people of all ages read and understand Scripture so they can become more like Jesus and live radically changed lives. Bible Engagement Project is available in both English and Spanish.

Visit BibleEngagementProject.com to learn more.

Ask pastors whether they are frustrated, and most of them will say they are, for a variety of reasons. Too often, they think their people problems are outside their control. “If we change our perspective and transform our leadership strategy,” writes Scott Wilson, however, “the people near us right now can become exponential leaders who have an impact on generation after generation of others.”

In this episode of the Influence Podcast, I’m talking to Wilson about five ways pastors can build relationships for effective leadership in the local church. I’m George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host.

Scott Wilson is Global Pastor at Oaks Church in Red Oak, Texas, which he led for nearly 20 years. He is founder of Ready Set Grow, a “a ministry to help churches breakthrough their growth barriers,” as well as 415 Leaders, whose vision for mentoring is “multiplying spiritual fathers and mothers to multiply churches.” He is author of Impact: Releasing the Power of Influence, published earlier this year by Avail Books.

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This episode of the Influence Podcast is brought to you by My Healthy Church, distributors of Bible Engagement Project.

Most people have access to the Bible, but few regularly engage with it. Bible Engagement Project equips churches with digital Bible study resources to help people of all ages read and understand Scripture so they can become more like Jesus and live radically changed lives. Bible Engagement Project is available in both English and Spanish.

Visit BibleEngagementProject.com to learn more.

Social media is filled with stories of well-known Christians who have deconstructed their faith or are in the process of doing so. Some deconvert from Christianity entirely. Others identify themselves as “exvangelicals” who now advocate a progressive form of Christianity.

In this episode of the Influence Podcast, I’m talking to Preston Ulmer about how Christians, whether ministers or laypersons, can help people who are in the process of deconstructing their faith. I’m George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host.

Preston Ulmer is director of Discovery for the Church Multiplication Network in Springfield, Missouri, and an Assemblies of God minister. He is author of The Doubters’ Club: Good-Faith Conversations with Skeptics, Atheists, and the Spiritually Wounded, just published by NavPress.

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This episode of the Influence Podcast is brought to you by My Healthy Church, distributors of Bible Engagement Project.

Most people have access to the Bible, but few regularly engage with it. Bible Engagement Project equips churches with digital Bible study resources to help people of all ages read and understand Scripture so they can become more like Jesus and live radically changed lives. Bible Engagement Project is available in both English and Spanish.

Visit BibleEngagementProject.com to learn more.

“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 mistakes. The only question is whether you make them well.

In this episode of the Influence Podcast, I’m talking to John Pearson about how to make mistakes well. I’m George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host.

John Pearson served more than 30 years as a nonprofit CEO at organizations such as the Christian Camp and Conference Association, the Global Leadership Network of the Willow Creek Association, and the Christian Leadership Alliance. He is author, most recently, of Mastering Mistake-Making: My 25 Memorable Mistakes — and What I Learned.

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This episode of the Influence Podcast is brought to you by My Healthy Church, distributors of Bible Engagement Project.

Most people have access to the Bible, but few regularly engage with it. Bible Engagement Project equips churches with digital Bible study resources to help people of all ages read and understand Scripture so they can become more like Jesus and live radically changed lives. Bible Engagement Project is available in both English and Spanish.

Visit BibleEngagementProject.com to learn more.

“Every teenager is a walking bundle of questions,” write Kara Powell and Brad Griffin in their new book. “Almost every question young people are asking ultimately finds its genesis in these 3 big questions: Who am I? Where do I fit? What difference can I make?

In this episode of the Influence Podcast, I’m talking to Kara Powell about these three big questions — perhaps life’s biggest. I’m George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host.

Kara Powell is executive director of the Fuller Youth Institute at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, and an Assemblies of God minister. Together with Brad Griffin, she is coauthor of 3 Big Questions That Change Every Teenager, recently published by Baker Books.

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This episode of the Influence Podcast is brought to you by My Healthy Church, distributors of Bible Engagement Project.

Most people have access to the Bible, but few regularly engage with it. Bible Engagement Project equips churches with digital Bible study resources to help people of all ages read and understand Scripture so they can become more like Jesus and live radically changed lives. Bible Engagement Project is available in both English and Spanish.

Visit BibleEngagementProject.com to learn more.

“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 us, many churches seem to treat discipleship as an optional accessory, choosing instead to focus on selling the basic ‘conversion’ package (afterlife insurance included).”

In this episode of the Influence Podcast, I’m talking to Post about how the Beatitudes from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount are a solution to the problem of discipleship-free American Christianity. I’m George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host.

Ryan Post is the lead pastor of Village Church in Burbank, California. An ordained Assemblies of God minister, he is author of Jesus People: Communities Formed by the Beatitudes and Healthy Prayer: Integrating Structure, Silence & Spontaneity.

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This episode of the Influence Podcast is brought to you by My Healthy Church, distributors of Bible Engagement Project.

Most people have access to the Bible, but few regularly engage with it. Bible Engagement Project equips churches with digital Bible study resources to help people of all ages read and understand Scripture so they can become more like Jesus and live radically changed lives. Bible Engagement Project is available in both English and Spanish.

Visit BibleEngagementProject.com to learn more.

“The currency of the kingdom of God isn’t prayer, Bible study, missions, or service; it’s love,” writes Choco De Jesus in his new book, Love Them Anyway (Charisma House). “All the disciplines are means to put us in touch with the love of God so it overflows into the lives of those around us. Whom does God want us to love? Everyone. Our love should know no bounds.”

In this episode of the Influence Podcast, I’m talking to De Jesus about why boundless love is so important, as well as why it’s so difficult. I’m George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host.

Choco De Jesus is general treasurer of the Assemblies of God.

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This episode of the Influence Podcast is brought to you by My Healthy Church, distributors of Bible Engagement Project.

Most people have access to the Bible, but few regularly engage with it. Bible Engagement Project equips churches with digital Bible study resources to help people of all ages read and understand Scripture so they can become more like Jesus and live radically changed lives. Bible Engagement Project is available in both English and Spanish.

Visit BibleEngagementProject.com to learn more.