Summit Podcasts: BACK40, Sermon Audio, and Leadership Night

Mel gives strategies for how to lead your team well through an internal crisis. It's important that you gather as much information as possible during the discovery phase. Once you know what's happening, proper communication throughout your team is critical. Bad behaviors like gossip and dishonesty should be struck down as soon as you notice them. One of the most challenging aspects of navigating an internal crisis is terminating someone, and Mel explains the best way to do it. Q&A follows.

Our guest speaker and keynote from She Is Transformed, Andi Andrew, preaches a message about preparation. Teaching through the parable of the ten virgins, Andi explains why we should be prepared for anything. She argues that the unwise walk in presumption while the wise walk in anticipation. Andi also teaches that we should not live on borrowed oil, meaning we should look to Jesus as our source rather than deriving a second-hand source from other people who look to Jesus. The message finishes with a warning to stay alert and keep your eyes fixed on Jesus as your life and our world continue to change.

Pastor Mel finishes our series on 2nd Peter with exposition of chapter 3. This chapter takes a look at end-times prophecy and discusses how we should act as Christians who are expecting the return of Jesus. There will be scoffers who mock the truth of Christ's return and there will be hypocrites who claim themselves to be the saviors of mankind. A proper Christian should understand that God exists outside of time and that one day is as a thousand years to the Lord. Any perceived delay in Christ's return is not a consequence of unfulfilled promises, rather it's a display of God's grace and His desire that all people should come to the knowledge of truth.

The second week of our series on 2nd Peter brings a message explaining the dangers of being driven by your feelings and desires. Mel goes to the Greek to explain the subtleties of illegitimate desire and sensuality. He also discusses the meaning of greed and cautions us against false teachers who love to make personal gains by teaching bad doctrine. Mel explains how false teachers are like unthinking animals, and how they can lure you in with charisma and a clever use of words. The message closes with an antidote to the poison offered by false teachers. This remedy includes living a life of confession and repentance as well as living a life governed by truth and not by your own feelings.

What makes a good leader? What are the character traits of a good leader? What are some skills we can learn to develop our leadership? Mel teaches about these topics and more in this episode of Leadership Night. Mel and the audience discuss the importance of self-awareness, the necessity of asking for feedback, and the value of delegation. They also explore the importance of leaders taking on new responsibilities in order to avoid stagnation and promote growth. Q&A follows.

In the first message of our series on 2 Peter, Pastor Mel teaches about qualities you should develop as followers of Jesus. These qualities are: moral excellence, knowledge, self-control, patient endurance, godliness, brotherly affection, and love for everyone. Mel's exposition of 2 Peter 1 explains how lacking these qualities makes you ineffective, unfruitful, shortsighted, and blind. The message concludes that standing firm in the truth and working hard are indispensable features of a life characterized by these qualities.

In session 3 of The Back40 Leadership Conference, Pastor Brad Price talks about what it’s like to lead a church in a small town. Through his experience pastoring in Alum Bank, Pennsylvania, he explains how churches should look for gaps in their community when strategizing which ministries to support. Brad argues that planting seeds through benevolence and community-service is one of the greatest ways to grow a church. Building your team is more important than building your budget. If you focus on building your team first, your budget will grow in turn. Q&A follows.

Mel, Todd, and Michael discuss the concept of reproof and how to determine who is fit for it and who isn't. Jesus said, "Do not cast your pearls before swine." and so as Christians we need to use discernment in who we attempt to correct. How fast can you tell when a person is not fit for reproof? What does this person look like? The conversation turns to the topic of cynicism, and how a pastor might square up with the realities of suffering and evil without becoming cynical. They also talk about various Christian pathologies associated with cynicism.

In the fifth and final part of our series on the five solas of the Reformation, Pastor Mel teaches about the doctrine of Soli Dec Gloria (which means glory to God alone). Christians are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, as revealed by Scripture alone, to the glory of God alone. The essence of Soli Deo Gloria is that everything is done for God's glory alone to the exclusion of man's self-glorification and pride. Mel explains how we can bring God glory by living honorably, praising God with our mouths, being obedient to God, producing much fruit in our lives, living generously, avoiding sexual sin, and living a glory focused life.

In part four of our series on the five solas of the Reformation, Pastor Mel teaches about the doctrine of Sola Scriptura (which means scripture alone). Christians are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, as revealed by Scripture alone, to the glory of God alone. Mel sets up the message by arguing that if the Bible is true, then any claim in conflict with what it says is false. He takes us on a tour of the holy books of various world religions and explains why the Bible is distinct from them. He then makes an apologetic defense of scripture by answering common complaints about it. He finishes the message by explaining the real-world benefits of daily reading the word of God.