7 Practices of Spirit-Empowered Disciples

FOSTER CARE & THE CHURCH 94

The shape of leadership

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MARKERS ALONG THE DISCIPLESHIP PATHWAY

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Issue 37 | Winter 2022

F E AT U R E S

38

7 Practices of Spirit-Empowered Disciples Markers along the discipleship pathway ELLY MARROQUIN

48

The Trustworthy Pastor Credibility must be earned, not assumed SCOTT WILSON

58

WITH You can’t impact your community if you ignore its pain WALTER HARVEY

Winter 2022

122

Assemblies of God College Guide 2022

124 A Long-Term Investment

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AG higher education prepares students for a lifetime of service | JOE CASTLEBERRY

Winter 2022

D E PA R T M E N T S

Worth a Division FROM THE

8 A good manager, it turns out, is worth an entire division EDITOR GEORGE P. WOOD

The Serious Business of Heaven

FROM THE 10 HEART Joy in ministry comes when we prioritize God’s mission of OF THE GS | DOUG CLAY restoration

Habits of Effective Ministry Leaders MAKE IT 110

Habits for becoming a better ministry leader and building COUNT a healthier church | STEPHEN BLANDINO

A Broken Heart for Broken People THIS IS 136 MY

STORY

“How two weeks on the street changed me” | RICK COLE

LEADERSHIP

Preparing Tomorrow’s Leaders Today 14 Q&A A conversation with MIKE RAKES

Rekindling the Fire When ministers lose sight of Jesus, they need SELF 18

personal revival | JAMIE MORGAN

The Emotionally Exhausted Pastor

HOME 22 What clergy and their spouses can do about burnout

MICHAEL MACKENZIE and KARI MACKENZIE

Deep Roots in Small Towns PRACTICE 26

What pastors and churches can do to minister effectively | DINO ESPINOZA

Using Social Media Redemptively ETHICS 30

Ask three questions before you post online

JOHN WOOTTON

• A Long Resiliency REVIEWS 34

• Seven Attitudes of Reconciling Christians • Recommended Reading | GEORGE P. WOOD

Winter 2022

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M I N I S T RY

Rebuilding Walls of Safety

PROFILE 66

Emily Houser and the Smoky Mountain Dream Center

GEORGE P. WOOD

What Do You Want Me to Do?

Why preachers should prepare their sermons with PREACHING 70

application in mind | TIFFANY ALLISON WOOD

What the Apocalypse Reveals About Worship WORSHIP 74

Lessons from the Book of Revelation | MELISSA ARCHER

Ministry on the Edge of Eternity COUNSELING 78

Bringing comfort to the dying and grieving

ELLIE CANFIELD

KIDS 82

YOUTH 86

ADULTS 90

Recruiting a Multigenerational Volunteer Team The five R’s of onboarding all ages | KATIE MACIEL

Reaching Gen Z What today’s young people most want from church leaders | JOSH PACKARD

A Heart for the Prisoner Four ways to mobilize believers to do prison ministry through your church | ERIC J. EARHART

SPECIAL SECTION: FOSTER CARE 94 Introduction

If God and the Church don’t help … | RICK DUBOSE 96 The American Foster Care Crisis The system isn’t working, so the Church must | ERIC PORTER 99 A Biblical Mandate to Care Scripture requires compassion for the vulnerable | ALLEN GRIFFIN 102 Misconceptions About Foster Parenting What’s keeping you from becoming involved? | SHAREN E. FORD 105 What Local Churches Can Do Five ways to help foster families succeed | JAY MOONEY and JOHAN MOSTERT

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FROM THE EDITOR

Worth a Division

By GEORGE P. WOOD

T

here’s a funny scene in the movie White Christmas where retired Maj. Gen. Thomas F. Waverly argues with his housekeeper, Emma Allen.

Frustrated because she had done something he didn’t like, Waverly complained, “I got along very well in the Army without you.”

“It took 15,000 men to take my place,” Allen replied.

A good manager, it turns out, is worth an entire division.

I know the truth of this from personal experience.

In 2010, I became executive editor of Assemblies of God Publications. What is Influence magazine today was Enrichment journal back then, and Rick Knoth was the founding managing editor.

By the time I came aboard, Rick had already completed nearly 25 years in editing and public relations for the AG national office. He joined Gospel Publishing House in 1986 as editor of Radiant Life youth curriculum. Then he worked in the Office of Public Relations as district and church relations coordinator.

In 1994, General Superintendent Thomas E. Trask tapped him to begin the process of creating Enrichment as a quarterly leadership publication for AG ministers. Rick made sure the journal appeared on time every quarter with high-quality, award-winning articles. Arguably, no one did more than him to make Enrichment a respected brand in Pentecostal and evangelical circles.

If memory serves, our first few months working together were awkward. I had big ideas about a new direction for the journal, along with an allergy to tight deadlines. Rick had spent the last decade and a half building a respected, on-time brand. Given the circumstances, friction easily could have developed between us.

What actually happened was 12 years of fruitful collaboration with someone I count as a close

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friend. Over the course of my life, I’ve benefited from a number of mentors: my father, Doyle Surratt, Jim Bradford … and Rick Knoth. He helped make first Enrichment, then Influence what they are today. He helped make me the editor I am today.

Rick retired at the end of 2021. His name appears on the masthead of this issue for the last time. But his influence on me, this magazine, and its readers will still be felt for years to come.

Everyone in ministry should have a Rick Knoth in their lives. I’m blessed to have the Rick Knoth in mine.

GEORGE P. WOOD is executive editor of Influence magazine.

You’re the Leader! Now What?

Want to take your team on a leadership journey?

Quantity discounts available at www.rodloy.com or by calling: 501-320-1201.

Rod Loy is lead pastor at FirstNLR in North Little Rock, Arkansas.

He leads a multisite church that annually gives over a million dollars to missions.

FROM THE HEART OF THE GS

The Serious Business of Heaven Joy in ministry comes when we prioritize God’s mission of restoration

By DOUG CLAY

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Winter 2022

A

s a new year of ministry begins, let me bring to your attention a fact and a question.

Fact: Joy goes wherever the gospel goes.

“I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people,” said the angel who announced Christ’s birth to the shepherds (Luke 2:10).

When the 72 returned from their first missions trip, they were filled with “joy,” exclaiming, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name” (Luke 10:17).

Answering critics who complained about His habit of eating with sinners, Jesus said, “There is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:10).

And when Christ ascended into heaven, His disciples were filled with “great joy” (Luke 24:52).

“Joy,” C. S. Lewis once wrote, “is the serious business of Heaven.”

Question: How filled with joy is your life and ministry at the present moment?

I ask because of a worrisome statistic I recently read. “With pastors’ well-being on the line, and many on the brink of burnout, 38 percent indicate they have considered quitting full-time ministry within the past year,” Barna reported last fall. “This percentage is up 9 full points (from 29%) since Barna asked church leaders this same question at the beginning of 2021.”

On the surface, the causes of pastoral burnout are obvious. Barna mentioned “the pandemic, along with intense congregational divisions and financial strain.” Perhaps you have experienced those stressors. I know I have.

I wonder whether the cause of burnout runs deeper, however. Follow my logic: If joy goes wherever the gospel goes, but we are not filled with joy, are we going places with the gospel?

Could it be that many pastors are burned out because managing a congregation during the present crisis has so consumed our time and energy that it has distracted us from Christ’s mission, the very thing that brings us joy?

If so, part of the solution to pastoral burnout is reprioritizing evangelism. After all, leading sinners to repentance is the sweet spot of ministry that even heaven celebrates.

In Luke 15, Jesus told three stories about the joy of finding what was lost: a sheep, a coin, and a son.

The last story — the Parable of the Prodigal Son — teaches five lessons we need to keep in mind as we reprioritize evangelism this year.

1. There is a little rebellion in each of us. Traditionally, we have identified the younger brother as the wayward one. He demanded his inheritance, left his father’s home, and “squandered his wealth in wild living” (verse 13). He was the obvious sinner.

The older brother was also a sinner, however. Outwardly, his actions conformed to his father’s will: “All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders” (verse 29). Inwardly, however, he did not share his father’s heart for his brother.

Knowing there are two ways of sinning — outward acts and inward attitudes — keeps us humble as we share the gospel. We are not “saints” bringing the gospel to “sinners.” Instead, as D.T. Niles put it, “Evangelism is just one beggar telling another beggar where to find the bread.”

2. Repentance means turning toward home.

Verse 13 says the younger brother had traveled to a “distant country.” The distance was more than geographical, however. For a Jew, taking a job feeding pigs was the ultimate indignity.

When the young man hit rock bottom, “he came to his senses” (verse 17) and realized he needed to return home. In Hebrew, the word for repentance is shuv, which means “to turn.” Repentance means turning around, going the opposite direction, doing a 180. In Jesus’ parable, it meant going home.

In returning, the young man hoped merely to become a servant in his father’s house. He failed to understand the depth of his father’s love.

Some people think they need to earn God’s favor.

There’s a time and place to correct those ideas, but the most important thing is that lost people turn toward God.

Leading sinners to repentance is the sweet spot of ministry that even heaven celebrates.

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If ministry prioritizes evangelism, then joy is just around the corner, for God is in the business of restoring people.

Notice, by the way, that the older son never left his father’s property, but he never went into the house either. “The older brother became angry and refused to go in” (verse 28). Repentance is a full commitment to be with the Father. Otherwise, we’re just standing outside with our self-righteous pride.

3. The goal of ministry is restoration. The most important character in Jesus’ parable is neither the younger brother nor the older one. It’s the waiting father, representing our Heavenly Father. He is the agent of total restoration.

When the younger son came to his senses, he rehearsed a little speech to give to his father: “I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants” (verse 19).

The father ignored that speech entirely and jubilantly proclaimed, “This son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found” (verse 24). This reminds us that our Heavenly Father wants to restore our relationship with Him to its created potential.

The older son reminds us there is another dimension to divine restoration, however — the restoration of our relationship with others. In context, Jesus told the three parables of Luke 15 to rebut the religious leaders who criticized Jesus’ ministry among sinners (verses 1–2).

It is telling how the older brother talked about the prodigal with his father: “this son of yours” (verse 30). In his response, the father reframed the relational terms: “this brother of yours” (verse 32).

If the gospel means we are sons and daughters, not servants, then it also means we are siblings, not strangers.

4. Resentment is a temptation to avoid. Jesus’ parable ends on a note of uncertainty. We know the younger brother came home, but the parable concludes with the older brother still outside. Did he ever reconcile with his brother?

Perhaps Jesus ended on this note because

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resentment is a constant temptation for religious folks. Yes, we know we’re supposed to share the gospel with sinners, but “those people” vote for the wrong political party! They’re on the opposite side of the culture wars! They’re taking America down the path of secularism!

All those things can be true, but they’re irrelevant as far as Christ’s mission goes. They’re older-brother excuses for not loving younger prodigals. If our struggle is “not against flesh and blood” (Ephesians 6:12), people are not our enemies. They’re the brothers and sisters we’re trying to bring home.

5. The Church should be a place of rejoicing.

The parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son all include celebration. Again, joy goes wherever the gospel goes. The kingdom of God is a party!

And what’s not to celebrate? God has restored our relationship with Him and our relationships with one another. That’s the good news.

Earlier, I asked how joyful your life and ministry were. Now I want to ask, how joyful is the church or ministry you lead?

The answer to that question may determine whether you will join the ministers who are considering calling it quits. If ministry is just about managing a congregation during a crisis and nothing else, it’s hard to justify the wear and tear of ministry.

But if ministry prioritizes evangelism, then joy is just around the corner, for God is in the business of restoring people. This year, then, let’s rededicate ourselves to the serious business of heaven — the joy that comes when sinners of all types come home.

DOUG CLAY is general superintendent of the Assemblies of God (USA).

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LEADERSHIP | Q & A

Preparing Tomorrow’s Leaders Today A CONVERSATION WITH MIKE RAKES

M

ike Rakes, D.Min., recently became the fifth president of Evangel University in Springfield, Missouri. An ordained Assemblies of God minister and a graduate of Central Bible College, the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary, and Biola University, Rakes formerly served as lead pastor of Winston-Salem First (AG) in North Carolina. He is the author of Surrendered and Unafraid: The Flourishing of Faith During Seasons of Suffering, which Rakes wrote following the loss of his 27-year-old daughter.

Why do the Church and academy need each other?

We all bear the same responsibility to get the gospel into every avenue of the human experience.

The Spirit is calling students into the marketplace, local churches and pulpits, and missional hot spots all around the world. Since both the Church and the academy care about equipping students

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for God’s work, we must partner together to give this generation every opportunity to live a life that impacts others. To rescue, equip and deploy the next generation into the harvest field seven days a week, we need both.

Can you explain what you mean when you talk about rescuing, equipping and deploying?

The enemy’s strategy is becoming more overt as the “ruler of the kingdom of the air” (Ephesians 2:2) makes his play for the minds and hearts of even the very young. By “rescue,” I mean that we create experiential bridges to get students to a university that believes in the supernatural power of God. By “equip,” I mean that we prepare compassionate innovators who can embody hope to the hurting around them — no matter where they are in the world. And by “deploy,” I mean that Evangel graduates are spiritually responsible people who are socially engaged in making a difference in

their world and advancing the Great Commission.

What is the importance of Pentecostal higher education today?

This is not the moment to shy away from our Pentecostal roots or heritage but to be a people who listen to our past with fresh ears. I love the word Spirit-empowered, but we must also be Spirit-driven.

Pentecostal higher education is not selling thoughts from the past alone but creating environments that cause a generation to realize it’s their turn now and that God uses every vocation in the world as a tributary of His grace and love.

University life is not an older version of high school or youth group. At Evangel, our plan is comprehensive and holistic. We are not just putting thoughts into students’ minds; they are immersed into a culture of deeper spirituality through our chapels (you can check them out online) and Spirit-led

classrooms. Students are also surrounded and shaped by a strong core of their peers, student leaders who are fervent for God themselves.

The statistics are clear when it comes to middle school and high school students that biblical literacy is at an all-time low. However, at Evangel University, we take the opportunity to accelerate biblical knowledge, make up for years of missed exposure to God’s Word, and prepare theologically informed leaders with 18 credit hours of Bible for every vocation. These students will be more in touch with God’s Word than their counterparts coming from mainstream institutions, whether they enter the pulpit or the marketplace.

Evangel University leads learners into thinking and experiencing God for themselves. EU is real life.

In essence, students find their spiritual legs to carry them into what God has — Mike Rakes prepared for them.

The world desperately needs committed, talented and passionate followers of Jesus who are skilled enough to become compassionate innovators in their chosen callings.

“This is not the moment to shy away from our Pentecostal roots or heritage but to be a people who listen to our past with fresh ears.”

Some worry about the possibility of Christian universities losing federal funds or getting edged out by competition from community colleges. How concerned are you about the financial future of Christian education in America?

Frankly, I am not concerned about the loss of federal grants or the possible addition of free community colleges all over the country. Parents and

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pastors should not assume that two years at a local community college, free or not, will leave the student unchanged. Some mainstream intellectuals teaching at state schools find our most fundamental beliefs — like a virgin birth or an intelligent God at creation — laughable.

The cultural signs around us should stir up donors to begin to prayerfully help make up the financial gaps for students if they go to a Christian school. No kid’s destiny is worth throwing away to save a few thousand dollars, and I believe the Spirit will help us find a way to give our graduating high schoolers a chance for a Pentecostal education.

At Evangel, if a student wants to come, we have a highly attentive enrollment team that works to close whatever financial gaps are created by the government pulling back on funding.

This generation is already full of hunger for the authentic power of God to be manifested, so why not continue God’s guiding activity in their life by watching Him be their source of funds rather than the government? Nothing is impossible with God, and incoming first-year students who learn that will partner with the Spirit for the rest of their lives.

In essence, a Christian higher education should be looked at as an investment into a student’s successful future. Individuals put significant funds toward meaningful investments, knowing that the return on those investments will be high and rewarding. That is exactly what an Evangel education is — a meaningful investment that will shape the minds and hearts of future world changers.

In 2018, Evangel established a Center for Compassion to train students in compassion ministry and match them with opportunities to serve. The university also offers online and in-person degrees in community relief and development. What is the Kingdom impact of initiatives such as these?

Evangel’s mission is to have a broad reach in

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our educational approach, equipping students to become servants of God to impact the Church and society globally. The ethos of Evangel was the ethos of the Suffering Servant, who saved you and me and the world.

We believe that students learn by doing. The Center for Compassion provides ways for our students to engage in compassionate service to broken hearts worldwide. The first day freshmen arrive on campus in the fall, they engage in compassion initiatives all over the city.

In my lifetime, suffering has never been more prevalent in the U.S. and the world than it is right now. Whatever calling God is taking them into, every student will need to embody the willingness to give themself for others like our Lord.

Why do you believe compassion is an essential part of Pentecostal education?

The essence of the Spirit is compassion. The miracle-working Messiah told us that He had to leave so that the Comforter would come. He knew and had experienced suffering in this life and knew we would need compassion and comfort from another realm not to lose heart and to endure to the end.

Compassion has been a hallmark of Evangel and its alumni since the beginning. We have hundreds of alumni engaged in compassion ministries, and many have founded their own compassion organizations.

Evangel has always been all-in on the compassion ethos. It’s exhibited by our new strategic partnership with Convoy of Hope. We have an incredible opportunity to help fulfill the Great Commission by graduating students who have learned strategic skills in a Pentecostal setting, and who enter the global marketplace delivering hope and compassion to hurting people all around them.

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LEADERSHIP | SELF

Rekindling the Fire When ministers lose sight of Jesus, they need personal revival

By JAMIE MORGAN

Y

“

our heart has layers and layers of calluses.”

This is what I sensed God saying to me after I brought my complaints to Him in the fall of 2020. For six months, I had led my church through the uncharted waters of a pandemic.

Watching daily news updates about COVID19, holding hospital parking lot prayer meetings, and preaching online sermons from a pulpit in my living room had become my new normal.

I had preached the funerals of several dear church members, but there had been little time for me to grieve. Through it all, I was frantically trying to hold our congregation together. I had been putting on a brave face, but I felt like I had been swept over Niagara Falls in a barrel, unable to tell which end was up.

The most disorienting part of all was realizing I had let my fire for God go out. Even as I sought to minister to others, I was in desperate need of personal revival.

Has this ever happened to you? Prayerlessness, indifference, numbness, cynicism, lingering doubt, and a loss of passion can be signs of an inner issue that requires attention.

Jesus Above All Else The apostle Paul was the picture of ministry zeal. He worked tirelessly to preach the gospel and advance the Kingdom. Yet he experienced challenges just as we do.

In Philippians 3:4–14, Paul reveals the secret to success through all the ups and downs of life and ministry: knowing Christ (verse 8).

Paul’s primary concern wasn’t his resume, his career trajectory, his ministry to-do list, or even his personal troubles (after all, he was writing from prison). For Paul, the main thing wasn’t meeting people’s expectations, overcoming budgetary

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constraints, or spinning countless ministry plates.

It was knowing Christ. That became Paul’s focal point and goal, and it needs to be ours as well (verses 12–14).

Knowing Jesus means loving Him and experiencing His love in return. It is making Christ our dwelling place from the time we open our eyes at daybreak until we lay our heads on our pillows at night. It is abiding in Christ.

John 15:1–17 illustrates the importance of this.

Jesus compared believers to branches growing from a vine, which represents Christ. Any branch that fails to remain in the vine becomes fruitless and

We must never let the urgency of ministry demands replace the one thing that matters most: knowing Jesus.

lifeless. The verb translated “remain,” or “abide” (ESV), appears 11 times in this passage. To remain is to stay in relationship with Christ and live daily in His presence. “Apart from me,” Jesus said, “you can do nothing” (verse 5).

When our life and ministry become something other than knowing Jesus, we need personal revival.

It is then that we need to refocus on Jesus and rekindle our passion for Him. When we do, we’ll lead by example and point others toward a living, growing relationship with Jesus (Philippians 3:17).

Staying focused on Jesus above all else is the key to fruitful ministry. Knowing Jesus is infinitely more important than anything we can do for Him. Jesus is revival!

Rekindling the Fire It’s essential for church leaders to perform periodic spiritual heart checks to ensure that knowing Jesus has not been diminished or replaced by unhealthy ministry practices. And if it has, we must allow the Lord to bring needed course correction. Here are four questions for reflection: 1. How can I ensure that my relationship with Christ takes priority over all else? Martin Luther was famously quoted as saying, “I have so much to do today that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.” While the amount of time one spends in prayer is an individual conviction, Luther makes the point that our time with Jesus must come first. After all, ministry to others flows out of our relationship with Him. This requires us to guard our devotional time with Jesus as a valuable treasure. We must never let the urgency of ministry demands replace the one thing that matters most: knowing Jesus. If we do, our fire will dim.

2. How can I maintain my passion for Jesus amid the challenges of ministry? Sometimes it seems that before we can catch our breath from one ministry trial, we are facing another one. After a while, it can begin to feel like we have bruises on top of bruises.

In addition to our own problems, we carry the

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burdens of those under our care.

If we fail to cast all our anxiety on the Lord, our passion for Him will suffocate under the heavy load.

As you kneel daily at the feet of Jesus, ask yourself these questions: What ministry problems am I still carrying? What burdens of others have I not cast upon the Lord? Then picture yourself walking up to the throne of Jesus, burdens in hand, and releasing everything to Him. Say, “Jesus, these burdens are Yours.”

3. How can I draw closer to Jesus even as I walk through pain in ministry? Surrendering our ministry pain to Jesus as soon as we experience it is crucial. If we don’t, we’ll build a memorial to that traumatic event, pitch a tent at its base, camp out, and remain stuck. In addition, we may make decisions from a place of woundedness. This can include assuming a defensive posture that causes our hearts to harden toward God and others.

Therefore, immediately after a painful incident occurs, go to God in prayer. Offer Him your hurt, questions, loss and disappointment. Be honest with God about what you’re feeling. Then ask your loving Heavenly Father to reach out His healing hand and close the wound in your heart, soften the scar tissue, and tear down the walls. Lastly, ask God to use the painful event to make you more like Jesus.

4. How can I recapture the awe of God that I had when I first entered the ministry? God’s undeniable, active presence in our lives, His

awesome nature, and His marvelous glory should inspire wonder, reverence, amazement and worship. When we lose that sense of awe and wonder and start treating God and His ways as ordinary, we are no longer living with the childlike faith Jesus wants us to have (Matthew 18:3–4).

My beautiful granddaughters, ages 4 to 6, constantly remind me what this looks like. They view with wonder many of the things that seem mundane to me. Helping me get the mail, complete simple household chores, or bake absolutely thrills them. Seeing life through their eyes reminds me of how I should relate to God. To recapture the awe of God, intentionally approach your relationship with Him with childlike faith and enthusiasm once again.

There is no time to waste in getting back to what matters most. In a world that needs to know Jesus, there is an urgency to stay sharp, keen, and boiling hot for God. The harvest of souls and the salvation of nations depend upon it. The ability to hear direction from God in these turbulent times depends upon it.

Ask the Holy Spirit to rekindle your fire. He will. He has been waiting for you to call on Him.

Surrendering our ministry pain to Jesus as soon as we experience it is crucial. If we don’t, we’ll build a memorial to that traumatic event, pitch a tent at its base, camp out, and remain stuck.

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JAMIE MORGAN, D.Min., is lead pastor of Life Church (AG) in Williamstown, New Jersey, and author of Thirsty: A 31-Day Journey to Personal Revival.

LEADERSHIP | HOME

The Emotionally Exhausted Pastor What clergy and their spouses can do about burnout

By MICHAEL MACKENZIE and KARI MACKENZIE

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“As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart” (Proverbs 27:19).

S

haron* heard her husband’s car pull into the driveway. It was mid-evening. The screen door slammed behind him as he shuffled his way into the study where he would remain until late that night. No kiss at the door or, “How was your day?” No eating with the family and catching up on their day. Expressions of a happy home had stopped many months ago.

What is the problem? Burnout. Sharon’s husband, Steve, is a pastor, and he is burned out.

Burnout. It sounds like a tame enough word. Like someone is tired, needs a break, a rest. It is much more than that and can be much worse. It is often the gateway experience for pastors to do much more dangerous, more destructive behaviors. Pastors are trying to medicate their pain or are acting out in bitterness and resentment because of how bad they feel from doing ministry.

What is burnout? In her book on the subject, psychologist Christina Maslach defined burnout as “a syndrome of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment that can occur among individuals who do ‘people work’ of some kind.”

What does burnout look like? For the pastor, symptoms can include dreading the next phone call or meeting as people have become another problem to deal with, being too exhausted for doing much more than the absolute minimum required of the job, a lack of passion and fulfilment in ministry accomplishments, pulling back from personal relationships, being indecisive, questioning one’s calling, and seeing everything more darkly than it really is.

Often the ones who notice burnout first and the most are the spouse and family. Pastors are there but aren’t there. Anything extra requested of them can be met with frustration and irritation. Pastors experiencing burnout do not lead in doing anything, whether it is family fun or projects around the

house. They do not engage with passion and energy.

It wears on all the relationships in the family.

How does a pastor who started on fire burn out?

The wounds a pastor experiences contribute — people leaving the church, unfair judgments from others, unrealistic expectations to be good at everything, regular conflict within the church and/or leadership, spiritual warfare, and many other hits that come with being a pastor.

What largely determines how one handles the pressures, expectations, and hits that come with being in ministry is the pastor’s personal emotional health.

A sometimes-overlooked contributor to burnout is the pastor’s personal brokenness. It is what we call the issues beneath the issues. What largely determines how one handles the pressures, expectations, and hits that come with being in ministry is the pastor’s personal emotional health.

For example, a pastor who grew up in a dysfunctional home where boundaries were too rigid, too relaxed, or ever-changing can struggle to set reasonable boundaries around ministry to protect marital and home life.

Or a pastor who grew up with parents who used shaming as a parental intervention can struggle with feeling not good enough and being fearful of letting others down, which can affect ministry decision making.

Or a pastor with a lack of familial stability can be looking for security and not want to rock the boat in any way at the church — or, on the other extreme, be so used to chaos that they create it wherever they go. The pastor’s brokenness can play more into

* Sharon and Steve are composites of several couples the authors have known.

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their ministry approach than they realize.

What can you or your spouse do if burnout is a problem? If the burnout is not too severe (meaning you still experience some joy and laughter, you are able to handle challenges, and you are still engaging relationally), but you or your spouse can tell you are wearing around the edges, then there are several steps the two of you can try: 1. You can open the conversation. Ideally, you begin by telling your spouse, “I am not doing well.”

Regularly, we hear where a Christian leader has not told anyone of their struggles, keeping it a secret to protect others and not wanting to admit there is a problem until it gets bad.

Your spouse can also try opening the conversation if you don’t. For example, your spouse could say, “You have been more tired recently. Do you know what is going on?” Or the spouse could say, “You once really looked forward to preaching, but now you seem to dread it. What changed?”

2. Go deep and personal. Once the conversation is open, you can spend time looking at how your personal brokenness plays into the path to burnout, even if it is looking at how your own issues affect how you interpret the actions and words of others.

The five whys is one approach. Keep asking “why” until you get to the root cause.

3. When you get to the root of the personal brokenness, develop a plan for healing this wound. Is counseling needed? Is there a resource, book, class or support group that helps with this issue? Research and find the appropriate intervention. Then get that intervention.

4. Take a sabbatical. A sabbatical can be what you and your spouse need to rest, get some perspective, and adjust how you do life, marriage and ministry.

5. Clarify your calling. Another factor contributing to burnout is taking on responsibilities that don’t fit within what you are called to do. It can be very beneficial for you and your spouse to spend time prayerfully considering your calling as a pastor and as a ministry couple.

There are responsibilities within every ministry

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that do not fit the passion and gifting of the pastor.

But knowing your calling and working with leadership to see whether your job description can more closely line up with your calling is life-giving. Having a calling that helps you serve together builds intimacy and meaning as a couple. You just need to be careful that serving together is not the only way you connect as a couple.

If the burnout is severe — where you are emotionally numb, regularly irritable, and perhaps even frustrated and resentful about ministry; you have withdrawn from a lot of relationships; and you regularly talk or think about leaving the ministry — then you need outside help.

Again, burnout can be a serious condition. If not dealt with, it typically leads to medicating the pain and numbness. Most pastors we have worked with who had affairs, abused alcohol, or used pornography were burned out before these problems began.

We recently spoke with a pastor who is very burned out, and his marriage is hanging in the balance. He is resistant to telling leadership as he does not know whether they will be understanding, and he is fearful he might lose his position. Unfortunately, this can happen. But much more often when a pastor and spouse open up, they find the support and help needed.

Talk and pray as a couple about whom you want to tell first. Choose someone you trust, then get the help you need.

Burnout is treatable. The causes of burnout are fixable. When you recover from burnout, you will be a better pastor, a better spouse, and a better parent.

There is hope. There is healing.

MICHAEL MACKENZIE, D.Min., and KARI MACKENZIE, D.Min., have specialized in caring for Christian leaders for over 20 years. They are therapists and directors at Marble Retreat, an intensive counseling center for pastors and missionaries in Marble, Colorado. Michael is the author of Don’t Blow Up Your Ministry.

89%

LE ADE RSHIP | PR AC TICE

Deep Roots in Small Towns What pastors and churches can do to minister effectively

By DINO ESPINOZA

W

hen I became the pastor of Templo Emanuel (Assemblies of God) in Crystal City, Texas, I wasn’t looking for a long-term position. I already had 15 years of ministry experience — five years as a pastor and 10 years as a district youth director. I had planned to become a missionary in Mexico or Central America, but I agreed to fill the pulpit at Templo Emanuel for two years.

That was 36 years ago. I am still one of about 7,000 people living in this south Texas town. I am still serving the same congregation. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

People often ask me, “How have you managed to stay so long in such a small community?”

My answer comes entirely from hindsight. When the Lord brought me here, I just wanted to be faithful. I never imagined this long journey of steady progress in the same place.

God has given me great love for this church and community. He has also helped me learn some important ministry principles. I have discovered six things pastors and churches can do to grow deep roots in small towns. The first three are primarily for church leaders, and the other three apply to the church as a whole. (Of course, there is some overlap since every member of the congregation should be involved in ministry inside and outside the church.)

The Pastor First, be willing to change. Over the years, I have changed my personal plans. I have changed my patterns of thinking. I have changed my strategies. I

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have changed many of my preconceived ideas about life and ministry in a small town.

At the same time, God has allowed me to keep my passion for the pulpit, my love for lost souls, and my heart for missions. God has given me abundant opportunities to put them to use serving Him and others. With renewed vision and the support of a loving congregation, I am pursuing the Great Commission right where I am.

Second, know your community. Our Fellowship has nearly 13,000 churches across the U.S. Each church is in a community with a unique identity, culture, history, and set of challenges. This is true of small-town churches as well.

To minister to your community, you need to know and understand it. You also need to participate in it. What initiatives are civic leaders planning? What problems and goals has the local school board identified? How can your congregation partner with them to serve people and meet needs?

As the community changes, the church must also adapt. That may mean creating a new format for church gatherings or developing new strategies for evangelism.

I am blessed to have an engaged, creative, and community-minded team of leaders. I have learned to listen to them and allow their visions to inform mine.

members who aren’t part of your congregation.

Attend high school football games. Get to know your neighbors. Recognize and honor those who serve the community. Join a civic organization.

Participate in community events.

As pastor of Templo Emanuel, I have attended groundbreaking ceremonies, graduations, civic forums, city council meetings, school district conferences, and school programs. I have accepted invitations to speak, and I have accepted invitations simply to participate as a member of the audience.

I’ve served on the Zavala County Census committee, the City Airport Renovation Committee, and the District Drug-Free Committee. I have been the high school band booster club treasurer for 28 years and the president of the Crystal City Ministerial Alliance

To minister to your community, you need to know and understand it. You also need to participate in it.

Third, build relationships through community involvement. Small communities revolve around relationships. Build connections not only with church families, but also with community

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for 34 years. Every opportunity to serve is also an opportunity to invest in relationships.

The Congregation First, be visible. More than 100 families consider Templo Emanuel their church home, but there are still many in our community who do not attend a church at all. Increasing our visibility is one way to connect with neighbors who need to hear a message of hope and love.

My older brother, Efraim Espinoza, was my predecessor in leading the church. In his 14 years as pastor, he placed this growing congregation on the map by constructing a new building, opening a Christian daycare center, and planning many community events.

We have endeavored to build on this foundation of visible, community-oriented ministry. Last year, for example, we partnered with more than 20 agencies and businesses to host a We are not just back-to-school event, where we here for those distributed supwho subscribe plies to at least 500 students. It to our theology. was an opportunity to share the love of Christ with people who have never attended one of our church services.

Second, minister to the entire community.

We are the only Assemblies of God congregation in the city, but we are not just here for those who subscribe to our theology. We believe God has called us to minister to the entire community.

Our singers and musicians have participated in county and civic celebrations. We have contributed tables, chairs, podiums and portable sound systems for community events.

We have developed relationships with government leaders, many of whom have expressed gratitude for our work in the community. Templo Emanuel is often the lead church in cooperative events that support our senior adults, law

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enforcement agencies, and schools.

Just as God gives favor to all who ask, we want to be available and generous in our community engagement. Living out our faith in this way not only strengthens us as a congregation, it also attracts visitors to our Sunday services.

Third, remain Christ-centered. In every opportunity we have to serve our community, we never lose sight of our calling to represent Jesus. I frequently sit with elected leaders for breakfast meetings or roundtable discussions, but I will not stay when the subject or objectives become politically polarized.

Even as we forge ahead, we are mindful of our rich heritage. Fifty years ago, I was honored to serve as secretary of the San Antonio Section of the Assemblies of God with H.C. Ball leading us as sectional presbyter. Our ministry exists because of the sacrifices of men and women who had a vision for a Spanish Pentecostal church in this city. I honor their faith, their silent mentoring, and the open doors they gave me.

We stand on the shoulders of dedicated ministers who, despite experiencing persecution and criticism because of their Pentecostal beliefs, earned the respect of their neighbors by loving people and pointing to Jesus.

Crystal City is primarily a nonevangelical community. The people here know we have Pentecostal roots. Yet they seek our ministry and prayers. God continues to give us His grace to serve as faithful witnesses to our community.

I have changed over the years. Our church has grown and changed. Our community and our world have certainly changed. But the message of hope and truth for a community that has a lot of religion but needs to encounter Jesus is unwavering.

DINO ESPINOZA is senior pastor of Templo Emanuel (AG) in Crystal City, Texas.

MAKE PRAYER YOUR PASSION VISIT AGWM.ORG/BTG OR SCAN THE CODE TO PRAY SPECIFICALLY EACH WEEK FOR THOSE IN EVERY CORNER OF THE GLOBE.

LEADERSHIP | ETHICS

Using Social Media Redemptively Ask three questions before you post online

By JOHN WOOTTON

F

or years, companies have been harnessing the power of social media to sell their products and build their brands. It has taken a while, but more and more churches and ministers are realizing the potential of these tools to share the message of the gospel with a world that desperately needs to hear about the hope Jesus offers.

Unfortunately, not every Christian on social media is helping the cause of Christ. Some are stirring up division, spreading misinformation, and shirking

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their responsibility to be witnesses of Jesus. Instead of making disciples, they are making enemies, skeptics, and echo chambers. It is not only concerning, but it also has far-reaching ethical implications.

For ministers especially, social media use should be about more than getting “likes” and “clicks.”

Every communication platform, and every conversation, is an opportunity to represent Jesus to the world, and we must take that seriously. Here are three questions to consider as you reflect on how you and your church use social media: 1. Who is your audience? The apostles adapted the unchanging message of the gospel to reach people in different contexts.

Paul said, “I have become all things to all people

so that by all possible means I might save some” (1 Corinthians 9:22). Paul recognized that he needed to communicate differently to Gentiles who were unfamiliar with the Scriptures than he did to the Jewish people in the synagogues.

Similarly, many of the people who see our social media posts are not yet followers of Jesus. And some likely have no church background at all. Thus, what we say in 280 characters on a Twitter account should probably differ from what we say to congregants at a midweek Bible study.

God calls us to be salt and light to the world and to set an example for the believers we influence.

When we carefully consider our various audiences and tailor our messages to reach them, we will evangelize and disciple more effectively.

2. How should you engage? We want to steward our limited time and energy well, and that means going where we can reach the most people. Connection cards and surveys can shed light on how visitors and regular attenders access information. Did they learn about the church on social media — and if so, which platform? Do they prefer to hear about upcoming events via email, the church website, or social media?

We live in a digital world, and online ministry is here to stay. In a 2020 Barna Group survey of U.S. churched adults, a majority of millennial (53%) and Generation Z (51%) respondents indicated that even after the pandemic ended, they would prefer either mostly online services or a combination of digital and physical gatherings, rather than a largely in-person church model.

This tells me we can and should expand the ways we influence others with the good news, and that includes using social media. I routinely seek input from younger team members who know the latest social media trends and how to navigate various platforms.

Of course, it’s not necessary to be in every social media space. We focus on quality over quantity — both in terms of the number of platforms we utilize and the number of posts we share. Managing one or two accounts well is better than attempting

four or five and doing even one of them poorly.

3. What should you avoid? We don’t have to comment on everything. In fact, it’s probably best if we don’t. Silence does not always equal complacency, and there is wisdom in stewarding our public commentary.

Every communication platform, and every conversation, is an opportunity to represent Jesus to the world, and we must take that seriously.

Paul confronted the Corinthians about their sin but said it was not his job to judge those who were outside the church (1 Corinthians 5:12–13). Verbal challenges and rebukes toward people who were not yet part of the worship community focused on their core need to surrender the entirety of their lives to the lordship of Jesus.

This is not to suggest that Christians should say or do nothing on social media. On the contrary, we should graciously and generously encourage, advocate, share, invite, comfort, pray, and point to Jesus.

However, we must remember that when we attach the name of Jesus or His Church to a divisive social or political ideology, we immediately turn off those who see things differently. They can miss the love of Jesus because they can’t get past the notion that God endorses a different political party than the one with which they identify.

Further, we incite fellow believers who disagree to counter our position publicly, and we end up showing a watching world division rather than unity. This diminishes our effectiveness as witnesses for Christ.

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Redemptive Purpose Using a variety of methods to get people’s attention is nothing new. In fact, the Bible teaches that God communicates with us in different ways: • Creation makes His divine nature obvious, even to wicked people (Romans 1:18–20).

• His Law is internally hardwired into the consciences of humanity (Romans 2:14–15).

• Scripture — all of it — points to Jesus (Luke 24:27; John 5:39).

• Christ incarnate revealed God through His words and deeds (John 1:18).

• Pentecost released Spirit-empowered believers and worship communities to fulfill the Great Commission by declaring and displaying God’s love (Matthew 28:18–20; Acts 1:8).

God is willing to do whatever it takes to draw people to himself. We can follow His example by using social media to motivate disciples and let a hurting world know that Jesus is the answer.

Dos and Don’ts Here are 12 do’s and don’ts of ministering on social media: 1. Do show consistency in your online presence, both in responding to people and initiating interactions. Even when he was in prison, Paul managed to stay in touch with his followers.

2. Don’t post just for the sake of posting, and don’t disappear for long periods without explanation.

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3. Do prayerfully and thoughtfully engage with creativity, empathy, wisdom, encouragement, and appropriate humor (1 Thessalonians 5:11; Hebrews 3:13).

4. Don’t sow seeds of division or resentment (Romans 12:18; Ephesians 4:29). James 1:19–20 says, “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.”

5. Do strive for personal humility and authenticity (Romans 12:3,9).

6. Don’t draw undue attention to yourself, either by self-glorification or by stoking concern over an unhealthy focus on your personal flaws (Proverbs 27:2; 2 Timothy 1:7).

7. Do talk about Jesus and His Church in ways non-Christians and new believers can understand (1 Corinthians 3:1–3; 1 Peter 2:2).

8. Don’t overwhelm an unchurched audience with content that is more fitting for established worshippers (Hebrews 5:12).

9. Do promote Jesus, along with the testimonies of people who honor Him and His Word (Acts 4:33).

10. Don’t hamper unity by vaguely or specifically criticizing the Church or Christian leaders on social media platforms (Matthew 18:15–20; John 17:20–21).

11. Do share the simple and powerful truth of the gospel (Romans 1:16).

12. Don’t share misinformation or conspiracies (Philippians 4:8). Spreading falsehoods damages your credibility and detracts from the message of Christ.

JOHN WOOTTON is district superintendent of the Ohio Ministry Network (AG) in Columbus, Ohio.

LE ADE RSHIP | REVIE WS

A Long Resiliency

By GEORGE P. WOOD

I

n the 1992 vice presidential debate, James Stockdale opened his remarks by asking, “Who am I? Why am I here?” The audience laughed, but his questions were (and are) serious. They concern identity and mission, respectively.

This new year, many pastors are asking themselves Stockdale’s questions. Two years of the politics, pandemic, and protests that have divided the nation have also divided their congregations, leaving them dazed.

Longer-term trends such as secularism, privatization of faith, and professional specialization have left pastors confused.

The result is vocational uncertainty for pastors and missional drift for congregations. What is a pastor in a secular age? What do churches do when media influencers preach, psychologists offer spiritual counsel, activists lead social change, and self-help gurus provide the leadership advice even pastors crave?

No wonder many pastors ask who they are and why they are here.

Tom Nelson helps pastors think through these questions in The Flourishing Pastor. He leads Christ Community Church, a multisite Evangelical Free congregation in the Kansas City metroplex, and is president of Made to Flourish, whose mission is “to empower pastors and their churches to integrate faith, work, and economic wisdom for the flourishing of their communities.”

Nelson uses Psalm 78:72 — “David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them” — to outline the vocational clarity, holistic integrity, and leadership skill necessary for pastoral ministry.

Let’s briefly look at each of these three points:

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Vocational clarity. Pastors often equate vocation with job. They think of ministry in terms of tasks such as preaching, visitation, and administration. Nelson argues that the pastoral vocation goes much deeper.

“At the very heart of the pastoral calling is our indwelling of this ongoing and unfolding story about Jesus — living, loving, breathing, and sharing the good news,” Nelson writes. “The pastor has a lifelong quest not merely to know about God, but to know God personally and to be known by God intimately.”

Relationship with God both comes before ministry and makes ministry possible.

Holistic integrity. Nelson says pastors should resist the temptation to define integrity solely in ethical terms, as “conformity to a set of rules, being honest with others, or even being true to ourselves.”

Integrity includes, but is not limited to, ethics.

Integrity encompasses all of life.

“Jesus invites everything we are and do to be brought into his yoke, his burden,” Nelson writes, alluding to Matthew 11:28–30. “To keep [Jesus] out of some parts of your life stagnates the whole you.”

Nelson calls this Matthean passage the “Great Invitation.” Pastors are not just disciple makers; they are lifelong disciples. They never arrive at the point where they can disregard Jesus’ command, “Follow me,” uttered at the beginning and end of His ministry (Mark 1:17; John 21:22).

Skillful leadership. Nelson identifies five competencies pastors must develop to lead congregations well: “faithful presence,” “cultivating a flourishing culture,” “connecting Sunday to Monday,” “a new scorecard,” and “finishing well.”

These competencies pertain to the spiritual formation of church members and the stewarding of congregational influence in the broader community.

Nelson says pastors are “called to nurture our parishioners’ souls and to equip them for their

callings and contributions in the world” and “must become more attentive to the well-being of our communities” and “the flourishing of the most vulnerable.”

Being precedes doing, and mission emerges from identity. The Flourishing Pastor thus narrows pastors’ self-understanding and broadens their horizon. Spiritual formation is a pastor’s primary task, both personally and congregationally. But the horizon of formation stretches beyond Sunday worship to Monday work.

Nelson writes, “Flourishing pastors are marked by a long resiliency in the same direction.”

As you lead in ministry this year, may you flourish in your love for Christ, and may Christ’s love give you resilience to pastor in an increasingly post-Christian world!

Book Reviewed Tom Nelson, The Flourishing Pastor: Recovering the Lost Art of Shepherd Leadership (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2021).

Seven Attitudes of Reconciling Christians

By GEORGE P. WOOD ough relationships are inevi“ T table,” writes P. 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.

The good news is that God has already done this. He “reconciled us to himself through Christ,” Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:18. That reconciliation comes with a commission. As Paul concludes verse 18, “[God] gave us the ministry of reconciliation.”

The primary direction of that ministry is Godward. “Be reconciled to God,” Paul writes in verse 20. Inevitably, however, reconciliation moves toward our relationships with others. Reconciled to God, we reconcile with others. By doing so, we apply the gospel to day-to-day concerns.

“At your greatest point of injustice is your greatest opportunity for Christlikeness,” writes Noble.

Living Reconciled is a book-length meditation on 2 Corinthians 5. It identifies seven attitudes that characterize Christians committed to the ministry of reconciliation:

1. I am controlled by Christ’s love.

2. I no longer live for myself.

3. I recognize no one according to the flesh.

4. I see others as brand new.

5. I have a ministry.

6. I have stopped counting peo ple’s offenses.

7. I am a reconciler.

Noble shows how each attitude is rooted in 2 Corinthians 5 but consistent with the broader message of Scripture, too. Along the way, he both informs readers of what gospel-centered relationships look like and inspires them to lean into that good news.

Noble’s advice is also field-tested. He is CEO and executive director of Peacemaker Ministries, a Christian conflict resolution ministry, as well as executive pastor of Valley Assembly (AG) in Spokane, Washington. Both roles offer a proving ground for the application of biblical principles to marriage, personal relationships, and church conflicts.

Living Reconciled includes review and discussion material at the end of each chapter, as well as a 31-day devotional titled “Why Be Reconciled?” at

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the end of the book. These features make the book useful for both individual and small group study.

Enterprising preachers might even consider using Noble’s seven attitudes as the outline of an expository series on 2 Corinthians 5. Combined with church members reading the book in small groups, such a series could help people make peace with God and one another.

Although Living Reconciled does not directly address the kind of social conflicts Americans have experienced over the past two years, what it says about personal conflicts is both a necessary and welcome first step in that direction.

“Injustice will come,” writes Noble in the

Recommended Reading

Topical Preaching in a Complex World Sam Chan and Malcolm Gill (Zondervan Academic)

Truth and relevance are the hallmarks of good preaching.

Sermons must reflect the Word of God, but they also must affect their hearers. In Topical Preaching, Sam Chan and Malcolm Gill defend topical sermons against their expository critics and show how to develop and deliver such sermons more effectively.

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book’s final words, “and you can still practice righteousness.”

Book Reviewed P. Brian Noble, Living Reconciled: 7 Ways to Bring Peace to Your Most Difficult Relationships (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2022).

GEORGE P. WOOD is executive editor of Influence magazine.

By INFLUENCE MAGAZINE

The Loneliness Epidemic Susan Mettes (Brazos Press)

Loneliness, according to Susan Mettes, is “the distress someone feels when their social connections don’t meet their need for emotional intimacy.” It is epidemic in America. In this book, Mettes corrects myths about the causes of loneliness and helps Christian leaders create communities where people can “form and develop new relationships,” especially as friends.

A History of Contemporary Praise & Worship Lester Ruth and Lim Swee Hong (Baker Academic)

This book charts “how two liturgical theologies — two ideas — reshaped Protestant worship.”

One emphasized God’s “presence” in the praises of His people. The other used innovative forms of music to accomplish the “purpose” of evangelizing people. The combination of these ideas explains the shape of congregational worship today.

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7 PRACTICES OF

MARKERS ALONG THE DISCIPLESHIP PATHWAY

By ELLY MARROQUIN

I

first set foot in an Assemblies of God church as a reluctant 9-year-old. I was determined to continue dismissing anything church-related.

Broken from my parents’ recent divorce, I resented my mother’s new embrace of Christianity and saw it as a crutch our family didn’t need.

I sat in the back of a National Girls Ministries (then Missionettes) class waiting for it to be over.

Despite my attempts to blend into the background, I didn’t escape the notice of the teachers and volunteers. They reached out

to me that night with disarming love and compassion.

Though I didn’t have the words for it at the time, these leaders started discipling me. Week after week, they poured into my life. Slowly, my walls came down. I began to imitate their prayers, their worship, and more. These practices brought me closer to Jesus — and I finally accepted Him. As a newly saved 11-year-old, I thought, What if God used me to plant a church one day? I tucked it in the back of my mind and continued living out Christianity the way I knew how: by faithfully engaging in the practices modeled to me.

Twenty years later, as my husband and I were planting a church and strategizing

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our approach to discipleship, my mind went back to that classroom where my spiritual formation began. I wanted our new church to be full of disciples whose attitudes and actions demonstrated that they were followers of Jesus, just like those in the church who changed my life.

Disciples are built through attitudes and actions, habits and patterns — practices that identify people as followers of Jesus. The New Testament word for disciple means “learner or follower,” and the journey of discipleship is one of lifelong, regular learning.

Throughout my life and ministry, I have discovered several indispensable practices that bolster the discipleship of individuals and churches. As the national Christian education and discipleship director for the Assemblies of God, I regularly receive phone calls from church leaders asking for guidance on discipleship.

Over the past year and a half, our national office team has worked with ministry leaders, discipleship directors, pastors, professors and laypeople to identify discipleship practices for every age.

To begin, we defined “disciple” as “a Spirit-empowered, lifelong follower of Jesus.” Then we asked what practices are indispensable for disciples. We came up with a list of seven practices — and you will recognize all of them. The goal here is not to share practices you’ve not thought of, but to ask whether your church is making disciples who participate in all these areas.

In which practice does your church most excel?

In which does your church most need improvement? Use this list as a conversation starter for your staff or ministry team to evaluate whether you are making biblical disciples.

BIBLE Spirit-empowered disciple accepts A the Bible as the authoritative truth and applies its instructions to everyday life.

Both the Old and New Testaments provide a launching pad for a deeper walk with Christ. While we may emphasize the New Testament as we introduce people to Jesus (especially in Western contexts), we should teach the Old Testament as well, empowering people to see the Bible as a unified whole that is relevant to their lives.

Jesus told the gathered crowds on the Galilean mountainside, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (Matthew 5:17). This declaration came after Jesus spent 40 days fasting in the wilderness — 40 days combatting successive temptations with God’s Word (Matthew 4:1–11).

Only after engaging with the Word did Jesus’ ministry begin. So it will be for His disciples. It starts here.

For years, the primary model for discipleship within the AG was Sunday School. However, more

DISCIPLES ARE BUILT THROUGH ATTITUDES AND ACTIONS, HABITS AND PATTERNS

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and more churches have moved to a small-group discipleship format. Small groups excel in relational ministry, sometimes at the risk of omitting a systematic study of Scripture — a defining feature of traditional Sunday School. The AG seeks to work within both models while ensuring that the Word is at the center of all church-based, community-building discipleship.

What’s your church’s model for Bible engagement — Sunday School, small groups, or a combination of the two? Consider surveying your congregants. Where do they turn first for advice on relevant issues? Is the Bible a last resort? Are they only thinking about it during the Sunday sermon?

Or are they interacting with God’s Word daily?

Remember to bring in the whole Scripture as much as possible, whether through exegetical preaching, finding Old and New Testament parallels, or explaining Bible characters in terms of God’s story rather than stand-alone episodes. When people are turning to God’s Word first and regularly, you know they’re walking as His disciples.

form to suggest ongoing action. We are to keep on walking. As people of the Spirit, we practice living in the presence of God. Some of our churches de-emphasize the baptism in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. Others focus too much on a single moment rather than encouraging a lifelong journey of staying “in step with the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25).

Are you putting Jesus — our Savior, Spirit Baptizer, Healer, and Soon-Coming King — front and center in your messages and ministries? We are filled with the Spirit to be His witnesses to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). Are we seeking His infilling daily?

SPIRIT Spirit-empowered disciple A continually surrenders to the ongoing work of the Spirit and seeks the baptism in the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is a Person, not a practice. The practices come when we operate in the Spirit’s gifts (1 Corinthians 12–14) and daily rely on the Spirit’s discernment. When Paul urged the Galatians to “walk by the Spirit” (5:16), he used the imperative

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Mike Clarensau, research coordinator for the Acts 2 Journey, developed several metrics of congregational health in AG churches using data from Annual Church Ministries Reports (ACMRs) for the years 2008–20.

Among other things, Clarensau examined the ratio of salvations to Spirit baptisms in churches with 1,000 or more attendees compared to that of smaller churches. He found that attending a smaller church correlated with a higher likelihood of receiving the baptism in the Holy Spirit.

Larger churches show no signs of closing that gap. In fact, reports of Spirit baptisms in congregations of 1,000 or more decreased 42% from 2016–20. Several factors may have contributed to this decline, including the COVID-19 pandemic and a reported increase in conversions among large churches in 2019.

Across churches of all sizes, only about 1 in 7 converts experience Spirit baptism.

These figures pose long-term challenges for larger churches in particular. Regardless of our congregation’s size, however, we must all ask whether our church is creating opportunities for people to pursue the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Do we teach on the Holy Spirit and celebrate Spirit baptisms?

In the Book of Acts, Luke emphasized the baptism in the Holy Spirit as essential to the growth of the Church (e.g., Acts 8; 19). We must do the same today.

MISSION Spirit-empowered disciple A lives out God’s mission in testimony and lifestyle by praying earnestly, giving generously, reaching the lost, participating in church multiplication, and teaching others to follow Jesus Christ.

Missiologist John York defines the mission of God, or missio Dei, as “God’s plan to bless the nations through the gospel of Jesus Christ.” Missio Dei is distinct from, and yet part of, missions,

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connoting cross-cultural evangelism and discipleship carried out by those with a God-given call to leave their culture of origin.

In a recent Barna survey, 34% of Christian respondents 18–34 years of age agreed that “in the past, mission work has been unethical,” compared to 23% of adults aged 35 or over. While these statistics indicate a sad cultural shift, as the body of Christ, we must evaluate the ways in which we live out — or fail to live out — God’s mission.

Is our own congregation contributing to an unethical perception? Or are we limiting missions to overseas ministry only? Missions is just one way people may live out missio Dei. All followers of Jesus are tasked with fulfilling His mission as recipients of His direct address to make disciples of all nations, beginning within our own context (Matthew 28:18–20).

My prayer is that your church participates actively in home and overseas missions, offering your congregants a broader view of what God is doing in our world. I also pray that your church enables congregants to view their daily lives as infused with Godgiven purpose.

Are we dismantling the secular-sacred divide by empowering the royal priesthood of believers to view their workweek as an act of worship? Equipping the saints for their daily service — their part in missio Dei — is why the Church exists.

PRAYER Spirit-empowered disciple A fosters connection with God through daily time with Him, praying in the Spirit, and praying in faith for the needs of others.

The supreme example of the necessity of prayer for disciples is Jesus. He often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer (Luke 5:16), rose to pray while it was still dark (Mark 1:35), and ended or extended His evenings by seeking the face of God (Matthew 14:23; Luke 6:12). Jesus taught His followers about prayer (Matthew 5:44; 6:5–13), and He

ARE YOU PUTTING JESUS — — FRONT AND CENTER IN YOUR MESSAGES AND MINISTRIES? demonstrated it (Mark 8:6; Luke 23:34; John 17).

Without overt teaching on prayer, we can unintentionally communicate that prayer is a last resort, a low priority, or simply a private practice — all of which fly in the face of biblical discipleship. Unless we articulate and demonstrate that prayer is central to all we do — because it was central to all Jesus did — it may fall from prominence in disciples’ minds.

Especially for new believers, communal prayer can seem daunting. A prayer meeting may carry connotations of rising early, misspeaking in the presence of seasoned saints who utter far more eloquent and biblically rich prayers, or length that lends itself to boredom. Yet when we show and tell them what a lifeline prayer is, new believers will come to rely on it in individual as well as group settings. Jesus gave His disciples a model for prayer (Matthew 6:9–13), and it encompassed so much more than asking for needs to be met.

At the church my husband and I planted, we and our leadership team emphasized the importance of faith in prayer. One Sunday morning, a deaf man came forward for prayer during the song service, and our elders gathered around him to pray in faith.

By the end of the prayer, this man was able to hear!

What can God do in your midst when you come together as a body in prayer? Do you live with the expectancy of the miraculous? Are you modeling that in your church?

Your church may excel in prayer. You may even have multiple prayer groups for different ages and

interests. Take a moment to consider whether every age-level ministry in your church is explicitly communicating the primacy of prayer. Are infants prayed over in the nursery? Are toddlers encouraged to share the names of those who need prayer?

Are young people asked to pray for one another?

I participated in all-night prayer services as a young person because my church expected Christians of all ages to seek God sacrificially. While I’m not urging that you make the children of your church stay up all night, I am asking whether prayer shares that kind of centrality in the life of your church.

WORSHIP A Spirit-empowered disciple continually and humbly worships God in every area of life.

The Hebrew and Greek words for “worship” in Scripture suggest a bowing of the knee, even prostrating, before a leader or deity. The Bible does not associate acts of worship exclusively with music, and neither should we.

Biblical worship demonstrates the utmost respect and love for God. Our worship should come from a heart that honors Him above all else. In a world in which myriad rival interests compete for our attention, we need to teach people how to redirect their hearts and affections toward God.

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I don’t mean to diminish the importance of music in church services, the training needed for song leaders and musicians, or the atmosphere congregational singing creates. May our churches be places where we teach all ages to worship “in Spirit and in truth” (John 4:24) — and where we teach them how to worship God with their lives Monday through Saturday.

My prayer is that your church presents a holistic picture of worship by acknowledging the tensions inherent in a world that fights for our affections and by providing ways to identify our proclivities and reprioritize our hearts.

How does your church present a holistic view of worship at every age and stage of life? It certainly looks different at various stages of human development, and at various points in the journey of discipleship from new to mature believer.

Whether your church excels in music ministry

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or is praying for a worship team, promote a biblical understanding of worship in every age group by teaching people to put God first in their hearts.

SERVICE Spirit-empowered disciple A serves through using their unique gifts, abilities, and callings, recognizing the value of every person.

Jesus came to serve and give His life as a ransom for many (Matthew 20:28; Mark 10:45). Service was His way of life. The same should be true of us.

Our service should not be confined to certain times or spaces. Disciples of Jesus should serve wherever they go. In fact, community engagement is critical to the health of a Spirit-empowered church.

Our church plant in New Jersey intentionally fostered a relationship with a nearby elementary school, filling backpacks for back-to-school season, supporting faculty and staff for teacher appreciation, and more. As we built trust, the church eventually became the first place school leaders turned when families were in need. They would call us when a student’s house burned down or when a student was enduring family trauma. This provided many opportunities for us to become the hands and feet of Jesus throughout the community.

When it comes to serving the congregation, many churches have an onboarding process for new volunteers that teaches the mission, vision and values

of the church before sharing all the available opportunities for service.

Some churches have more volunteers than they know what to do with, but most do not. People who serve commonly cite a desire to make a difference.

Are you and your ministries communicating that people can make a difference — both now and for eternity — or are you asking them to serve because you’re short on volunteers?

Of course, love for Jesus and others is the greatest motivation for Christian service (Mark 12:30–31).

You may paint a picture of the changes that will reverberate when people step up and volunteer.

But are you also pointing to the example of Jesus?

His love compelled Jesus to lay down His life for us.

When His disciples serve others, they are demonstrating the love of Christ.

I pray that we are addressing the perspective shift that needs to happen for people to view their entire lives — not just their free time — as service. This is critical for a life of discipleship.

GENEROSITY A Spirit-empowered disciple gives generously of their time, talents, and resources to meet the needs of others.

No more generous a statement can be made than John 3:16. The connection between love and giving is unmistakable, and as with worship and service, this practice of a Spirit-empowered disciple is holistic. Increased devotion to God yields generosity in all areas.

Generosity might not be in your church’s description of a disciple, perhaps because people who do not have a relationship with Christ also give generously. Yet generosity remains a defining feature of a Spirit-empowered, lifelong follower of Jesus. After all, Jesus gave until He had nothing left to give.

The hymn in Philippians 2:6–11 beautifully illustrates the willing emptying of divine privilege for our benefit. Are we teaching, in a similar fashion, that generosity involves far more than tithes?

What about welcoming the foreigner, or caring for orphans and widows? Service and generosity are tightly linked. We should be serving generously, as Jesus did.

A Barna report published in 2018 revealed a link between serving and giving financially. Christians in the U.S. who gave the most were more likely than others to say they had volunteered within the past week or month. Disciples who are generous in one area are more likely to be generous in the other.

Both are expressions of an overflowing heart.

I grew up in a single-parent home in which resources were tight. Yet when my mother heard

UNLESS WE ARTICULATE AND DEMONSTRATE THAT PRAYER IS CENTRAL TO ALL WE DO …

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IN A WORLD IN WHICH MYRIAD RIVAL INTERESTS COMPETE FOR OUR ATTENTION, WE NEED TO TEACH PEOPLE HOW TO REDIRECT

that someone was in a difficult situation, she always gave from the little we had — because generosity starts in the heart, not the pocketbook. I remember one day when my mother heard someone was sick. We had only a small portion of rice, two cans of beans, and a can of vegetables. Mother packaged up half the rice and a can of beans and gave them away.

She didn’t wait until the next paycheck. It was in her power to practice generosity that day, so she did.

Does your church teach generosity as a hallmark of discipleship? How would you explain biblical generosity as separate from the world’s generosity?

And how do you teach and model generosity among impoverished congregants?

These issues are critical to living a generous life modeled after Jesus and His followers. Tithing and supporting missionaries are indelibly part of generosity, but the more holistic aspects are the ones we might unintentionally neglect. No one is off the hook when it comes to generous living. Generosity is an attitude that, even at the youngest ages, should be caught rather than merely taught.

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Conclusion Spirit-empowered disciples look different in every culture, age and stage, but they are all engaged in the same core practices that increasingly identify them with the Word of God made flesh. From church plants to legacy churches, discipleship should be an embodied invitation to never stop learning about Jesus and never stop following Him. As your church refines its discipleship pathway, may these time-tested practices reach the broken girl in your children’s ministry and the seasoned saint at the altar, so that all may gain Christ and become one with Him (Philippians 3:8–9). That’s what being a lifelong learner and follower of Christ is all about. There is no higher goal.

ELLY MARROQUIN is national director of Christian Education and Discipleship for the Assemblies of God USA.

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PASTOR NOT ASSUMED

BY SCOTT WILSON

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W

hat do unchurched people in our communities hear when they listen to our voices? What do they see in the expressions on our faces? Do they see us moving toward them in love and compassion or away from them with disgust? Or do they see us moving toward them with a stick in hand?

These questions are relevant because trust in pastors has been eroding in recent years. In a 1985 Gallup poll, 67% of Americans surveyed rated the honesty and ethics of clergy members as “high” or “very high.” By 2020, the percentage had slipped to 39%. Respondents had more trust in clergy than in car salespeople and members of Congress, but that’s nothing to brag about.

In the past, people often looked to pastors to provide a moral compass and chart a path through difficult times, but not as much today. How can we earn trust again? I believe we need to consider carefully how we treat people both inside and outside the Church.

I N S I D E Health starts at home, and trust in the community is founded on trust within the walls of the church.

I’ve tried to focus on five priorities at our church: First, be real. Perhaps the most common accusation pastors and other church leaders hear is that we’re hypocrites. They see a disconnect between what we preach and how we live. Young people have very finely tuned antennae to detect authenticity — or the lack of it. When they sense we’re not being genuine, they don’t walk away; they run!

What does it mean to be real? When Martin Luther nailed the 95 Theses to the church door in Wittenberg, the first point on the list was this: “When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said,

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‘Repent’ (Matthew 4:17), he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.”

We’re authentic when we live lives of repentance — not spin, not image control, and not power plays.

This means we admit our mistakes and confess our sins. Certainly, we need to be wise in knowing whom to talk openly with and how much to say, but we need to move much further toward vulnerability and away from self-protection.

Why are Christians — and especially pastors — reluctant to confess and repent? There may be many reasons, but in 2 Corinthians 7, Paul distinguishes between “godly sorrow” and “worldly sorrow,” explaining why the type of repentance that leads to the second kind is so repulsive.

Godly sorrow is a repentance that reconnects us with the grace of God; it reminds us that we’re forgiven, loved and accepted by grace alone. In stark contrast, worldly sorrow happens when we’re trusting in our goodness to earn points with God, so admitting we’re not good crushes us, bringing self-condemnation and shame, which Paul describes as a kind of “death.” We need to experience godly sorrow, and we need to teach it to our people.

When we’re honest about our flaws, we speak with more compassion about others’ flaws, and this honesty is fertile soil where God’s amazing grace can take root and grow. If we miss this one, we’ve

missed everything in our attempt to build trust inside and outside the church. Everything else is based on this.

Second, meet and exceed expectations. A part of being honest is setting goals and timelines that are both visionary and attainable. If our goals are unrealistic, we frustrate people who see us as failures. If we aim too low, we don’t inspire anyone to greatness.

When we fail to meet others’ expectations, their respect for us leaks. Managing expectations doesn’t build respect, but it goes a long way toward keeping it from leaking.

The solution isn’t to avoid goals, timelines or a vision for something better. We build respect when we set clear and attainable goals, communicate progress toward them, and reach them.

This doesn’t mean it’s our job to be at everyone’s beck and call to meet their every need. As our churches grow, we should delegate wisely and well and communicate clearly to our leaders and our people about how our role is evolving.

At one point, I realized I was stretched far too thin.

In a board meeting, I asked everyone to write down the responsibilities they considered most important for me as their pastor.

After a few minutes, I collected the papers. As I read them, I asked someone to write these duties on a whiteboard.

By the time the list hit 25, a few people chuckled. When we got to 39, everyone was laughing — everyone but me, that is. I knew the weight of their expectations would crush me because no one could meet all of them.

I went down the list one by one and asked, “Am I the person who needs to fulfill this expectation?”

The board members quickly realized someone other than me could take care of many items on the list. After working through this process, there were

AUTHENTIC

, WE RE WHEN WE LIVE LIVES OF

REPENTANCE

— NOT SPIN, NOT IMAGE CONTROL, AND NOT POWER PLAYS. only four responsibilities left that only I could do: • Vision: Provide direction for the church.

• Funding: Make sure we stay within the budget.

• Staff: Manage all our personnel.

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• Preaching: Be the primary communicator on the weekends.

Sometimes I look back on an event and think, Lord, I had no idea how important this would be, but You saved me from a world of trouble by leading me to do that!

If our board had not engaged in this conversation, there would have been multiple scorecards. Everyone in the room would have had his or her own set of expectations. If I’d tried to meet all of them, I would have pleased some and disappointed others. I would have been whipsawed back and forth by their approval and disapproval on virtually every decision I made.

Having a single scorecard clarified expectations and gave me the opportunity to gain the respect of the board.

With that settled, I could focus on exceeding expectations by delivering more than they expected, better than they expected, faster than they expected. The respect others have for you erodes when you fail to meet their expectations. It remains relatively constant when you consistently meet their expectations. And it grows to the degree that you exceed their expectations.

It’s not enough to just inform influencers of your decisions. You need to include them in the process of decision making. If you don’t even talk to them before you make an announcement, you can expect major blowback. If you tell them but don’t engage them in the deliberations, they may grudgingly accept your decision, but they won’t be cheerleaders. If you take the time to meet with them before you make an announcement — sharing your heart, listening to their ideas, and adjusting the plan based on their wise input — they’ll almost certainly have your back.

If this sounds like it would take too much time, don’t kid yourself. Putting out fires takes much

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more time — and the drama reduces their respect for you.

Every influencer has two metaphorical buckets: one filled with water and the other with gas. When small fires of discontent start after the announcement of a new strategy, influencers will reach for one of the buckets. Which one they choose will depend on how much you’ve included them in the process. If they don’t trust you, the gas they pour on the situation will create a raging inferno.

Third, create a robust process for decision making. Over many years of trial and error (mostly error), I’ve learned that three elements need to be in place so I can make good decisions: accurate data, expert advice, and buy-in from key influencers.

I bring together my team and ask simply, “What information do we need so we can make a good decision?” I’ve learned that the time invested in getting advice from smart and godly people is well worth it.

And I’ve found that key influencers will drift away — or, worse, become antagonists — when they don’t feel included. Trust grows when people feel valued in the most important decisions.

Fourth, never stop growing. When a leader is growing, others will be eager to join in and contribute, and the organization almost certainly will grow.

Stagnant leaders don’t create excitement, vision or trust.

Fifth, fix your problems. This goes back to authenticity. We all have problems. You know it, and your people know it. But they’re asking, “Do you see your problems like I see them?”

Establish a culture where people feel comfortable giving honest feedback. You lose their respect when they believe you are unaware of your problems, unable to do anything about them, or unwilling to address them. Failing to do anything about obvious problems compromises credibility and trustworthiness.

O U T S I D E

WE RUN THE RISK OF

LOSING A GENERATION , THAT S TURNED OFF BECAUSE WE SEEM MORE INTERESTED IN

POLITICS THAN THE KINGDOM OF GOD.

A culture of trust inside the church gives pastors credibility and security to reach out to people who aren’t religious. In the current political climate, I’m afraid far too many people see the Church (and its pastors) as affiliated more with a political party than with Jesus. We run the risk of losing a generation that’s turned off because we seem more interested in politics than the kingdom of God — at least, that’s their perception.

Before you write me off and turn the page, let me assure you that I have strong beliefs about what America should be and can be, so please give me the honor of reading the rest of what I have to say.

I have three filters that determine what I say and how I say it: 1. God has called me to reach the lost … all the lost. He hasn’t called me to reach only those who lean toward my political views. He has called me to reach people of color and white people, gay people and straight people, insiders and outsiders, Democrats and Republicans. When we demonstrate genuine compassion for all people, our communities will sit up and take notice.

Of course, we may catch flak from other Christians. If that happens, we’re in good company. In the opening scene of Luke 15, Jesus was hanging out with tax collectors and sinners. Tax collectors were collaborating with the Romans, so they were despised as traitors, and the term “sinners” applied to anyone who didn’t measure up to the standards of the religious leaders.

The picture we get is that these outcasts felt completely comfortable with Jesus. They didn’t feel judged, and they didn’t conclude they were His project for the day. They felt loved and accepted. Luke 15:2 says, “But the Pharisees and the teachers of the

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law muttered, ‘This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.’”

Eating with someone signified acceptance. The three stories Jesus told were of a shepherd going out to find a lost sheep, a woman staying in to find a lost coin, and a father running out to greet a lost son who was returning home. The point is that the religious leaders had failed to reach out to the people God loves.

Instead, they condemned the One who did reach out.

2. God has called me to make more and better disciples. The Great Commission calls us to go to “all nations.” I take that to mean all cultures — the ones where I feel comfortable and the ones where I don’t feel at home. God doesn’t care more for one set of people than another.

Jesus took off the robes of glory to come to the undeserving, to take the punishment we deserved, and to love us extravagantly and sacrificially. If the Great Commission calls us to love people who are different from us, we have the ultimate example in Jesus. He loved us when we were different in almost every way, with absolutely nothing to offer Him. 3. God has called me to a “double Kingdom impact.” Matthew’s Gospel gives us the Parable of the Bags of Gold. When the master put

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IF THE

GREAT COMMISSION CALLS US TO LOVE PEOPLE WHO ARE DIFFERENT FROM US, WE HAVE THE

ULTIMATE EXAMPLE IN JESUS.

three servants in charge of his wealth, the one he entrusted with five bags of gold earned five more, and the one with two earned two more. The master commended both servants when he returned home.

But the one who had received one bag was afraid and hid it in the ground. He wasn’t willing to take a risk, so he had no gain on investment.

I want to go where “the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few,” to the “streets and alleys” where people are far from God and need a Savior (Matthew 9:37; Luke 14:21). That’s where I want to invest my energies and my heart.

Our nation has become intensely polarized.

It’s not just that we hold different opinions (that’s always been the case), but more than ever, we dehumanize and demonize those who disagree with us. And I’m not talking only about extremists; I’m talking about a lot of us who are pastors.

I know of a pastor who recently encouraged his congregation to “own the libs.” He assumed everyone in the room was a Republican, but how would someone who leans left have felt during that service? The pastor was effectively eliminating half the nation from hearing the gospel.

Please don’t misunderstand me. I’m not advocating for a watered-down, sentimental brand of Christianity. But I’m certainly advocating for both truth and love, not harshly communicated truth that’s devoid of God’s love and kindness. I’ve seen pastors become so worked up over claims of election fraud, mask mandates, and vaccines that they missed opportunities to lead their people with wisdom and grace.

In his last letter, Paul wrote this to Timothy: Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful.

Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will (2 Timothy 2:23–26).

Miroslav Volf grew up in Croatia during the Balkan Wars and witnessed his brother’s murder.

Afterward, he grappled with the grace of God and the command to forgive. He finally found rest in a profound truth: Forgiveness experienced leads to forgiveness granted.

In his book, Exclusion and Embrace, Volf wrote, “Forgiveness flounders because I exclude the enemy from the community of humans even as I exclude myself from the community of sinners.”

Ephesians 4:31–5:2 says, “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” I’m not arguing for or against a particular political platform. I’m simply encouraging you to view people who disagree with you as people created in the image of God, people Jesus loves so much He died to save them. They are valuable to Him, and He delights to welcome them — no matter what they’ve done or what they believe. That’s the reason sinners surrounded Jesus. That’s the rea-son they knew He loved them.

Do the people in our communities hear the love of Jesus when we speak? Do they see His compassion in our faces when we look at them? The current waves of grievance and resentment are based on some painful truths that things aren’t what they

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should be, but it’s our calling to represent Jesus’ love, wisdom and power far, far more than any political position.

In fact, I make it my practice to completely avoid any mention of politics in my preaching and leading. I can certainly talk about particular issues, but I want to point people to Jesus, not a politician or a party.

DO THE PEOPLE IN OUR COMMUNITIES HEAR

THE LOVE OF JESUS WHEN WE SPEAK?

pastoring to endorse Richard Nixon’s presidential campaign.

“I’m grateful for the opportunities God gave me to minister to people in high places,” Graham said.

“People in power have spiritual and personal needs like everyone else, and often they have no one to talk to. But looking back, I know I sometimes crossed the line, and I wouldn’t do that now.”

All around us, people — including Christians — are demanding their rights. But our King gave up His rights, emptied himself, and suffered for the sake of others.

Paul put it this way in Philippians 2:5–8: In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.

And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death — even death on a cross!

As pastors, we can earn the respect of people inside our churches by being honest, thoughtful and responsible, and we can earn it outside our walls by leaning hard toward Jesus and away from divisive political positions.

SCOTT WILSON

We need to know when it’s time to change course before it’s too late. When Billy Graham was 92 years old, a journalist asked him if he had any regrets.

Graham reflected that he wished he had spent more time with his family. Then he added, “I also would have steered clear of politics.”

He recalled that he had been a pastor to the presidents, but he had also decided to move beyond

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is the global pastor and former lead pastor of Oaks Church in Red Oak, Texas. He is founder of 415 Leaders, a community of multiplying spiritual fathers and mothers with a vision that every pastor should have spiritual parents, and Ready Set Grow, a ministry to help churches experience breakthrough growth.

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You can’t impact your community if you ignore its pain

By WALTER HARVEY

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I

f you were to close the doors of your church tomorrow, how would your community feel about it? Would it miss your presence, or even notice you were gone?

Parklawn Assembly of God in Milwaukee, the church I formerly pastored, is 113 years old.

Churches don’t die of old age like people do. A church can slowly die of irrelevance, however, especially when it fails to address the felt needs of its community.

Six years ago, I realized we were dying in impact and relevance to our community. In fact, we were shocked to realize we had already essentially died in its eyes because we had neglected our responsibility to build relationships, get to the root of human problems, and share a gospel that was good news. If we had closed our doors, the community would not have missed us.

My discoveries began on a hot August afternoon in 2016, when a young Black male was shot and killed by a police officer just three blocks from our church campus. The hours that followed were filled with community unrest, riots, looting and burning buildings.

As the lead pastor, I felt compelled to provide leadership and healing for our neighborhood. So, I assembled a group of pastors and parishioners.

We walked down to the spot of the shooting and unrest and engaged those who were gathering in the streets.

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d n a n io s n e t , n io is iv d t a h t t e r c e s o n is It back over issues of race exist in eevery push ity and congregation across th rban. commutnry whether urban rural or subu coun

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,

On the first night, some of those crowd members asked me questions that sifted my motives and challenged my priorities: “Why are you here? Why are you allowing the police to use your parking lot to harass us as we protest?”

The most piercing question of all was this one: “Where has the Church been?”

This last question packed a punch that awakened me and our church. We were ashamed to realize we had been absent from the pain in our surrounding community.

We are a primarily African American congregation in an urban setting. It is no secret that division, tension and pushback over issues of race exist in every community and congregation across the country, whether urban, rural or suburban.

In our own community, our church was exposed for not demonstrating that all lives matter. People should not have had to protest to call this to our attention. The Bible mandated us to love our neighbors, but our emphasis was on loving the ones who came to the church on a consistent basis.

If we would have remained focused on the Great Commandment and Great Commission, there would have been no need or space for organizations that are leading a false narrative on issues of race.

Organizations like these exist because the Church has grown weary of mixing faith with racial and social disparities.

Micah 6:8 asks, “And what does the Lord require

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of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Whether it is Minneapolis, where George Floyd was murdered in May 2020, my city or yours, the local church must live in the tension of the divide, occupy the hard places, and continue to have impact and relevance in the community. This is what Jesus did.

How then do we navigate these troubled waters?

What can we do as church leaders? During the 2016 unrest, we discovered that churches interact with communities in three ways: in, out, and with.

In

For most of my 35 years in church and pastoral leadership, I focused on the inside of the building. This model of in is built upon the expectation of people coming in and becoming regular attenders.

Like fans at a football game, they faithfully show up each weekend and cheer on the pastor as he or she preaches. They sway with the worship team.

They applaud whatever is happening on the platform. They are entertained in their seats as the professionals do the work.

In reality, though, the weekend service was never supposed to be the game. It should look more like the huddle — the place where plays are called, assignments are affirmed, and encouragement is given before the game resumes. The playing field is your community. You might get bumps and bruises

out there, but that is where the action is. The Church must get back into the game.

Local churches have much to offer, but they need to move away from mostly serving themselves, into deeper and more meaningful community engagement. Prior to 2016, we were primarily serving the people coming inside our building for programs and events. Those who came in paid the bills and salaries and made up the volunteer teams that allowed us to keep the campus going.

In many urban neighborhoods, there are churches on every block. Nevertheless, most of these churches are not permanently disrupting the pain around them. Their focus is inward. They are exhausting their resources — including finances, volunteers and time — to make the weekend the best possible experience for those who come. This is a model church leaders have learned. It is often celebrated and therefore maintained.

The same is true in poor communities of color.

Not only is the in model promoted and protected, but because of the scarcity of resources — finances, facilities, partnerships and people — we feel obligated to save the best for our own congregations.

Our mindset sadly often shifts to scarcity and poverty rather than abundance and multiplication.

The in model resists a sending and sowing culture, favoring the loyalty of people who attend, give and serve. We consider anyone who does these three things to be a leader and a mature Christian.

Nevertheless, it’s possible to do these things and not be mature. For that matter, it’s possible to do these things and not even be a Christian. The in model does not prioritize making disciples who faithfully and obediently follow in the footsteps of Jesus.

The nights of unrest shocked us into realizing there were people in our community who would never come inside the building. They represented the “one” Jesus spoke of in Luke 15:4,7, and they were not our priority. The “ninety-nine” who were already coming were our focus, and we used up our resources to keep them coming.

The protesters told us — and showed us, by their action of nonattendance — that we had already abdicated our prophetic voice and had no community impact.

Pastors and churches in every type of community context are dying in influence if they are pursuing the in model. The presence of financial resources and facilities only mask the dying process. There is an appearance of life in technology and high-energy events. However, ignoring the call to go and minister to hurting people is terminal.

People need the Lord. They need relationship with a disciple-making community that will connect them to the mission of Jesus. And we need to be where they are if we are to stay on mission. It is hard to develop God’s heart for people and places unless we are engaged, up close and personal, with their problems. Jesus demonstrated the ministry of proximity and presence. He wept over people and

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places. The Church is called to be unselfish and present amid people’s pain.

Out

I didn’t learn this soon enough. In our effort to stay close to an in model and also meet people’s needs, we adopted strategies to reach out to the people who were not coming inside the building. We gave away food, operated a sidewalk Sunday School and bus ministry, filled backpacks with school supplies, provided free clothing, held health screenings, and more.

This is a commendable model. Outreach is good,

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but it is limited in sustainable impact for several reasons. Outreach is mostly transactional. It often takes place according to the dictates of the church, not the community. I admit outreach has greater impact than simply staying inside the church building. Still, we risk communicating that we know what is best for the community, as if we are the experts.

In planning outreaches, we rarely engage those who are already in the community — people who understand the needs best and know how to meet them. Instead, outreach happens at the convenience of the church.

Another deceptive effect of this model is that it may boost our egos and assuage our guilty consciences without doing much else. We assume that if it feels good, it must be the right thing.

Again, I don’t totally discount outreach. It can certainly be a doorway to evangelism, but it does not guarantee we are making disciples. Evangelism is the necessary first step of introducing people to Jesus. Discipleship occurs by intentionally and consistently doing life with another person.

Another problem with the outreach model is that our goodwill efforts can create dependency. What if our giveaways of free food every month, without relationship, encourages irresponsible financial choices because the receiver knows free food will be there to sustain them?

Dependency robs people of self-determination and motivation. Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than it is to receive” (Acts 20:35). When we give, we feel good about it, but when we are on the receiving end, the human psyche feels a sense of shame and helplessness. No one likes that feeling. We would rather be the giver. Those with greater resources must be careful not to be condescending or arrogant in their outreach and partnership efforts.

The outreach model is far better than fixating solely on the 99 inside the church, but we must be sure our doing good does not lead to doing harm.

Local churches have much to o they need to move away frofmfer but serving themselves into deepe mostly meaningful community engage r and more ment.

,

With

There is still a nobler and better model. It is being with people. This is the way Jesus led. It is really an in-reach approach rather than an outreach.

This model says, “I don’t just want to meet your need; I want to know why your need exists. I want to understand the systems and the challenges. I want to hear your story. I want to be in the community day to day. I want to be like Jesus and walk with you through the hard places of life. I am not measuring you by your church attendance, giving or volunteerism at weekend events.”

Being with also says, “As we build relationship, maybe you wouldn’t mind me sharing my story with you and telling you how to welcome Jesus into your life as Lord (evangelism). I can model for you how to grow in Jesus and follow Him in everyday life (discipleship). I would love to introduce you to a group of Christ followers who support and encourage one another and serve their community together as the family of God (community).”

As community grows and develops, networks of churches can form in the very same locations. Being with people in their pain is a key to starting new churches and revitalizing existing churches that are dying in community influence and impact.

The events of 2016 changed me. As a result of the Spirit’s prompting through that journey, I began a succession process to move from the lead pastor role to the helm of a community-transforming, disciple-making movement: the National Black

,

Fellowship of the Assemblies of God. Our congregation commissioned and sent me out as an apostolic extension of the church locally and nationally.

Marcus Arrington succeeded me as pastor of Parklawn in 2020. He and the church have journeyed even deeper into a with model than what I initiated in 2016. He brought together a small team of mature Christians who feel called to study, exegete and respond to our community’s pain points.

Arrington regularly weaves results of this community study into his sermons, sharing with the entire congregation and preparing hearts for greater mobilization. He wisely started with prayer and discernment, just like Nehemiah did when he discovered the condition of his homeland.

Several Sunday services each month are devoted to prayer-walking the community and listening to the people who reside there. This leads to vision for ministry that will make a difference in the community. Already, residents have described reckless driving as a major pain point. One solution they came up with together was the placement of lawn signs to draw attention to the problem. We accomplished this with them, in partnership with a civic violence prevention organization.

The church also hosted a meeting to hear the concerns of community members. We learned that most people are willing to engage in conversations when someone is willing to hear them. And we learned that consistency matters.

We want our neighbors to know we are ready to

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y e k a is in a p ir e h t in Being wstitarhtinpegopnleew churches and revitalizing to churches that are dying in existinomg munity influence and impact. c walk with them through whatever battle they are facing. In addition to extending love and compassion to those who are struggling, we need to help them break free from their struggles. People who are in pain are often captives. When we are with our neighbors, we are like Moses and Aaron, demanding that the Pharaohs of poverty, violence and dysfunction let them go.

You would be wise to identify strong community partners who share a similar vision. You would also be wise to unleash the people who come to your weekend services into their neighborhoods and fields of work and expertise.

Maurice Wince is one of our faithful church members. He sat with me as we hosted a community listening session at our church during the unrest in 2016. Wince heard the cries and refused to ignore the pain. He caught the vision of new possibilities and used his skills as a real estate developer to purchase and renovate properties in the community, transforming them into social enterprises.

One of these developments is our city’s first commercial incubator kitchen for food entrepreneurs.

Another is a laundromat, where the manager will serve as a church planter, making friends and disciples from everyday clients.

Still another enterprise addresses the pain of food insecurity and health disparities. Wince is opening a grocery store that will provide healthy food options, including fresh produce. An aquaponics farm on the store roof will employ teenagers to grow vegetables.

Jesus modeled the potential of ordinary people as He chose His 12 disciples and mentored them

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for three years before sending them out to change the world. Our church has likewise discipled and released ordinary people into the marketplace as salt and light.

Francis of Assisi said, “Start by doing what’s necessary, and then what’s possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.”

God is already at work in your community. He is concerned about the forces that affect the lives of people there. Take the time to listen to God and to your community. Learn, and then lament over its condition. As you listen, you will not only discover how you can be with the community and lift it out of spiritual, economic, social and physical pain, but you will also hear whether you are relevant and impactful — or not.

Your church’s journey toward a with lifestyle need not come about because of a tragedy like the one our community experienced. We can learn by tribulation or revelation. From now on, I prefer revelation lessons.

Where is Jesus leading you and your church in the year ahead? How is He asking you to be with your community?

WALTER HARVEY is apostolic leader of Parklawn Assembly of God in Milwaukee, president of the National Black Fellowship of the Assemblies of God, and a member of the Executive Presbytery, representing the 24 Ethnic Fellowship groups within the AG.

M I N I S T RY | P R O F I L E

Rebuilding Walls of Safety Emily Houser and the Smoky Mountain Dream Center

By GEORGE P. WOOD

T

he Great Smoky Mountains of central Appalachia offer tourists some of the most picture-worthy vistas in the United States.

Like many beautiful places, however, they hide an ugly reality. This is especially true for women in the region who have experienced poverty, abuse and incarceration.

Cindy* is an example. In 2014, she approached Emily Houser for help finding a place to live. The two women had met while Cindy was serving

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time for drug possession in the county lockup and Houser was doing jail ministry.

“I can live with this guy who’s down the street,” Cindy told Houser.

Houser knew that was a bad idea. Such arrangements often lead to domestic violence and sexual abuse.

Cindy’s 12-year-old niece, Andrea*, would be *The name is changed to protect privacy.

staying with her. The girl’s mother had died of an overdose, so Andrea lived with her grandmother for a time. Then she went to live with her father, who sexually abused her, as did his friends.

The experience of sexual abuse is pervasive among the women and girls with whom Houser works.

“I have never ministered to a woman [in jail] who has made it past the age of 12 without being abused,” she says.

Though common, it’s still devastating.

“If I don’t get Jesus, I don’t think anything else is going to help me,” Andrea tearfully told Houser.

“Will you please help me get Jesus?”

Then Andrea asked a hard question: “Would you please tell me where Jesus was when all that stuff was happening to me?”

That night, Houser wept as she took Andrea’s question to God in prayer.

“Emily,” she sensed God saying, “I am inside of you and so many people like you, but you stay on a church pew.”

Houser knew God wanted more for Cindy and Andrea and others like them.

Again, she sensed God speaking: “I will, like the Book of Ezra, rebuild my temple inside their hearts, but you have to be like the Book of Nehemiah, and rebuild walls of safety around them.”

Houser’s encounter with Andrea changed the focus of her ministry. Until then, she had been working to plant a church in Newport, Tennessee. In 2016, however, Houser became an endorsed chaplain with Assemblies of God U.S. Missions and began to raise awareness and funds for the Smoky Mountain Dream Center, a 94-acre farm in Greeneville, Tennessee.

The center’s purpose can be stated in three words: freedom, flourish, and fly.

As Houser puts it, “We want every woman and child in Appalachia to have the opportunity to find freedom from poverty, abuse and incarceration; flourish in their homes, schools, work and community; and fly toward the dreams God has placed in their hearts.”

The Dream Center’s primary ministry is its work-release program for incarcerated women, the first of its kind in eastern Tennessee. Women who enroll go to the farm three days a week to receive instruction about recovering from addiction, as well as about life skills, such as parenting, home economics, and job training. They also work in the center’s community garden.

Substance abuse is endemic in Appalachia, which has been especially hard hit by the opioid crisis.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the opioid overdose death rate during 2017 was 72% higher in Appalachian counties than in other U.S. counties.

Most of the women Houser works with have been incarcerated for drug-related offenses and struggle with addiction. Their recidivism rate is 91%.

In addition to jail time, the women lose custody of

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their kids. Like Andrea, those kids too often end up in homes where they face increased risks of abuse and neglect.

To help the women break free from addiction, Houser uses curricula from Adult & Teen Challenge, a Christian drug and alcohol recovery program affiliated with AG U.S. Missions.

Appalachia is overwhelmingly Christian, at least nominally. All the women Houser works with know about God the Father and God the Son. They don’t know the life-changing power of the Holy Spirit, however.

“One of the main challenges the Dream Center faces is that it’s a Spirit-filled organization that is trying to operate in a place that doesn’t know who the Holy Spirit is,” Houser says. “I don’t think people can overcome life-controlling issues unless they have the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Houser points to the example of a woman with scoliosis who developed an opioid addiction following back surgery. When the prescriptions ran out, she bought illegal opioids off the street to manage her pain, and that landed her in jail.

When the woman came to the farm, she was abusing over-the-counter acetaminophen and still struggling with pain. Then things began to change.

The woman told Houser, “Chaplain, since I’ve started coming to the farm, I barely take one Tylenol every other day. I think God is healing me!”

Beyond recovery and life-skills training, Houser would like to build transitional housing units on the farm for women who have been released from jail. With a safe place to live, the women can focus on reuniting with their kids and reintegrating into society. Houser wants to start a business incubator for these women so they can become economically independent.

Still a church planter at heart, Houser also hopes to start a congregation for the women she serves.

“A lot of them don’t feel lovely enough to go to regular church,” she says. “When you’re released, even if you want to serve Jesus, you don’t feel like you’re ‘church lady’ material.”

Houser acknowledges that ministry to recovering

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addicts with criminal records can be scary for church people. But when parishioners learn of the abuse these women have endured, fear usually gives way to compassion.

At the moment, Houser’s vision for the Dream Center exceeds her capacity. Her responsibilities as executive director include speaking and teaching; providing post-incarceration care and family care; job coaching and business incubation; and marketing and fundraising.

“I have more ministry than I can shake a stick at,” Houser says.

Voluntary donations and corporate partnerships are always needed to fund the ministry, but what the Dream Center most needs are workers. And the need is urgent. For every person who experiences positive life change, there are others who fall through the cracks.

Back in 2014, Houser was unable to connect Cindy and Andrea with all the resources they needed to start a new life. Less than three weeks after Cindy approached Houser for help, she returned to using and selling drugs. Within six months, Cindy was back in jail. The grandmother died of a massive heart attack, and all her grandchildren — including Andrea — ended up in foster care.

“The last I heard, [Andrea] was cutting herself and was pretty much hopeless and ready to die,” Houser says. “When you experience that, you cannot look away and just be like, ‘Be warm and well fed.’”

Cindy has a stepdaughter who is now in the Dream Center’s program. Houser is hopeful that Andrea will one day find her way there as well.

“God has made a place for [Andrea] at the farm to meet with Him,” Houser says. “It’s just a matter of when. That story isn’t done being written yet.”

GEORGE P. WOOD is executive editor of Influence magazine.

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M I N I S T RY | P R E A C H I N G

What Do You Want Me to Do? Why preachers should prepare their sermons with application in mind

By TIFFANY ALLISON WOOD

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W

hen my husband and I traveled to Israel several years ago, our tour guide offered a never-ending stream of information about the sites we visited. As the stream flowed day after day, it became a river. We couldn’t handle all the information.

A fellow tourist mentioned feeling overwhelmed, and the guide said, “Learning about the Holy Land is like drinking water out of a fire hose.”

I turned to my husband and asked, “Isn’t it the tour guide’s job to put a nozzle on the hose?”

Preaching is a nozzle, too.

Your job as a preacher is to channel all the water gushing from both the Word of God and your sermon preparation into a stream from which your listeners can drink.

Experience God and Change What does a drinkable stream look like in preaching?

I’m not a preacher, although I’m married to one.

And while I’ve spoken at a few women’s ministry events across the country, I’m not a professional public speaker either. What I am, however, is a good listener and an eager learner.

When I go to church on Sunday morning or watch a sermon online, I have a simple, personal goal in mind: I want to experience God and change as a result. You can see this expectation in Scripture.

Take Jesus’ first sermon, for example: “The time has come … . The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:15). The God-component of Jesus’ sermon is the approaching Kingdom. The change-component is repentance and faith.

A good sermon always contains both components — theological and practical. Christ wants us to experience God and to change.

Sermons that are theological but not practical leave listeners wondering whether God is relevant to their lives. They’re merely academic lectures.

I am not opposed to theological sermons. If the first and greatest commandment is to love God with all our minds (Matthew 22:37), sermons need to be thoughtful and thought-provoking.

Yet sermons that are practical but not theological are just self-help advice with Bible verses tacked on.

If I can get the same advice from Glennon Doyle or Dr. Phil, why would I listen to a preacher?

Good sermons combine theology and practice.

More than that, they move from theology to practice. In other words, what we believe about God points to how we should live. To paraphrase Jesus’ first sermon, “Repent and believe because God’s kingdom is near!”

Preaching means swapping out false, life-deforming ideas that are running rampant in our culture for true, life-giving ones.

A sermon should always bring listeners to a point of change.

Three Kinds of Change Sermons that have impacted me deeply affected my ideas, feelings and relationships — my head, heart and hands, respectively.

Head. Here, the point of change is swapping out bad ideas, especially about God, for better ones.

“Now wait a minute!” I hear you saying. “I thought you didn’t want an academic lecture. Now you’re telling me you want an idea-focused sermon.

Isn’t that contradictory?”

No, it isn’t, as long as you remember that the idea must be relevant to daily life.

Consider John 9. Jesus’ disciples saw a blind man and asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” (verse 2). They believed disability resulted from sin.

This belief placed the blind man and his parents under a load of false guilt. It gave the disciples a false sense of moral superiority. And it indicated a false direction for ministry: calling for repentance rather than praying for healing.

Jesus cut through all this falseness when He said, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him” (verse 3).

Preaching means swapping out false, life-deforming ideas that are running rampant in our culture for true, life-giving ones. What wrong ideas about God or His ways do people believe? Your sermon ought to change their minds.

Heart. Here, the point of change is dealing

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constructively with emotions, especially negative ones.

A few years back, I was feeling emotionally depleted after going through the process of adopting our two daughters. I sought a Christian counselor, and the first thing he did was give me permission to feel strong negative emotions.

I was raised fundamentalist Baptist, and we were taught always to look on the bright side. For years, I had internalized the false notion that if I loved God more, I wouldn’t feel “bad” emotions.

The counselor also helped me formulate a sustainable plan for dealing with my emotions. At one point, I said, “I wish pastors would offer this kind of hope from the pulpit. After three counseling sessions, I’ve found real emotional help that is inspiring me to lean in to God and encouraging me to change.”

The more I read Scripture, the more I see emotional health as a crucial component of Christian living. This is especially true amid a pandemic that has left many feeling lonely, anxious, depressed and worried.

Jesus said, “Do not worry about your life” (Matthew 6:25). Do your sermons help people deal constructively with the strong negative emotions they are feeling? Are you validating those emotions or just glossing over them with clichés?

Hands. Here, the point of change is forming healthy, life-giving relationships.

Have you noticed how polarized our society has become? Online and in real life, people are ending relationships with family members and friends over political and ideological disagreements.

I’m not making an argument against orthodoxy. Bad ideas about God deform our lives and ministries.

By the same token, though, we can’t let orthodoxy become an excuse for unloving attitudes and actions.

Jesus said, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35).

I don’t know anyone today whose first thought about Christians in America is, “They are such loving people!” How are we supposed to disciple

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people when our reputation is not what Jesus said it should be?

Your sermons should help people understand how to love others — whether inside or outside the Church — regardless of disagreements with them.

Truly experiencing God means we are wrapped in His love and challenged to change not only ourselves, but also the world around us.

What we’ve learned about God should change our hearts and move to our hands as we reach out with compassion to the world around us.

Get Help Early in our marriage, my husband asked me what I thought about a particular Sunday sermon he had just preached.

There was nothing wrong with his delivery, but the content was more like a graduate-school lecture than a sermon. I chose my words carefully: “What exactly did you want me to do with that?”

His face fell. That wasn’t the reply he expected.

After that, however, my husband began talking about his sermons with me and other people before he gave them. By doing so, he was able to focus the theological and practical components for greatest impact.

So that’s my final piece of advice: Talk about your Sunday message to your spouse or a sermon team before you step into the pulpit. Usually, the best honest feedback you can receive is found in close relationships with those you trust. You, too, need to experience God and be willing to change and grow.

By combining theology and practice, then focusing on how Scripture changes head, heart, and hands, you help church members get a good drink from the Word of God every week.

And pastor, we are thirsty.

TIFFANY ALLISON WOOD lives in Springfield, Missouri, with her husband and three children.

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M I N I S T RY | WO R S H I P

What the Apocalypse Reveals About Worship Lessons from the Book of Revelation

By MELISSA ARCHER

A

fter watching the 1972 film A Thief in the Night in church as a child, I grew up scared to death of the Book of Revelation.

Nevertheless, one of my fondest memories from my days at Evangel University in Springfield, Missouri, was singing parts of Handel’s Messiah and watching audience members stand to their feet during the “Hallelujah Chorus.” Revelation was Handel’s inspiration for this familiar chorus.

The apostle John wrote Revelation in the late first century to a network of seven churches in Asia Minor. We derive the title from the opening words: “apocalypse [Greek apokalupsis] of Jesus Christ.”

The word “apocalypse” means an unveiling or revealing.

This is how many Pentecostals have read the Book of Revelation — as a tale of terror to be revealed in the last days. Yet the book is the “apocalypse of Jesus Christ.” It comes from Jesus and reveals Jesus.

Some branches of the Church ignore Revelation, while others pore over its pages to develop end-time charts. Either way, we often miss what Revelation reveals about honoring, exalting and worshipping the Lord.

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Spirit-Driven Revelation 1:9 references John’s experience on the island of Patmos, where he was an exile “because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.” John says he was “in the Spirit” when he heard a voice and saw a vision (verse 10).

Despite his circumstances, John’s focus was on God and His presence. This is how ordinary places — like Patmos or Ephesus or our own local churches — become sacred spaces, where we encounter the Spirit and meet with Jesus (Revelation 1:13–20).

Worship is not about performance but about experiential participation in the Spirit. We can’t be so concerned with being relevant that we squelch the Spirit’s active work in our services.

Multifaceted When reading Revelation with an eye toward worship, we discover images of worship, such as the incense (5:8), altar (8:5), and temple (11:19). We encounter familiar worship elements: congregational blessings (1:3; 14:13), a doxology (1:5–6), and a closing benediction (22:21). We hear liturgical words, including “amen” (5:14) and “hallelujah” (19:1). We discover calls to repentance (2:5), worship songs (4:8; 5:9–10; 7:10), the posture of

Too many of our prayers, songs, and sermons focus on our feelings and desires.

Such worship is shallow and narcissistic. Robust worship declares who God is and what God does. prostration (4:10), prayers (5:8), proclamation (14:7), and instruments (15:2). We even see the use of color and architecture (4:3–4; 21:10–21).

Elements of worship are woven into the structure of Revelation, reminding us that worship is more than singing.

Trinitarian A theological theme of Revelation is that worship belongs to God alone. God is the Holy One; the Creator; the One who was, and is, and is to come; the Almighty; the One on the throne; and the Judge.

Each of these titles is a reason to worship God.

Revelation also reveals that Jesus is worthy of worship. Jesus is the Lamb, Shepherd, Faithful Witness, King of kings and Lord of lords, Rider on the White Horse, the One who is coming, and the Alpha and the Omega.

The Lamb receives the same worship as the One on the throne. As the elders fall down in worship before the throne of God, they also fall before the Lamb. Songs of worship rise to both. In Revelation 5:13, all of creation breaks out in thunderous worship: “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!”

To worship Jesus is to worship God — not as two gods but as One. God and the Lamb are distinct yet act in unison throughout the book. Likewise, the Spirit is depicted as the seven spirits before the throne (1:4; 4:5) and as the eyes of the Lamb (5:6), leading us to see that the Spirit is an inseparable member of the godhead. As such, He too is worthy of worship.

All of worship — our songs, prayers and sermons — must be theologically grounded in and directed to the Triune God. Worship is not about us. Yet too many of our prayers, songs, and sermons focus on our feelings and desires. Such worship is shallow and narcissistic. Robust worship declares who God is and what God does.

Theological Hymns are among the most recognizable forms of worship in Revelation. The songs often appear in heavenly worship scenes embedded in the hairraising cycles of judgment. This juxtaposition reminds the Church to worship, even in difficult times.

The lyrics in Revelation are profoundly theological, proclaiming the nature, character and work of God. These hymns interpret the narratives around them, suggesting that worship songs have a teaching function.

For example, why is the Lamb worthy to open the scroll? It is not until the elders and living creatures sing in Revelation 5:9 that it becomes clear:

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You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.

Jesus is the Redeemer. That’s why He is worthy!

Revelation 13:15 says those who refuse to worship the beast will face execution. How are believers to deal with this type of persecution? Song lyrics in Revelation 12:11 have already anticipated this question: They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.

Jesus holds the keys of death itself (Revelation 1:18). Therefore, Christians need not fear physical death. This song is a reminder of that timeless truth.

Worship songs that are theologically focused sustain us, infusing our present situations with the assurance of the coming Kingdom and reminding us that our God reigns (Revelation 19:6).

Formative Worshipping theologically shapes us into the cruciform way of life. We are to emulate the martyrs in Revelation by fearlessly worshipping God — no matter the cost.

While worship includes more than music, the sheer number of songs in Revelation underscores the vital importance of singing. Therefore, worship leaders should continually evaluate the content and function of their set lists and catalog of songs to ensure they are theologically grounded and God-focused.

Revelation 15:3 provides an example of such a song: Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God the Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of the nations.

This is a song of those who overcame the beast.

In Revelation, worship is the language of resistance against anything opposed to God’s kingdom.

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Worship leaders should continually evaluate the content and function of their set lists and catalog of songs to ensure they are theologically grounded and God-focused.

The Church’s songs reinterpret suffering in light of heaven’s correct perspective that God’s judgments are true and just (19:2).

Corporate worship should be about participating in heaven’s culture of worship so we can resist the pull of earthly cultures that seek our allegiance.

Such worship joins us through the Spirit to the global Church in anticipation of the day when every nation, tribe, people and language will worship around the throne of God (Revelation 7:9).

This kind of worship breaks through the boundary between heaven and earth, bringing us, like John, to the very throne room of God. MELISSA ARCHER, Ph.D., is professor of biblical studies and department chair of the School of Divinity at Southeastern University in Lakeland, Florida. She is the author of ‘I Was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day’: A Pentecostal Engagement with Worship in the Apocalypse.

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M I N I S T RY | C O U N S E L I N G

Ministry on the Edge of Eternity Bringing comfort to the dying and grieving

By ELLIE CANFIELD

D

o you believe there is a heaven?”

As a hospice chaplain, I hear this question often.

Death is not just a physical process. It is also a spiritual journey, as people face their mortality and consider eternity. The path can be agonizing, and it can be beautiful at times.

“

I have ministered to young people with Stage 4 cancer who wanted to know, “Why me? Why now?”

I have talked with sinners and saints as they took stock of their lives and contemplated their future.

I have worshipped with elderly believers who eagerly anticipated their homecoming. After a lifetime of singing “Soon and Very Soon,” “When the Roll is Called up Yonder,” and “Amazing Grace,” they were ready to experience the full reality of those beloved hymns.

I have rejoiced over individuals who turned to Jesus and found grace and forgiveness in their final moments.

I have joined with faith-filled families as they prayed, wept and sang at the bedsides of Christian loved ones.

And amid the beeping of machines and the

When questions arise and spiritual matters are on everyone’s minds, the church needs to respond.

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sounds of grief, I have shared the promises of Scripture: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him (John 3:16–17).

My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am (John 4:2–3).

“He will wipe every tear from their eyes.

There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Revelation 21:4).

In such times, when questions arise and spiritual matters are on everyone’s minds, the church needs to respond. Here are six ways to minister to the dying and the grieving:

1. Be Present Clear your mind and schedule so you can be fully present — physically, emotionally and spiritually.

Pray for the Holy Spirit to go before you and prepare hearts for what He wants to do.

Take time to listen to the individual’s thoughts and concerns. I have had people share final wishes, personal stories, regrets, and even secret sins. As James 1:19 says, we should be “quick to listen” and “slow to speak,” always remaining sensitive to the Lord’s leading.

2. Provide Comfort In addition to physical discomfort, a dying person may experience a range of distressing emotions, such as sadness, anxiety and anger.

Even Christians who are otherwise ready to be with Jesus often worry about leaving family members behind. I remind them that just as the Lord took care of them all their lives, He will also take care of their family members. Such reassurance stirs their faith and often brings a noticeable sense of peace.

We can’t take away all the sorrow of dying, but we can hold the dying person’s hand and share the love and compassion of Christ. After all, we serve the “God of all comfort.” He “comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God” (2 Corinthians 1:3–4).

3. Pray Praying is the most important final act you can do with a person who is dying. You can pray about any areas of concern the person has brought up, pray for the family members who will be left behind, and pray for the transition from this life to the next.

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When praying for Christians, include a declaration of faith in Jesus Christ and His work on the Cross.

This can turn a time of fear into a time of rejoicing that they are finally about to see Jesus face to face.

If you are ministering to someone who might not be saved, extend an invitation to receive Christ. This might be the last chance this person has to accept Jesus and experience eternity with Him. Ask, “If you were to die today, do you know if you will make it to heaven?”

If the answer is “no,” offer to lead that person in the sinner’s prayer.

If you are in a situation where you are at a loss as to how to pray, it is always appropriate to pray for peace, comfort and the presence of the Holy Spirit.

Paul exhorts us to “pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests” and to “keep on praying for all the Lord’s people” (Ephesians 6:18).

4. Facilitate Reconciliation Sometimes relational issues within families come to the surface as the death of a loved one approaches.

This is an opportunity to help a family find healing, restoration and unity.

A minister can be instrumental in facilitating that moment of reconciliation and love between family members and with the person who is dying. I have seen relationships healed, forgiveness extended, and estranged family members reunited. I have also seen prodigals return to God. If some life event or theological concern has prevented the dying person from having a relationship with Jesus, the minister’s visit may be the last opportunity for that individual to address the issue and find salvation.

Hearts turn and minds often change when a person is at death’s door. God’s desire is reconciliation — not only with one another, but also with Him. Colossians 1:18–20 says, “God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in [Christ], and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by

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making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”

5. Have Church A pastoral visit may also represent a dying person’s final opportunity to connect with the local congregation. He or she may never again step foot into a church, hear a sermon, or experience corporate worship.

Bring the church service to the person’s home or hospital room. Ask God to fill that space with His manifest presence. Read Scripture and sing the person’s favorite songs. Try to limit it to about 15 minutes so it doesn’t become too exhausting.

Hebrews 10:25 reminds us of the importance of believers meeting together. Wherever we minister, we can share the Word of God, glorify Him, and invite the presence of the Holy Spirit. The family members in attendance will likely remember that time as a special and holy moment.

6. Offer Bereavement Care After the person dies, minister to the family. Many people choose that time to join the church if they are not already connected.

Call, visit, preach the funeral, and comfort family members as they weep. Not only are you honoring the memory of their loved one, but you are also loving and taking care of them. Even a small investment of time can make a big difference.

The family will always remember the care and support they received from the church.

Jesus said, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted” (Matthew 5:4). You can play an important role in providing the comfort of Christ to those who are hurting.

ELLIE CANFIELD is an Assemblies of God hospice chaplain serving in AGUSM Chaplaincy Ministries, and an adjunct professor at Southeastern University in Lakeland, Florida, and Northwest University in Kirkland, Washington.

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M I N I S T RY | K I D S

Recruiting a Multigenerational Volunteer Team The five R’s of onboarding all ages

By KATIE MACIEL

A

few years ago, as I looked over my volunteer roster while planning for the week ahead, the Holy Spirit stopped me and asked me to look closer.

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I sensed Him saying, “Remember the volunteers who invested in you as a child — the spiritual family of young and old, the ones whose names you remember to this day? Does your volunteer team have all ages serving the next generation?”

I needed to do a better job of recruiting a multigenerational team. I want children to have a church family that includes spiritual grandparents, aunts, uncles, brothers and sisters. No matter what their home life looks like, kids can experience God’s family by interacting with volunteers from all generations.

The challenge is bringing together such a team. It requires intentionality and time, but it is well worth the effort. I started with what I call the five R’s of generational onboarding:

1. Recognition

3. Relationship

The first step is awakening to the benefits of a multigenerational team. Kids’ pastors already have a heart for children. However, equipping teenagers and adults for the work of ministry is also part of the job description.

Children’s ministry is the perfect place for all generations to serve. And kids can benefit from the diverse gifts of young and old alike.

A 70-year-old member of our congregation once told me he wanted to serve in our ministry but thought there would not be a place for him because he was uncomfortable with technology. I assured him that was not a barrier to serving. I knew he would make a wonderful grandfather figure for our kids.

From teenagers who help with puppets and games to grandmas who pray over children, volunteers of all ages bring a beautiful balance to kids’ ministry. Ask God to give you eyes to recognize the potential in each generation, and in each person who will serve on your team.

The most important part of the generational recruitment process is developing relationships.

Unless the Holy Spirit impresses me to do so, I will not ask about someone’s interest in serving until we have had at least 10 relational exchanges (e.g., texts, coffee meetings, phone calls, church lobby conversations, etc.).

Although this might seem to slow down the process on the front end, the benefit of increased longevity of volunteers who feel valued and connected more than makes up for it.

When there is a relationship, it is easier to help someone see kids’ ministry as a place to hone his or her God-given abilities.

It took a year to recruit one of my key volunteers.

I first took the time to get to know him and his wife.

When they saw that I cared for them personally, they were more open to what I had to say about serving in the church. Always remember that serving develops relationships and runs on relationships.

2. Reconnaissance Get out of the kids’ ministry space when possible and look around. Walk slowly through the lobby on a Sunday morning and pray. One of my children’s pastor friends regularly asks God to speak to hearts about serving kids. She also prays that God will help her connect with those He is calling to kids’ ministry. She says God never fails to answer those prayers.

Always be on the lookout for volunteers, inside and outside of service times. I have recruited amazing workers in a variety of ways, from online discussions to lunch meetings with friends.

One woman reached out on the church Facebook page to say she wanted to serve Jesus with her whole heart. Her discipleship journey led to her eventually becoming plugged in as a children’s volunteer, and she has been a blessing to our team.

Make yourself visible, and never stop looking for potential talent around the church. When you are always seeking, you will find those hidden treasures.

I want children to have a church family that includes spiritual grandparents, aunts, uncles, brothers and sisters.

When it comes to recruiting those on the other side of a generational gap, developing relationships can be challenging. Take that vulnerable first step and get to know people of all ages in your church.

You will find that it is as much of a benefit for you as it is for them. Build the relationship first, and the rest becomes much easier. And you will gain new friends in the process.

4. Reality When you get around to making the pitch, be upfront about the realities of kids’ ministry. Inform your volunteers about background checks and their

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purpose. Let potential volunteers know what kind of commitment this will entail.

Many people worry that serving in kids’ ministry means they will feel obligated to stay indefinitely. I was recently talking with a woman whose kids had graduated from children’s ministry a decade ago. She told me, “I’d love to serve with you, but I know how it is. I’ll never get to leave!”

She was relieved to hear that is not the case in our ministry. We ask for a specific commitment, such as serving one or two Sundays a month for one year.

At the end of that period, volunteers are welcome to step away or commit to another year. There is no pressure, only gratitude for their service — however long or short.

We also provide a clear list of responsibilities and offer an obligation-free opportunity to experience kids’ ministry by shadowing another volunteer.

This gives volunteers a clear picture of the realities and expectations and lets them know their time, spiritual health, and growth are important to us.

5. Reciprocation The benefits of volunteering go beyond the church’s children’s ministry. It is a reciprocal relationship that also blesses those who serve. Don’t underestimate the importance of investing in volunteers of all ages and stages of discipleship as they invest in children.

Serving is a vital part of spiritual formation at any age. Remember the teenagers who graduated out of your ministry? Invite them back to serve in a place that is comfortable and accessible. Pray that serving will help them recognize their gifts and the next steps to which God is calling them.

Reach out to senior members of the congregation as well. Serving can give them a place of connection and a sense of continued Kingdom purpose. Inclusion and encouragement can go a long way toward helping them feel loved and valued.

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In addition, come alongside those who are newer to faith. Kids’ services and classrooms are ideal places to begin serving. Working with kids is less intimidating than leading adults. And the simple lessons often give recent converts a hunger to learn more outside of the ministry time. One such team member waits for me after each service so I can explain more about what we studied in the lesson and how she can go deeper in the Bible text. That’s huge!

Giving members of all generations the opportunity not only to serve but also to invest in the next generation and grow spiritually is a win-win for the entire church!

Psalm 145:4–6 says this: One generation commends your works to another; they tell of your mighty acts.

They speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty — and I will meditate on your wonderful works.

They tell of the power of your awesome works — and I will proclaim your great deeds.

These verses demonstrate an if/then relationship. For the younger generation to declare the greatness of God, we need the generations who have come before to speak of God’s awesome deeds.

Empowering the whole family of God to invest in children strengthens the church for generations to come.

KATIE MACIEL is director of Kids First Ministries at Joliet First Assembly in Joliet, Illinois. She is the author of Meant for More, a family devotional, and Repurposed Parenting, a spiritual parenting course.

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M I N I S T RY | YO U T H

Reaching Gen Z What today’s young people most want from church leaders

By JOSH PACKARD

O

n your way to becoming a mature Christian and a leader in the church, chances are somebody — likely multiple somebodies — cared enough to invest in you relationally.

Ministers today are concerned about how to engage the members of Generation Z (born around 1997 or later) in matters of faith. With many young people leaving the church, it is easy to assume they are simply uninterested in spirituality.

You know they represent the future. You know God has called you to take the gospel to them and disciple them in the faith. But perhaps you don’t always know the best way to go about it. How do you attract them? How do you keep them? How do you introduce them to Jesus? As it turns out, the solution may be less complicated than you realize.

Leading Through Uncertainty I serve as executive director of Springtide Research Institute, which recently released The State of Religion and Young People 2021. This report sheds light on what churches can do to reach this generation.

Our goal was to describe the current state of the

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relationship between young people and religion, not prescribe what that relationship should be.

However, a closer look at what young people are saying suggests some possible avenues for church leaders seeking to evangelize and disciple them.

Even as some members of Generation Z eschew church attendance, most are asking existential questions, searching for meaning, and exploring religious ideas. They claim to experience spirituality in a variety of ways, such as watching movies, reading books, praying, and meditating. In our survey of U.S. teens and adults aged 13–25, 71% identified as religious, and 78% described themselves as spiritual.

Yet many who identify as religious don’t attend church — or any other kind of religious service, for that matter. This disconnect is multifaceted, but it is impossible to understand fully without first acknowledging that Generation Z is struggling with a significant degree of uncertainty — a key point in our report.

In fact, 1 in 3 respondents told us they were going through a challenging event. Amid a global pandemic and myriad disruptions to daily life, they were making big decisions about the future, experiencing mental or physical illness, dealing with the death or sickness of a loved one, or navigating

relationship transitions like breakups.

The logical next question we asked was this: “What do you do when facing uncertain times?”

Most said they sought support within their social networks. They went to people they knew and trusted.

Even as some members of Generation Z eschew church attendance, most are asking existential questions, searching for meaning, and exploring religious ideas.

Ministers may want to help, but few young people are turning to their churches for support. Of the respondents who indicated they are active church attenders, only 29% had reached out to their spiritual community during a difficult time.

Young people are leaning on trusted relationships in uncertain times. In most cases, this includes friends and family members. However, church leaders and fellow church attenders are not always among their close connections.

In other words, young people are telling us they do not have trusted relationships in church. Congregations can take steps toward changing this, but it will take intentional effort. If church leaders hope to influence this generation, they need to grow in relational authority.

Leading Relationally Relational authority is a leadership model that emphasizes authentic relationships. Over time, leaders can build a foundation of trust by listening, caring, and demonstrating integrity, transparency, and expertise.

Credentials, titles and professional experience are not enough to gain credibility with young people. Before letting someone speak into their lives, they need to believe that person cares for them, listens to them, and believes in them. To stem the tide of young people leaving the church, you must find ways to invest in relationships.

Some of the respondents in our study described what relational authority looks like in their lives.

André, 25, talked about the importance of his mentor being vulnerable.

“There was a lot of genuine sharing with my mentor,” he said. “Naturally, I’m not a person to speak first, so when they were vulnerable with me, I felt safe to be vulnerable with them. Sharing hard situations, hard stories in their lives. That vulnerability created that space for me.”

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build trust. After all, trust is the foundation for receptivity to new ideas and perspectives.

Our research indicates that a lack of relationships is one reason many members of Generation Z have lost interest in church. Young people are indeed religious and spiritual, but many are staying away from services because they do not have trusted relationships with churchgoers or church leaders.

Our research indicates that a lack of relationships is one reason many members of Generation Z have lost interest in church.

Ophelia, 20, appreciated the regular conversations she had with a trusted older adult in her life.

“My check-ins with him every week to hear about his life and talk about philosophy or just the meaning of life and random ideas turned into a really cool friendship,” she said.

The significance of forming genuine friendships with people who care emerged as a common theme.

Young people want to know you, not just the church you represent or the vision statement of your ministry.

Sharing some details about yourself — a friendship that means a lot, the type of music you love, your favorite book, or a question you have been pondering — adds a relational element to any interaction and can lead to more meaningful conversations. Maintain appropriate and professional boundaries, of course, but do open up in ways that

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Leading With Love Young people have not written off the faith entirely.

Despite their mistrust of church, many identify not only as religious and spiritual, but also as Christian.

This provides a glimmer of hope. They are still seeking answers to their questions. And in many cases, they are still open to the gospel.

Churches have an opportunity to help guide young people on their journey. But big programs and catchy sermon titles aren’t likely to impress them.

Young people want to know someone cares about them. Just 10% of respondents in our survey said a faith leader reached out them during the first year of the pandemic — a time when many teens and young adults were struggling with upheaval, anxiety and isolation.

There are young people in your church and community who are looking for a friend and mentor.

Be that person. Welcome their curiosity and their questions. Listen respectfully to what they have to say. Show up for their ballgames, graduations, and weddings. Hear about their dreams and disappointments. Invest in their success. Comfort them, cheer them on, and let them know you care.

Eventually, young people may trust you enough to respond to the message you preach — and the one they see you living.

JOSH PACKARD, Ph.D., is executive director of Springtide Research Institute in Greeley, Colorado.

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M I N I S T RY | A D U LT S

A Heart for the Prisoner Four ways to mobilize believers to do prison ministry through your church

By ERIC J. EARHART

T

he loudspeaker crackled to life: “Christian services in the chow hall in 15 minutes. All inmates attending line up for escort.”

I was incarcerated, and this was my eighth prison in three years. Because I had gotten to know the chaplain, I decided to attend this service.

When I entered the chow hall, I got my first look at Brother Mickey and Sister Linda. An unassuming couple in their early 50s, they were greeting many of the inmates by name. (I later learned they had been volunteering at the state penitentiary for 25 years — coming back week after week, despite the challenges of prison ministry.)

After opening with prayer, Mickey started strumming his guitar, and the small gathering raised their voices in worship.

“This is the day, this is the day that the Lord has

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made,” they sang. “We will rejoice … .”

After worship, we settled into a simple time of sharing. As one inmate talked about his struggles and hopes, others flipped through the pages of their Bibles to find an appropriate verse for the occasion.

This was my introduction to the Assemblies of God. Little did I know I would one day plant a church and pastor a congregation that included Mickey and Linda.

The Opportunity What if every congregation in the Assemblies of God had a Mickey and a Linda? What if every district or ministry network had a vision and a plan for reaching millions of lost souls in prison? What if every parolee had a church to call home and a support network of Christian friends?

I believe Jesus wants every church in the

Assemblies of God to have a prison ministry.

The need is great. More than 2 million people are incarcerated in the U.S., according to the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics. On top of that, there are millions of people like me: felons who have done their time and walk among us.

While it would be easy to see only the scope of the problem, the Lord wants us to see the size of the opportunity. Most prisoners will be released at some point. They need church families to encourage them on their journeys. They need hope for the future.

Every time I share my testimony at a church, members of the congregation ask, “How can I get involved? How can I help reach someone like you?”

Imagine the possibilities if nearly 13,000 AG churches had at least one Mickey or Linda. Could a great awakening come to the prisons and jails of America?

Even the federal government acknowledges that faith-based volunteers are making a difference in the lives of prisoners.

A document on the U.S. Department of Justice website titled “Myths About Collaboration Between Corrections and Faith-Based Groups” says, “Preliminary research suggests that outside volunteers, especially faith-based people, can be an indispensable catalyst of positive transformation in the attitudes, behavior, and rates of successful reentry of prisoners.”

Jesus began and ended His earthly ministry by identifying with the prisoner. In Nazareth, He read from Isaiah 58:6 and 61:1–2, declaring, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18–19).

Just before His crucifixion, Jesus reminded His followers in the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats to visit “the least of these” in prison (Matthew 25:31–46).

Although He had done nothing wrong, Jesus himself died a criminal’s death. And as He hung on the cross, He invited a convicted criminal into the Kingdom.

The Vision Some may believe prison ministry is the territory of chaplains. However, all Christians should be concerned about reaching the incarcerated. While our seasoned chaplains are a rich resource for institutional knowledge and training, they need the help of local congregations.

Others may assume every inmate already has access to a personal presentation of the gospel. That is simply not the case. Prison ministry happens only where someone has a heart for inmates, a vision for reaching them, and a plan of action.

What would it take to get the gospel into every penal facility in every community? We need the involvement of ordinary church members with extraordinary compassion. We need to motivate, mobilize and equip parishioners to visit those in prison and disciple them after their release.

What if every parolee had a church to call home and a support network of Christian friends?

The pastor’s job is to “equip [God’s] people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up” (Ephesians 4:12). Every member of the Body has a role to play in building the Kingdom and reaching the lost.

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Here are four ways to mobilize believers to do prison ministry through your church: 1. Regularly tell the stories of those who have been set free. One way to do this is by bringing in chaplains, volunteers and converts to share testimonies.

2. Partner with existing prison ministries. Consider Assemblies of God U.S. Missions Chaplaincy Ministries, Prison Fellowship, and Yokefellows International.

3. Recruit a local prison ministry leader. This person can create a pipeline that connects volunteers from your church with prison ministries.

Arthur Mitchell, a former inmate, leads our church’s prison ministry at Upper Room Assembly in Gatesville, North Carolina. He is an Assemblies of God pastor today because of a local church’s prison ministry.

4. Host an annual Prison Ministry Sunday.

Bring in a special speaker to raise awareness. This can be an ideal time to recruit volunteers, pray for chaplains, and collect an offering for prison ministry.

testimonies of others who are serving. Your church members need to catch the vision often for reaching the lost in prison. The size of your congregation

Every member of the Body has a role to play in building the Kingdom and reaching the lost.

The Calling In Romans 10:13, Paul proclaimed that “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” He then asked four compelling questions: How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? (verses 14–15).

God often calls people to ministry through the

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doesn’t matter. Whether you have 16 people or 600, it only takes one to respond.

Prison ministry is no less important than children’s ministry, women’s ministry, men’s ministry or youth ministry. Jesus loves the lost, even those in prison. He came to save the spiritually lost. And He calls us to take this good news to the “streets and alleys … the roads and country lanes” (Luke 14:21– 23) — and to the jails and prisons.

ERIC J. EARHART is the founding pastor of Upper Room Assembly in Gatesville, North Carolina.

SE

CTION

SP

ECIAL

:

FOSTER

CARE

If God and the Church Don’t Help ...

By RICK DUBOSE

M

y journey in foster care ministry began in the office of Bishop Aaron Blake.

I had spoken at his church’s Sunday morning service. Afterward, he invited me to his office. His first question was what I thought about the children’s choir that had performed during the service.

I remarked that it was impressively large for such a small church.

“Yes,” Blake said. “They are all foster kids.”

He told me about his involvement in foster care.

He recited the statistics about the depth of the problem. And he described how his church was making a difference in the lives of many foster children. In fact, he said theirs was the first county in Texas to have more approved foster families than kids who need placement.

“What would happen to the foster kids in the rest of the state if you used your platform the way I have used mine?” Blake asked.

At the time, I was superintendent of the North

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Texas District Council of the Assemblies of God, which had 550 churches in its ministry network.

When I said I didn’t know, he asked whether I would consider praying about it.

“No,” I said. “You don’t have to pray about things the Bible already commands. I’m in.”

The next thing I knew, I was attending a lunch event for leaders who worked with the foster care system. I sat between a Children’s Court judge and an official in the Texas Board of Criminal Justice, which administers the state prison system.

The judge shared the story of the first child he removed from an abusive home and placed in foster care. Sixteen years later, he encountered her again.

By then, she was an adult. She was also the abusive mother of a child who was entering the system.

“Reverend” he said, “if God and the Church don’t help us, all our effort is in vain.”

Then the prison official chimed in: “Pastor, I determine how many beds we will need in our prisons based on how many kids age out of the foster care system. That system only works when the right people are in it.”

From that time on, I made sure the North Texas District was invested and involved in our state’s foster care system.

We look forward to the day when every church in our Fellowship does something to help children and families in our nation’s foster care system.

Now I have the privilege of serving as chair of the AG Foster Care Network. We look forward to the day when every church in our Fellowship does something to help children and families in our nation’s foster care system.

The articles that follow are written by credentialed Assemblies of God ministers who are members of the network. They are arranged to help you move from problem to solution.

• Eric Porter, founder and CEO of Backyard

Orphans, begins by describing the American foster care crisis.

• Allen Griffin, pastor of Winston-Salem First Assembly of God and founder of Excellerate, outlines a biblical mandate to care for society’s most vulnerable.

• Sharen Ford, director of foster care and adoption at Focus on the Family, identifies five misconceptions about foster care that keep many from becoming foster parents.

• Finally, Jay Mooney and Johan Mostert of Compact Family Services share how congregations can come alongside foster parents to ensure stable placements for kids.

I pray these articles will touch your heart in such a way that you will join me on the journey to practice the pure and faultless religion of James 1:27!

RICK DUBOSE is assistant general superintendent of the Assemblies of God (USA).

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The American Foster Care Crisis The system isn’t working, so the Church must

By ERIC PORTER

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I

’ll never forget the night I had to make a phone call to the child abuse hotline after discovering a young girl in my church had suffered physical abuse at the hands of her father. My heart sank with each question the operator asked.

“Are there drugs involved? Are there weapons in the house? Do you feel she is in imminent danger?”

I began to weep as I shared what I knew.

The more I processed the situation, the more indignant I became. I was angry at the father, but as a pastor, I was also angry that I didn’t know how to help this girl. I felt powerless.

All I was trained to do was to make the phone call.

But then what? Wasn’t the Church supposed to care for the hurting and bring healing to a broken world?

I later realized the Holy Spirit was using these questions to get my attention.

On Sept. 14, 2011, God called our family to become U.S. orphan care missionary chaplains. My wife, Trisha, and I already had three kids and one on the way. We didn’t know where to start or what to do. We just said “yes” to God. We now use what we’ve learned to help other church leaders develop foster care, adoption and support ministries.

The Process There are four primary stages of foster care: investigation, removal, placement and permanency. Investigation begins when someone suspects a child is abused, abandoned, or neglected and contacts local authorities or calls the child abuse hotline. Child welfare then investigates to determine whether the situation calls for community care or the removal of a child from the home.

Removal happens if the investigation confirms abuse, abandonment or neglect.

With removal comes the next stage: placement. The first priority is finding the child a place to stay with safe, biological relatives. Otherwise, social workers must find a suitable, long-term foster home. In the meantime, they will use licensed foster parents who are prepared for emergency placement.

Though placement in foster homes is necessary, ultimately the goal of foster care is reunification.

When a child enters the foster care system, the child welfare team works with the court to provide a plan for the family to get the children back home.

Whether through reunification or adoption,

permanency is the final objective of the process. If there are no suitable biological relatives available, the child is placed with a nonrelative adoptive family.

I once held a frail infant who was suffering from kidney failure because of neglect. My heart ached for this innocent child. I knew the situation broke God’s heart too.

At first, I harbored anger toward the baby’s biological parents. I wasn’t sure I could forgive them for what they had done. However, God quickly aligned my thoughts. He reminded me that His Son died on a cross for the biological parents too.

Caring for children in foster care is an open door to sharing Christ with them and their biological families. We can demonstrate God’s love and grace during even the most difficult circumstances.

It’s part of the ministry of reconciliation to which the Lord calls us (2 Corinthians 5:17–21).

That baby was unable to return to his biological family. There simply was not a safe home for him among the extended relatives.

His permanency plan changed to adoption, and he was placed in a loving and godly forever home. I am happy to report that he is now 8 years old, healthy and thriving.

With hundreds of thousands of children entering, exiting or remaining in foster care each year, there are not enough foster homes to meet the demand.

The Challenge Since entering this space, I have heard stories of children who were whipped with electric cords, a child who was stuffed into a clothes dryer for punishment, and a newborn who was left for dead in a dumpster. I’ve realized this type of trauma isn’t just happening in other places. It is happening in my neighborhood and yours. There are heartbreaking stories in every community across America.

According to Childhelp, which operates the National Child Abuse Hotline, a report of child

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abuse is made every 10 seconds. Data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services indicates that, on average, four children per day die from maltreatment in the U.S. With hundreds of thousands of children entering, exiting or remaining in foster care each year, there are not enough foster homes to meet the demand.

Right now, there are children across the country who are sleeping overnight in child welfare offices or in hotel rooms with case workers because there is nowhere else for them to go.

It is especially challenging to find homes for older children, teenagers and sibling groups.

Children entering foster care desperately need stability. However, that need is not always met. When kids face big trauma, they experience big emotions. When big emotions are hard to process, big behaviors often follow. When big behaviors surface within a foster home, kids sometimes have to move.

In some cases, the foster home may not have been a good fit. In other cases, the child may not have been given a fair chance. No matter the cause, it is never beneficial for a child to bounce from home to home. The result is usually more trauma and more negative behaviors.

Frequent change in caregivers causes attachment issues in some children. This makes it difficult for them to form meaningful connections and manage emotions. It can also become challenging for them to seek comfort effectively. Children with prolonged instability often feel unsafe, lonely, irritable, sad and angry.

Trisha and I initially experienced this with the children we adopted. Before coming to us, they had been in several homes over the span of six years. It has taken time to build trust and connection.

It took several months for one adopted child to accept us as her mom and dad. At first, she didn’t even want us to hug her. But with God’s help, we’ve seen tremendous growth and healing.

Finding adoptive homes for children who cannot return to biological families is vital to their longterm stability. It is not ideal for kids to remain in the limbo of foster care for long. Nationally, 20,000 teens age out of foster care every year with no permanent family to call their own, according to the U.S. Children’s Bureau. Why are so many stuck in the foster care system? Sadly, families are often reluctant to adopt teenagers. Fear is usually the reason.

Finding adoptive homes for children who cannot return to biological families is vital to their long-term stability.

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Outcomes are understandably poor for young adults leaving the system around 18 years of age with no community or family support. Many will become homeless. Others will be incarcerated.

These teens are also at risk of becoming victims of sexual trafficking.

The Opportunity As bleak as this picture may seem, I believe the problem is solvable if the Church steps in to fill the gaps. God is calling us to shine the light of Jesus in dark places. How can we neglect this crisis in our own backyards?

The children of our communities need the Church. In the words of Josh Shipp, a former foster child who is now an author and youth advocate, “Every kid is one caring adult away from being a success story.”

ERIC PORTER is founder and CEO of Backyard Orphans in Midlothian, Texas.

A Biblical Mandate to Care Scripture requires compassion for the vulnerable

By ALLEN GRIFFIN

M

y introduction to caring for children in foster care was not by choice. My family hosted 26 foster children while I was growing up. I can remember thinking at one point, Why do we have to do this? Why can’t someone else help?

As I matured, though, resentment eventually gave way to acceptance and love. I came to see my growing family as a blessing, not a burden.

When God created the first humans, He told them, “Be fruitful and increase in number” (Genesis 1:28). Adam and Eve produced offspring from whom the nations of the world were born. All were connected by a common ancestry.

However, family fractures soon emerged. Sin corrupted human relationships, bringing division, dysfunction, isolation and marginalization.

Yet God continued to reveal His love and compassion for all people. From the laws of the Old Testament to the teachings of Jesus and His followers in the New Testament, Scripture consistently calls for the care of the less fortunate in society. The Old Testament law established a series of commandments

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regarding care of the vulnerable, especially orphans, widows, immigrants and the poor.

The Bible frequently describes orphans as fatherless. Most patriarchal societies had little regard for fatherless children and sometimes even enslaved them. Widows were vulnerable to abuse and poverty. A foreigner without community connections or relationships might find it difficult to trade and eke out a living. And the poor were at risk of all kinds of mistreatment, including predatory lending.

God’s Word promotes conscious consideration, equitable trade, and sympathetic treatment of the vulnerable. God commanded the Israelites to collect a tithe from an entire year’s harvest every third year and give it to “the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow” (Deuteronomy 26:12). They were also forbidden from charging interest to poor members of their communities (Exodus 22:25).

God himself is a defender of vulnerable populations (Deuteronomy 10:17–19; Jeremiah 22:16).

And He warned that those who mistreated them or ignored their plight were in danger of judgment (Exodus 22:22–24; Jeremiah 5:28–29). Our Heavenly Father promises to hear the cry of vulnerable people and move on their behalf.

In the New Testament, Jesus introduced dimensions of relationships that amazed His listeners.

Rather than consider His followers mere servants, Jesus declared them His friends (John 15:14–15).

Even more shocking, He also called them family: “Whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother” (Matthew 12:50).

The sacrifice of Jesus on the cross allows us to become a part of God’s family. Jesus established His kingdom with an understanding that as family, we should care as relatives would.

Jesus presented the concept of spiritual family repeatedly. He called the woman who was healed of a bleeding disorder “daughter” (Matthew 9:22).

From the cross, Jesus asked John to care for His mother (John 19:26–27), even though John was not a relative. Jesus demonstrated that those who serve God are family and are to be shown compassionate care. This type of care begins in the

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house of God and extends beyond the borders of our faith.

The Lord instructed His followers to fulfill the Law and the teaching of the prophets by loving God with all their heart, mind, and soul and loving their neighbor as themselves (Mark 12:30–31).

Our adoption into God’s family reminds us to include those who are unlike us in our scope of compassionate service.

Jesus illustrated the principle of neighborly love in the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25– 37). The Jewish people were accustomed to serving their own in accordance with the Law, but Jesus expanded their responsibility with this parable. He described a situation where religious leaders failed to help a person who had experienced injustice.

Jesus taught that loving our neighbor should cause us to reach beyond all borders of race, sex, religion, culture and congregation. Our compassion must extend to those outside of our church community.

The apostle Paul shared his understanding of God’s universal acceptance of humanity in his letter to the Romans. He used the principle of adoption to describe salvation. God values and includes all of humanity in His plan of redemption, saving all who come to Him in faith and transforming us to become His children. Our adoption into God’s family reminds us to include those who are unlike us in our scope of compassionate service. We must reach beyond ourselves to the world God so loves.

God’s desire for compassion is undeniable. Jesus’ clear mandate regarding care for the vulnerable should motivate us to serve the needs of children within the foster care system.

In the Old Testament, God’s Law for Israel required justice and compassion. In the New Testament, Jesus’ depiction of compassion through parables leads us to care for those outside of our faith and church walls. The apostles’ teaching regarding salvation through the metaphor of adoption reveals

God’s desire for His people to accept those foreign to, or outside of, our culture.

Caring for others was among the activities that immediately followed the Upper Room encounter with the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost.

The believers were devoted to the apostles’ teachings and to fellowship. They ate together, prayed together, and even sold their property and possessions to provide for those who were in need (Acts 2:42–47).

Acts 4:33–35 says, “God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales, and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.” Is that true of us? Are our congregations so generous that there are none in our midst who are in need?

The needs of the vulnerable go far beyond financial concerns. They are in need of fellowship and families. Scripture directs us to consider the need and respond. God wants us to view them as a part of our family.

James 1:27 says, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”

The word translated religion comes from the Greek threskos. This rarely used term is best described as a religious ceremony — a public demonstration of an inner conviction.

A theological reflection upon the scriptural mandate to extend robust, generous and compassionate care to all corners of the community compels us to act. We must creatively and enthusiastically obey God’s command to serve and care for the most vulnerable in our society.

ALLEN GRIFFIN, D.Min., is senior pastor of WinstonSalem First Assembly of God in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

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Misconceptions About Foster Parenting What’s keeping you from becoming involved?

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By SHAREN E. FORD

W

hen the Smiths,* who were newly licensed foster parents, got the call from their social worker, it wasn’t quite what they were expecting. The Smiths had said they would welcome a younger child into their home. The social worker was now asking whether they’d be willing to take in two sisters — an elementary aged child and a middle-schooler.

The Smiths were torn. They didn’t want to say no to these sisters, but they weren’t sure they could handle the older sister’s behavioral issues. It might be too much, they thought.

After careful consideration, the Smiths told their social worker they would be willing to take the younger sister but not the older one. The sisters were separated and placed in different homes.

There are a few misconceptions that keep people from becoming involved in foster care or taking in certain foster children. Here are four: Four Misconceptions 1. Foster children — especially older ones — are too difficult to manage. It’s true that many foster children act out, but there are reasons for their behaviors. God’s design is for kids to have parents who love, nurture and protect them. Trauma from abuse, neglect, or abandonment can affect a child’s cognitive development. Difficult behaviors often result.

However, with proper love and care, much healing can occur. Kids of all ages need love, including teens.

Many foster children respond to kindness, and some will thrive in a loving and safe environment.

Jesus calls us to love the least of these (Matthew 25:31–46). This includes troubled young people who may not always know how to show love in return. When James challenges Christ followers to care for orphans in their distress (James 1:27), he doesn’t add a caveat about behavioral issues.

God can use you to change the life of a child or

teenager for His glory. Trust Him to work through you.

2. It is not possible to love a child who is not biologically related to me. Why not? You likely already love many people who are not biologically related to you, including your spouse, in-laws, and close friends. The human heart, because it is created by a God who is love (1 John 4:16), is capable of loving a wide variety of people. This includes children who were brought into this world by other parents.

3. The birth parents are irredeemable people who don’t deserve to get their children back.

This is a difficult one for many foster parents, and understandably so.

Naturally, foster parents don’t want to see the kids they have loved and nurtured returned to a potentially harmful situation. They may even struggle with feelings of anger and bitterness toward the people who abused or neglected these precious children.

But God calls us to compassion and forgiveness.

He wants us to see people as He does: as human beings He came to save. Every birth parent who has lost a child to the foster care system is made in the image of God. Jesus loves and can redeem each one.

Has God given you a second chance in life? How about a third, fourth, or beyond? We are all sinners in desperate need of a Savior. These birth parents may have made some serious mistakes, but the God

The human heart is capable of loving a wide variety of people.

This includes children who were brought into this world by other parents.

*The Smiths are a composite of two families the author has known.

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who loves them asks you to love them as well. They are the neighbors Jesus calls you to love as you love yourself (Matthew 22:39).

This does not mean birth parents should always be reunited with their children. There are cases in which reunification is unsafe, and the children become available for adoption. Either way, we can demonstrate the love of Christ. As Christians, loving people is not negotiable.

Fear of losing our sense of control. Fear of falling in love with a child only to see that child return to his or her birth family.

It’s OK to have fears. But don’t allow those fears to prevent you from opening your heart and home to a hurting child who desperately needs both.

In the midst of our fears, we know that God is “a father to the fatherless” and that He “sets the lonely in families” (Psalm 68:5–6). Perhaps God wants to use you and your family to fulfill that promise. If so, step out in faith, not fear. After all, “there is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear” (1 John 4:18).

Ask God to drive out your fears, and prayerfully consider stepping out in faith to care for children in foster care. No, the road won’t always be smooth. But you can be certain God will be with you (Joshua 1:5) and will equip you to do whatever He calls you to do.

When the court ordered sibling visitations to take place, the Smiths got to know the sister of their foster daughter. They began to build a relationship with her and eventually became close with her. The girl moved into their home so she could be placed with her younger sister, and the Smiths ended up adopting both girls. Their misconceptions, rooted in fear, were cast out by the perfect love of God. And it was done for His glory, and for this family’s good.

God is good. If He calls you to foster parenting, talk to others about your fears and misconceptions.

Pray over and through them. And trust God. He wants to use you to bless the lives of others. Will you let Him?

We know that God is “a father to the fatherless” and that He “sets the lonely in families” (Psalm 68:5–6). Perhaps God wants to use you and your family to fulfill that promise.

I am in no way suggesting foster parents should look the other way if they see red flags. If the child reports something concerning, it is important to notify the social worker. The court needs all the facts to determine what is in the best interest of the child.

4. The system is too broken to work with. The system likely is broken, but that is not a reason to turn away a child in need. It is broken because it is made up of people who are also broken. As you are.

As we all are.

The Church should not run from broken systems, especially those that affect the lives and well-being of children and families. Rather, we should run toward the brokenness, asking God to use us — our voices, our presence, and our advocacy — to help bring healing to that broken system, as He has brought healing to our lives.

Love Over Fear These are but a few of the misconceptions people have about foster parenting. Fear is often at the root of our hesitancy — fear of what foster parenting will mean for ourselves, our marriages, and our biological children. Fear that we will be found inadequate.

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SHAREN E. FORD, Ph.D., is director of foster care and adoption at Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

What Local Churches Can Do Five ways to help foster families succeed

By JAY MOONEY and JOHAN MOSTERT

M

ore than 400,000 children are in the foster care system, according to the U.S. Children’s Bureau. Yet there is hardly a county in our nation where we have enough quality foster parents available for case workers to place children in crisis.

Case workers are burning out at an alarming rate.

Few have the luxury of matching the needs of a child to a foster family. Any empty bed they can find will have to do.

Many churches have heard this call of desperation for more foster parents and are promoting foster care as a ministry. Nevertheless, we are losing about half of interested families during the arduous 30 hours of licensing training. And half of those who make it through the licensing process leave the foster care ministry in their first year.

Children whose lives are already disrupted experience further traumatization by the failure of their foster placement. Foster parents who intended to do good are left feeling like a failure.

Foster care is in a crisis, and we believe only the Church can provide a viable solution to the problem. Here are five things the local church can do to increase placement stability in foster care: 1. Promote foster care as a missionary calling. We must recruit more Christian foster parents.

Furthermore, we need to present it as a missionary calling that will require sacrifice, training and continuous support. No family should enter this ministry without prayerfully counting the cost and considering what it would mean for each member.

2. Identify a foster care support champion.

Every foster family needs a family advocate serving

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as a liaison between them and the community. The advocate can represent their needs to the church family and mobilize helpers. Foster children may have emotional and behavior issues that lead to disruptions at church. Family advocates can help the church family understand their needs and extend grace and acceptance. These advocates can also organize volunteers who will minister to the foster family.

3. Recruit a team of prayerful supporters. The family advocate needs a whole team of volunteers.

The advocate’s task begins when the foster family receives the call for their first placement. The church should have a plan in place to respond to the immediate needs of that placement.

A prepared meal on the first night as the foster parents are trying to connect with the kids can be a real help. Within 24 hours, deliver an age-appropriate welcome basket for the kids. Because children often arrive with only a few belongings, provide access to clothing and sanitary supplies as well.

Conduct an immediate needs assessment with the foster parents. Ask about the children’s physical needs. Does someone need to pick up prescription medications or provide transportation to school as the parents adjust their work schedules? Is there a need for extra beds or other necessities?

The goal during those first days is to make it easier for the foster parents to focus on connecting with their foster kids.

Later, volunteers can provide casseroles and pizzas for weekend meals. Some can organize birthday parties or buy Christmas presents for the children.

Others can offer to drive the kids to their medical appointments or pick them up from school when the foster parents need to work late.

Typical families usually have extended family members — such as uncles, aunts and grandparents — who provide this kind of support for their children. The local church can replicate this supportive community for foster families, so they are never without resources to provide the caring wraparound every family needs. Foster parents need a band of volunteers prayerfully holding up their arms as they minister to children in crisis.

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The family advocate should stay abreast of the changing needs in the family and adapt the support from the volunteer community to keep pace. There may be court dates, biological family meetings, and hospital visits that make some weeks especially difficult. There will also be times when the foster parents need to take a break for a weekend respite or a date night.

A family advocate who responds to changing needs, and even anticipates opportunities that could

Foster parents need a band of volunteers prayerfully holding up their arms as they minister to children in crisis.

relieve the pressure on foster parents, can go a long way toward increasing placement stability and success.

4. Create positive experiences for foster children. From 1995–97, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Kaiser Permanente conducted a large-scale study of how childhood abuse and neglect impacts victims in adulthood.

Researchers found that violence, abuse, neglect, parental substance abuse, and parental separation all have profound implications for a child’s future.

The study identified 10 adverse childhood experiences that increase the risk of chronic health problems, mental illness, and substance abuse in later years. Individuals with more than four of these risk factors were most likely to experience social, emotional and cognitive impairments. Children entering foster care typically fall into that category.

However, new research over the last decade

suggests positive childhood experiences can help counter the long-term effects of trauma. Such experiences can help a child build resilience and begin the healing process.

By providing these positive experiences, the church community can help reverse the effects of trauma.

Children have positive experiences when they feel supported by friends; have a sense of belonging and connection with a larger group; participate in community traditions; and develop a relationship with at least one non-parent adult who takes a genuine interest in them. There are a variety of ways for churches to facilitate such experiences.

5. Build bridges to biological families. Many children in foster care eventually return to their biological families. This is always a primary goal for case workers. God created the family so that children can flourish. Thus, the local church needs to promote family reunification.

This may require intensive community support to get the family back on their feet, or supportive discipleship that guides moms and dads toward wholeness so they can resume their parental responsibilities. This is a wonderful evangelistic opportunity for local churches to reach out to families and help reunite parents with their children.

Using these five strategies, the Church can change the face of foster care in our nation. No other institution in society can even come close to the transforming power of the community of believers acting in unison to display God’s wisdom to the nations.

JAY MOONEY is executive director of COMPACT Family Services in Hot Springs, Arkansas.

JOHAN MOSTERT is director of Family and Community Resources for COMPACT Family Services.

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Assemblies of God Foster Care Network We see a day when every Assemblies of God church is doing something to help children and families in foster care.

Assemblies of God churches make up 5% of the total evangelical churches in the U.S. Therefore, we have accepted the responsibility to care for 20,000 of the 400,000 children per year in foster care. The revival of compassion in our Fellowship is laying the groundwork to bring redemption to broken children and families.

We have a beautiful array of rural, urban, and suburban churches that are small, medium, and large in size. Not every church can find families to foster or adopt children, but every church can do something. Here are four areas of involvement:

•

SPEAK UP Let’s pray for, preach about, teach on, and advocate for children and families in foster care and for our government and agency partners.

• DONATE FOR PHYSICAL NEEDS

Donate items to support foster care families, like bunk beds, clothing, and meals.

•

PROVIDE SUPPORT SERVICES Donate your time to provide babysitting, transportation, meals, or respite.

•

OPEN YOUR HEART AND HOME Prayerfully consider being a foster or adoptive parent.

For more information, or to join, go to AGFosterCare.Network and sign up today!

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More than a magazine

MAKE IT COUNT

A 10-Week Study For Leadership Teams

What Is Make It Count?

M

ake It Count is a leadership development resource for use individually or with staff, volunteers, or board members.

Each installment is also available online as a downloadable PDF, along with interactive pages for group member use. The underlined words and phrases in the following text correspond to fill-in-theblank sections on team member pages. Access these free resources at influencemagazine. com/Downloads.

These lessons are written by STEPHEN BLANDINO, lead pastor of 7 City Church in Fort Worth, Texas, and the author of several books.

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Habits of Effective Ministry Leaders

By STEPHEN BLANDINO

H

abits can make or break us as ministry leaders. The right habits will foster greater personal and ministry health, and the wrong habits will undermine our long-term growth and impact. But which habits are most important?

In this edition of Make It Count, we’ll explore 10 habits of effective ministry leaders. This is not an exhaustive list, and these habits are not the only necessary behaviors to becoming a better ministry leader and building a healthier church. But each habit will help you deliver exponential impact. What are these habits?

1. Cultivating Spiritual Intimacy. Effective leadership begins with a habit of intimacy with God. Neglecting this habit is a recipe for diminished impact and eventual burnout.

2. Prioritizing Personal Growth. When ministry leaders stop growing, everything they lead bumps up against a lid. Like Jesus, leaders must prioritize a growth habit that embraces the right mindset, practices and commitment to intentional growth.

3. Modeling Servant Leadership. Good leaders know ministry isn’t all about them. Therefore, ministry leaders make it a habit to model servant leadership by leading from a heart surrendered to the Lord and serving for the good and growth of others.

4. Stewarding Time Wisely. Every ministry leader is pulled 100 different directions. However, the best leaders build a habit of stewarding time wisely by identifying their highest priorities, setting clear boundaries, and delegating to others.

5. Maintaining Clear Direction. Many leaders set direction, but few know how to maintain it. Effective ministry leaders not only choose a direction, but they also discipline themselves to align people and plans to that ministry direction.

6. Building Strong Teams. Ministry leaders are only as good as their teams. Therefore, they make it a habit to recruit, raise, release and reward team members for effective ministry.

7. Practicing Good Communication. Building a habit of communication isn’t easy, but ministry leaders use motivation, meetings, methods, and marketing to ensure good communication happens within the team and throughout the church.

8. Increasing Ministry Capacity. Every church will hit capacity ceilings, but good leaders know how to increase the capacity of their people, resources, and strategies so the church can climb to new levels of impact.

9. Creating Healthy Culture. Ministry leaders create culture by maximizing values, relationships and accountability among their team members. This habit fosters long-term health throughout the team and the church.

10. Multiplying Ministry Leaders. The most effective leaders are multipliers. They don’t just lead projects; they also develop people who multiply value to others. Ministry leaders put the habit of multiplication at the top of their priorities.

As you read, discuss, and apply these 10 lessons with your team, commit to build each habit together.

The compounding effect of each habit will produce a harvest of changed lives and fruitful ministry.

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TEN HABITS OF EFFECTIVE MINISTRY LEADERS

Cultivating Spiritual Intimacy

Assess

What are the most impactful steps you’ve taken to cultivate spiritual intimacy?

Insights and Ideas

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he demands of leadership can be relentless. Before long, you may find yourself feeling wrung out, especially when the busyness intrudes on your spiritual life. Spending time in God’s presence keeps our hearts soft, and ministry always flows from the heart. As Proverbs 4:23 says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”

To lead effectively in ministry, you need a close relationship with God. But you won’t simply drift into that. As author Francis Chan observed, “We never grow closer to God when we just live life. It takes a deliberate pursuit and attentiveness.”

So, what does it look like to cultivate a habit of spiritual intimacy? I could challenge you to employ a long list of disciplines such as prayer, Bible reading, worship, meditation, serving, fasting, giving, solitude, or taking a sabbath. Instead, I will ask three helpful questions about your spiritual habits: 1. Which spiritual habits refresh you the most? Some people enjoy digging deeply into Scripture, while others love extended times of worship. Some find joy in giving or serving, while others feel closer to God in solitude. You could argue, “We need all of these habits.” That is true, but we also need a starting place. Start with the habit you love the most. When you experience a win in one area, it will help you develop other spiritual habits too.

2. How can your personality type enhance your spiritual habits? If your personality is extroverted, but all your spiritual disciplines happen in private, you may feel spiritually dry or disconnected. Perhaps you should pray regularly with an accountability partner, engage in small group Bible study, or serve alongside a close friend. If, on the other hand, you’re more introverted, you might prefer to engage in personal times of worship or serve in one-on-one settings. Leverage your personality type to connect with God. 3. How can you practice spiritual habits with your team? One of the most enriching teambuilding activities is engaging in spiritual habits together. Praying, serving, or studying Scripture together will unify your hearts, and it will send an important message that you value spiritual intimacy.

Cultivating spiritual intimacy makes our relationship with Jesus vibrant, keeps our hearts right, and builds the inner resources to withstand the pressures of ministry leadership.

Reflect and Discuss

1. Which spiritual habits have become stale in your life?

2. What type of personality do you have, and how might this influence your approach to spiritual disciplines?

3. What can we start doing as a team to practice spiritual habits together?

Apply

Identify some practical next steps you can take to build the habit of spiritual intimacy into your life and into your team.

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TEN HABITS OF EFFECTIVE MINISTRY LEADERS

Prioritizing Personal Growth

Team Review

What changes have you made in your approach to spiritual habits, and how are these changes enriching your intimacy with God?

Assess

How do you prioritize personal growth in your life?

Insights and Ideas

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hen ministry leaders stop growing, everything they lead bumps up against the lid of their current capacity. In other words, their churches stop growing, their ministries hit a wall, and they are confined to limited ministry impact. This is why the habit of prioritizing personal growth is so important. While spiritual intimacy is one expression of personal growth, this habit extends to other important areas of life too, such as relationships, ministry, leadership and health.

There’s an old Irish proverb that says, “You’ve got to do your own growing, no matter how tall your grandfather is.” You can’t delegate your growth. Nobody can grow for you. Jesus understood this truth. Even though He is the Son of God, Jesus still prioritized and modeled a habit of personal growth during His human life. We can see Jesus’ growth prioritization in three ways: 1. Jesus had a growth mindset. Luke 2:40 says, “The child [Jesus] grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him.” This growth mindset is also evident throughout the remainder of this chapter. What about you? Do you have a fixed mindset or a growth mindset?

2. Jesus engaged in growth practices. When Jesus was only 12 years old, He was in the temple courts, “sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions” (Luke 2:46). How much more might we learn and grow if we took the posture of a student, listening and asking questions?

3. Jesus made growth intentional. Luke 2:52 says, “Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.” Jesus didn’t just grow physically. He grew in ways that required intentionality, developing mentally, spiritually and socially.

Authors Ken Blanchard and Mark Miller wrote, “Growth for leaders is the treasure that funds the future journey. Stop finding the treasure along the way and the journey ends.” When we cultivate a growth mindset, engage in growth practices, and make growth intentional, we find the treasures to “fund” the future of our ministries.

Reflect and Discuss

1. How would you describe your current mindset toward growth?

2. What are the most effective practices you’ve employed to help you grow?

3. What does it look like to be intentional about growth (personally and as a team)?

Apply

Do a self-audit on your personal growth. On a scale from 1 to 10, is your mindset drifting toward “fixed and inflexible,” or do you have a “vibrant growth mindset”? What new practices can you employ to help you grow? Finally, what steps can you take to become more intentional about your growth and your team’s growth?

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TEN HABITS OF EFFECTIVE MINISTRY LEADERS

Modeling Servant Leadership

Team Review

What new practices have you embraced to help maximize your personal growth?

Assess

Who is the best servant leader you know?

Insights and Ideas

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he habit of modeling servant leadership requires constant attention. After all, our culture offers plenty of other self-serving leadership strategies. But serving isn’t a model or a method; it’s a posture. It’s who you are. Jesus said, “The greatest among you will be your servant. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted” (Matthew 23:11–12).

Great ministry leaders understand that it’s not all about them. So, how do we model servant leadership? Start with two foundational principles: 1. Servant leaders lead from a surrendered heart. Author Ken Blanchard said, “A true servant heart is the byproduct of a life surrendered in gratitude to the transforming power of God’s unconditional love and forgiveness. The desire to honor the giver of that love through service to him as Jesus modeled is the primary ambition and animating force of a transformed servant heart.” When service is disconnected from a transformed heart, it becomes nothing more than a way to manipulate desired outcomes. We don’t serve to get; we get to serve. We serve because Jesus transformed our hearts and lives. Therefore, we offer our service to Him and His mission.

2. Servant leaders focus on the good and growth of others. Christian leader and author Hans Finzel once said, “Servant leadership requires us to sit and weep with those who weep within our organizations. It requires getting down and dirty when hard work needs to be done.

There is nothing in my organization that anyone does that I should not be willing to do myself if it promotes the good of us all.”

Blanchard takes it one step further, writing, “Servant leaders must get personal satisfaction from watching the growth and development of those they lead.”

Servant leaders are focused on the good and growth of others. They use their leadership to serve people and draw out the best in those around them.

While servant leadership may not be the most popular approach to leadership, it is the most effective. Jesus modeled it, and He calls every ministry leader to do the same.

Reflect and Discuss

1. What is the most challenging part of servant leadership for you?

2. What are some practical ways Christian leaders can regularly surrender their hearts — and their leadership — to Christ?

3. How can servant leaders do what’s best for individual people and what’s best for the overall church or ministry, especially when these seem to collide?

Apply

What part of your heart needs to be surrendered to Christ to help you become a better servant leader? Take a few minutes to invite the Holy Spirit to search your heart, and then offer to Him anything He brings to your mind. Identify two things you can start doing this week that will help focus your leadership on the good and growth of others.

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TEN HABITS OF EFFECTIVE MINISTRY LEADERS

Stewarding Time Wisely

Team Review

How have you been more intentional about modeling servant leadership?

Assess

What’s the biggest challenge you face in managing your time?

Insights and Ideas

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ne could easily argue that time is the most precious resource available to us today. After all, you can make more money, but you can’t make more time. You can only steward time more wisely.

The Parable of the Bags of Gold makes it clear that how we steward resources is extremely important. Matthew 25:16–17 says, “The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more.” The master rewarded the two productive servants when he returned, but punished the one who failed to make good use of his resources.

If time is also a God-given resource, how do we develop the habit of stewarding it wisely? Here are three keys: 1. Identify high-return priorities. Every ministry leader has high-return and low-return activities. Some deliver great ministry impact, while others produce little fruit. Our job is to identify the high-return priorities and then allocate as much of our time as possible to them.

Any efforts to steward time will fall short if we don’t first gain clarity about our priorities.

After all, efficiently doing the wrong things is not good time management.

2. Establish clear boundaries. Author Stephen R. Covey said, “You have to decide what your highest priorities are and have the courage — pleasantly, smilingly, unapologetically — to say no to other things. And the way you do that is by having a bigger ‘yes’ burning inside.”

By establishing clear boundaries ahead of time, you’re able to determine what to say “yes” to and what to decline before the moment of decision ever arrives.

3. Effectively delegate. There are not enough hours in the day for you to do everything. That’s why delegation is so important. To delegate effectively, make a list of your tasks that fall outside of high-return priorities. Then, consider how to delegate these tasks. For example, you might assign them to an assistant, another team member, an intern, or even an independent contractor. Finally, hand off the tasks, along with the training and authority others will need to excel at them.

Stewarding time wisely can’t be hit and miss. To have your greatest ministry impact, you need to turn this practice into a real habit. When you do, your efforts will compound, and your impact will multiply.

Reflect and Discuss

1. What are the high-return priorities or activities in your ministry?

2. What have you been saying “yes” to that you need to start letting go?

3. What responsibilities can you delegate to others?

Apply

Put the three steps in this lesson to work immediately. Pinpoint your priorities, set clear boundaries, and put together a 30-day delegation plan to get tasks off your plate. Then share your plan with a friend who will hold you accountable.

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TEN HABITS OF EFFECTIVE MINISTRY LEADERS

Maintaining Clear Direction

Team Review

What changes have you made to steward your time more wisely?

Assess

How does clear direction make you and your team more effective in ministry?

Insights and Ideas

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he apostle Paul had an unwavering direction for his life. “One thing I do,” he wrote in Philippians 3. “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (verses 13–14).

Paul was focused, and he maintained that focus throughout his ministry.

This same principle is essential when it comes to a church’s ministry direction. Pastors must pinpoint a clear direction for ministry (that’s the easy part). The real challenge is maintaining clear direction.

With the constant barrage of distractions and interruptions, it’s harder than ever to stick to a vision. That’s why this habit is so critical to long-term impact. How do we develop the habit of maintaining clear direction? Start with three steps: 1. Identify your goal. As the old saying goes, “If you chase two rabbits, both will escape.” The first step is to identify your goal. You can’t maintain direction until you choose a direction.

2. Align people and plans to the vision. Vision clarifies where we’re going, but people and plans will determine how we get there. If these resources are misaligned, we’ll never accomplish what God has called us to do. Maintaining clear direction is easier when the church’s plans and resources are aligned with the desired destination.

3. Differentiate between opportunities and distractions. True opportunities usually play to your strengths, drive you closer to your vision, and fit the DNA of your ministry. On the other hand, distractions are often temporary moments of inspiration that are misaligned with your highest competencies and inconsistent with your values. Creating a decision-making filter will help you distinguish between opportunities and distractions so you can maintain clear direction.

If this habit is especially difficult for you, lean into your team to help determine and maintain clear direction. Every visionary needs a strategist, and every strategist needs a visionary.

Reflect and Discuss

1. Can we clearly state what direction our church or ministry is going?

2. How well have we communicated our ministry direction to the members of our teams?

3. What do we need to do to better align our people and plans with the direction God has called us to go?

Apply

Work together as a team to establish direction. Once the direction is clear, construct a plan and align your people to the vision. This may require updating strategic plans or modifying the responsibilities of team members. Finally, create a list of questions to ask when new opportunities arise. These questions should serve as a filter for avoiding distractions and maintaining clear direction.

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TEN HABITS OF EFFECTIVE MINISTRY LEADERS

Building Strong Teams

Team Review

What steps have you taken to maintain clear direction with your ministry and teams?

Assess

What are the qualities of a strong and healthy ministry team?

Insights and Ideas

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hroughout Scripture, we see the importance of teams. Nehemiah had a team that helped him construct the wall around Jerusalem. Jesus had disciples who did ministry alongside Him. And Paul challenged the church in Corinth to see their spiritual gifts as a way to contribute to the larger Body.

Pastors and ministry leaders are only as good as their teams. That’s why we must develop the habit of building strong teams. Think of this habit as an ongoing cycle embedded in your personal and ministry calendars. The cycle includes four steps: 1. Recruit team members. Effective ministry leaders shift from a reactive to a proactive mode of team building. You can’t wait for people to come to you; you have to proactively extend invitations to serve. That’s why I use the word “recruit.” Recruiting involves praying, identifying potential team members, and inviting people onto the team.

2. Raise team members. Once we recruit team members, we must raise them up to their full potential through training, resourcing and coaching. Businessman Harvey Firestone once said, “It is only as we develop others that we permanently succeed.” That’s the attitude we need as pastors. We need to develop people more than programs.

This is what Paul describes in Ephesians 4:11–12: “So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.”

3. Release team members. Releasing is the process of empowering people with opportunities to serve and lead. Paul told Timothy, “The things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others” (2 Timothy 2:2). Equipping isn’t an end in itself. It must lead to empowerment as we hand responsibility to our teams and release them to run with the vision.

4. Reward team members. Ministry leaders who build strong teams learn how to reward team members for faithful service. That’s what the master did in the Parable of the Bags of Gold (Matthew 25). He commended them for their faithfulness, celebrated with them, and then rewarded them with greater responsibility and opportunity.

Again, this is an ongoing four-step cycle with each team member. When all four steps become embedded in our ministry rhythms, we cultivate the habit of building strong teams.

Reflect and Discuss

1. Which steps in the team-building cycle are your greatest strength and weakness?

2. We often become so focused on filling slots that we don’t take time to invest in our team. How can you raise your team members to another level?

3. What might it look like to reward team members in your ministry setting?

Apply

Put together a specific plan to practice the four steps in the team-building cycle. What can you do to recruit, raise, release, and reward team members intentionally and strategically?

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TEN HABITS OF EFFECTIVE MINISTRY LEADERS

Practicing Good Communication

Team Review

What steps have you taken to recruit, raise, release and reward your team members?

Assess

How would you rank your communication skills on a scale from 1 to 10?

Insights and Ideas

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ne of the most common organizational problems within church teams is poor communication. Too often we view communication as nothing more than dispersing information.

However, the real goal is to create understanding.

Proverbs 18:2 says, “Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions.” Communicating opinions and information without creating understanding is a shortsighted way to communicate.

When you fail to create understanding, you breed a culture of frustration and mistrust. Furthermore, everything takes longer than necessary because miscommunication — or lack of communication — creates confusion. To build a habit of practicing good communication, start with four essentials: 1. Motivation: When and how do we communicate vision? Vision is at the core of motivating people to rally around a shared picture of the church’s future. Clarifying and communicating vision can motivate and mobilize. Failure to do so will result in visions born out of everyone’s personal agendas. As author Brad Lomenick observed, “Leaders who don’t communicate their vision are no better off than leaders who have no vision to communicate.”

2. Meetings: Where are leaders and teams informed? Meetings are the places where higher-level communication happens and decisions are made. Leverage these gatherings to create communication alignment among key people and groups. Be sure the agenda for regular meetings (such as the weekly staff meeting) includes communication updates to ensure everybody is on the same page.

3. Methods: How do we share information? Methods address two keys to communication: systems and tools. Systems focus on the process of sharing information throughout the entire church, from leaders down to staff members, volunteers and congregants. A good system will always address the who, what and when of communication — who needs to communicate what to whom by when. Tools are the specific technology or additional meetings we use to share the information.

4. Marketing: How do we promote ministry and messages? Marketing is how we communicate to a broader audience, both inside and outside the church. It helps promote key ministries and share important messages.

While communication is a broad topic, these four areas will get you started on the right path.

Furthermore, they’ll promote understanding among leaders, within teams, and throughout the church.

Reflect and Discuss

1. What are the biggest communication gaps within our staff, teams and church?

2. How can we improve communication during our regularly scheduled meetings?

3. How could we improve in each of the four communication areas: motivation, meetings, methods and marketing?

Apply

Put together a communication plan that addresses the four areas above. Be sure to address who owns specific responsibilities within the communication process.

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TEN HABITS OF EFFECTIVE MINISTRY LEADERS

Increasing Ministry Capacity

Team Review

What steps have you taken to improve communication in the church?

Assess

What does “increasing ministry capacity” mean to you?

Insights and Ideas

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very church has a specific capacity to deliver a certain amount of ministry. Some churches are equipped to serve dozens, others can serve hundreds, and still others can serve thousands.

The Early Church experienced a capacity gap when widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. Therefore, the Twelve instructed the church: “Choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:3–4).

As a result, the need was met, the Word of God spread, and the number of disciples increased rapidly (Acts 6:7).

In churches, it’s easy to get so caught up in doing ministry that we fail to work on the ministry.

Increasing ministry capacity is all about working on the church so it can increase its capacity to deliver more ministry. To develop a habit of increasing ministry capacity, church leaders need to regularly assess three areas: 1. People capacity. Every person has a specific capacity to do ministry. If a ministry keeps growing, it will eventually hit the lid of the person leading it. When that happens, the person at the helm must grow his or her capacity or the ministry will stop growing.

2. Resource capacity. Resources include things like money, buildings and technology. Ministry impact can stall if a resource becomes inadequate for its continued growth. For example, a children’s ministry can stop growing if its meeting space is no longer adequate to handle more children. You may not be able to increase ministry capacity until you first address the resources gap for doing ministry.

3. Strategy capacity. Every ministry strategy has a shelf life. This doesn’t just apply to a strategy’s relevance. It also applies to a ministry’s size. If your strategy cannot scale with the size of your church, it will limit growth. Leaders need to assess the capacity of strategies to ensure they’re enabling ministry rather than prohibiting it.

Increasing ministry capacity takes a great deal of evaluation, but it can lead to the steps that will bring breakthrough and broader impact.

Reflect and Discuss

1. How often do we evaluate the ministry capacity at our church?

2. Which capacity area (people, resources, strategy) do we tend to give the least attention to?

Why? 3. What would it look like to evaluate our capacity in each area in a systematic way?

Apply

Assess the capacity of your people, resources and strategies by asking three questions: Is there any ministry in our church that has outgrown the capacity of the person leading it? Is there a ministry that needs more resources to grow to the next level? Do we have a ministry strategy that has run its course and needs an upgrade?

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TEN HABITS OF EFFECTIVE MINISTRY LEADERS

Creating Healthy Culture

Team Review

What steps have you taken to increase your church’s ministry capacity?

Assess

What are the traits of a healthy church culture?

Insights and Ideas

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astors and ministry leaders are cultural architects in the churches they lead. They choose what they’ll create, celebrate and tolerate. As author Shawn Lovejoy noted, “Leaders set culture by design or by default.”

Whether you intentionally design it or slowly drift into it, your church has a specific culture.

The question is, how do ministry leaders build a habit of creating healthy culture? At its core, healthy culture requires leaders to focus on three areas: 1. Values. Author Steve Moore observed, “Almost all leaders would affirm the importance of values as the central component of a philosophy of leadership and ministry. Few leaders have explicitly identified their values and developed an understanding of how they impact every judgment call.” If you’re going to shape culture, you and your team must identify and live a clear set of values.

That’s what the apostle Paul did in his letter to the Philippians. In Philippians 2, Paul talked about the importance of humility as he pointed out Jesus’ model of selfless service.

And in Philippians 4, Paul addressed the importance of church unity when he said, “I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord” (verse 2).

Ministry leaders must identify, model, and engrain values at every level of ministry and leadership. Only then will those values shape your culture.

2. Relationships. The strength of relationships often determines the strength of a church’s culture. And because ministry is all about people, intentionally investing in relationships is of utmost importance. Consider the immediate benefits of good relationships on your team.

Relationships strengthen comradery, bring joy to ministry, multiply efforts, and increase trust. The stronger the relationships, the healthier the culture.

3. Accountability. The culture of a team will drift into dysfunction if there is a lack of accountability. Without accountability, performance will dip, goals will be abandoned, and poor behavior will be tolerated. Accountability holds the team to standards that ensure ongoing health, foster team unity, and create forward movement with the church’s highest priorities.

Each of these ingredients — values, relationships and accountability — plays an important role in creating a healthy culture. Therefore, ministry leaders need to regularly ask, Am I modeling our values? Am I building relationships? Am I holding team members accountable?

Reflect and Discuss

1. How would you describe our team’s culture?

2. Which of the three keys to creating healthy culture is strongest, and which is weakest?

3. What are some specific ways we can maximize values, relationships and accountability to improve our culture?

Apply

Bring each culture component in this lesson under the microscope. Rate each of them on a scale from 1 to 10. Then work together as a team to identify practical ways to live out your values, build stronger relationships, and improve accountability.

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TEN HABITS OF EFFECTIVE MINISTRY LEADERS

Multiplying Ministry Leaders

Team Review

What steps have you taken to model values, build relationships, and strengthen accountability in your culture?

Assess

What steps are critical to multiplying ministry leaders?

Insights and Ideas

I

n Seven Practices of Effective Ministry, authors Andy Stanley, Reggie Joiner and Lane Jones suggested that instead of focusing only on our personal growth as leaders, we should also ask, “What keeps those around me from growing as leaders?”

If our job is to multiply ministry leaders, we must consider whether we are inhibiting or empowering that process.

Multiplication was in the apostle Paul’s entire approach to ministry. In his first letter to the Thessalonian believers, Paul said, “You know how we lived among you for your sake. You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia — your faith in God has become known everywhere” (1 Thessalonians 1:5–8).

Notice the ripple of influence in these verses. Paul personally lived the gospel. He sowed it into the Thessalonian believers, who then passed it on to believers in Macedonia and Achaia, who then passed it on “everywhere.” That’s the power of multiplication. Effective leaders work hard at building a habit of multiplying ministry leaders. To cultivate this habit in your life, ask yourself these questions: 1. Whom can I start discipling? It’s easy to get so busy with the task of leadership that we stop investing in people. Whom can you begin discipling? Discipling relationships eventually evolve into leadership relationships.

2. How can I invest in leaders? There are three primary ways to invest in emerging and existing leaders. You can train, coach or resource them. Training happens through teaching and conferences. Coaching happens one-on-one. And resourcing happens when you place quality tools in their hands to help them grow.

3. What ministry opportunities can I entrust to leaders? True leadership is learned in the trenches of ministry. You can teach it, talk about it, and read about it, but it’s not until you actually start leading that your skills will begin to grow. Therefore, to multiply ministry leaders, you have to hand off responsibilities and opportunities.

4. How can my influence multiply? Once you invest in leaders and entrust them with opportunity, you need to challenge them to do the same for somebody else. This is where true multiplication kicks in. Like the apostle Paul with the Thessalonian believers, seek to multiply your investment through others.

Reflect and Discuss

1. What aspect of multiplying ministry leaders do you find most difficult?

2. Which of the four multiplication questions most challenges you? Why? 3. In whom can you begin investing today?

Apply

Think carefully about the importance and challenge of multiplying ministry leaders. What steps can you take to build this habit in your life and ministry?

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ASSEMBLIES OF GOD

College

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A Long-Term Investment AG higher education prepares students for a lifetime of service

By JOE CASTLEBERRY

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his is why I give to your school,” Marlene Ostrom told me. “You have the anointing here!”

More than 60 years ago, her husband, Don, graduated from Northwest Bible College (now Northwest University) in Kirkland, Washington.

Soon afterward, the Ostroms went to the Philippines as missionaries.

After a few years on the field, the Ostroms returned home to take over the family business following the

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death of Marlene’s parents. That business grew to become a multimillion-dollar enterprise, allowing the Ostroms to contribute generously to Assemblies of God higher education.

Even today, Marlene Ostrom regularly attends Pursuit — a student-led praise and prayer meeting at Northwest University — where she worships alongside hundreds of young Pentecostals as they sing, intercede, and operate in the gifts of the Spirit.

At this weekly gathering, students lay hands on one another for healing, prophesy, speak words of revelation to one another, and receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Some students and visitors

receive Christ as Savior for the first time, after discovering that being a Christian involves more than simply associating with a church or growing up in a Christian family.

Across the United States and around the world, students at Assemblies of God universities, Bible colleges, Bible institutes, and church-based study centers are encountering the Holy Spirit. The Assemblies of God has more postsecondary Bible training schools than any other denomination in the world, including the massive Roman Catholic Church.

Formal training has always played a role in the missional activity of the Assemblies of God. In fact, the modern Pentecostal movement began in 1901 with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Bethel Bible School in Topeka, Kansas, during a meeting that probably looked similar to Pursuit. To this day, wherever the Pentecostal anointing arrives, schools quickly spring up to add biblical knowledge to spiritual experience.

The anointing. That’s what truly distinguishes Assemblies of God learning communities. That’s why donors give millions of dollars each year. That’s what draws the thousands of students who choose our schools.

The opportunity to prepare for God’s calling to careers across the spectrum of human need, in an atmosphere of Spirit-filled peers, pays dividends that far surpass the cost of attendance.

3 Practical

While students primarily choose Assemblies of God schools for their spiritual climate, many other distinctive benefits and characteristics make our colleges attractive. One is the practical focus of our educational programs.

Except for Evangel University, all AG schools began as Bible institutes. The Bible institute movement began during the 1880s when pioneers like A.B. Simpson and D.L. Moody concluded that the burgeoning evangelical revival in America needed

a way to train ministers more quickly and practically. (At the time, the traditional path of pursuing a liberal arts education and a seminary degree took seven years.) So, they founded schools to train ministers in just three years, emphasizing the development of both Bible knowledge and practical skills for church ministry.

The founders of the fledgling AG Fellowship largely came out of the early Pentecostal Bible institutes, and they founded their own regional schools during the 1920s and ’30s. Over the years, those early regional schools developed to become regional universities, but they never lost their commitment to Pentecostal practicality.

The Assemblies of God has always focused on reaching the lost, planting churches, making disciples, and showing compassion for the needs of the most vulnerable people in society. Even in our one school that began as a liberal arts college, the priority of action has remained at the center.

Today, Assemblies of God universities offer highly relevant degree programs that prepare their students for successful careers in a wide variety of professional fields. AG Bible colleges largely limit their degree offerings to church ministry, but they retain the same practical focus that has always characterized our schools.

None of our universities formally identify as liberal arts schools; rather, they are universities with a professional focus. We remain committed to the mission of God. We train all our students for effective ministry in their churches and workplaces.

3 Excellent

Academic quality is a second consistent benefit of AG higher education. Each of our General Council endorsed universities has an appropriate level of national accreditation from accreditors approved by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA).

While many substandard Christian schools claim approval from a confusing assortment of

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self-described accrediting associations, endorsed Assemblies of God schools never claim ersatz credentials. Rather, they prefer to do the hard work of proving their academic quality to legitimate associations.

A degree from an endorsed Assemblies of God Bible institute or college guarantees a level of training for church ministry upon which students

Students benefit from the guidance of trusted Assemblies of God scholars who bring intelligence, advanced knowledge of their field, ministry experience, and spiritual vitality to their calling. can base a lifetime of learning. Assemblies of God university degrees provide solid training for a wide variety of secular careers, along with a strong foundation of Bible and theology understanding that prepares students for leadership in their churches.

Graduates of Assemblies of God universities also find ready acceptance to graduate and professional schools. Many have gone on to earn graduate degrees from top universities around the world. I have always believed that the education I received at Evangel University offered the best intellectual formation I ever experienced as a student, despite finishing graduate degrees at Princeton Theological Seminary and Columbia University.

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3 Biblical

Assemblies of God colleges also offer consistent fidelity to biblical doctrine, Christian orthodoxy, and Pentecostal distinctiveness. All AG schools require our Bible, theology, and ministry faculty to hold Assemblies of God ministerial credentials, through which they annually attest to their doctrinal integrity.

Our colleges expose students to the theological issues and societal questions facing the church. They also require students to think for themselves and come to their own sense of sincere conviction about biblical faith. On this journey, however, students benefit from the guidance of trusted Assemblies of God scholars who bring intelligence, advanced knowledge of their field, ministry experience, and spiritual vitality to their calling in an atmosphere of commitment to our cherished Pentecostal truths.

3 Lasting

The Ostroms represent a composite of outcomes AG colleges seek to produce: a faith that endures, a lifetime of concern for the lost, hunger for God’s presence and anointing, a successful professional career, a fruitful life of ministry, and children and grandchildren who continue in the faith handed down to them over the generations.

Perhaps few students who graduate from an Assemblies of God school will inherit a lucrative business or see the level of financial success the Ostroms experienced, but the education they receive will equip them with the same ingredients for faithful service and Kingdom impact.

JOE CASTLEBERRY, Ed.D., is president of Northwest University in Kirkland, Washington.

Great Learners Make Great Leaders There is always more to learn, no matter how much experience you have.

Each person you interact with and each situation you encounter is an opportunity to learn something new. The leaders graduating from our master’s and doctoral programs are eager learners, and it makes them better at their work.

When you commit yourself to a graduate degree from Northwest University, you’re investing in a lifetime of people-oriented leadership.

Visit northwestu.edu/graduate to apply.

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ASSEMBLIES OF GOD

Colleges and Universities

7

17

14

3

9

1 5 4 13

1. Assemblies of God Theological Seminary

10. Northpoint Bible College

agts.edu

northpoint.edu

1435 N. Glenstone Ave., Springfield, MO 65802-2131 1-800-467-AGTS

11. Northwest University

ctcad.com

northwestu.edu

12. Southeastern University

cmctx.org

seu.edu

4. Evangel University

1111 N. Glenstone Ave., Springfield, MO 65802 1-800-EVANGEL (382-6435)

evangel.edu

12

1000 Longfellow Blvd., Lakeland, FL 33801 (863) 667-5000

13. Southwestern Assemblies of God University 1200 Sycamore St., Waxahachie TX 75165 1-888-YES-SAGU

5. Global University

sagu.edu

globaluniversity.edu

10020 N. 15th Ave., Phoenix, AZ 85021 (602) 944-3335

1211 S. Glenstone Ave., Springfield, MO 65804 1-800-443-1083

14. Southwestern Assemblies of God University American Indian College

6. Korean Assemblies of God Theological School of New York

aicag.edu

13030 31st Ave., Flushing, NY 11354-2818 (718) 461-9700

7. LABI College

14209 E. Lomitas Ave., La Puente, CA 91746 (626) 968-1328

labi.edu

8. Native American Bible College

355 Albert Currie Rd., Shannon, NC 28386 (910) 843-5304

nabc.edu

9. North Central University

910 Elliot Ave., Minneapolis, MN 55404 1-800-289-6222

northcentral.edu

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5520 108th Ave. N.E., Kirkland, WA 98033 (425) 822-8266

3. Christ Mission College

10822 FM 1560 N., San Antonio, TX 78254 (210) 688-3101

10

8

320 S. Main St., Haverhill, MA 01835 (978) 478-3400

2. Caribbean Theological College P.O. Box 1335, Bayamón, PR 00960 (787) 780-5555

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6

15. Trinity Bible College & Graduate School 50 Sixth Ave. S., Ellendale, ND 58436 1-800-523-1603

trinitybiblecollege.edu

16. University of Valley Forge

1401 Charlestown Rd., Phoenixville, PA 19460 1-800-432-8322

valleyforge.edu

17. Vanguard University

55 Fair Dr., Costa Mesa, CA 92626-9601 1-800-722-6279

vanguard.edu

A Broken Heart for Broken People (Continued from Page 136)

with drug addicts, alcoholics, people with mental illnesses, and lonely and rejected souls, I saw their pain. Suddenly, they began to matter to me. They had value in my eyes. They were me.

The world is full of people to serve, not enemies to defeat. The Incarnation is a story of compassion for others. When Rabbi Mona Alfi invited me to participate in an event at her synagogue marking the 15 th anniversary of an anti-Semitic bombing, I felt compassion for those suffering injustice in my community. God’s presence was in the room.

When Imam Mohamed Abdul-Azeez invited me to speak at a Ramadan event where the Muslim community gathers for a feast to break their fast, I was moved with compassion for them. I was asked to talk about the spiritual disciplines of my Christian faith. I felt God’s Spirit in a beautiful way as I did my best to reflect the love of Jesus.

When George Floyd was killed, I was moved with compassion for my Black and brown brothers and sisters who were impacted deeply by this injustice and the buildup of injustice over the past 400 years. I sincerely want to understand the pain.

We are all one people. One Lord. One baptism. One crimson bloodline.

There is something I can do when my neighbor says, “This hurts.” I can listen. I can mourn with those who mourn and weep with those who weep.

I can take the time to hear someone’s cries without trying to tell them why their cries are not justified. I can be better and do better. I can learn what it is about the injustice that has led to the pain being carried. We are not called to name calling. We are called to love and mercy.

My homeless experience caused me to see people who had been invisible to me for the 20 years I had lived in my city. They were not on my radar.

I had something else to do. They were not my concern. Basically, they were not people to me. I had my latte and my ministry appointments.

If I noticed them at all, I thought, They can’t be helped. They’re mentally ill. They want to be out there. They don’t want a place to stay. What can I do? They are drug addicts, alcoholics, prostitutes

and criminals. They made their bed; let them lie in it. It’s their problem. All of those people are living off my taxes. Why don’t they get a job? What’s wrong with them?

Now, for a few extraordinary days, I saw them. I was with them. They became human beings to me. It wasn’t about the concept of homelessness. It was about people. The people for whom Jesus came. The people His Incarnation was for.

My homeless experience caused me to see people who had been invisible to me.

Homelessness can seem like an impossible problem to solve. I don’t have the answers to this societal burden. Seeing the immensity of the issue can be paralyzing. But instead of thinking I need to solve this massive problem, I am simply moved to do what I can for the broken person in front of me.

I can’t help them all. But I can still make a difference by seeing and serving one person at a time.

Our church has taken on the mission of serving the broken in our community. We recently rewrote our mission statement to reflect that: “To live as Jesus among the broken. Through word and deed, telling people about Jesus and teaching them to follow Him.”

RICK COLE is senior pastor of Capital Christian Center (AG) in Sacramento, California, and author of Incarnate: Jesus Among the Broken.

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T H I S I S M Y S T O RY

A Broken Heart for Broken People “How two weeks on the street changed me”

By RICK COLE

O

n Sunday, Sept. 28, 2014, I left my wallet and keys in my Sacramento, California, office, picked up a backpack and a sleeping bag, and walked across the street to take the lightrail train downtown. Without a plan, I found myself interacting with homeless people, seeking their advice on where to go for food and other services.

The decision to live among the homeless for two weeks came about in response to a request from our mayor, Kevin Johnson. Funding was needed to keep open a winter shelter program that was a cooperative effort of several local churches. Johnson asked whether I could help raise private funding to keep it going. Our team dreamed up the idea for me to live on the streets as part of a social media campaign to raise the necessary funds.

Local media outlets picked up the story, and the community rallied behind our efforts. We raised the money needed in a week.

I could have gone home, but I did not. Something was happening in my heart that I did not anticipate.

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I stayed the second week because of the spiritual awakening that was occurring in my own soul.

In the middle of that second week, I met up with a few friends who were curious about how things were going. It was the first time I had attempted to explain what I was experiencing, and I was surprised by the emotion that surfaced. In this conversation, one of my friends used the word “incarnate.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“You put yourself in others’ shoes,” he said.

It was a turning point for me. I began thinking about Jesus — and the homeless, and all kinds of broken people — in a whole new way. I began seeing John 1 and Hebrews 4 differently, because I started seeing what God did for me in a different way.

Incarnation isn’t just a fancy theological term for me anymore. Jesus incarnated. He came into my world. He experienced life like I do. All of it — the hurts, the pains, the sorrows. If anybody understands what I’m going through, Jesus does.

Jesus came to serve. The Incarnate One. He saw my darkness and my humanity, and He was drawn to me. He did not push me away. Jesus knows where I’m weak, but He doesn’t condemn me for that. His grace covers me.

He came to shelter me. He came to love me. He did not tell me to get my act together. He came to resolve my troubles. He carried my sin to the cross. He carried my sickness to the whipping post. He came to take the pain — all that I would ever have — on himself. He came to take my place. Jesus says, “I want you to be healthy. I want you to be well. I want you to be with Me in eternity.”

My heart began to break for broken people.

Thinking about the way Jesus approached broken people, I found new passion to do my best to follow His example. As I interacted (Continued on Page 135)

I could have gone home, but I did not.

Something was happening in my heart.