The Influence Magazine Podcast is a chance for you to hear from the premiere voices in church leadership…voices who are redefining what church leadership looks like. It's the audio companion to Influence Magazine, a resource full of practical tools, informative news and powerful biblical principals aimed at empowering all leaders. Visit us online at InfluenceMagazine.com
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"Sometimes I wonder if heaven will feel a bit like an afternoon nap," writes Brett McCracken in The Wisdom of Sleep . Maybe it's because naps are signpost of something far greater that we've not yet fully experienced. Maybe it's because even the most relaxing vacation, replenishing Sabbath, and restorative night's sleep are only teasers for the perfect rest we're wired to desire. Maybe there's…
Welcome to the Influence Podcast ! I'm George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host. Lee Grady writes the following in his book, Lead Like Paul : Saul of Tarsus — who eventually became known by his Greek name, Paul — is our mentor and spiritual father. Apart from Jesus Himself, he is our best example. Of course, we have Peter, James, John, Mary Magdalene, and so many other…
Welcome to the Influence Podcast ! I'm George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host. Joe Oden writes the following in his new book, Empowered to Pray : In an hour when many leaders are fixated on numerical growth, how to accommodate and make seekers feel comfortable, leadership strategies, higher education, and enhanced communications, we observe that well-intended leaders…
Welcome to the Influence Podcast ! I'm George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host. In this episode of the Influence Podcast, I talk Assemblies of God General Superintendent Doug Clay about themes in his new book, Blind Spots: The Invisible Vulnerabilities Shaping Your Leadership , published by Gospel Publishing House. Introducing the topic of his book, Clay writes: "The…
Welcome to the Influence Podcast ! I'm George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host. "Honesty matters, and people care a great deal about it," writes Christian Miller. Yet we are facing an unprecedented erosion of honesty today — what I call an honesty crisis . Indeed, we are facing not just one crisis, but a variety of honesty crises in different parts of our society. ……
Welcome to the Influence Podcast ! I'm George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host. "Paul didn't want believers to detach themselves from life in this world," writes Nijay Gupta. "He didn't want 'otherworldliness' only. He also didn't want them to be preoccupied with only temporary and fleeting things, 'cheap worldliness.' He wanted believers to imitate Christ and walk in…
Welcome to the Influence Podcast ! I'm George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host. "Regardless of your Sunday attendance numbers, your church can become one of the most influential organizations in your city," writes Kevin Foster. "As culture drifts further from the local church, one of the most powerful ways to become relevant again is to engage with the brokenness in…
Welcome to the Influence Podcast ! I'm George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host. Recently, a prominent Southern Baptist leader called on his denomination to end the confusion caused when Baptist churches allow women to be called pastors. "The vast majority of Southern Baptists … are absolutely clear and have been all along that the office of pastors is restricted to men…
Welcome to the Influence Podcast ! I'm George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host. In this episode I talk to Prof. Matthew D. Kim about his new book, Becoming a Friendlier Church: A Pathway to Genuine Community , forthcoming from Baker Books. Our focus is why churches are unfriendly and how they can become friendlier. "In this book, I want to draw attention to a crisis in…
Welcome to the Influence Podcast ! I'm George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host. "The church is called to be a place of belonging for all people," writes Julie Pratt. "Paul reminded us in 1 Corinthians 12:12–27 that the body of Christ is made up of many different parts, each one valuable and necessary. In verse 22 he wrote, 'Some of the parts that seem weakest and least…
Welcome to the Influence Podcast ! I'm George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host. "The doctrine of hell can be a powerful motivator," writes Allen Tennison. "Many believers initially responded to a salvation message for fear of going to hell. Christians have also dedicated themselves to prayer, evangelism, and global missions over the threat of hell." "Images of hell can…
Welcome to the Influence Podcast ! I'm George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host. "Most professions have ethical codes of conduct that govern the behavior of members," writes Brad Kesler. "If ethical behavior is important for other professions, how much more for ministers of the Lord Jesus Christ?" Kesler wrote a just-published book on ministerial ethics to "equip all…
Welcome to the Influence Podcast ! I'm George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host. "The so-called worship wars often consist of ill-suited judgments about worship," writes Steven Félix-Jäger. "The debates generally center around the question of what constitutes appropriate worship and can include issues such as the use of contemporary music versus traditional hymns, the…
Welcome to the Influence Podcast ! I'm George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host. "Children's ministry is arguably one of the most difficult ministries to lead, but it is also the most rewarding," writes David Reneau. "We get the sacred opportunity to be some of the first people to tell little children — the next generation — about Jesus. We get to plant the seeds, tend…
Welcome to the Influence Podcast ! I'm George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host. Ministers hear a lot about church multiplication these days. Sometimes, the phrase is little more than a synonym for church planting. Other times, it refers to multisite ministry in which one church exists in many locations. "Multiplication isn't just about strategy or structure," Gerad…
Welcome to the Influence Podcast ! I'm George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host. "In the last sixty years in the USA, some churches shifted strategies and adopted a model that focused almost exclusively on numerical expansion," writes Marroquin. "New sanctuaries and program adjustments were made with the goal of reaching the unchurched. And praise God, the model…
Welcome to the Influence Podcast ! I'm George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host. In this episode, I talk to Melissa Alfaro about her new book, The Heart of a Pathfinder: Charting Paths for the Next Generation . "A pathfinder's greatest motivation is not the sustainability of their legacy but their ability to launch members of the next generation into their call," Alfaro…
Welcome to the Influence Podcast ! I'm George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host. "The founders of the Assemblies of God believed they were experiencing a significant historical moment," writes Daniel Isgrigg. "They recognized God was moving by His Spirit to enable them to evangelize the world. Leaders were set apart by their understanding that this mission could not be…
Welcome to the Influence Podcast ! I'm George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host. In this episode, I talk to Mark Hausfeld about how ministers can move toward physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health — and why they should. Hausfeld is executive director of the Institute for Ministerial Wholeness and an ordained Assemblies of God minister, Ministry is demanding,…
Welcome to the Influence Podcast ! I'm George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host. In this episode, I talk to Doug Clay about the state of the Assemblies of God as the New Year begins. Clay is AG general superintendent and author of Conversations with My Younger Self and 13: Leadership Is More Than Luck , both published by Gospel Publishing House . This past year, the…
Welcome to the Influence Podcast! I'm George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host. In this episode, I talk to Allen Tennison about what Pentecostal ministers should read in 2026. Tennison serves as theological counsel to The General Counsel of the Assemblies of God. Reading may not be at or even near the top of many ministers' new year's resolutions, but it should be. In…
"Jesus is up front with us that there is a cost to following him," writes Craig Keener. "From God's side, the gift of him in him is free—or rather, already paid for by what Christ suffered for us. But we live in a world that challenges our faith, so from the world's side our faith is bound to cost us hardships. Yet God empowers us by his Spirit to maintain our witness for Christ in this world no…
Donna Barrett is retiring at the end of this year from her position as general secretary of the Assemblies of God. Elected unanimously by the executive presbytery in 2018 to fill the unexpired term of her predecessor, Jim Bradford, then elected twice by the General Council in 2019 and 2023, she is the first woman to hold executive office at the national level in the history of the AG. Full…
"Young men are leading a religious resurgence," wrote Erica Pandey in a May 10, 2025 report on Axios.com . "Within older generations, there's a consistent gender gap among Christians, with women more likely to be religious than men," she explained. "Within Gen Z, the gap has closed, as young men join the church and young women leave it . If the current trajectory sticks, the gender gap will flip."…
The season of Advent begins this Sunday, November 30, and ends, appropriately enough, on Christmas Eve — Sunday, December 24. No doubt many churches will sing Isaac Watts' "Joy to the World" throughout this season, especially on Christmas Eve. But did you know that Watts wrote that song to celebrate the Second Coming, not the birth of Jesus Christ? Advent celebrates both in the Christian…
This past Tuesday, the Executive Presbytery of the Assemblies of God announced that Brad Kesler will succeed Donna Barrett as general secretary of the Fellowship. Kesler's first day in office is January 1, 2026. He will serve the remainder of Barrett's unexpired term. Kesler has been an ordained AG minister since 2000. He has served as a youth pastor in Sitka, Alaska, and a senior pastor in…
The goal of the Church Health Partners is clear. "To foster healthy, vibrant churches by equipping pastors and their teams with the tools, strategies, and support they need to lead effectively and fulfill their unique calling. We want to see a healthy church in every community, led by empowered and passionate leaders, making a lasting impact for the Kingdom of God." In Episode 405 of the Influence…
"In many Christian theological circles, especially in Pentecostal circles, the person who has the role of pastor is the one who is supposed to have the spiritual answers, and so this [spiritual and social] shutdown [due to trauma] is counterintuitive to the position they hold," writes Dale Sanger. "The challenge for Pentecostal pastors is that they have an underlying theology of glory which does…
"How did you go bankrupt?" one character asks another in Ernest Hemingway's The Son Also Rises . "Two ways," the other character responds. "Gradually and then suddenly." But as Mark Batterson points out in his new book, "That's also how you get out of debt. That's how you start a business, write a book, or run a marathon — and a thousand other things." "Regardless of craft or career, dreams don't…
Which way are American young adults going when it comes to religion? Pew Research Center's Religious Landscape Survey reports that only 45% of Americans 18–29 years old identify as Christians, compared to 54% of those aged 30–49, 72% of 50–64, and 74% of 65+. Barna Group's State of the Church initiative reports that young adults are leading "a resurgence in church attendance." Gen Z (born…
The Preamble to the Assemblies of God "Statement of Fundamental Truth" says: "The Bible is our all-sufficient rule for faith and practice. This Statement of Fundamental Truths is intended simply as a basis of fellowship among us …. The phraseology employed in this statement is not inspired or contended for, but the truth set forth is held to be essential to a full-gospel ministry. No claim is made…
"Christians are called to be 'in the world' and 'not of the world'," says a new Assemblies of God position paper, citing John 17:11–16. "We must embrace our identity as Christian citizens, as public witnesses, and as salt and light," it continues, "Believers must also maintain their Christian character while engaging in politics. We prioritize our calling in Christ and do not condone the…
"The Assemblies of God was founded as a cooperative fellowship that honors the calling and gifting of all Spirit-filled believers, not as a clerical hierarchy," says a new Assemblies of God position paper. "As we seek to cultivate healthy spiritual leadership," it continues, "we must resist any drift toward positional superiority and instead affirm diverse models of leadership found throughout the…
What is the center of Paul's theology? Traditionally, Protestants taught that justification by faith was the center. More recently, scholars proposed reconciliation, union with Christ, and transformation as the center. In The Affections of Christ Jesus , Nijay K. Gupta proposes love as the center. "The language of love in one form or another occurs over one hundred times in the Pauline corpus," he…
"Christian ministry includes fully supported church workers, those bivocational only out of financial necessity, and those who have chosen to serve covocationally. All should be honored, but one's attitude makes a difference." So writes Richard D. Oliver in his new book, A Covocational Attitude: Sharing the Motivational Convictions of the Apostle Paul . In this episode of the Influence Podcast, I…
"Churches in North America face an uncertain future," writes Joseph Lear. "Seventy percent of churches have an average weekly attendance of under 100 people, which means that should nearly three-quarters of the churches in America lose a few families, they'd face a financial, volunteer, and leadership crisis." "God is not done with the small church," he writes. "The kingdom of God is still…
Doug Clay is the 13 th general superintendent of the Assemblies of God, which explains the title of his most recent book — 13: Leadership Is More than Luck . The book explores leadership principles and stories from Clay's predecessors in that office. "As I studied the lives of our past general superintendents, I was inspired by their timeless insights and timely sensitivity to the Lord. Though…
"Few would argue against the proposition that Paul's letter to the Romans is his magnum opus ," writes Glen Menzies. "Romans is an exceedingly important book. The impact it has made is literally incalculable, for it is impossible to imagine how Christianity would have developed without it." In this episode of the Influence Podcast, I talk to Menzies about how to interpret Romans. We start with…
"According to research, approximately 61 percent of U.S. teenagers never read the Bible, and 74 percent don't attend church regularly. That means well over half of middle and high school students in our nation aren't disciples and likely haven't put their faith in God. As followers of Jesus, what are we going to do about this?" asks Lee Rogers. He goes on to say: "Today in our nation there are…
"My college basketball coach, Coach High, used to talk about two types of pain — the pain of discipline and the pain of regret . In basketball (as well as life and ministry), pain is inevitable. No one can avoid it, even if we try. But in some cases, you can determine the pain you will live with," writes Steve Svoboda. He goes on to say: "When it comes to your life as a minister, choose the pain…
"It behooves us as Christians to think theologically and ethically about what it means to live as humans in the age of AI and about the potential opportunities and challenges that may arise from its widespread adoption, both in the short-term and long-term future," writes Todd Korpi. "Contrary to popular belief, technology is not acultural, neutral in its orientation, or immune from pitfalls that…
"There are no seasons at the feet of Jesus. There are no age barriers when the fire of Acts 2:4 Pentecost falls. And when the Holy Spirit stirs us as men and women of God, at any age, to speak His words in strategic moments, we sill have a treasured opportunity to trust Him and simply use our voices and obey," writes Beth Grant. In this episode of the Influence Podcast , I talk to Grant about how…
"We don't have to look far to realize there's a void of godly voices in modern youth culture. When we look around and see students struggling with self-harm, gender identity, as well as depression and anxiety, to name a few, we can see the void of godly voices," writes Ashton Peters. "There's a void of Christ-honoring love, biblical discipleship, and authentic mentorship. There's a void of…
In Episode 383 of the Influence Podcast, I talked to Allen Tennison about the good news of Christ's death and resurrection. The biblical narrative doesn't end with Christ rising from the dead, however. Consider Acts 2:32–36, for example, where Peter says: "God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the…
This summer marks the 1700 th anniversary of the Council of Nicea, which promulgated the Nicene Creed. Along with Catholics and the Orthodox, many Protestant churches affirm the theology of the Nicene Creed, whether or not they use it in their liturgy or formal theological statements. But what about Pentecostals? What should we make of the creed? That's what I ask Frank Macchia in this episode of…
"I am a survivor of child abuse," writes Samantha Rose Jones. "The abuse impacted every aspect of my humanity — physically, emotionally, socially, mentally, and spiritually. All the instances were in a severe category, and the evil I faced was unfathomable. My starting point is bleak, but my current story is miraculous. I am a miracle because I am a child of the living Miracle Worker — God." In…
"As long as he sought the Lord, God gave him success." That is what 2 Chronicles 26:5 says about Uzziah, king of Judah in the early eighth century B.C. According to Warren D. Bullock, this verse is key to understanding Uzziah's success as a king, as well as his ultimate failure. "When [Uzziah] prayed, all went well; he had amazing success," Bullock writes. "When he failed to seek the Lord, he…
April is Autism Acceptance Month. According to the website, Autism Speaks , autism or autism spectrum disorder refers to "a broad range of conditions characterized by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviors, speech and nonverbal communication. According to the Centers for Disease Control, autism affects an estimated 1 in 36 children and 1 in 45 adults in the United States today." How…
In 1 Corinthians 15:1–2, the apostle Paul wrote: "Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain." We typically interpret Paul's gospel in terms of the doctrine of justification by faith,…
Jesus asked His disciples an important question in Matthew 16:15: "Who do you say I am?" Ligonier Ministries surveyed Americans in 2022 about how they perceived Jesus. Responses to three statements in particular are worth highlighting. First, 54% of Americans and 80% of American evangelicals strongly agreed with the statement, "There is one true God in three persons: God the Father, God the Son,…
