Influence Podcast

When John the Baptist began his ministry, he proclaimed, “The axe is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire” (Luke 3:9). The crowd responded by asking, “What should we do then?” John’s answer? “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same” (3:10–11). We see a similar pattern in Acts 2, where Peter’s messages about “the last days” results in a community that “sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need” (2:17,45). Why does Luke link eschatology and ethics in these two passages? Why does he emphasize sharing? And how should we apply this message today? Those are the questions I’m asking Dr. Joseph Lear in this episode of the Influence Podcast. I’m George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host. Dr. Joseph Lear is director of Theology and Global Church Ministries at Evangel University in Springfield, Missouri, and pastor of Pre

“Grief is normal,” writes Natasha Smith. She goes on to describe her personal experience how difficult grief can be, however: “I walked around in a fog, hoping, praying, and wishing for the grief to go away. Pushing it down, pushing it away, and choosing to block uncomfortable memories. But I realized to pretend grief doesn’t exist won’t heal or fix it. So I learned to let it out in safe places, to safe people.” In this episode of the Influence Podcast, I talk with Smith about how Christians can grieve in better, healthier ways, whether they’re the people who’ve experienced a loss or they’re ministering to others who have. I’m George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host.  Natasha Smith is a wife, mother, and writer from North Carolina, whose work has appeared at outlets such as Her View from Home, Focus on the Family, and TODAY Parents. She is author of Can You Just Sit With Me?, published recently by InterVarsity Press. ––––– This episode of the Influence podcast is brought to you by

“In the United States, we are currently experiencing the largest and fastest religious shift in the history of our country, as tens of millions of formerly regular Christian worshipers nationwide have decided they no longer desire to attend church at all.” So write Jim Davis and Michael Graham in their new book, The Great Dechurching. In this episode of the Influence Podcast, I’m talking with Davis and Graham about what dechurching is, why it’s happening, and how churches can respond effectively. I’m George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host.  Jim Davis is teaching pastor at Orlando Grace Church and host of the As In Heaven podcast. Michael Graham is program director for the Keller Center for Cultural Apologetics, executive producer of As In Heaven, and a member at Orlando Grace Church. ––––– This episode of the Influence podcast is brought to you by My Healthy Church, distributors of MEGA Sports Camp. MEGA Sports Camp is a unique VBS that makes it easy to reach new families, engage

In a January 27, 1855, sermon, C. H. Spurgeon proclaimed, “I know nothing which can so comfort the soul; so calm the swelling billows of sorrow and grief; so speak peace to the winds of trial, as a devout musing upon the subject of the Godhead.” Spurgeon clearly believed that theology matters to life, and because he was a preacher, to ministry as well. The question is, do we? In this episode of the Influence Podcast, I’m talking with Dr. Allen Tennison about the practical importance of theology. I’m George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host. Dr. Allen Tennison is theological counsel to the Assemblies of God and chair of its Commission on Doctrines and Practices. An ordained AG minister, he holds a Ph.D. in systematic theology from Fuller Theological Seminary. Before coming to the national office, he served as a professor and dean of the College of Church Leadership at North Central University in Minneapolis, Minnesota. ––––– This episode of the Influence Podcast is brought to you by

“Over the past few years, I’ve been diving deeply into the Book of Proverbs — especially the first nine chapters,” writes Dr. Greg Mundis. “Here’s what I’ve concluded from Proverbs: Wise words have no effect if they are not received by willing hearts.” That’s a valuable life lesson for everyone, but especially for leaders. So, in this episode of the Influence Podcast, I’m talking to Dr. Mundis about what wisdom the Book of Proverbs shines on the task of leadership. I’m George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host.  For the past 12 years, Dr. Greg Mundis has served as executive director of Assemblies of God World Missions. AGWM is the missions arm of the U.S. Assemblies of God and fields 2,640 missionaries serving 252 countries, territories and provinces. He recently announced his retirement, effective September 30, 2023. He is author of Wisdom to Lead: The Guided and Guarded Heart. ————— This episode of the Influence Podcast is brought to you by My Healthy Church, distributors of Bible

The Assemblies of God held its 60th General Council two weeks ago in Columbus, Ohio. Dr. Michael Clarensau presented a report to the General Presbytery about statistical trends among AG churches and ministers. “2022 data demonstrated a strong step forward in many important measures, suggesting that recovery from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is clearly underway,” he wrote. “Consider the following: Main worship attendance increased 10% over 2021, the largest single-year increase of this millennium. Total Spirit baptisms grew by 11% and total water baptisms grew by 8% when compared to 2021. The rate of growing churches increased for the first time in a decade (since 2012).” In this episode of the Influence Podcast, I’m talking with Dr. Clarensau about these hopeful trends, as well as more challenging ones that need to be monitored. I’m George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host. Dr. Michael Clarensau is Statistician of the Assemblies of God. An ordained AG minister with decades o

This past June, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its decision in 303 Creative v. Elenis. That case involved a website designer named Lorie Smith who believed that a provision of the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act violated her rights under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Specifically, Smith believed that CADA compelled her to create speech contrary to her personal convictions. The Supreme Court found in Smith’s favor, ruling: “The First Amendment prohibits Colorado from forcing a website designer to creative expressive designs speaking messages with which the designer disagrees.” In this episode of the Influence Podcast, I’m talking with Kristen Waggoner, who successfully argued Lorie Smith’s case before the U.S. Supreme Court. I’m George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host. Kristen Waggoner is CEO, president, and general counsel of Alliance Defending Freedom, the world’s largest Christian legal organization. Waggoner and the ADF team serve as legal counsel to The G

“By prayer, God invites us to participate in the outcomes of our world,” writes Rick DuBose. “That is a profound and humbling truth. You need to recognize the responsibility of the authority God has given you.” He goes on to say, “The future of all you are responsible for is determined at the altar. It is determined by your willingness to go there and pray.” In this episode of the Influence Podcast, I’m talking with DuBose about five altars Christians must build if they and their churches want to have effective ministries of prayer. I’m George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host. Rick DuBose is assistant general superintendent of the Assemblies of God and author of In Jesus’ Name: Five Altars of Prayer That Move Heaven and Earth, published by Chosen. ————— This episode of the Influence Podcast is brought to you by My Healthy Church, distributors of Bible Engagement Project. A subscription to Bible Engagement Project equips you with kids curriculum for elementary and preschoolers and

“Whether or not women are on an equal plane with men in work and ministry does not seem like it should be a subject of debate,” writes Dr. JoAnn Butrin. “Many Christian organizations … would say they welcome female leadership and make opportunities for them.” Even so, many women leaders experience a gap between what is theologically affirmed and what is actually practiced. “The best chance of seeing this hurt and needy world won for Jesus is when men and women join forces,” Butrin argues. “We need each other to be the very best we can be as strategic agents of God’s mission.” In this episode of the Influence Podcast, I’m talking with Butrin about how best to normalize men and women working together in church and ministry contexts. I’m George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host. Dr. JoAnn Butrin is chief operating officer and team lead for Health Initiatives with CompassionLink, an Assemblies of God World Missions ministry offering sustainable solutions for communities in need. She is

On Monday, March 16, 2020, EMTs rushed Greg Mundis to the hospital. He had a high fever, was very weak, and worryingly, his oxygen level was 60. (Normal is 90 or higher.) At the hospital, doctors immediately intubated him and put him on a ventilator, beginning a 60-day battle with COVID. He was the first patient to be ventilated at a local hospital in Springfield, Missouri. In this episode of the Influence Podcast, I’m talking with Greg’s wife Sandra about what it’s like to go through an extreme medical event on the other side of the hospital bed. How do we embrace hope in times of despair? Why does God allow these things to happen? What should we do when God brings us through? Those are the questions we’ll being talking about. I’m George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host. Sandra Mundis is a veteran Assemblies of God missionary, founder of Europe’s Children — a gospel outreach to kids on that continent — and co-author, with her husband Greg, of Patient 1: Embracing Hope in Times of

“The Incarnation declares that God loves us, isn’t scared of us, and wants us to be unafraid of him. So how do we declare these truths to the masters of suspicion in our age? The deconstructing, disoriented, disengaged skeptic,” writes Preston Ulmer. He goes to say, surprisingly, “We become like him, minus the skepticism.” In this episode of the Influence Podcast, I’m talking with Preston Ulmer about the spiritual discipline of deconstruction, based on his new book, Deconstruct Faith, Discover Jesus, published recently by NavPress. I’m George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host. Preston Ulmer is the founder and director of The Doubters’ Club, an organization that teaches Christians and atheists to model friendship and pursue truth together. He is also on staff at North Point Church in Springfield, Missouri. ----- This episode of the Influence Podcast is brought to you by The General Council of the Assemblies of God. General Council is the AG’s premier conference. It occurs every two

“The tongues of Pentecost declare the wonders of God,” writes Dr. Frank Macchia. “Theology as speech about God speaks about such mysteries and their roots in the divine self-giving to us in Christ and the Spirit.” In this episode of the Influence Podcast, I’m talking to Dr. Macchia about key themes in his new systematic theology, Tongues of Fire. I’m George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host. Frank Macchia is professor of systematic theology at Vanguard University of Southern California and associate director of the Centre for Pentecostal and Charismatic Studies at Bangor University in Wales. He is author of Tongues of Fire: A Systematic Theology of the Christian Faith, published by Cascade Books, and of Introduction to Theology: Declaring the Wonders of God, published by Baker Academic. ----- This episode of the Influence Podcast is brought to you by My Healthy Church, distributors of MEGA Sports Camp. MEGA Sports Camp is a unique VBS that makes it easy to reach new families, engag

“It is possible for a Christian spirituality to be theistic — to have room for God in it — but only in a philosophical, conceptual sense,” writes Dr. Gary Tyra. In Introduction to Spirituality, he makes the case for an alternative approach: “a fully trinitarian understanding of God that is not only theistic but also theologically real.” According to a theologically real spirituality, “it is possible for God’s human image-bearers … to really know and experience their Creator in some real, phenomenal, life-story-shaping ways.” I’m talking to Dr. Tyra about the convictions, commitments, and customs of a theologically real Christian spirituality in this episode of the Influence Podcast. I’m George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host. Gary Tyra is professor of biblical and practical theology at Vanguard University of Southern California. An ordained Assemblies of God minister, he has served as senior pastor of three churches, but now devotes his time to teaching, writing, and speaking. He

Those of us who grew up in church are familiar with the children’s song about Zacchaeus. “Zacchaeus was a wee little man, and a wee little man was he.” What we often forget is that Zacchaeus’ encounter with the Lord ended with Jesus clearly stating his mission on earth: “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). Founded in 2022, Seek and Save is an Assemblies of God ministry that organizes “collaborative outreach events to bring hope to communities in America.” It partners with other AG churches and ministries, as well as nongovernmental charities, to offer spiritual hope and material help to under-resourced neighborhoods. In this episode of the Influence Podcast, I’m talking to Choco De Jesús about Seek and Save. I’m George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host. Choco De Jesús is general treasurer of the Assemblies of God. For many years, he pastored New Life Covenant Church in Chicago, Illinois, and has authored several books, including Love Them Anyway. De

A well-known evangelical pastor recently announced that he will not speak at conferences that include women speakers. “There’s a line at which you can’t cross because someone is blatantly disobedient to Scripture,” he said. “ A conference that platforms men and women is “a total violation of Scripture,” he explained. But does Scripture actually prohibit women speaking to conferences or leading Christian ministries? Dr. Nijay Gupta doesn’t think so. In Tell Her Story, published in March by IVP Academic, he argues that the Bible shows women as co-laborers with men in all aspects of ministry. “Where men have sometimes said, ‘Women can’t,’ the Old and New Testaments testify: they did.” he writes. I’ll be talking to Dr. Gupta about his book in this episode of the Influence Podcast. I’m George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host. Dr. Nijay Gupta is professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary in Lisle, Illinois. A specialist on Paul’s letters and theology, he has published commentaries

For the past 12 years, Dr. Greg Mundis has served as executive director of Assemblies of God World Missions. AGWM is the missions arm of the U.S. Assemblies of God and fields 2,640 missionaries serving 252 countries, territories and provinces. Mundis has announced his retirement, effective September 30, 2023. In a statement announcing his retirement, Mundis and his wife Sandie wrote this to AGWM personnel: “Our hearts are filled with gratitude as we reflect on your faithfulness and prayers for us over these past 12 years. It is truly humbling, and we have the deepest respect for you.” In this episode of the Influence Podcast, I’m talking to Mundis about his personal experiences as a missionary, as well as his take on the past, present, and future of the AG’s global church-planting mission. I’m George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host. ----- This episode of the Influence Podcast is brought to you by The General Council of the Assemblies of God. General Council is the AG’s premier co

“Words create worlds,” writes Mark Batterson in Please, Sorry, Thanks. If so, what kinds of worlds are we creating? Do our words give life or deal death (Proverbs 18:21)? Batterson is pastor of National Community Church in Washington DC. More than any other city in America, our capital is a place where people eat the fruit of their words, turning the nation’s stomach sour. And what happens in DC doesn’t stay in DC. It radiates out to every nook and cranny of America. Our public discourse is poisoned. Please, Sorry, Thanks offers a different way — a loving way — of speaking. It is a short, simple book with a timely message. If sin is “culpable disturbance of shalom,” as Cornelius Plantinga puts it, then, as Batterson writes, “please, sorry, and thanks are the way shalom is restored.” ----- This episode of the Influence Podcast is brought to you by My Healthy Church, distributors of Bible Engagement Project. A subscription to Bible Engagement Project equips you with kids curriculum for elementary and preschoole

The Assemblies of God is comprised of 12,830 congregations in the United States. Between 2013 and 2022, the AG chartered 2,985 churches. During that same time, though, it closed 2,958 churches. In other words, just to remain the same size, the AG had to plant nearly one-quarter of its churches over the last ten years. That’s certainly a statistical argument for church planting. But what if we had been able to strengthen the other churches so that they didn’t have to close? In this episode of the Influence Podcast, I’m talking to Jeffery Portmann about how church-planting principles can contribute to revitalizing the local church. I’m George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host. Jeffery Portmann is director of the Church Multiplication Network, the AG’s church-planting agency, an ordained minister,  and author of Delayed Destiny: Embracing Slow Motion Growth in a Fast Paced World. (We talked about that book in Episode 292.) ----- This episode of the Influence Podcast is brought to you

In Episode 310 of the Influence Podcast, I talked with Dr. Allen Tennison about the New Apostolic Reformation. We focused on describing the four distinctive theological doctrines and practices of that movement. In this episode, we are going to take a more critical look at those doctrines and practices. The central claim of the New Apostolic Reformation is that the contemporary church needs to be led by apostles and prophets. Other doctrines and practices are associated with the movement, but that seems to be what really drives the movement. As classical Pentecostals, Dr. Tennison and I have a perspective on these NAR claims, which we want to share with you. I’m George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host. Dr. Allen Tennison is dean of the College of Church Leadership and professor of theology at North Central University in Minneapolis, Minnesota. An Assemblies of God minister, he also chairs the AG’s Commission on Doctrines and Practices. ----- This episode of the Influence Podcast i

Must the contemporary church be led by apostles and prophets? Advocates of the so-called New Apostolic Reformation answer that question with a hearty yes. Others, including classical Pentecostals, aren’t so sure. The idea that churches must be led by apostles and prophets isn’t the only controversial teaching associated with the New Apostolic Reformation. Others include strategic-level spiritual warfare, ordinary believers as a miracle-workers, and Christian dominion in society. In this episode of the Influence Podcast, I talk with Dr. Allen Tennison about what the New Apostolic Reformation is and how classical Pentecostals should assess it. I’m George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host. Dr. Allen Tennison is dean of the College of Church Leadership and professor of theology at North Central University in Minneapolis, Minnesota. An Assemblies of God minister, he also chairs the AG’s Commission on Doctrines and Practices. ----- This episode of the Influence Podcast is brought to you