https://www.christianitytoday.com/pastors/2019/august-web-exclusives/billy-graham-learned-art-of-preaching.html? The late evangelist called himself the “champion rambler.” By: Grant Wacker When I entered my small Methodist church one Sunday morning a few winters ago, Bob Maddry, a retired truck driver and old chum, walked over. “I lost a dear friend this week,” he said. “Billy Graham brought me to Jesus. He saved my […]
www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2019/july-august/elliot-clark-evangelism-exiles-sharing-gospel. THIS HAS TO BE ONE OF THE MOST CHALLENGING ARTICLES I’VE READ IN A LONG TIME. IT IS A MUST READ. EVERY PASTOR AND CHURCH CAN BENEFIT. Pastor Frank By: Elliott Clark I first awakened to this reality while doing language study in Central Asia. As I took a course in spiritual terminology, a missionary teacher […]
www.christianitytoday.com/pastors/2019/spring/no-easy-calling.html? Three honest stories about its rewards and challenges. BY: LINDA W. PERKINS The Turbulent Calling of Bivocational Ministry Ministry is changing, and so is the profile of those going into it. For many, it is no longer about leaving another life behind; it is about answering God’s call alongside—or even within—the vocation one […]
By: Frank G. Tunstall, D. Min. When Jesus wanted to teach about receiving the Holy Spirit, He chose to tell a story about a man who was on a journey and stopped about midnight at his friend’s house. Of course, the traveler was hungry, but the host was out of bread. So, he went […]
By: Frank G. Tunstall The pastors of fourteen congregations of different faith groups in Cooke County in Northern Texas joined together in Gainesville, Texas on May 2 to participate for the first time ever in the National Day of Prayer. Gainesville is the county seat and the home of Hope Connection IPHC, a Heartland […]
christianitytoday.com/women/2019/january/church-planting-your-plan-b-is-still-gods-plan.html By: Sandra Peoples In 2015, my husband and I moved from rural Pennsylvania and left a church we loved to do something risky—plant a new church in suburban Texas. Our vision for the church was to welcome people with disabilities. We see special-needs families as an unreached people group, since so many don’t attend […]
By: Frank Tunstall, D. Min. “All the believers were one in heart and mind,” recorded Dr. Luke (Luke 4:32). The lame man at the gate called Beautiful had been healed the day before. Shortly after the miracle, Peter and John had been arrested by the temple police and held overnight. The next morning at their […]
By: Frank Tunstall Pastor Phil Larson has emerged as the Holy Spirit’s point man in Gainesville, Texas. He went to Gainesville four years ago unknown and unannounced. His first agenda was to start building relationships in the Chamber of Commerce with community leaders, including the county attorney, the district attorney, and the ministerial alliance. […]
Phil Larson is not trying to reach transfer members to Hope Connection Church in Gainesville, Texas. He looks for the down-and-out, people who have given up on the future. Phil takes them in – the local judge and district attorney send most of them to him. Phil teaches them about life and living, and some of them […]
christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2018/august/where-have-all-church-planters-gone. What’s the greatest hindrance to effective church planting? BY: Jeff Christopherson You might expect to get varied answers to this question from church planting theorists, strategists, and practitioners, but among those consistently participating in this conversation one comment bubbles to the top almost every time: A scarcity of prepared leaders. This wasn’t true […]