ChurchLeaders

In a recent speech, Michael Flynn followed the pattern of Christian nationalism by taking a biblical passage and applying it to the United States. "You have to believe this, that God Almighty is, like, involved in this country...This is the shining city on the hill," Flynn said. Hint: It’s not.

Here are five practical ways pastors and church leaders can properly and biblically use gospel power to help foster healthy churches and communities.

Jesus schooled the world on how to understand and exert power. If pastors and church leaders are going to understand and exert power well and guard against its misuse and abuse, we must learn from Him.

Pastoral abuse of power can lead to the misuse of authority, the mishandling of finances, the sexual harassment of adults, the abuse of children, and a myriad of other sins. It's always disastrous.

Power is all around us, and in fact, it is within us. Pastors and church leaders should seek to recover a biblical understanding of power by understanding the subtlety, scope, and stewardship of power.

It is easy to do all that we can to make things work—to make them go. And I’m not against that, when done with wisdom. I just want you to leave some room for divine encounters with the Holy Spirit.

To engage culture, you need to understand whom you're speaking to and where they’re coming from. Only then do you learn how to share your faith in a way others can recognize and relate to.

It's time for evangelicals to change the verdict many have reached on evangelicals and race.

I am glad to feature Aubrey Sampson’s new book, Known. As I wrote in my endorsement, if you ever wanted to explore your identity and family name as a child of God, this is the book to pick up.

In 2020, we were the church on our heels. A global pandemic shut down much of our world. But the church has been on the move since it was birthed; it will continue to be on the move until God makes all things new.