Videos

John focuses this month on four principles for public discourse he’s discovered. These shape his thinking and behavior on when to speak and when to remain silent in our world’s “cauldron of cultural conflict.”

Speaking from the National Office Archives this month, John gives a short devotional from Gideon’s story, which conveys a principle for leaders to take into this new year—God reveals Himself in crisis, often through leaders who rise at that moment despite being in the midst of the tragedy themselves. Examples are Josh Gallagher, lead pastor of Paradise (California) Alliance Church, and Andrew Burchett, lead pastor of Neighborhood Church in Chico, who share their testimonies from the 2018 Camp Fire. The Alliance legacy overflows with accounts of hardship, pain, and the Spirit of God breathing into a leader’s soul—hope, encouragement, confidence, and a way forward. “That’s the Alliance story, that’s the story of the Scriptures, and that might be the story of 2019 for some of us,” John concludes. “His grace is sufficient. Let’s rise and follow the example of those who’ve gone before us.”

John shares an interview this month that he conducted earlier this year with six Alliance pastors he met in the Middle East. In this segment, he has asked them to talk about the Fourfold Gospel. “I wanted to give us a bit of a Christmas gift,” John says, “to hear Middle Eastern leaders speak of Christ our Savior, Sanctifier, Healer, and Coming King. Give yourself the gift right now of just a few minutes of reflection on the Christ that we love—through Middle Eastern eyes.”

This month, John shares a leadership challenge and an opportunity. A record 60 Alliance workers are trained and ready to be sent overseas—an answer to prayer. Meanwhile, the Great Commission Fund is $1.2 million behind for the fiscal year. John appeals to U.S. local church pastors and individual donors to give generously to the 2018 Year-End Offering to send these new workers to the field. “The God of this universe cares about the people of this planet, raises up people to be His spokespersons, and some of us have been called to be the senders. Let’s rise to that at this moment,” he concludes.

John’s report this month is from his recent trip to see Alliance missions efforts in the Middle East. He expresses great gratitude for how the Alliance family has invested for decades in challenging locations—where the work of God is alive and well. “The fruit continues,” he says, “national church leaders multiplying themselves, local churches vibrant and strong, good partnerships with our international workers, supported by the GCF [Great Commission Fund].” We need to not only remain committed to our local communities, John concludes, but to also support Alliance teams in the most difficult places in the world, including the Middle East—where our teams are serving well.

This month, John addresses this #MeToo, #ChurchToo, time in history, sharing his grief for victims of sexual assault in the Church over the decades and repentance for when the abused were not quickly defended. He expresses gratitude that a greater day of accountability has arrived and maintains that this is not just an issue of sexual misconduct but “how we [leaders] handle and perceive power and what power can do to us.” It’s why “sanctification has to get in our souls.” John cites three factors that contributed to the previous era—naivete, image protection, and lack of soul care. In overcoming these factors, “By God’s grace, may fewer of those stories be told in the future.” Click here to view the full sermon at Resonate.