Podcasts about assemblies

Bongani Bingwa speaks with Loyiso Oldjohn, Coordinator of Public Engagement Programming at the Market Photo Workshop, about a new photography exhibition opening in Johannesburg titled “Of Soul and Joy: XIV – Assemblies of Community.” The exhibition is a collaboration between young photographers from Thokoza and the Market Photo Workshop and is set to take place this weekend. 702 Breakfast with Bongani Bingwa is broadcast on 702, a Johannesburg based talk radio station. Bongani makes sense of the news, interviews the key newsmakers of the day, and holds those in power to account on your behalf. The team bring you all you need to know to start your day Thank you for listening to a podcast from 702 Breakfast with Bongani Bingwa Listen live on Primedia+ weekdays from 06:00 and 09:00 (SA Time) to Breakfast with Bongani Bingwa broadcast on 702: https://buff.ly/gk3y0Kj For more from the show go to https://buff.ly/36edSLV or find all the catch-up podcasts here https://buff.ly/zEcM35T Subscribe to the 702 Daily and Weekly Newsletters https://buff.ly/v5mfetc Follow us on social media: 702 on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TalkRadio702 702 on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@talkradio702 702 on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/talkradio702/ 702 on X: https://x.com/Radio702 702 on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@radio7 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Break Room (Friday 6/12/26) 7am Hour Duffy recounts local news story of a elementary school mental health presentation gone wrong. A 48 year old karate instructor gave a “presentation” which consisted of him demonstrating karate moves on one child who claimed it felt like he was breaking his arm and another child who the karate instructor put in a chokehold who promptly caused him to pass out. Kimmy, Tommy and Duffy all reminisced on times when their own school assemblies and presenters were evidently unvetted and potentially problematic for kids to be listening to. Also what's up with hypnotists? Who thought that was a good idea.

Welcome back to another episode of the unSeminary podcast. Today we're joined by John Plake, Chief Innovation Officer and Editor-in-Chief of the State of the Bible research at the American Bible Society. With decades of experience as a pastor, missionary, professor, and researcher, John brings a unique perspective on how people are actually engaging with Scripture and what we should do about it. The “movable middle” is growing. // One of the most significant insights from recent research is the rise of what John calls the “movable middle”—millions of people who are open to the Bible but not yet engaged with it. This group has grown by approximately nine million people in recent years. They are curious, interested, and even positive toward Scripture, but they lack the tools, confidence, or guidance to engage it meaningfully. This represents a massive opportunity for churches willing to step in and help. People want a guide. // Through focus groups and research, John discovered that many people in the movable middle feel intimidated by the Bible. They struggle with language, context, and navigation. But perhaps most striking is they want help. Contrary to what some leaders might assume, they are not rejecting the church as a guide. In fact, many say, “If we can't trust the church to help us understand the Bible, what good is it?” This creates a clear invitation for churches to step into a more relational, guiding role in discipleship. A surprising discipleship gap. // One of the most sobering findings is that nearly half of weekly church attenders are not regularly engaging Scripture on their own. While churches invest heavily in preaching and programming, many people are not developing personal habits of Bible engagement. John suggests that churches often focus on delivering content rather than equipping people to engage Scripture themselves. The result is a gap between what happens on Sunday and what happens in everyday life. From teaching to equipping. // If churches want to close that gap, they must shift from being primarily content providers to equipping environments. This means helping people develop the skills, habits, and confidence to read and apply Scripture on their own. It also requires understanding the real barriers people face, like time constraints, confusion, or lack of community support, and addressing those barriers with practical solutions. A new tool for churches. // To help leaders take action, the American Bible Society has developed the “Next Step for Church” assessment. This free tool allows churches to measure spiritual health, Bible engagement, and key leadership behaviors within their congregation. Within a few weeks, leaders receive a detailed, data-driven report highlighting strengths, challenges, and suggested next steps. Data that leads to discipleship. // John emphasizes that data is not an end in itself; it's a tool for better shepherding. By listening to their congregation at scale, leaders can identify patterns, confirm instincts, and prioritize what matters most. The assessment surfaces both what's working and where growth is needed, giving churches a clear path forward. It also connects individuals to personalized Scripture engagement resources, helping them take their next step spiritually. Why Scripture engagement matters most. // Nothing has a greater impact on spiritual growth than a person's relationship with the Bible. In fact, Scripture engagement accounts for a significant portion of overall spiritual health. When people consistently engage with God's Word, transformation follows—affecting beliefs, behaviors, and relationships. Signs of hope for the future. // Despite broader cultural challenges, John sees encouraging trends, especially among younger generations. Millennials and Gen Z show increasing openness to Scripture, even if they are still exploring. While overall trends may appear flat, meaningful change is happening beneath the surface. For churches willing to engage this moment, there is real opportunity for impact. To explore the research further or access the free church assessment, visit church.nextstep.bible and begin discovering how your church can better equip people to engage Scripture every day. Thank You for Tuning In! There are a lot of podcasts you could be tuning into today, but you chose unSeminary, and I'm grateful for that. If you enjoyed today's show, please share it by using the social media buttons you see at the left hand side of this page. Also, kindly consider taking the 60-seconds it takes to leave an honest review and rating for the podcast on iTunes, they're extremely helpful when it comes to the ranking of the show and you can bet that I read every single one of them personally! Lastly, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, to get automatic updates every time a new episode goes live! Thank You to This Episode’s Sponsor: Risepointe Do you feel like your church’s or school's facility could be preventing growth? Are you frustrated or possibly overwhelmed at the thought of a complicated or costly building project? Are the limitations of your building becoming obstacles in the path of expanding your ministry? Have you ever felt that you could reach more people if only the facility was better suited to the community’s needs? Well, the team over at Risepointe can help! As former ministry staff and church leaders, they understand how to prioritize and help lead you to a place where the building is a ministry multiplier. Your mission should not be held back by your building. Their team of architects, interior designers and project managers have the professional experience to incorporate creative design solutions to help move YOUR mission forward. Check them out at risepointe.com and while you’re there, schedule a FREE call to explore possibilities for your needs, vision and future…Risepointe believes that God still uses spaces…and they're here to help. Episode Transcript Rich Birch — Hey friends, welcome to the unSeminary podcast. I am so glad that you have decided to tune in today. This is one of those episodes that there’s a great resource in it that going to want to make sure you engage with. There’s super helpful content. Plus it’s about an area that I know so many of us are thinking about, we’re wondering about, we’re asking questions about. Rich Birch — So super excited to have John Plake with us today. He is the chief innovator ah innovation officer and editor-in-chief of the State of the Bible Research Series, which comes from the American Bible Society. And they’re on a mission to make the Bible available to every person in a language and format each can understand and afford so that all may experience its life-changing message. ABS has really a whole bunch of different tools and approaches, and we’re excited kind of expose a little bit more about that today. John has been in ministry over 30 years. We’ll just call it over 30 years. And it served as a pastor, missionary, professor, researcher. John, welcome to the show. So glad you’re here.John Plake — Thanks so much for having me today. It’s great to be with you.Rich Birch — Why don’t you fill in the picture a little bit? Tell us a little bit about your background. You know, what brings you to your current work?John Plake — Yeah. Closer to 40 years now. Rich Birch — Nice. Yeah, yeah. That’s great.John Plake — It’s a little uncomfortable to talk about that.Rich Birch — That’s great.John Plake — Yeah. You know, I start out like a lot of people in ministry. I grew up in a home that ministry was central. Actually, both my grandfathers were ministers. My father was a minister. Ministry is kind of the family business in a way, but I really did sense a direction from God when I was about 15 years old to to pursue full-time ministry.John Plake — There was some detail around that. Ended up going to Bible college and and then started what turned out to be about nine years of full-time pastoral service. And I hadn’t been in that for very long before I realized that everything I learned in Bible College was preparing me to serve a generation that no longer existed in a culture that was gone. John Plake — And I thought, my goodness, I know God’s word pretty well. And mean, I’m a lifelong learner of God’s word. I love the Bible. And yet, didn’t really know culture very well. And I didn’t develop those tools until just years and years of practice, some missionary service, wonderful teachers at at Wheaton College and graduate school and and just a lifelong journey of learning.John Plake — So at American Bible Society, when I got here, the State of the Bible, program or this research project was already underway. And we’d been helped out by the Barna Group, which does some wonderful foundational work. And eventually it just kind of grew up and it got to a place where we had an internal team that was running it ourselves, now in collaboration with the National Opinion Research Council or NORC at the University of Chicago. We just do, I think, what is the largest ongoing study of Americans’ relationship with the Bible and faith and the church. And we get to talk about it all the time. Rich Birch — Yeah, I love it.John Plake — So, I mean, this is the best job in the world.Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s so good. It’s it’s great research, something that I think should be on the kind of list of things that we need to be paying attention to. It’s been a gift to the church for so long and something that we should continue to to pay attention through. Now, let’s talk about you specifically. You spent three plus decades. I didn’t want to say almost 40. You know, I’m not saying that. I’m not saying that. I could say that, you know, a couple years ago, I clicked across one of those numbers with a zero on the end as my birthday. And ever since then, I’m a little sensitive about the the age thing. Rich Birch — So anyways, As a ministry, missionary professor, researcher, you’ve done a lot. How does wearing all of those hats, what do you what does that bring to you as you come to the data? How does that impact you as you think about really the state of the Bible research?John Plake — Yeah, you know, I think research can be dull. You know, it can sound like it’s all about writing questions or it’s all statistics and numbers. But for me, the research is all about the people. Rich Birch — So true.John Plake — It’s all about the people in our communities and in our churches that we’re trying to understand better so we can serve them well with the gospel. I, for years, I’ve used the analogy that that being in gospel ministry is like being a human bridge across a river. I grew up not very far from the Mississippi River in the St. Louis area, and there was a big 100-year flood when I was early on in ministry. And I mean, none of the bridges worked anymore. You couldn’t get from one side to the other.John Plake — And I thought, you know, that’s a tragedy that I encountered sometimes in ministry where maybe I was deeply rooted in one bank of the river, the text, but I wasn’t necessarily deeply rooted in the other bank of the river, which was the context.John Plake — And it’s this lived experience of the people that I was I was serving. And that I wanted to serve in my community, but I needed to understand them better. So I wasn’t just spouting you know Aristotelian logic to them. Or I wasn’t just coming at them with the pat answers that I’d learned. Like I’d never heard anybody in my life walk into my office and say, Pastor John, you got to tell me, what can you describe hamartiology to me from. You know like I had to learn that in school, but that’s not what people struggle with. Rich Birch — That’s so true. Yeah. John Plake — They had totally different questions and I needed to love them and honor them enough to understand their questions and answer them responsibly and reliably from the pages of scripture.Rich Birch — Yeah, love it. Okay, well, we’re going to dig into a little bit of just a couple of the findings just to kind of, we’re trying to whet your appetite, friends, to take steps towards this. So the 2025 data showed, and we’ve seen this, a real bump in Bible engagement, particularly among millennials and men. If I’m reading it correctly, though, we saw 2026, a shift happen, maybe back down. And so what’s going on? Actually, I heard another sociologist in a kind of a related field that was about church attendance talked about the dead cat bounce, that it was like, you know, which I thought, oh, that’s a, but there’s a similarity going on here. Pull this, this finding apart. Help us understand this.John Plake — Yeah, apologies to cat lovers out there.Rich Birch — Yes, exactly.John Plake — We were we were hoping, you know, I think we were really hoping. We looked at 2025. We saw that men in particular were leaning into the Bible in ways we hadn’t seen recently. Millennials doing the same thing. There there were some interesting numbers in 2025. And so when the 2026 numbers came to my desk in late January, I thought, I hope we’re extending I hope it’s going to be a trend. But it wasn’t. It was a blip.John Plake — And there’s more to it, though, than just the fact that scripture engagement didn’t go up. It also didn’t go down. And the level of people in America who are Bible disengaged, meaning they never pick up the Bible on purpose at all, that actually didn’t go up either. What grew was this kind of curious explorer group in the middle that we call the movable middle. And over the last two years, it’s grown by 9 million American adults. Rich Birch — Wow.John Plake — And so what we do see is there’s there’s openness to the Bible. There’s experimentation with the Bible. But people are jumping in and they’re trying it and they’re not being able to get hold of it. And I think that’s largely because of us.John Plake — Because Bible people who are around them aren’t saying, please come do this with me. Let me help you. Let me honor you enough to to respect your questions, to ask what you’re dealing with, and help you explore those issues through the pages of Scripture.Rich Birch — I love that movable middle, man, that feels like the kind of group we want to connect with and reach out to in our community. Any other, when you, when you’ve been thinking about this movable middle, what are some other kind of characteristics of those people or other things that, you know, are kind of telltale signs of this group as we’re thinking about them as it, as it pertains to Bible engagement?John Plake — Yeah, they’re an amazing group, and we’re going talking more about them all year, but they are probably my favorite subject in America. There are 74 million American adults that are in the movable middle.Rich Birch — Wow.John Plake — 74 million of our neighbors who are like…Rich Birch — Wow.John Plake — …and here’s what they tend to say: They love the Bible. They think it’s a great idea. But if you handed them a Bible, they don’t know how to find what they’re looking for. They don’t know how to navigate it. They get confused by the language in in Scripture.John Plake — I remember doing a a focus group with a bunch of people in the movable middle. I was in Chicago. it was an area I was really familiar with. I used to pastor in that area. And we got them talking about their experience with the Bible. And we said, hey, does anything ever stop you or kind of you know make you check out because you’re struggling with what’s going on? John Plake — And one young lady at the table said, yeah, you know the language of the Bible is really really hard for me to understand. It’s it’s a really old book. It uses expressions I don’t understand. And a gentleman sitting across the table from her just kind of chuckled and said, yeah, what the hell’s a mustard seed? And everybody laughed.John Plake — I was behind the glass and I just about fell out of my chair because they didn’t teach me to talk like that in a Assemblies of God seminary.Rich Birch — Yes.John Plake —Things like that, you know, that’s just not the way we roll.Rich Birch — Yeah, yeah. Yes.John Plake — But it was so authentic and he wasn’t being mean.Rich Birch — No.John Plake — He was just saying, boy, I don’t I don’t get it. And then they said, you know, we really want a guide. Rich Birch — That’s good.John Plake — And so we pushed on that a little bit. At the time, there were some clergy abuse scandals that actually there were billboards up in Chicago about clergy abuse scandals that all of us lamented. And so we’re like, OK, listen, do you trust the church to be your guide? Because ee saw these billboards, you know, and it’s your city. And so what what do you think?John Plake — And they said, well, of course we do. I mean, it’s terrible when people in the church abuse their position and abuse others. And that’s not what they’re supposed to do. But if we can’t trust the church to help us understand the Bible, what good are they, really? And so, yes, we’re looking to you, church, to help us connect more deeply with the Bible, understand what it meant to the original hearers and readers and how we apply it to our lives today.Rich Birch — Okay, that’s yeah, that’s really cool. I look forward to hearing more about the movable middle in this coming year. Another thing that jumped out to me, which I feel like, man, I’ve seen this in my church. This is like you you named a group that I see, but it’s surprising, at least it’s surprising on its face. So nearly half of weekly church attenders, weekly church attenders, which is, that’s like really engaged, you know, are not regularly engaging, engaging scripture on their own.Rich Birch — Man, what, so what should we do about that? That’s an interesting, how does, how should that impact our discipleship strategy? What are you encouraging us to be thinking about? And these people that are with us all the time, but they’re not engaged with scripture.John Plake — Well, I think the first thing to do is to just recognize it. Rich Birch — Right.John Plake — You know, a lot of pastors that I’ve talked to, when we talk about scripture engagement, they tell me things like this: Everything we do is scripture engagement. I spend my whole week preparing a scriptural message. I’m, you know, we’re preparing small group curriculum and Sunday school curriculum and all of this stuff. It’s all about the, everything we do is about the Bible. John Plake — Well, okay. But I had a I had a young youth pastor come to me not that long ago and he said, John, look, you were me once a few years ago. If you knew then what you know now, what would you do differently?John Plake — And the answer is I would do everything differently, than the way I ought to do it. Because what, in my tradition, there was a lot of emphasis on the preaching event, and I put a lot of effort into those communication events, but what I didn’t put as much effort into is empowering people in my church to do what I was doing, which was dig into scripture, understand it for themselves, giving them the tools to do that.John Plake — And then in May, we’re going to be releasing a chapter, just in a few few days now, we’re going to be releasing a chapter all about parents. And one of the startling things is the time pressure that moms are under. I mean, it’s incredible. And so we need to understand where they’re coming from and where they have barriers, but also have some compassion on them and help to support them when they’re really facing struggles. Like they don’t have enough time. They don’t have the resources or the community coming around them to help them to engage God’s word ah more fulsomely, more transformatively.John Plake — We know how to do this stuff, but we’re not connecting the dots to everybody that’s coming to hear us talk every…Rich Birch — That’s good. That’s good. I know I’ve in my seat as an XP, um you know, I’ve overseen a lot of what we do on the programming side and what we do on the weekends. And I’ve, you know, it’s like, that i don’t think I’ve ever said this publicly. It’s like the kind of behind the scenes conversation. I’ve sometimes wondered, I’ve said, you know, like, what we do on the weekend to try to make the Bible understandable is so completely different than Tuesday morning in someone’s life. Rich Birch — Like, we pull out all the stops to make it interesting. We get like world class communicators, incredible graphics, you know, emotional music, all of this to try to… But then the question is, okay, so now on Tuesday morning when you’re tired and you haven’t had your coffee yet and you’re just about to go read scripture, man, like that feels like a long ways away. There’s like a gap there that I sometimes wonder maybe we’re making it worse. You know. Maybe we’re making it harder. I said that. You didn’t say that. Rich Birch — So maybe there’s pastors that are listening here and they read this kind of report. They read this kind of finding and they’re like, hey, that’s interesting. But like, how what do I do in my church specifically? So you know we want we don’t want to just leave people with a tough stat.Rich Birch — I think we see that in our church. There’s people in our church that are here all the time. They’re not that engaged. But you’ve actually developed a new tool or ABS has developed a new tool to help us think through that. Why don’t you walk us through it? Tell us a little bit about it. How’s it work? Talk us how it can help us.John Plake — Yeah, so recently we developed two tools that kind of work together. One of them you can find on the internet at nextstep.bible. And it’s just for anybody who’s like, hey, I’m on a spiritual journey. I’m kind of stuck. I don’t really know what to do next. Maybe you’re just getting started exploring what it means to be a Christian. Maybe you’re Jesus’ little brother or sister. Wherever you are in that journey, there’s always a next step for us.John Plake — And so what we’ve done is analyzed along about a million spiritual life surveys. Rich Birch — Wow.John Plake — And from this huge quantity of data, we’ve learned that people are at different places in that journey. They’re at different points on the map. And we want to make sure that they’re equipped to have the right thing at the right time. I think currently there are 21,000 scripture engagement resources available there.Rich Birch — Wow.John Plake — They’re absolutely free. They’re in English, Spanish, and French. So go check it out, nextstep.bible.John Plake — But if you’re a pastor or you’re a church leader, you’re probably wondering, well, what’s going on in my church, right? So I see all the national data, but I think our tendency is to say, well, we’re the exception, right?Rich Birch — So true. Well, that’s not our people. John Plake — I know I know everybody else is struggling, but we’re doing okay.Rich Birch — Yes.John Plake — And and so it’s good to check our assumptions a little bit. They used to say a really sad statistic that 10 o’clock on Sunday morning was the most segregated hour in America, which makes me sad. What makes me sad also is that 12 o’clock noon in America is the most dishonest hour in America. That’s the hour when pastors tend to start greeting their people after the church service closes and they hear all these comments: oh, Pastor, that was the best sermon I’ve ever heard. And it wasn’t. It just wasn’t. All right, let’s face it.John Plake — There’s somebody out there who preaches better than you do and better than I do. They’re available on YouTube. People don’t need you to be the best Bible teacher in the world. They need you to be the best pastor for them. Rich Birch — That’s good.John Plake — And the tools that are all about focusing on their relationship with the Bible, their holistic spiritual formation, and our leadership behaviors. And so for that, we built the Next Step for Church Assessment.John Plake — It’s actually standing on the foundation or built on the engine block, if you want a different metaphor, of the old reveal research that the Willow Creek Association had come out with. It’s no longer available. And we were able to acquire all of their historical learnings, but also add in things like human flourishing and e-pastoral leadership behaviors that lead to churches really being missionally effective and strong. Excellent stuff on Bible engagement and spiritual formation. John Plake — So the the big challenge we had, I was talking with Dr. Ed Stetzer about this because he was at LifeWay Research when the Transformational Church Assessment was being built. And it was always hard because analyzing this kind of data required a lot of human intervention. It’s very expensive to do. It’s very complicated to deliver. And even a small cost can be a barrier for churches that have strained budgets. It doesn’t matter if you’re a church of, you know, 2,500 25,000 or 250. There’s always more places to put your money than there are dollars that are available to do it.John Plake — And so at American Bible Society, we said, you know what, as a gift to the church, because we love the church, we need to make it completely free. And so you can go to church.nextstep.bible and you could sign up today. Literally, we’re recording this on a on a Thursday. You could go there today and by Sunday, you could be launching your survey. Two weeks later, you’d automatically have results in your own online dashboard. You’d get key highlights emailed to you. There’s a place for custom questions. There’s just all kinds of really, really rich information.Rich Birch — So good.John Plake — And it it doesn’t take the place of the kind of learning that you have as a pastor. You learn deeply in relationship with others. You’re observing what’s going on. You have a team that’s around you. But what it does is it provides this valid, reliable sift and sort function. It’s based on well, I don’t know even know how many, well over 3000 churches, well over half a million survey responses went into building this and making it a tool that that is a good benchmark for you to say, you know what, if we want to move from where we are today to where God is calling us, here are the things we need to focus on.Rich Birch — It’s so good. And friends, I want to encourage you to to go there. Just church.nextstep.bible. I know many of us have a heart for saying, listen, we want to measure more than just nickels and noses. The number of people that show up and revenue that comes in. And this a great way to kind of inject at something that’s at the core of what we’re supposed to be doing as a church. So why don’t we just give a little bit more detail?Rich Birch — What is it? You know, what’s it actually measuring? How is it? You know, how could it be helpful? How how could it kind of dovetail with some of the things we’re already tracking? Maybe give us, you know, what kind of insights are we going to gain from this if we if we put our people through this?John Plake — Yeah, maybe it’s worthwhile to just back up and say it’s based on a congregational assessment. So really this kind of work is all about just listening to your congregation at scale. So if you have 25 people coming to church, you can probably have this conversation with them if you know how to ask the right questions. Rich Birch — Right.John Plake — You can go to the website. You’re like, what’s in the survey? There’s a button you can click. You can read the whole survey. It’s fine. We’re not going to try and surprise you with anything. But really simple stuff. How’s your relationship with Jesus? How often are you interacting with Scripture? What difference is that making in your life? We ask the standard Harvard human flourishing questions. We ask about um how the pastoral team or the senior pastor, him or herself, is doing at actually modeling Christlike leadership for you. Rich Birch — It’s so good.John Plake — And all of that reporting then gets brought into a database. It’s all anonymous. So individuals don’t, they don’t have to tell you who they are. They can’t tell you who they are other than by characteristics. And you’re going to get this really good, robust picture of what’s going on at the church. John Plake — Now, what does it take for somebody to do that? It takes about 20 minutes of their time, and time is expensive, right? People always have too much to do. So in return for that investment, at the end of their survey experience, they will have already told us everything we need to know to match them to great resources at nextstep.bible.John Plake — And with their permission, not without it, they can click a button, pass that data over to the individual nextstep.bible platform. They can create an account and right away, they’re going to be finding things like YouVersion Bible reading plans that are just for them.John Plake — If you’ve got people in your church and they’re outliers, they’re they’re way more spiritually advanced than everybody else, or they’re just getting started and everybody else is way ahead of them, these kinds of tools create bespoke pathways for them so they know what to do next. All the while, the church leadership can sit back and say, okay, here’s our results. And as a team, now what do we need to do to serve the whole congregation well?Rich Birch — I love this. You know, this is what incredible tool that you’ve put together here for our churches to wrestle through and to, you know, not only help us as a church as we’re thinking about these issues, but then help individuals in our church. What what would be some of the ways that churches might use the data that’s generated to impact what we’re doing in our programming? How how could we use this to improve what we’re doing?John Plake — Sure. There are really three things we want everybody to do. First, just discover what’s going on. Just just check your assumptions at the door and and say, okay, what do the data tell us about what’s going on in our church life and in our people’s lives? That’s the first thing.John Plake — Second thing is it’s going to surface for you the top three things that you’re doing great. And it’s going to give them to you in the report. And you need to throw a party. Like there are people who make these things happen for you. No pastor is doing this all by themselves. And so plan a party, celebrate what’s going well.John Plake — The third thing it’s going to do is it’s going to give you suggestions about, okay, here’s where your congregation is today. It won’t surprise you, but it might inform you. I’ve never seen a pastor look at the report and go, ah you guys got it wrong. Rich Birch — Sure, right.John Plake — Usually they they see the report and they go, yeah, okay, yeah, you got me.Rich Birch — Yeah. Confirmed some hunches I’ve had. Yeah. Yeah.John Plake — Right? But we don’t we don’t have time. We don’t have the resources. We don’t have the expertise to be able to sit down and and kind of scientifically walk through this process. So we do that for you. We deliver the report. And then we’re going to give you two key action items that we think churches like yours in a similar place have done that have helped move them toward spiritual health and missional effectiveness.John Plake — And that’s really what it’s all about. We want your congregation to be spiritually healthy. We want your your church as a whole to be missionally effective. And when that happens, often there’s numerical growth. Often there’s financial growth. But there’s certainly more missional impact that’s coming through your congregation and its work.Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s cool. So if I’m like a church of a thousand people, let’s say, and just round number to picking out of the sky, how how what kind of percentage of my congregation would I need to take this to give me a reasonable, you know, statistical, you know, feeling good about the data for it? What what kind of number um should I be thinking about?John Plake — Well, the first thing is we’ve built in a tool that will tell you how to get to a margin of error of plus or minus 3%. Rich Birch — Love it.John Plake — And that does vary depending on the adult attendance that you have. So let’s say you’ve a thousand adults. And by adults, I mean anybody in high school or older can probably take this survey. Rich Birch — Yep.John Plake — And you can cut the data like by gender or by age. All of that live filtering is in the online platform. Rich Birch — Oh, that’s so good.John Plake — So if you’re the you’re the youth pastor and you’re like, well, wait, tell me about the young people that took the survey. You can just look right at them and compare them to the rest of the congregation, which I bet will be enlightening. But nevertheless, how many do you need if you’re a church of 1,000, it’s about 275.Rich Birch — Okay.John Plake — If it’s a smaller church than that, then you’re still going to need a pretty significant percentage. So if I roll that all the way down to a church of 100, you need 80.Rich Birch — Okay.John Plake — And if you roll that up to a church of 5,000, well, you don’t need that many more than 275.Rich Birch — Interesting.John Plake — So you’re going to report that out to you. It’s very, very doable. And, you know, I’ve pastored at large churches and I pastored a small church. And I’ll tell you, when I pastored a church of under 100, I could have gotten a census of the people, like everybody, to do a survey like this. They would have been glad to tell me these things. Rich Birch — Right.John Plake — And it’s not that I couldn’t have had a conversation one-on-one with most of the adults in the congregation. It was something different in that case. I actually didn’t know what to ask. I used to run into this when I was a campus pastor at a Christian university. And I would have young people walk into my office and I was like, I know I should be able to help them, but the challenge they’re facing is different than anything I’m familiar with. I don’t have any analog for this in my personal experience. And so this sort of takes the mystery away. We don’t ask fluffy questions. We ask research proven questions that are going to give you the information you really need so you can take action.Rich Birch — That’s amazing. That’s think this is such a great tool for people. I can see how, you know, it’d be so helpful for folks that are listening in to, you know, might be be able to plug in grab this experience for their people, help their church, help the folks that are attending. That’s, that’s incredible.Rich Birch — So, you know, you’ve picked an interesting vocation to be connected with the American Bible Society. And because, you know, this is such a critical and important part of developing people’s relationship, obviously, with Jesus; its core to all of it. And we have seen a long historical downward trend, and you’re pushing against that, which is amazing. But what gives you hope in the middle of all of that? What would it when you look at the church around you know, the country, where do you see flashes of just good things going on that are like, you know, when it comes to the relationship with scripture that even, you know, even when we see maybe the overall numbers are not as great as we want them to be, what are some kind of flashes of hope we should, that we could encourage folks with today?John Plake — Well, I’d like to maybe point to just three things that leap to mind. Rich Birch — Yep.John Plake — The first of them is I never talk to anybody in the church who says the Bible is a bad idea. Rich Birch — Sure.John Plake — Everybody likes the Bible. We’re all trying to figure out how to communicate its message better, to understand it more deeply. It’s transforming our lives, and we want to be able to share it with others. John Plake — And that’s great because, number two, there’s nothing that makes a bigger difference in somebody’s spiritual life than their relationship with the Bible. I mean, absolutely nothing. And I’m saying this as a researcher. I’ve tested it. I can’t find anything that makes a bigger difference. John Plake — In fact, when we looked at Christian college and university students, 60% of their overall spiritual health across lots of domains—beliefs, practice, putting faith into action, loving God, loving others, all these things, 60% of the variance in their spiritual health is solely accounted for by their relationship with the Bible.John Plake — So if we can help people have a dynamic relationship with scripture, we win. That’s all there is to it. It’s just that simple. And so that is really encouraging.John Plake — And then the third thing, ah the third thing is how I say this nicely? I'm I’m from Gen X and so to my Baby Boomer friends, I’m sorry, but you guys don’t have the influence that you once did.Rich Birch — Yeah, it’s true.John Plake — And that’s a good thing because there’s new openness among Millennials, and Gen Z and even younger Gen X um that we just don’t see among Baby Boomers. It’s like Baby Boomers made up their minds in the 60s and early 70s and said, this is what I believe and I’m not changing. And they haven’t. John Plake — That’s not to say that someone who’s a Baby Boomer can’t have a a spiritual experience and transformational experience. It does happen. But on the population level, like when we looked at the Bay Area of San Francisco, if you look at the scripture engagement, church engagement, love God, love others data in the Bay Area, it looks like what you’d expect, until you strip out the Baby Boomers. And then suddenly it looks better than every place else in America.John Plake — You’re like, what’s going on? Well, looks like all the unreconstructed hippies that moved to the Bay Area are actually holding a lid on the population numbers. And when you remove that and you go, oh, wait a minute, let me look under the headline and say what’s happening. There’s more going on than is easy to see. And I think this happens in big national trends.John Plake — Oh, is Scripture engagement up or down? Is you know church attendance up or down? Whats what’s going… big national trends. Yeah, okay, those are helpful, and we want those to change. But what’s changing first is below the fold. Things in Gen Z, things among Millennials, things in young men, those things are starting to change, and I think those are the first glimmerings that God is at work in a new way in America, and I can’t wait to see it.Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s that’s a great word. And that lines up with what we’re seeing, even just experientially talking to churches across the country. You know we’re so we’re seeing there is something going on with younger generations, which is great to see. I was I was born in 1974, the lowest birth rate year of the 20th century. I am classic Gen X. Like you know I am like statistic I’m the statistical average Gen X and has spent a lot of my time trying to hand stuff from the Boomers to the Millennials. And, yeah, there’s lots of encouraging news there, particularly with the younger generations. Rich Birch — I also want to speak to on the the work I’ve done in the church growth stuff that I’ve done and coaching I’ve done with churches, one of the things that’s just undeniable is churches that have a high view of scripture, that is, they’re trying to get people engaged with scripture. They they talk about it like it’s actually true. How do we say don’t know what’s the best way to talk about that? Those are the churches that are prevailing, and that actually works out statistically. You see that time and again. Talk to us about that dynamic, which is kind of co-related to the things we’re talking about today. From your perspective in the stats and all that, how how have you seen that work out as you’ve looked at churches across the country?John Plake — Yeah, I think you’re exactly right. The churches that are the healthiest in America, that are growing, that where where people are spiritually healthy, have a really dynamic relationship with Scripture. And it kind of it cuts across tradition. Rich Birch — Yep.John Plake — There are some traditional things going on. I was listening to Justin Brierley and his surprising Rebirth of Belief in God podcast, and it was from last season, and he he had someone on, he was interviewing, and what she was saying was there are the parts of the church that seem to be thriving are kind of the, the the older, the ancientness traditions, whether it’s Catholic or Orthodox, that what she called somewhat irreverently, the smells and bells side of of the church.Rich Birch — Sure, sure.John Plake — And on the other side, kind of my end of the swimming pool, I’m, from the Assemblies of God, so the Pentecostal and Charismatic side. And she said, what’s going on is that both ends of that spectrum are totalizing. John Plake — They’re saying, you know what, the the Bible places certain expectations and demands on people. Christ places certain expectations and demands on people. And these parts of the church aren’t sort of shy about talking about that from a biblical perspective. She said, what’s what’s dying is that part in the middle where we’ve reduced church to a PowerPoint and you know an Excel spreadsheet. And she said, that part of the church seems to be dying and no one’s coming to the funeral. Rich Birch — That’s good. John Plake — And I thought, you know okay, right?Rich Birch — Yeah. Yeah, that’s good.John Plake — So if we revitalize our relationship with God through scripture, there’s a next step for every church. It doesn’t matter what, you know whether you’re mainline or evangelical or, you know, Pentecostal or Orthodox or whatever it is, but but reviving our relationship with God through Scripture is really where it’s at.Rich Birch — That’s so good. i Yeah, I call that middle group the just because it rhymes doesn’t mean it’s true group. You know, like the, you know, were just like, it’s all my thoughts. No one wants to come and find us. They want to find God ultimately. Well, I don’t want to pick any fights with anybody that’s listening in, but I really appreciate today’s conversation, John. This has been great. So we want to send people to church.nextstep.bible.Rich Birch — The the promise of in two weeks, your church could have a comprehensive report on spiritual health, on where your church is, spiritual health is at, that’s a huge promise. And so again, this is go to church.nextstep.bible. Any kind of final words as we wrap up today’s episode?John Plake — You know, you might be familiar with Cally Parkinson. Cally was the co-author of all of the Reveal books, every single one of them. She was head of communications for the Willow Creek Association when they were running this. She’s probably had more conversations with pastors and church leaders about survey results like this than anybody I know, maybe than anybody alive. And Cally likes this so much. She said, John, I want to have a personal consultation with the first hundred churches that go through this.John Plake — And so if you want to be in that group, she’s going to offer to spend an hour with you and just walk through your results and help explain it. There are videos throughout the platform that will explain it as well. And you can’t beat talking to Cally. She loves pastors. She says you’re the salt of the earth. And she just really wants to serve you because the work that you do to save people is just so valuable to her. So anyway, just wanted to offer that. And I know you’d probably love to meet Cally.Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s fantastic. Well, appreciate you being here today. Thanks for the great work you do at the American Bible Society. John, appreciate you being on today. Thank you.John Plake — Thank you.

New to Zion City? Click here: https://bit.ly/3QhTbrz Find a time and attend a service with us: https://zioncity.me/locations NEXT STEPSHave you made a decision to follow Jesus? You may be wondering what's next on your journey. We want to help! Let us guide you to your next steps in your walk with Christ: https://bit.ly/3AnlHme  Tucson Church, Arizona Church, Zion City, Assemblies of God, Christian Podcast, Spirit Filled Tucson ChurchFIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIAInstagram:   / zioncity.me   TikTok:   / zioncity.me  CONNECT WITH PASTOR WAYLON & DANAPastor Waylon's Instagram:  / waylonsears  Pastor Dana's Instagram:  / danamsears  

New to Zion City? Click here: https://bit.ly/3QhTbrz Find a time and attend a service with us: https://zioncity.me/locations NEXT STEPSHave you made a decision to follow Jesus? You may be wondering what's next on your journey. We want to help! Let us guide you to your next steps in your walk with Christ: https://bit.ly/3AnlHme  Tucson Church, Arizona Church, Zion City, Assemblies of God, Christian Podcast, Spirit Filled Tucson ChurchFIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIAInstagram:   / zioncity.me   TikTok:   / zioncity.me  CONNECT WITH PASTOR WAYLON & DANAPastor Waylon's Instagram:  / waylonsears  Pastor Dana's Instagram:  / danamsears  

The Municipal Voice is proud to present a special edition with our Executive Director and CEO Joe DeLong, who will be interviewing guest Sean Scanlon, Comptroller for the State of Connecticut. They talk about Citizens' Assemblies. Join us for this informative discussion.

Surveys indicate Christianity in America is on the grow. The surveys also indicate the growth is occurring among Gen-Z. So then, where is this spiritual growth actually occurring? For sure, it is not happening among the old, staid denominations where the church, for the most part, continues to be traditional, ritual, predictable, and in the words of one, boring. Renewal and revival of Christianity in America is coming primarily from non-denominational churches and spirit-filled Pentecostal movements. Those growth churches are offering experiential expressions of faith, real Biblical experiences different from and better than the traditional American protestant denominations. At one time, non-denominational Christian churches consisted of approximately 5% of American protestants (1972). Today, those growing non-denominational churches comprise of roughly 30% of all such protestant churches. Why is such growth occurring, wondered the pundits and especially the non-believers. The answer is simple. Those churches function under the direction and influence of the Holy Spirit where the real, vital, saving, forgiving Gospel of Jesus Christ is believed and preached. Pentecostal churches are growing. The Assemblies of God, among the many spirit-filled churches reported growth in: 1. CHURCH SERVICE ATTENDANCE 2. NEW MEMBERSHIP 3. CONVERSIONS AND SAVING EXPERIENCES 4. BAPTISMS 5. THE BUILDING OF NEW CHURCHES So many people, including the young from Gen-Z, want the real Christianity or nothing at all. Spirit-filled Pentecostal movements offer Christian reality, even as so many churches in denominations turn woke, liberal, social, even political in emphasis and so often replace the Gospel with social agendas. The church should be where the real Gospel is preached, where real spirit-led worship occurs, and where the soul is satisfied and blessed. Holiness and Pentecostal churches reported at least 4% growth in all the above categories, and these non-denominational churches far outperformed the old-line denominational churches. These non-denominational churches are “functionally charismatic” even if they do not describe themselves as Pentecostal. They do not belong to Assemblies of God or THE CHURCH OF GOD IN CHRIST, or foursquare, but their worship styles and theology clearly emphasize expressive worship, spiritual gifts, and direct encounters with God. The real Gospel, the Holy-Spirit-led worship characterizes the beliefs and the worship services of these growing non-denominational Christian churches. In years past, surveys indicate the younger generations (Gen-Z and more) were indifferent and turned off by Christianity and Christian worship. This may have been the case, but then came the growth of these non-denominational, spirit-filled, spiritually-experiential Christian churches, and therefore membership and involvement dramatically increased. The surveys indicate this younger, non-denominational church-goer and worshipper was significantly more diverse than many of the membership in the historic and traditional protestant denomination. These surveys indicated only 60% of the new non-denominational church worshippers where white. Many of the new worshippers were Hispanic, African American, or even Asian. This new spirit-filled church was truly the right example of diversity in race and ethnicity, equity and equality among all men and women in worship, and the inclusion of all (DEI) in worship led by the Holy Spirit, belief in and the preaching of the real Gospel, and where the Bible ruled. People today are hungry for the real Gospel, the real worship experience, for real Bible teaching. The real Gospel would have us as believers rejoice, be glad, be happy, be exuberant in our faith. The real Gospel, as Jesus said, would have us live life abundantly, emotionally, lovingly. These spirit-filled non-denominational churches offer this spiritual reality and more. The growth in non-denominational churches was incredible. In 2010, there were some 35,000 such churches and congregations. Today, there are 44,000 non-denominational church congregations in America, with an estimated 21 million members and worshipers. 21 MILLION soul-satisfied congregants and adherents. PRAISE THE LORD! Churches exist for one reason only: to proclaim Biblical truth, the real Gospel, the salvation experience, the forgiveness and reconciliation to God the Father, and to worship, all of which allow for direct encounters with the very God and the Son, Jesus Christ. These churches offer this and everything real in Scripture, which is why they are growing, and the growth has only just begun. PRAISE THE LORD!

New to Zion City? Click here: https://bit.ly/3QhTbrz Find a time and attend a service with us: https://zioncity.me/locations NEXT STEPS Have you made a decision to follow Jesus? You may be wondering what's next on your journey. We want to help! Let us guide you to your next steps in your walk with Christ: https://bit.ly/3AnlHme Tucson Church, Arizona Church, Zion City, Assemblies of God, Christian Podcast, Spirit Filled Tucson Church FIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIA Instagram:   / zioncity.me   TikTok:   / zioncity.me   CONNECT WITH PASTOR WAYLON & DANA Pastor Waylon's Instagram:  / waylonsears  Pastor Dana's Instagram:  / danamsears

New to Zion City? Click here: https://bit.ly/3QhTbrz Find a time and attend a service with us: https://zioncity.me/locations NEXT STEPS Have you made a decision to follow Jesus? You may be wondering what's next on your journey. We want to help! Let us guide you to your next steps in your walk with Christ: https://bit.ly/3AnlHme Tucson Church, Arizona Church, Zion City, Assemblies of God, Christian Podcast, Spirit Filled Tucson Church FIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIA Instagram:   / zioncity.me   TikTok:   / zioncity.me   CONNECT WITH PASTOR WAYLON & DANA Pastor Waylon's Instagram:  / waylonsears  Pastor Dana's Instagram:  / danamsears

In this insightful interview, Dr. Gary Tyra discusses the transformative power of sacramental preaching, emphasizing the Holy Spirit's role in creating genuine encounters with God through sermons. This discussion explores the theological foundations, practical applications, and the importance of discernment in preaching that is prophetic, incarnational, and Spirit-empowered. Pick up a copy of Sacramental Sermons: Prophetic, Incarnational, Truly Transformative.

David Mistler, CEMCO's Firestop Product Manager joined us to give a preview of his webinar, “Next-Generation Firestopping for Building Joints”. Listen in as David talks about some of the biggest shortcomings of traditional field-applied firestop methods in building joint design today, and how evolving building codes and special inspection requirements have changed the way architects approach joint firestopping specifications. Register for this free webinar

Interactive assemblies are becoming a practical tool for schools looking to boost participation and reinforce curriculum goals. Here is what makes them genuinely effective for elementary students. To learn more, visit https://assemblyshows.com/curriculum-shows/ Scheer Genius Assembly Shows City: Walled Lake Address: PO Box 722 Website: https://assemblyshows.com/ Phone: +1 248 891 1900 Email: scheergenius@mac.com

Top headlines for Tuesday, May 26, 2026Mel Gibson's Resurrection of the Christ release dates, Pope Leo XIV's warning that AI threatens human dignity, an Evangelical outcry over a Trump immigration policy critics say could split families, and a lawsuit alleging an Arkansas church ignored years of abuse warnings.00:11 Release date announced for ‘The Resurrection of the Christ'00:56 Chris Brown touts honorary doctorate from Christian university01:50 Pope Leo XIV challenges AI's ability in first encyclical letter02:38 Evangelical group condemns Trump policy change for immigrants03:29 ISIS chained toddler in heat, forced mom to watch her die04:19 Women sue Assemblies of God church for alleged cover-up of abuse05:07 Joni Lamb's son not speaking at memorial highlights tensionsSubscribe to this PodcastApple PodcastsSpotifyGoogle PodcastsOvercastFollow Us on Social Media@ChristianPost on TwitterChristian Post on Facebook@ChristianPostIntl on InstagramSubscribe on YouTubeGet the Edifi AppDownload for iPhoneDownload for AndroidSubscribe to Our NewsletterSubscribe to the Freedom Post, delivered every Monday and ThursdayClick here to get the top headlines delivered to your inbox every morning!Links to the NewsRelease date announced for ‘The Resurrection of the Christ' | EntertainmentChris Brown touts honorary doctorate from Christian university | EntertainmentPope Leo XIV challenges AI's ability in first encyclical letter | Church & MinistriesEvangelical group condemns Trump policy change for immigrants | PoliticsISIS chained toddler in heat, forced mom to watch her die | WorldWomen sue Assemblies of God church for alleged cover-up of abuse | U.S.Joni Lamb's son not speaking at memorial highlights tensions | U.S.

New to Zion City? Click here: https://bit.ly/3QhTbrz Find a time and attend a service with us: https://zioncity.me/locations NEXT STEPS Have you made a decision to follow Jesus? You may be wondering what's next on your journey. We want to help! Let us guide you to your next steps in your walk with Christ: https://bit.ly/3AnlHme Tucson Church, Arizona Church, Zion City, Assemblies of God, Christian Podcast, Spirit Filled Tucson Church FIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIA Instagram:   / zioncity.me   TikTok:   / zioncity.me   CONNECT WITH PASTOR WAYLON & DANA Pastor Waylon's Instagram:  / waylonsears  Pastor Dana's Instagram:  / danamsears

New to Zion City? Click here: https://bit.ly/3QhTbrz Find a time and attend a service with us: https://zioncity.me/locations NEXT STEPS Have you made a decision to follow Jesus? You may be wondering what's next on your journey. We want to help! Let us guide you to your next steps in your walk with Christ: https://bit.ly/3AnlHme Tucson Church, Arizona Church, Zion City, Assemblies of God, Christian Podcast, Spirit Filled Tucson Church FIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIA Instagram:   / zioncity.me   TikTok:   / zioncity.me   CONNECT WITH PASTOR WAYLON & DANA Pastor Waylon's Instagram:  / waylonsears  Pastor Dana's Instagram:  / danamsears

The rain-soaked repentance of Ezra 10 is a steppingstone along the way to the spirit-saturated assembly of Acts 2. Repentance always opens the way to new life.Readings from this service:Ezra 10: 9-17Acts 2: 1-13Psalm 96: 1-3, 9-10Matthew 28: 18-20Thanks for listening! CONNECT with CCFC:Visit us on FacebookVisit our websiteDownload our app!

Pastor Doug Clay, General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God USA, shares on Pentecost Sunday what makes a life-giving church.

New to Zion City? Click here: https://bit.ly/3QhTbrz Find a time and attend a service with us: https://zioncity.me/locations NEXT STEPS Have you made a decision to follow Jesus? You may be wondering what's next on your journey. We want to help! Let us guide you to your next steps in your walk with Christ: https://bit.ly/3AnlHme Tucson Church, Arizona Church, Zion City, Assemblies of God, Christian Podcast, Spirit Filled Tucson Church FIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIA Instagram:   / zioncity.me   TikTok:   / zioncity.me   CONNECT WITH PASTOR WAYLON & DANA Pastor Waylon's Instagram:  / waylonsears  Pastor Dana's Instagram:  / danamsears

New to Zion City? Click here: https://bit.ly/3QhTbrz Find a time and attend a service with us: https://zioncity.me/locations NEXT STEPS Have you made a decision to follow Jesus? You may be wondering what's next on your journey. We want to help! Let us guide you to your next steps in your walk with Christ: https://bit.ly/3AnlHme Tucson Church, Arizona Church, Zion City, Assemblies of God, Christian Podcast, Spirit Filled Tucson Church FIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIA Instagram:   / zioncity.me   TikTok:   / zioncity.me   CONNECT WITH PASTOR WAYLON & DANA Pastor Waylon's Instagram:  / waylonsears  Pastor Dana's Instagram:  / danamsears

Jose and Ashley Talavera spent the last 11 years as Assemblies of God World Missionaries to the country of Spain. They helped plant churches in the cities of both Granada and Málaga. In Granada their first term they started a multi-generational family ministry for both inside the church and outside reaching out to the community. In Málaga, they began a non-profit organization that reached out to the community primarily through English-learning, to build relationships and share the love and hope of Jesus.

Doug Clay serves as the General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God USA. He has a passionate love for the local church, a heart for church health, and a gift for equipping leaders to grow in their calling. He joined us in May and brought this incredible message - which will change your life, it's titled 'Living with Biblical Conviction in a confused culture' and you can catch up here.

There is a word for arranging letters in the right order to give them meaning. It is called spelling. There is a word for stitching those letters together into one flowing line. It is called cursive. A spell. A curse. And before tonight is over, you will understand why the man we are about to introduce believes the architecture of modern language, modern religion, and modern power is a deliberate piece of magic cast at the human soul. Kristan T. Harris was raised in an Assemblies of God household in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. A Christian punk rocker who once wanted to be a youth pastor. He walked away from the certainties of his childhood and spent the next 20 years asking the question they begged him not to ask. What if the version of history we were handed at the door was never the real one. Tonight he walks us through it. The cult of Mystery Babylon and the king Nimrod whose mother wife Semiramis still weeps for Tammuz under every Christmas tree. The synagogue of Satan that, in his words, runs the world from above every flag. The Maxwell witness testimonies he pulled out of a sealed courtroom and put into the public record. The MK Ultra survivors he has interviewed by name. The 300 FBI files he personally unsealed on the killing of William Cooper. CERN. Charlie Kirk. Clonaid and Eve, the first human clone, born in 2001. The data centers rising right now on the lakes of Wisconsin to feed a machine you will never see. And then he walks us into the bones. Over a thousand newspaper accounts of giant human skeletons pulled out of American soil, by his own hands, from the Library of Congress archive. The Smithsonian named again and again as the recipient of the remains. And the remains, every single time, vanishing into a silence no one has ever broken. Harris is the co-founder and host of The Rundown Live. Barry Cooper called him the king of underground journalism. His raw footage from Kenosha helped exonerate Kyle Rittenhouse. And when he is asked tonight for the single sentence that defines his entire career, he looks straight into the camera and says question everything, listen to everyone, and do not believe unless you can prove it with your own two hands.

Hey guys, welcome back to another episode of The Anchored by the Sword Podcast. Since May is Mental Health Awareness Month, I really wanted to continue having these important conversations surrounding faith and mental health—because the truth is, so many people are silently struggling while feeling like they have to pretend they're fine.And you guys already know… this topic is deeply personal to me.Today, I'm joined by Pastor Steve Larson, whose book The Four Keys to Mental Health: Feel Better, Think Clearly, and Enjoy Life Again came out earlier this year, and this conversation was such an encouraging and practical one.Steve shares his own journey of walking through depression and anxiety while planting and pastoring a church. After walking through a painful season of church division, he found himself emotionally exhausted and struggling mentally in ways he never had before. And I think what impacted me most is that instead of hiding it, he began learning, growing, and eventually helping others walk through their own mental health journeys too.In this episode, we talk about:✨ Why the church needs to become a safer place to talk about mental health✨ The difference between faith and pretending everything is fine✨ Why mental health struggles are not a sign of spiritual failure✨ How God can heal through miracles, medicine, counseling, community—or all of the above✨ And the four key areas that impact our mental health:PhysicalMentalSpiritualRelationalOne thing Steve said that really stood out to me was this:

Sunday's Message: https://youtu.be/1JHuX6n1ux4?si=YtLlhFa2ulmbIkX2New to Zion City? Click here: https://bit.ly/3QhTbrz Find a time and attend a service with us: https://zioncity.me/locations NEXT STEPSHave you made a decision to follow Jesus? You may be wondering what's next on your journey. We want to help! Let us guide you to your next steps in your walk with Christ: https://bit.ly/3AnlHme Tucson Church, Arizona Church, Zion City, Assemblies of God, Christian Podcast, Spirit Filled Tucson ChurchFIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIAInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/zioncity.me/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@zioncity.meCONNECT WITH PASTOR WAYLON & DANAPastor Waylon's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/waylonsears/ Pastor Dana's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danamsears/

Sunday's Message: https://youtu.be/1JHuX6n1ux4?si=YtLlhFa2ulmbIkX2New to Zion City? Click here: https://bit.ly/3QhTbrz Find a time and attend a service with us: https://zioncity.me/locations NEXT STEPSHave you made a decision to follow Jesus? You may be wondering what's next on your journey. We want to help! Let us guide you to your next steps in your walk with Christ: https://bit.ly/3AnlHme Tucson Church, Arizona Church, Zion City, Assemblies of God, Christian Podcast, Spirit Filled Tucson ChurchFIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIAInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/zioncity.me/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@zioncity.meCONNECT WITH PASTOR WAYLON & DANAPastor Waylon's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/waylonsears/ Pastor Dana's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danamsears/

New to Zion City? Click here: https://bit.ly/3QhTbrz Find a time and attend a service with us: https://zioncity.me/locations NEXT STEPS Have you made a decision to follow Jesus? You may be wondering what's next on your journey. We want to help! Let us guide you to your next steps in your walk with Christ: https://bit.ly/3AnlHme Tucson Church, Arizona Church, Zion City, Assemblies of God, Christian Podcast, Spirit Filled Tucson Church FIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIA Instagram:   / zioncity.me   TikTok:   / zioncity.me   CONNECT WITH PASTOR WAYLON & DANA Pastor Waylon's Instagram:  / waylonsears  Pastor Dana's Instagram:  / danamsears

New to Zion City? Click here: https://bit.ly/3QhTbrz Find a time and attend a service with us: https://zioncity.me/locations NEXT STEPS Have you made a decision to follow Jesus? You may be wondering what's next on your journey. We want to help! Let us guide you to your next steps in your walk with Christ: https://bit.ly/3AnlHme Tucson Church, Arizona Church, Zion City, Assemblies of God, Christian Podcast, Spirit Filled Tucson Church FIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIA Instagram:   / zioncity.me   TikTok:   / zioncity.me   CONNECT WITH PASTOR WAYLON & DANA Pastor Waylon's Instagram:  / waylonsears  Pastor Dana's Instagram:  / danamsears

How do you discern God's calling to be a missionary? John Easter, Executive Director of Assemblies of God World Missions (AGWM), says the first question might be: if God did call you to serve overseas, would you say yes? Before accepting his current role John and his wife served the church in Africa, providing theological training to pastors and leaders. In an effort to develop more leaders for the growing church, they oversaw 380+ schools with 25,000+ students. Serving on missions frontlines brought many challenges. They faced an abduction, medical issues, hijacking and other criminal activity while in Africa. Yet the Lord surrounded them with community and resources as they learned how to abide in Christ and rely on the Holy Spirit during every hardship. Today, John is focused on vision casting, fundraising and care for missionaries and missionary kids as they work to spread the gospel in unreached areas. You'll hear John share why the church in northern India is growing rapidly and what the Lord is instilling in His people in Nigeria—despite intense and violent Christian persecution in both nations. Even the reality of death is not enough for these followers of Christ to turn back, John says. Hear John suggest next steps for those the Lord may be calling to overseas missions, and ways you can pray specifically for AGWM and for missionaries sent out from your church. You're invited! Be a part of The Voice of the Martyrs' 2026 From the Field National Conference this September in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. Gather with fellow believers and hear firsthand stories from persecuted Christians in restricted nations and hostile areas where VOM serves. Seating is limited, so register soon to join this inspiring event.

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 as qualified by Scripture," he said. By contrast, the Assemblies of God position paper, "Women in Ministerial Leadership," says, "Scripture clearly advocates for women as ministers and leaders." Consequently, the Assemblies of God credentials those whom God has called and empowered, whether they are women or men. Both groups appeal to Scripture and argue about two passages in particular: 1 Corinthians 14:34–35 and 1 Timothy 2:8–15. In this episode, I talk to Waldemar Kowalski about what these passages actually mean. Waldemar Kowalski, Ph.D., is a global worker with the Assemblies of God, the teaching pastor at IES Bandung (AG) in Indonesia, and author of What Paul Really Taught About Women in Ministry: Matching Paul's Practice and Instruction, published by Logion Press. My conversation with Kowalski is coming up after a brief word from our sponsor.   Sponsor AdThis episode of the Influence podcast is brought to you by Gospel Publishing House, distributors of The Assemblies of God: Our Story by Daniel D. Isgrigg. Explore the inspiring history of the Assemblies of God from a handful of ministers to a worldwide fellowship of more than 85 million believers. Discover the legacy, mission, and Spirit-filled story that continues to impact the world today. For more information about The Assemblies of God: Our Story visit GospelPublishingHouse.com.   Show Notes 00:00 — Introduction and Sponsor Ad 02:17 — What does the biblical evidence say women did in Paul's churches? Why is what Paul did as important as what we believe Paul said? 06:07 — What are the basic hermeneutical rules that ought to guide us as we interpret Scripture? And what does 1 Corinthian 14:34–35 actually prohibit? 14:22 — Some New Testament scholars argue that 1 Corinthians 14:34–35 is not authentic. You disagree. Why do you think the verses are original? 16:42 — The biggest impediment to women serving as pastors or any other leadership role in the Church is the traditional interpretation of 1 Timothy 2:8–15. What is the traditional interpretation of those verses, Why do you think it fails? And what is the best interpretation of 1 Timothy 2:8–15? 27:02 — Another set of passages that seems to imply a prohibition of women leading churches is 1 Timothy 3:1–12 and Titus 1:5–9, which talk about elders and deacons being the "husband of one wife," which seems to imply that they're male. What's the best understanding of those passages? 30:45 — You and your wife serve together on the mission field. She is the senior pastor, and you're a Bible professor. Based on your experience, what do churches lose when they block half the church from living out the callings God has called and empowered them to perform? 31:54 — What are you reading right now that is interesting, helpful, and/or personally challenging? 35:14 — Conclusion

Sunday's Message: https://youtu.be/zYbgwq5_PnA?si=QHVeASfRylDhN3T9New to Zion City? Click here: https://bit.ly/3QhTbrz Find a time and attend a service with us: https://zioncity.me/locations NEXT STEPS Have you made a decision to follow Jesus? You may be wondering what's next on your journey. We want to help! Let us guide you to your next steps in your walk with Christ: https://bit.ly/3AnlHme Tucson Church, Arizona Church, Zion City, Assemblies of God, Christian Podcast, Spirit Filled Tucson Church FIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIA Instagram:  / zioncity.me   TikTok:  / zioncity.me  CONNECT WITH PASTOR WAYLON & DANA Pastor Waylon's Instagram:  / waylonsears  Pastor Dana's Instagram:  / danamsears

Sunday's Message: https://youtu.be/zYbgwq5_PnA?si=QHVeASfRylDhN3T9New to Zion City? Click here: https://bit.ly/3QhTbrz Find a time and attend a service with us: https://zioncity.me/locations NEXT STEPS Have you made a decision to follow Jesus? You may be wondering what's next on your journey. We want to help! Let us guide you to your next steps in your walk with Christ: https://bit.ly/3AnlHme Tucson Church, Arizona Church, Zion City, Assemblies of God, Christian Podcast, Spirit Filled Tucson Church FIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIA Instagram:  / zioncity.me   TikTok:  / zioncity.me  CONNECT WITH PASTOR WAYLON & DANA Pastor Waylon's Instagram:  / waylonsears  Pastor Dana's Instagram:  / danamsears

Dateline New Haven: People Powered & Citizen Assemblies by WNHH Community Radio

YouTube Description New to Zion City? Click here: https://bit.ly/3QhTbrz Find a time and attend a service with us: https://zioncity.me/locations NEXT STEPS Have you made a decision to follow Jesus? You may be wondering what's next on your journey. We want to help! Let us guide you to your next steps in your walk with Christ: https://bit.ly/3AnlHme Tucson Church, Arizona Church, Zion City, Assemblies of God, Christian Podcast, Spirit Filled Tucson Church FIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIA Instagram:   / zioncity.me   TikTok:   / zioncity.me   CONNECT WITH PASTOR WAYLON & DANA Pastor Waylon's Instagram:  / waylonsears  Pastor Dana's Instagram:  / danamsears

YouTube Description New to Zion City? Click here: https://bit.ly/3QhTbrz Find a time and attend a service with us: https://zioncity.me/locations NEXT STEPS Have you made a decision to follow Jesus? You may be wondering what's next on your journey. We want to help! Let us guide you to your next steps in your walk with Christ: https://bit.ly/3AnlHme Tucson Church, Arizona Church, Zion City, Assemblies of God, Christian Podcast, Spirit Filled Tucson Church FIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIA Instagram:   / zioncity.me   TikTok:   / zioncity.me   CONNECT WITH PASTOR WAYLON & DANA Pastor Waylon's Instagram:  / waylonsears  Pastor Dana's Instagram:  / danamsears

Eva Meijer is a philosopher, novelist, poet, and visual artist whose work explores nonhuman animals, politics, language, and multispecies relationships. In this conversation, Sentientism episode 245, we cover:- What living with 25 ex-laboratory mice taught her about life, death, and what matters- Why our disconnection from animals is both alienating and destructive- How fiction and poetry might reveal truths that philosophy and science can't- Their vision for multispecies assemblies. Bringing nonhuman animals, plants, future generations and more into political deliberation- Whether plants matter morally and what that means for agriculture and veganism- Art made with and for nonhuman audiences. Including a fountain designed for birds and insects, not for humansEva's work challenges us to move beyond abolishing exploitation toward genuinely sharing the world, politically, ethically, and creatively, with the other beings we share it with.Follow Eva:- https://www.evameijer.nl/- https://sentientism.info/sentientist-pledge/eva-meijer00:00 Clips00:48 Welcome03:28 Eva's Intro05:12 What's Real?33:17 What Matters?47:10 Who Matters?01:12:11 A Better World?Full show notes are at: https://sentientism.info/In Sentientist Conversations we talk about the most important questions: “what's real?”, “who matters?” and "how can we make a better world?"Sentientism answers those questions with "evidence, reason, & compassion for all sentient beings." The video of our conversation is ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here on YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.More at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sentientism.info⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Join our⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠"I'm a Sentientist" wall⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ via⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ this simple form⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.Everyone, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠groups⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. The biggest so far is ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here on FaceBook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Come join us there!#EvaMeijer #Multispecies #CitizensAssemblies #MultispeciesPolitics #Sentiocracy #AnimalRights #vegan #PoliticalPhilosophy #SentientistPolitics #PlantSentience #RightsOfNature #toad #mouse

Today we welcome Missionary Scott Hanson, the Director of Strategic Initiatives for the Assemblies of God World Missions.

Preacher: Chad Vegas

In this powerful episode, we're joined by Doug Clay, General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God, to explore how integrity is formed, tested, and lived out in the life of a man. From personal discipline to public leadership, Doug shares timeless principles and biblical wisdom for becoming men of honor in a culture that often compromises truth. Whether you're a young adult, a seasoned leader, or navigating manhood in today's world, this conversation will encourage you to stay rooted in Christ and faithful in character.

Can we separate politics from democracy? Our political system is wholly corrupt and no longer fit for purpose - if it ever was. What if Citizens' Assemblies could bring agency to the whole of our population, helping people to find empathy with each other, to engage in conversations in good faith and work together to solve the wicked problems of the polycrisis: social inequity, climate chaos, the death cult of predatory capitalism.  These are so interlinked, we won't fix one unless we fix them all. So how do we do it?  This week, I'm talking to someone who spends her life reflecting on, teaching and researching this. Isabella Roberts started off in the Big Four, Private Equity and Investment Banking, then switched from the private markets into politics at the start of 2021 as a candidate for the London Assembly elections. Against the backdrop of the UK's first year out of the EU and in the depths of the COVID pandemic, she was inspired to take a stand and be the change she wanted to see in the governance of the UK's capital. She then took on a Masters in Digital Politics and Sustainable Development.  Her thesis in 2023 focused on How Collective Intelligence Can Enhance Democracy, which resulted in the initiation of SAAFE which stands for: Space for Silent Contemplation and Reflection, Active Listening and Feeling Heard, Ability to Change One's Mind, Feeling Connected as Part of the Whole, Epistemic Growth and Epistemic Humility - and which uses human-centred design principles for empowering participants in tech-enabled deliberation. This is an inquiry into what it means to be human in a digital age, in line with systems change towards a more deliberative democracy, and it has manifested in a multi-stakeholder project supported by the Web Science Institute at the University of Southampton, bringing together democratic practitioners and the developers of deliberative technologies.  Meanwhile, Bella is the independent evaluator of two deliberative processes: the Birmingham Museums Trust Citizens' Jury, and currently the National Gallery's Citizens' Assembly (NG Citizens).  She also completed her first Vipassana course of 10-day silent meditation and is studying for a PhD with the title: Revolutionising deliberative democracy with immersive technology - a comparison between East and West. Bella has explored the depth and breadth of what works, so that together, we can create a democracy that empowers ordinary people to help fix their communities and the wider world. Like previous podcast guests, Matt Golding of Antidote and Dylan McGarry of Empatheatre, Bella understands the sense of meaning and purpose and involvement that is so transformative - which was why this conversation was so rich and so deep.  Enjoy!LinksBella on LinkedInAntipartyDelibtechBreathe With Bella SubstackBella on YouTube Bella on Spotify@Antiparty on YouTubeANTIPARTY on SpotifyPOLISBooksAgainst ElectionsPolitics without Politicians by Helen Landemore Bella's Masters Dissertation - How Can Collective Intelligence Enhance Democracy? An Investigation Towards Human Centred Design Principles For Empowering People Engaging With Deliberative Technologies?—About Accidental Gods—We offer three strands all rooted in the same soil, drawing from the same river: Accidental Gods, Dreaming Awake and the Thrutopia Writing Masterclass Our next Open Gathering offered as part of our Accidental Gods Programme is 'FALLING IN LOVE WITH LIFE' which will run on Sunday 17th May 2026 from 16:00 - 20:00 GMT - details are here. You don't have to be a member of Accidental Gods - but if you are, all Gatherings are half price.If you'd like to join us at Accidental Gods, this is the membership where we endeavour to help you to connect fully with the living web of life. If you'd like to train more deeply in the contemporary shamanic work at Dreaming Awake, you'll find us here. If you'd like to explore the recordings from our last Thrutopia Writing Masterclass, the details are hereManda and Louise both offer one-to-one Mentoring Calls.  Manda is fully booked just now, but if you'd like to contact Louise, details are here.

Sunday's Message: https://youtu.be/F4ih4j1cr10?si=WiK9QfvaY8ccGEM1New to Zion City? Click here: https://bit.ly/3QhTbrz Find a time and attend a service with us: https://zioncity.me/locations NEXT STEPS Have you made a decision to follow Jesus? You may be wondering what's next on your journey. We want to help! Let us guide you to your next steps in your walk with Christ: https://bit.ly/3AnlHme Tucson Church, Arizona Church, Zion City, Assemblies of God, Christian Podcast, Spirit Filled Tucson Church FIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIA Instagram:   / zioncity.me   TikTok:   / zioncity.me   CONNECT WITH PASTOR WAYLON & DANA Pastor Waylon's Instagram:  / waylonsears  Pastor Dana's Instagram:  / danamsears

Sunday's Message: https://youtu.be/F4ih4j1cr10?si=WiK9QfvaY8ccGEM1New to Zion City? Click here: https://bit.ly/3QhTbrz Find a time and attend a service with us: https://zioncity.me/locations NEXT STEPS Have you made a decision to follow Jesus? You may be wondering what's next on your journey. We want to help! Let us guide you to your next steps in your walk with Christ: https://bit.ly/3AnlHme Tucson Church, Arizona Church, Zion City, Assemblies of God, Christian Podcast, Spirit Filled Tucson Church FIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIA Instagram:   / zioncity.me   TikTok:   / zioncity.me   CONNECT WITH PASTOR WAYLON & DANA Pastor Waylon's Instagram:  / waylonsears  Pastor Dana's Instagram:  / danamsears

New to Zion City? Click here: https://bit.ly/3QhTbrz Find a time and attend a service with us: https://zioncity.me/locations NEXT STEPS Have you made a decision to follow Jesus? You may be wondering what's next on your journey. We want to help! Let us guide you to your next steps in your walk with Christ: https://bit.ly/3AnlHme Tucson Church, Arizona Church, Zion City, Assemblies of God, Christian Podcast, Spirit Filled Tucson Church FIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIA Instagram:   / zioncity.me   TikTok:   / zioncity.me   CONNECT WITH PASTOR WAYLON & DANA Pastor Waylon's Instagram:  / waylonsears  Pastor Dana's Instagram:  / danamsears

New to Zion City? Click here: https://bit.ly/3QhTbrz Find a time and attend a service with us: https://zioncity.me/locations NEXT STEPS Have you made a decision to follow Jesus? You may be wondering what's next on your journey. We want to help! Let us guide you to your next steps in your walk with Christ: https://bit.ly/3AnlHme Tucson Church, Arizona Church, Zion City, Assemblies of God, Christian Podcast, Spirit Filled Tucson Church FIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIA Instagram:   / zioncity.me   TikTok:   / zioncity.me   CONNECT WITH PASTOR WAYLON & DANA Pastor Waylon's Instagram:  / waylonsears  Pastor Dana's Instagram:  / danamsears

Sunday's Message: https://youtu.be/9KbdtcrjmHw?si=36XQZpLPtje2Qjh6New to Zion City? Click here: https://bit.ly/3QhTbrz Find a time and attend a service with us: https://zioncity.me/locations NEXT STEPS Have you made a decision to follow Jesus? You may be wondering what's next on your journey. We want to help! Let us guide you to your next steps in your walk with Christ: https://bit.ly/3AnlHme Tucson Church, Arizona Church, Zion City, Assemblies of God, Christian Podcast, Spirit Filled Tucson Church FIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIA Instagram:   / zioncity.me   TikTok:   / zioncity.me   CONNECT WITH PASTOR WAYLON & DANA Pastor Waylon's Instagram:  / waylonsears  Pastor Dana's Instagram:  / danamsears

Sunday's Message: https://youtu.be/9KbdtcrjmHw?si=36XQZpLPtje2Qjh6New to Zion City? Click here: https://bit.ly/3QhTbrz Find a time and attend a service with us: https://zioncity.me/locations NEXT STEPS Have you made a decision to follow Jesus? You may be wondering what's next on your journey. We want to help! Let us guide you to your next steps in your walk with Christ: https://bit.ly/3AnlHme Tucson Church, Arizona Church, Zion City, Assemblies of God, Christian Podcast, Spirit Filled Tucson Church FIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIA Instagram:   / zioncity.me   TikTok:   / zioncity.me   CONNECT WITH PASTOR WAYLON & DANA Pastor Waylon's Instagram:  / waylonsears  Pastor Dana's Instagram:  / danamsears

In math classrooms, what is the most common frustration that keeps showing up? Not enough time. Interrupted lessons. Lost instructional minutes. The constant feeling of trying to cover more math than the time allows. It's not just about lost time. It's about lost momentum. Lost focus. Lost thinking. At the same time, schools are balancing another priority—community and culture. Assemblies. Events. Activities that matter.So the question becomes:Is it possible to protect instructional time and still build a strong school culture? Or does it have to be one or the other?In this episode, you'll explore:Why lost instructional minutes impact more than just pacingWhat happens to student thinking when lessons are constantly interruptedWhy strong beginnings and endings matter more than we thinkHow predictable routines can help reclaim lost timeWhat teachers can do to maximize instructional minutes on a typical dayHow school leaders can create more predictable, protected instructional timeIf you've ever felt like you're constantly behind—or like your math block disappears before it even starts—this episode will help you rethink how to protect and make the most of every instructional minute.Not sure what matters most when designing math improvement plans? Take this assessment and get a free customized report: https://makemathmoments.com/grow/ Math coordinators and leaders – Ready to design your math improvement plan with guidance, support and using structure? Learn how to follow our 4 stage process. https://growyourmathprogram.com Looking to supplement your curriculum with problem-based lessons and units? Make Math Moments Problem Based Lessons & Units Show Notes PageLove the show? Text us your big takeaway!Get a Customized Math Improvement Plan For Your District.Are you district leader for mathematics? Take the 12 minute assessment and you'll get a free, customized improvement plan to shape and grow the 6 parts of any strong mathematics program.Take the assessmentAre you wondering how to create K-12 math lesson plans that leave students so engaged they don't want to stop exploring your math curriculum when the bell rings? In their podcast, Kyle Pearce and Jon Orr—founders of MakeMathMoments.com—share over 19 years of experience inspiring K-12 math students, teachers, and district leaders with effective math activities, engaging resources, and innovative math leadership strategies. Through a 6-step framework, they guide K-12 classroom teachers and district math coordinators on building a strong, balanced math program that grows student and teacher impact. Each week, gain fresh ideas, feedback, and practical strategies to feel more confident and motivate students to see the beauty in math. Start making math moments today by listening to Episode #139: "Making Math Moments From Day 1 to 180.

New to Zion City? Click here: https://bit.ly/3QhTbrz Find a time and attend a service with us: https://zioncity.me/locations NEXT STEPS Have you made a decision to follow Jesus? You may be wondering what's next on your journey. We want to help! Let us guide you to your next steps in your walk with Christ: https://bit.ly/3AnlHme Tucson Church, Arizona Church, Zion City, Assemblies of God, Christian Podcast, Spirit Filled Tucson Church FIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIA Instagram:   / zioncity.me   TikTok:   / zioncity.me   CONNECT WITH PASTOR WAYLON & DANA Pastor Waylon's Instagram:  / waylonsears  Pastor Dana's Instagram:  / danamsears

New to Zion City? Click here: https://bit.ly/3QhTbrz Find a time and attend a service with us: https://zioncity.me/locations NEXT STEPS Have you made a decision to follow Jesus? You may be wondering what's next on your journey. We want to help! Let us guide you to your next steps in your walk with Christ: https://bit.ly/3AnlHme Tucson Church, Arizona Church, Zion City, Assemblies of God, Christian Podcast, Spirit Filled Tucson Church FIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIA Instagram:   / zioncity.me   TikTok:   / zioncity.me   CONNECT WITH PASTOR WAYLON & DANA Pastor Waylon's Instagram:  / waylonsears  Pastor Dana's Instagram:  / danamsears

Sunday's Message: https://youtu.be/UQrmpDHB0b8?si=FI3T0fnbEFPlsb2cNew to Zion City? Click here: https://bit.ly/3QhTbrz Find a time and attend a service with us: https://zioncity.me/locations NEXT STEPS Have you made a decision to follow Jesus? You may be wondering what's next on your journey. We want to help! Let us guide you to your next steps in your walk with Christ: https://bit.ly/3AnlHme Tucson Church, Arizona Church, Zion City, Assemblies of God, Christian Podcast, Spirit Filled Tucson Church FIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIA Instagram:   / zioncity.me   TikTok:   / zioncity.me   CONNECT WITH PASTOR WAYLON & DANA Pastor Waylon's Instagram:  / waylonsears  Pastor Dana's Instagram:  / danamsears

One of the most important events in the history of decoy collecting is about to unfold.Host Katie Burke sits down with Jon Deeter of Guyette & Deeter Auction Company to discuss the Jim & Diane Cook Collection — a 400‑piece assemblage widely regarded as the most valuable and significant decoy collection ever assembled. The collection will be offered at auction beginning this April during the North American Decoy Collectors Association (NADCA) show.In this episode, Jon shares the story behind Jim Cook — a visionary entrepreneur, avid waterfowler, and early conservationist — and how his passion, resources, and eye for quality shaped a once‑in‑a‑generation collection that spans nearly every major carving region in North America.In this episode:Who Jim Cook was and how the collection came togetherWhy this is one of the most important decoy events everHow Guyette & Deeter vetted nearly 400 top‑tier decoysThe role of private collectors in preserving decoy historyJim Cook's early prairie pothole conservation effortsWhy now is a historic moment for new collectorsThe importance of collection provenance and maker stampsWhy collections break up — and why it matters for the hobbyHow collectors, museums, and historians benefit from this saleThe conversation then dives deep into highlights from the collection, including works by Joe Lincoln, Elmer Crowell, the Ward Brothers, Robert Elliston, Charlie & Edna Perdue, and Enoch Rindahl — explaining why these pieces matter and what sets them apart.Listen now: www.ducks.org/DUPodcastSend feedback: DUPodcast@ducks.orgSPONSORS:Purina Pro Plan: The official performance dog food of Ducks UnlimitedWhether you're a seasoned hunter or just getting started, this episode is packed with valuable insights into the world of waterfowl hunting and conservation.Bird Dog Whiskey and Cocktails:Whether you're winding down with your best friend, or celebrating with your favorite crew, Bird Dog brings award-winning flavor to every moment. Enjoy responsibly.Whether you're a seasoned collector, historian, or simply fascinated by waterfowling heritage, this episode offers rare insight into an extraordinary chapter of American folk art.