Every Church Flourishing by the Great Commission Association

Pastors and Church Leaders: MUST You Go to Seminary? NO! But, Why SHOULD You?  Why Should Pastors or Church leaders consider a seminary degree?  All about Gateway Seminary, Bay Area Campus.  What makes in person seminary training better than online seminary or online classes? Incarnate ministry training vs. online ministry training.  The benefits and drawbacks of fully online seminary or graduate...

How does surrender work in a Christian's life? We try to surrender, but God is the one who provides the means for us to surrender.  Being with the Lord is most important, rather than me trying and trying harder.  The comfort of God carrying us to completion in our spiritual journey.  Prayerlessness=Powerlessnes. What can be done about the powerlessness in the modern church? The same thing the Sout...

Today, we have a deep discussion with Dr. Se J. Won on the topic of prayer, and Dr. Won goes beyond the normal prayer discussions and will lead us into a wonderful blend of spirituality and practicality as we discuss how to enrich your prayer life, and why the tyranny of the urgent is less worth your time than abiding in Christ is. Se J shared one of my favorite quotes I've heard recently when he...

#22. On today's episode, we finish up a great interview with Dr. Cathie Smith, who is the  Great Commission Association Women in Ministry Ambassador. If you are following the news, this is a timely conversation for us, as the nation's largest Protestant denomination, the SBC, grapples with the role of women in ministry. Today, we talk with Dr. Cathie about how pastors should seek to enlist qualifi...

How can pastors and churches encourage women to use their gifts for the Kingdom of God?   Seven Ways to Empower Women In the Church:  1. Engage them.  Engage them in discipleship and making disciples.  See them, connect with them, open doors of opportunity for them as God allows. 2. Encourage their giftings. 3. Exhort God's calling in their lives and give them opportunities to respond to what God...

Why should pastors talk about controversial Bible passages and difficult Bible origin questions with church members? Old Testament Scholar Dr. Anthony Ferguson answers... Today, we talk to Dr. Anthony Ferguson, an Old Testament Textual Criticism expert and pastor, about some pretty deep Bible nerd stuff, including how pastors can talk about the background of the Bible without turning the church in...

Today we have Pastor and Professor and Everton Blues superfan Anthony Ferguson with us again, and we are talking to him about World Cup evangelism with the Yellow Card Initiative, and a few other things also, including the Great Commission Value of Artificial Intelligence and the importance of preaching about the OLD Testament in church. We've also got Cal Baptist ministry student and Valley Bapti...

Fun show today. We are going to talk about human evangelism - human messengers and heavenly messengers/angels. Our guest is Dr. Anthony Ferguson of 11th Street Baptist Church in Upland, California, which is a city of about 80,000 that borders Los Angeles. Dr. Ferguson is one of the founders of the Yellow Card initiative, bringing the Good News to World Cup attendees this Summer. We will also talk...

Today's episode is SPANISH ONLY and features a discussion with California Hispanic Pastor Humberto Hernandez and Dr. Chris Smith of the Great Commission Association. Pastor Humberto and Dr. Smith talk about keys to church health in the Hispanic church in America. PLEASE LET US KNOW IF YOU WANT MORE SPANISH ONLY EPISODES!  El episodio de hoy es solo en español y presenta una conversación con el pas...

Another action-packed episode of the ECF podcast today. Gateway Seminary VP Dr. Kristen Ferguson joins us, and our co-hosts are school superintendent Lanette Lozano and Women's ministry expert Dr. Cathie Smith. Today, we talk about how women in the church are a fundamental key to church flourishing that no wise leader should ever overlook. We will also talk to Dr. Ferguson about AI - can AI take t...

Today we've got Gateway Seminary vice president Dr. Kristen Ferguson for a fascinating conversation that ranges from women's ministry,  to being a pastor's wife, and concludes with a moving discussion of special needs ministry in the church AND special needs MINISTERING TO THE CHURCH. We will also have JC, the Cal Baptist Ministry student, back to review the World's Hottest Soda with us - does it...

Great pod today, with some fascinating topics and guest hosts and guest reviewers. We've got a review of a Scottish Soda - Irn Bru, made with steel girders, apparently, and a great guest reviewer there AND ALSO a listener question from Robin F., who asks about the Apocrypha - those mysterious books that are in some Bibles, absent from others, and are the centerpiece for tons of conspiracy theories...

Are you at the end of your rope? Today we discuss how to know you are close to running out of rope and what to do about it. PLUS: Preacher Myths. Will the lion lay down with the lamb? Did Paul fall of his horse on the Damascus Road? Did Mary ride a donkey to Bethlehem? Did Jesus leave a coded message in His tomb with a folded napkin? Does sparing the rod spoil the child? We will cover these preach...

2000 years of amazing preaching advice from John Piper to John Chrysostom, from Tim Keller to Augustine and Gregory the Great, From Martyn Lloyd Jones to Haddon Robinson to Gregory the Great to Thabiti Anyabwile, we've got ELEVEN fantastic tips to help YOU teach and preach the Word of God better. Not only that, but we have some amazing stories in this episode too, such as:  What preacher railed at...

Today Pastor Christopher Cole of the Great Commission Association and Dr. Chase Thompson discuss mental health among church leaders, how to lead without wearing people out, great preaching tips, helping people to tap into Jesus for rest, AND we review Dirty Dew Soda!  "He must become a man of prayer before he becomes a man of words." Augustine on preaching.  From this episodes great tips on preach...

"They don't need you to bandaid their gaping wound; they need you to be present in their grief." Dr. Michael Stewart, the head of California's Great Commission Association of Churches, and podcast host Dr. Chase Thompson interview Dr. Chris Smith, a former missionary and current leader of the Great Commission Training Institution, an online ministry training school, and Pastor Grant Combs, the pas...

We know about Good Friday...What about Saturday? What happened on that Silent Saturday as the disciples stewed in their hopelessness? They weren't waiting for anything, because it really appeared that they did NOT believe Jesus would be coming back on Sunday. Indeed, the only reason the women went to the graveside is that they needed to embalm and prepare His body for permanent burial, and they co...

Our focus today is on relationships in the church and the loneliness epidemic among pastors and church leaders. Hosted by Dr. Chase Thompson and Dr. Mike Stewart with guests Dr. Chris Smith of the Great Commission Training Institution, and Lighthouse Baptist pastor Grant Combs.  In today's roundtable, we discuss relationships in the church, and hit on some very important questions: Can pastors hav...

This week we continue our talk with counselor Immanuel Marsh about burnout, and helping church leaders and pastors stay healthy spiritually and emotionally. Can pastors have deep friendships with people in their churches? How do leaders cover up their burnout? What are signs burnout is imminent? ALSO: Top online apologetics YouTube channels, how to defend your faiht during Easter season and a revi...

We have a great discussion today on a sneaky enemy of church leaders, a potentially delicious soda to review, a resource for church leaders that sells for $60, and we will tell you how to get it for free, AND, we will review the top 5 books on the resurrection of Jesus to get you ready for resurrection day - Easter - and also throw in a couple of bonuses.  "I've known that pastors kind of play thi...

Would you like to listen to a podcast that features hosts with a combined six decades of church pastoral experience talking about church ministry and church health? A podcast that gives you practical tips for church renewal and church growth while also encouraging you and exhorting you in your role as a church leader or church pastor? A show that goes over the latest news and statistics in church...

Episode 6 of the Every Church Flourishing Podcast features Pastor Chris Cole and Dr. Chase A. Thompson interviewing Dr. Se J. Won the Director of Mission Operations for California's Great Commission Association.  Here's some random shownotes, quotes and a list of the resources we discussed. Check out www. EveryChurchFlourishing.com for a transcript!  You Ain't Got This - I Need Help. Learning from...

On today's episode, we interview Great Commission Association Dr. Michael Stewart, the second longest serving director of missions in the entire United States, and we talk to him about church planting on the West Coast...should Christians invest more money into planting churches in California, given the crazy costs of housing? We also discuss taking care of pastors, spiritual formation among churc...

Big Churches are Growing, Small Churches are Shrinking. Is this good? Literally rich churches are, on average, getting richer, and poor churches are, on average, getting poorer, budget-wise.  Trends in the church, diagnostics, growth. The Walmartization of the Church. Rich getting richer, poor getting poorer - big churches are growing, and smaller churches are, by and large, plateaued and shrinkin...

This week's episode features discussion of diagnostic ways of measuring a church's health. How can you take the pulse and vitals of your church? What are the signs of health and warning signs? How can you know whether or not your church is healthy?  Chase and Chris became senior pastors in their 20s and were clueless.  Lester's Fixins Peanut butter soda - 2 Spurgeons from Chris, 2.5 Spurgeons from...