"Take your Bible and take your newspaper and read them both. But interpret newspapers from your Bible," Karl Barth famously advised young theologians.

"The problem with Barth's quote is not what he meant by it but its relevance for today," writes Steven Félix-Jäger. "Since we've democratized our news outlets, we don't get much of our news from newspapers anymore. Instead, we have highly partisan news television, YouTube channels, Reddit, TikTok, and podcasts.

Unfortunately, he goes on to say, "this flood of information has also opened the door to misinformation, disinformation, echo chambers, and ever-increasing divisions. Many churchgoers and even some pastors find it tough to grasp what's happening in the world today."

In this episode of the Influence Podcast, I talk to Félix-Jäger about how to practice discernment in the midst of a culture flooded by mixed messages. I'm George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host.

Steven Félix-Jäger is associate professor of systematic theology at Vanguard University, an Assemblies of God credentialed minister, and author of Hearing God, Following the Spirit: Practicing Discernment in a Pluralistic Age.

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This episode of the Influence podcast is brought to you by Gospel Publishing House, distributors of Multiplication Mindset.

In Multiplication Mindset, Gerad Strong brings together decades of real-life ministry experience—revitalizing churches, multiplying campuses, and equipping leaders—to help leaders move beyond addition thinking and into sustainable, mission-driven impact.

Multiplication isn't a strategy for a few high-capacity churches. It's God's design for every church.

Show Notes

• 00:00 — Introduction and Sponsor Ad
• 02:37 — What is discernment?
• 05:49 — What is pluralism? And why is pluralism a better way to describe our current moment than secularism?
• 18:46 — How do we hear God when there are so many other religions and ideologies shouting for our attention?
• 25:58 — What's the difference between disinformation and misinformation? And how do we cut down the noise to hear God speak to us?
• 34:50 — What is political tribalism, and how do we follow the Spirit in an increasingly politically divided America?
• 43:00 — How can we follow the Spirit the "dark" experiences of life make it difficult to see him?
• 53:03 — What are you reading right now that's interesting, helpful, and/or personally challenging?
• 54:09— Conclusion

Byron Johnson and Thomas Kidd take a contrarian stance against "dominant media and scholarly narratives regarding religion" in their new book, The Death of Religion?, published by B&H Academic.

"We present conclusive data to show that religious people are thriving and that practicing religious people are thriving most of all. We further show that at almost every turn, commonly used polling and survey data is misleading, confused, or grossly incomplete," they write.

"We also demonstrate that typical surveys of American congregational life undercount the number of American churches by as much as 40 percent. The uncounted churches are disproportionately evangelical or Pentecostal, and often minister to immigrants and people of color."

I talk to the authors about their contrarian stance in this episode of the Influence Podcast. I'm George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host.

Byron Johnson is founding director of the Institute for Studies of Religion and distinguished professor of the social sciences at Baylor University. Thomas Kidd is research professor of church history at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and senior research scholar at the Institute for Studies of Religion.

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This 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
• 01:58 — What are the dominant — and negative — media and scholarly narratives about religion?
• 02:44 — But isn't it true that there's been a notable dropoff in religious affiliation?
• 06:10 — Worries about the impending death of Christianity in America predate the nation's Founding and can be discerned in every era of American history. Tell us a little about that.
• 10:39 — Tell us about the correlation between the decline of Mainline Protestantism and the rise of the nones. And how accurate a picture do statistical data give us, anyway?
• 20:48 — What is human flourishing, and what do data show about the connection between religion and flourishing?
• 24:01 — It's one thing to talk about flourishing when your life is going well , but data seems to indicate that religion contributes to flourishing even in prison. Tell us a little about that.
• 27:25 — What's your counternarrative to the declinist narratives? What do the data show us about what is actually happening?
• 32:17 — What are you reading right now that's interesting, helpful, and/or personally challenging?
• 35:12— Conclusion

Welcome to the Influence Podcast! I'm George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host.

I began vocational ministry the summer of 1990 and have served in various capacities ever since. As ministers, we often focus on what happens on Sunday morning as the people of God gather to worship.

But for Sunday morning worship to go well, you need a worship community that is up for the task. How do you build such a community? What do you choose to sing in a multigenerational church? And how do you handle criticisms from church members?

Those are the questions I discuss with Josh Shaffer in this episode of the Influence Podcast. Shaffer is worship pastor at Central Assembly of God in Springfield, Missouri, where I am a member and Sunday school teacher.

What really strikes me about Shaffer's ministry is both the growth of the worship community — i.e., singers, band, choir, orchestra — and the revitalization of the worshipping community, i.e., the congregation.

Sponsor Ad
This episode of the Influence podcast is brought to you by Gospel Publishing House, distributors of Multiplication Mindset.

In Multiplication Mindset, Gerad Strong brings together decades of real-life ministry experience—revitalizing churches, multiplying campuses, and equipping leaders—to help leaders move beyond addition thinking and into sustainable, mission-driven impact.

Multiplication isn't a strategy for a few high-capacity churches. It's God's design for every church.

For more information about Multiplication Mindset visit GospelPublishingHouse.com.