scott stedman

183: The Church of God & Church of God Affirm

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On May 26th, The Church of God (Anderson, IN) put out a post detailing that all official COG correspondence will come from official emails and social media sites and to not be swayed by any other groups claiming to be the Church of God. This vague post leads to speculation and the publicity of Church of God Affirm – people who are/were associated with The Church of God (Anderson, IN), calling on the leadership to affirm LGBTQIA Christians.

In this episode, Scott, Micah, and guest Jordan Halstead discuss who COG Affirm is, did the weak communication from The Church of God, gives more publicity to this group (and others), and what COG does now moving forward (if anything).

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Episode 182: The Rising Cost of Ministry

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Today, prices from food to housing have continued to rise. The same can be said about ministry with program and operational costs continuing to climb and yet, what most people do not realize is that ministers and the churches they minister to have annual costs to support the national organizations they are a part of. In this episode, Scott and Micah discuss the rising cost of ministerial license as well as church affiliation with the Church of God with will increase three times in the next few years. We discuss these climbing costs from the lack of communication on the reason for these costs, the suspected reason for the price hike, and how this will greatly affect ministers and churches that are medium-sized to small.

Episode 181: Film for Thought – Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

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In our first ever Film for Thought this year, and our newest one since episode 80. Micah and Scott discuss the film “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. We begin to unlock the cinematic themes in the movie and discuss how they connect to spiritual and psychological themes from abuse of power to transforming identity.

Episode 180: Jim Lyons Retirement and the Future of the Church of God

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In this episode, Scott and Micah discuss the retirement of the General Director of the Church of God, Jim Lyons, and what that means for the future of the Church of God Movement.  We discuss all the great things Jim has done, and some of the hopes and concerns for the next director to tackle.

Episode 179: The Art of Sermon Crafting

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In this episode, Scott and Micah discuss long-term storytelling and how it captures the audience and takes them on a journey. When it comes to sermons, can the same methodology be applied to help lead people to have a fuller engagement with the sermon and the scriptures? We tackle this topic as well as following up on the Worship Leader Trademark and Stories gone wild.

Episode 178: CopyCat Revival

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In Episode 169, Scott and Micah reflected on the Asbury Revival and begin to wonder how many groups will try to capitalize on the revival.  In today’s episode, we look at the various organizations that plan conventions, retreats, camp meetings, and conferences that have suddenly changed their event by calling it a revival.  We debate if this is a real revival that people are preparing for, are trying to catch lightning in a bottle, and maybe revival will happen if we tend to get out of the way of what God is doing, instead of forcing it.

Episode 177: Are Mega Churches Corrupt?

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In this episode, Scott and Micah talk about the James Macdonald arrest, Carl Lentz’s hiring at transformation church, and Mark Driscoll’s punishing a family for their son kissing his daughter. We begin to question whether our Mega Churches are evil, or just have a different governing system due to their vast size.

Episode 175: The “Worship Leader” Trademark Controversy

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In this episode, Scott and Micah discuss the recent controversy over the term “Worship Leader.”  We look at the discussion from the trademark holder’s perspective and a worship leader whose social media account got taken down due to the Worship Leader’s trademark.  We also discuss the future implications of what this may mean for job titles, and other Christian content that gets published.

Episode 174: Rick Warren speaks on the Saddleback “disfellowship”

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On this episode, Scott and Micah discuss the recent interview in Christianity Today From Rick Warren on the SBC disfellowshiping the church over the ordination of women and how reading the Scriptures changed his stance on women in ministry.

For the full article, click on the link below:

https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2023/march-web-only/rick-warren-russell-moore-saddleback-church-women-preaching.html