As an independent Baptist pastor, I’m encouraged with the potential our churches have to reach an eroding society with the truth of the Gospel. As we are careful to maintain doctrinal integrity and biblical separation, the truth of God’s Word is given freedom to change lives for the glory of God. But sometimes we limit our influence by pettiness and strife.

This podcast lesson is my heart’s plea to independent Baptist pastors and leaders to see our potential reached by obeying the admonition of Philippians 1:27: “…that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel.”

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We’ve added a special feature to this lesson (originally preached at the Spiritual Leadership Conference this past summer): in-studio Q&A at the beginning and end of the lesson in which I answer the following questions:

• What excites you about what God is doing in our local churches today?
• What burdens you about the movement in independent Baptist churches today?
• What is most needed from the younger leaders in local churches today?
• What is most needed from the older leaders in our local churches?
• Most of our listeners know that you’ve been dealing with a trial as your son Larry has been battling cancer these last couple of months. What has God’s been doing in his life during this time?

We are ministering in the last days. Now is the time to strive together—young and old, east and west—for repentance and revival in our land. This is not the time to marginalize, but to march together holding high the banner of truth.

The Spiritual Leadership podcast is a free resource from Striving Together Publications (a ministry of Lancaster Baptist Church and West Coast Baptist College).

You can subscribe to this podcast through iTunes and listen on your computer or iPod. You can also receive the complimentary outline with each lesson. Click here for more information about subscribing to the outline.

One of the highlights of the year at Lancaster Baptist Church is our annual winter revival with Dr. John Goetsch. I look forward these meetings every year—both for my own spiritual growth and for the growth it brings in the lives of our people. Several days of concentrated meetings are spiritually fruitful because the culmination of attending each evening allows the preaching of God’s Word to gain momentum in our lives as we press on in spiritual battle.

Dr. Goetsch preached on the theme of “Humanly Impossible,” and each service highlighted God’s ability to overcome the humanly impossible strongholds in our lives and give us victory through Christ. The messages (audio and video) are posted at http://preaching.lancasterbaptist.org/winter-revival-by-his-spirit. You will be blessed, convicted, challenged, and encouraged by them.

I rejoice in the privilege of knowing and serving a God with whom nothing is impossible! Please continue to pray for Larry’s healing and for his strength during these weeks of chemotherapy treatments.

Ten years ago, I taught a Spiritual Leadership Lesson on “Developing an Annual Plan.” This lesson details how to wisely steward your time and ministry resources by long-range planning for your church. It also includes ideas for sharing this plan with your staff and church family and implementing it into weekly goals.

For many years I have maintained an active soulwinning prospect list. On this list I collect names and addresses of people I have met or visited who have shown an interest in visiting church or in hearing the Gospel. I strive to call, visit, or write every person on my prospect list at least once a week. Scores of the people in our church today were once on my or another soulwinner’s prospect list. I’ve seen the Lord bless this diligence over and over again.

We recently gave our people at Lancaster Baptist a tool to help them organize their prospect lists. It is a form that allows the soulwinner to easily store and update important information for each prospect.

I believe this little tool could be a help to others as well, so we’ve added it to our free resources section of Striving Together. You can download it here. I trust it will help you as you lead others to Christ.

We have just launched a complete redesign to the Daily in the Word website. I’m thrilled with this newly designed, easy to navigate site, and I believe it will be a blessing to you.

Since beginning the Daily in the Word radio ministry with one local station years ago, the Lord has blessed in incredible ways. Beginning today, October 1, the Daily in the Word radio broadcasts are being aired through CSN radio network. Daily in the Word can now be heard on 450 stations across America and around the world. (Visit the Daily in the Word website for a station list, or you can listen to the daily program via the internet or the free podcast.) I praise the Lord for expanding this ministry and making His truth more available in more places.

Also included on the new website are the Daily in the Word devotions (which you can read online or subscribe to via email), information about Striving Together conferences and events, and links to all of our ministry podcasts.

Please pray that many will come to Christ and that many Christians will be encouraged through the preaching of God’s Word.