July/August 2025 Issue
How to develop mission-minded churches
Ramon J. Canals
When I was baptized, my pastor said, “Now you are a missionary for Jesus.” At the time, I did not fully understand what he meant. Like many new believers, I had read stories of missionaries traveling overseas. Though admiring their courage, I lacked a clear understanding…
Isaiah 6: The call
Stephane Beaulieu
The book of Isaiah is fascinating. Especially intriguing is the (so-called) call of Isaiah and its location in the book itself. Scholars have speculated about why the call of Isaiah is placed in chapter 6 rather than in chapter 1.1 Why? Though Isaiah 6 describes Isaiah’s…
Reclaiming the next generation: Strategies to combat youth decline in the church
Shane Butcher
While youth are the lifeblood of the church, many congregations lack young members. It raises the question of the church’s future when so many of its youth are no longer actively involved. Research shows that 64 percent of young people in the United States who are…
More than numbers: The metrics of success in mission and ministry
Marcelo E. C. Dias
An ordinary trip to a youth conference turned out to be a valuable lesson on intercultural mission work. While traveling to the host country in Asia, I remembered that one of my doctoral professors had been a missionary in that place decades ago. At first I had no…
Standing in the gap: The power of intercessory prayer
David Hartman
In 509 BC, before Rome became the capital of a mighty empire, the Etruscan army marched toward the city.1 The Etruscans numbered in the tens of thousands, with foot soldiers and cavalrymen, their swords and spears gleaming in the afternoon sun. The ill-prepared Roman…
Telling the world about Jesus: An interview with David Klinedinst
Pavel Goia
Editor’s note: David Klinedinst, MDiv, is the director of evangelism and church growth for the Chesapeake Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. He trains and equips pastors and lay leaders in evangelism and is the speaker for the Forecasting Hope evangelistic series. Pavel…
Discipling emerging adults: A mentoring manifesto
A. Allan Martin
At age 57, I have now reached the median age of my profession.1 Although I do not mind the gray hairs so much, the aches and pains of a well-traveled life do remind me that more days lie behind me than before me. At this stage of my pastoral ministry, I realize that…
Facing your future with assurance: An invitation to embrace the unknown
Hensley M. Moorooven
We stand at the threshold of uncharted territory.1 As church leaders, we have traversed many roads, faced countless trials, and experienced moments of triumph and despair. But life itself carries with it an air of uncertainty and an invitation to embrace the unknown.…
Tools for the mission of the church: An interview with Wintley Phipps
Jeffrey O. Brown
Editor’s note: Wintley Phipps, MDiv, is a world-renowned singer, an evangelist, an entrepreneur, and an ordained minister of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. He travels the world sharing God’s love through his preaching and singing. Jeffrey Brown (JB): Pastor Phipps,…
Our need for total reliance upon God
Charissa Torossian
The news hit everybody like a sonic boom. Second Chronicles 14:9 reports, “Then Zerah the Ethiopian came out against them with an army of a million men and three hundred chariots, and he came to Mareshah.”1 For 10 years, the sirens had not sounded in Judah. Now they…