Rocky and Bryan share thoughts about the importance of understanding why Jesus came to the earth. He came to die. Ever since the Garden of Eden, when intimacy with the Father was lost due to sin, God had a plan to restore that intimacy. The plan was Jesus. Merry Christmas, Influencers. May this podcast help you as you “treasure up all these things in your heart” this Christmas.
Rocky and Bryan discuss Christmas and Rocky tells the story of his 11-year-old performance in the Christmas opera, “Amahl and the Night Visitors,” which is the story of a crippled boy who encounters the Three Wise Men on their pilgrimage to find Jesus and worship Him. It opens up a discussion, not about the gift of Jesus to us, but also, what gift can we bring Him?
Bryan interviews Annie Craig, Madison Hill and Kenzie Klinkhamer, three young women in their 20’s who just completed a Hybrid Virtual Journey Group with women from New York City, Northwest Arkansas, Kansas City and Dallas. Their experience is very inspiring and lends validity to the statistics which say 80% of Gen Z are wanting more of The Bible. We are praying for a Discipleship revival among the next generation, and stories like this one tell us The Journey will help them.
Last week, several Influencers gathered at the Global Office for a Thanksgiving feast with Rocky, while many others joined us on Zoom. We got to hear from our founder about the things he is seeing in the world and in the ministry and the things for which he is thankful. He also talks about how God showed him new meaning to Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” in 2 Corinthians 12:7 Listen and give thanks with us.
Influencers is holding a Day of Giving on Tuesday, November 25th, and Bryan Craig and Les Pearsey explain the initiative and our fundraising theology and philosophy, as well as outlining some specific projects needing funds. Please listen and pray about how you can participate. God is inviting us to greater influence for His Kingdom.
Bryan interviews our Costa Rican Regional Director Henry Gutierrez, who talks about the upcoming Latin American Summit, November 21-23, in San Jose, Costa Rica. Influencers men and women from multiple Latin countries will gather together for the first time for a weekend of refreshing, encouragement, soul enrichment, DNA infusion and for a global view of this movement called Influencers. Some of our U.S. leaders will be involved in hosting the event, but we need your prayer support.
Bryan interviews Julie Carlson, the Influencers Global Operations Coordinator and the Chair of the newly formed Influencers Women Global Council. They talk about the evolution of women going through The Journey and the intentional steps to fan the flame of the women’s movement. This is very encouraging to all you ladies out there. You are not alone.
For this broadcast, we share with you a talk Bryan got to give to a group of Bakersfield leaders on Grace. He talks about how we need Grace for salvation, we need Grace every day and how Grace is part of the Abiding relationship. Would people say you are a man or woman of grace?
Rocky and Bryan talk about Leadership and how the culture of an organization raises up leaders which reflect that culture. In the case of Influencers Global Ministries, our leaders reflect hearts that have been transformed by abiding in Christ, and we want to protect that culture as this ministry grows. God may be raising you up to be a servant leader in this movement.
Bryan interviews three Champions for the ministry while at the Staff Retreat. Tony Schaar, from Central Coast, California, Louis Hartzog from Montgomery, AL and Phil Van Horn, from Los Angeles, CA join a discussion about how they got involved and what God is currently doing in their regions. It’s exciting to watch God move.
Bryan interviews Influencers Bakersfield Regional Director, Josh Sherley and J.J. Gomez, a young man who is a Hearing-Impaired Translator, as they talk about the annual Bakersfield M24 event. 1500 men of all ages and backgrounds and churches gathered for 24 hours in Tehachapi, CA for worship, great food, and strong messages about Jesus’ salvation and Jesus’ work in sanctifying us in our personal lives and marriages. J.J. tells the story of translating these powerful messages to people from the deaf community, including some of his family members. God continues to expand our vision for who He wants to reach through Influencers.
Bryan interviews a 21 year old Influencer, Blayne Sewell, to get a younger person’s perspective on his generation, on the Charlie Kirk phenomenon, on Discipleship and College Journey Groups. The younger generation are looking for answers and they are looking for Christ.
Bryan and Rocky talk about the release of Rocky’s new book, The Path, and why he wrote it and who it’s for. It’s another spiritual adventure, with compelling characters and interesting situations, and one which takes us deeper into our own hearts. He also hopes to spark a movement of hope to help the next generation.
Rocky and Bryan discuss the growth of the ministry since its inception and the importance of remembering that the foundation of this ministry is Jesus Christ. Rocky talks about the peace he feels that the DNA of this Jesus process we call The Journey has many guardians who will protect it moving forward.
Bryan interviews Influencers Global Board member, Kyle Neely, who talks about a recent season of Brokenness and how God used it greatly. He explains how Brokenness leads to Godly sorrow which leads to Humility which leads to Repentance which leads to God’s grace. No matter if you are lost without Christ and need a Savior or if you are a seasoned Christian, Brokenness is the pathway to blessing.
Bryan sits down with Ken Lander, International Champion who lives in Costa Rica and Hassan Kibirango, from Rwanda, who were in Atlanta for a Souly Business conference. Hassan is a pastor in Rwanda, who was part of the first men who went through a Virtual Journey Group and have been reproducing it ever since. Hassan talks about the vision and the expansion of The Journey throughout his country and how plans to start a Souly Business conference are also in the works. Ken visited Rwanda 3 weeks ago as part of his coffee business, but also as a Discipleship Missionary and reports his eyewitness account of what he saw.
Bryan interviews Mike and Angie Malak, from Temperance, MI, who are our new Regional Directors for the newly created Influencers Great Lakes Region. They talk about how The Journey found its way to Michigan and the sifting that happened which made their calling clear. They also talk about a large barn project which will host many Journey events. To support Influencers- Great Lakes, you can make a tax-deductible donation HERE (https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=2DS8JBAESPFFL)
Bryan and Rocky discuss what it means to be a disciple of Christ versus being a disciple of the world. They talk about being crucified in Christ and surrendering to His will the rest of our life and understanding that it will be a battle.
Bryan sat down with Fred Stoeker, a member of his Virtual Journey Group, who also happens to be a very impactful Christian author. You may know him from “Every Man’s Battle.” Fred shares his heart-wrenching testimony of the difficult relationship with his earthly father that tormented him most of his life until the day he realized that God wanted to adopt him. It’s a story of hope for all of those who carry significant father wounds.
Bryan interviews the Influencers International Director, Tom Seay, about the development of our international discipleship efforts, lessons learned and what appears to be God’s strategy to help us make disciples of all nations. YOU are part of this, so you need to hear this.