19.2K
Downloads
95
Episodes
In this blog, released on the 12th of each month, U.S. Alliance President John Stumbo unpacks issues God has been nurturing in his heart and mind. The blog is meant to initiate fruitful dialogue on topics important to our growth as Jesus followers and to our mission as a Christ-centered, Acts 1:8 family.
Episodes
Friday Aug 23, 2019
Friday Aug 23, 2019
John Stumbo’s Video Blog No. 72
July 2019 / United States / 12:26
John summarizes the four commitments he made to the Alliance family during his Friday morning address at Council 2019, setting the tone for substantive conversations to come.
Wednesday Jun 12, 2019
Wednesday Jun 12, 2019
In this recap of Alliance Council 2019, John recalls his message from Acts, using “Perga”—where John Mark turned back on the first missionary journey—as a metaphor to challenge our Alliance family. “Let’s go inward and upward together—face our Perga and move on, because God is calling us beyond.”
Sunday May 12, 2019
Sunday May 12, 2019
In part three of his three-part series addressing principles for healthy communications on topics about known conflict, John shares why seasons of change are powerful discipleship opportunities.
Friday Apr 12, 2019
Friday Apr 12, 2019
John speaks to why our whole Alliance family must engage well in challenging, yet necessary conversations. We need to address how to more effectively complete our mission and make every effort to pass on the best form of our movement to the next generations.
Tuesday Mar 12, 2019
Tuesday Mar 12, 2019
John focuses this month on four principles for public discourse he’s discovered. These shape his thinking and behavior on when to speak and when to remain silent in our world’s “cauldron of cultural conflict.”
Tuesday Feb 12, 2019
Tuesday Feb 12, 2019
This month John is speaking from Guinea, where the Alliance national church is celebrating its 100-year anniversary. In 1919, the year Alliance founder A. B. Simpson died, the first Alliance church in West Africa was established in a Guinean village—37 years after Simpson had sent missionaries to Africa, of whom 30 died during that timeframe. Scores of missionaries followed to serve in Guinea and several other West African countries where some of our strongest Alliance churches are today. Simpson didn’t live to see it. “Will we invest our lives in that which outlives us?” John asks. If our work is “gospel-centered, biblically based, church-focused ministry as we’re filled with the Holy Spirit, our work is going to last . . . this is the Alliance story; it doesn’t end with Simpson because it started in the heart of God.”
Wednesday Jan 23, 2019
Wednesday Jan 23, 2019
Speaking from the National Office Archives this month, John gives a short devotional from Gideon’s story, which conveys a principle for leaders to take into this new year—God reveals Himself in crisis, often through leaders who rise at that moment despite being in the midst of the tragedy themselves. Examples are Josh Gallagher, lead pastor of Paradise (California) Alliance Church, and Andrew Burchett, lead pastor of Neighborhood Church in Chico, who share their testimonies from the 2018 Camp Fire. The Alliance legacy overflows with accounts of hardship, pain, and the Spirit of God breathing into a leader’s soul—hope, encouragement, confidence, and a way forward. “That’s the Alliance story, that’s the story of the Scriptures, and that might be the story of 2019 for some of us,” John concludes. “His grace is sufficient. Let’s rise and follow the example of those who’ve gone before us.”
Wednesday Dec 12, 2018
Wednesday Dec 12, 2018
John shares an interview this month that he conducted earlier this year with six Alliance pastors he met in the Middle East. In this segment, he has asked them to talk about the Fourfold Gospel. “I wanted to give us a bit of a Christmas gift,” John says, “to hear Middle Eastern leaders speak of Christ our Savior, Sanctifier, Healer, and Coming King. Give yourself the gift right now of just a few minutes of reflection on the Christ that we love—through Middle Eastern eyes.”
Monday Nov 12, 2018
Monday Nov 12, 2018
This month, John shares a leadership challenge and an opportunity. A record 60 Alliance workers are trained and ready to be sent overseas—an answer to prayer. Meanwhile, the Great Commission Fund is $1.2 million behind for the fiscal year. John appeals to U.S. local church pastors and individual donors to give generously to the 2018 Year-End Offering to send these new workers to the field. “The God of this universe cares about the people of this planet, raises up people to be His spokespersons, and some of us have been called to be the senders. Let’s rise to that at this moment,” he concludes.
Friday Oct 12, 2018
Friday Oct 12, 2018
John’s report this month is from his recent trip to see Alliance missions efforts in the Middle East. He expresses great gratitude for how the Alliance family has invested for decades in challenging locations—where the work of God is alive and well. “The fruit continues,” he says, “national church leaders multiplying themselves, local churches vibrant and strong, good partnerships with our international workers, supported by the GCF [Great Commission Fund].” We need to not only remain committed to our local communities, John concludes, but to also support Alliance teams in the most difficult places in the world, including the Middle East—where our teams are serving well.