by John Avant | Jul 7, 2020 | God's Kingdom First, Presidents Column
If the news of Coronavirus and chaos in our streets has you down, consider this—you could be a Kachin. On July 2, over 160 people in Kachin State in Myanmar were killed when a 200-foot-tall mountain of mud taken from the local jade mine gave way and buried them alive....
by John Avant | Jun 26, 2020 | Humility, Presidents Column
Twenty-five years ago, I was part of a movement that has come to be known as the Brownwood Revival. It started at Coggin Avenue Baptist Church and Howard Payne University in Brownwood, Texas, and then spread across America, deeply affecting over 100 college campuses....
by Bill Elliff | Jun 19, 2020 | Featured, Humility, Repentance
The last months have been filled with countless opinions of how we should view and respond to our national (and international) tragedy. Health and government officials have interpreted for us the nature of the problem and the potential solutions. We have been fixated...
by John Avant | Jun 3, 2020 | Church Leadership, God's Kingdom First, Presidents Column, Say Yes to God
In 1996 I began to pastor New Hope Baptist Church in Fayetteville, Georgia. The population around our church was significantly black, but our church was not. I embarked on a journey to see that change. It was not an easy task. As our church became more diverse, I...
by John Avant | Jun 1, 2020 | Church Leadership, God's Kingdom First, Presidents Column, Say Yes to God
Revival must change our hearts AND our actions. A global pandemic … racism, hatred, killing … our nation on fire … We don’t really need churches to reopen. We need them to restart—different than they used to be. Not divided and dominated by our theological wrangling...
by John Avant | May 20, 2020 | Church Leadership, God's Kingdom First, Presidents Column
Last week, I began this series of blogs by suggesting three questions for every Christian to consider as we navigate forward in reopening churches: What should never restart in your church? How important is the concept of safety in your church? When does honoring...
