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How Much More? Praying with Persistence

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by Bart Denny Have you ever noticed how persistence changes outcomes? Parents know this all too well. A child wants a cookie before dinner, or a toy at the store, and the answer is “no.” But the request doesn’t stop there. They ask again. And again. Eventually—sometimes just for the sake of peace—we give in. Persistence works. But here’s the question: if persistence can move us—imperfect parents and imperfect people—what happens when persistence is brought before our perfect, loving, just heavenly Father? That’s the point Jesus drives home in Luke 18:1–8. He tells a parable “to show them that they should always pray and not give up.” The story contrasts two characters: a corrupt judge with no fear of God, and a powerless widow who had no advocate but one weapon—persistence. And persistence won. If a widow could win justice from an unjust judge simply by refusing to quit, how much more can God’s children expect from the most just Judge of all when we persist in prayer? Let’s expl...

Leadership Development in Local Church Revitalization: A Review of the Literature and Suggestions for Further Research

by Bart L. Denny This article identifies a gap in the existing literature concerning leadership development in the context of local church revitalization. The article further suggests how existing leadership and leadership development theories could be applied to church revitalization and proposes further investigation and research areas. Observers and practitioners in the field of church revitalization unequivocally make the case that for a local church to reverse its decline, the pastor must develop a new generation of leaders (Clifton, 2016; Davis, 2017; Henard, 2021; Rainer, 2020; Stetzer & Dodson, 2021). The extant literature links the decline of churches to a lack of leadership and identifies renewed leadership as a vital component of church revitalization. However, little has been written, theoretically or practically, about the process of leadership development as it applies to local church revitalization. Moreover, little empirical verification supports church revitalizat...