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“You won’t believe what I got from Shein for only $100!” The video opens with an influencer flashing perfectly manicured nails and a box bursting with clothes, accessories, and things no one actually needs.

Within minutes, thousands of comments flood in: “I need this!” “Adding to cart.” It’s consumerism served piping hot to millions of impressionable viewers who didn’t know they needed a $9 glitter bucket hat until five seconds ago.

Consumerism is the temptation we just can’t shake. Platforms like Instagram and TikTok have turned buying stuff into a sport. This “haul culture” isn’t just harmless fun. It feeds the idea that more is always better and that your worth is tied to what you own. Haul videos like this are the poster children for a culture of overconsumption.

But while the world’s social media feeds scream “More, more, more!” the Gospel quietly calls for something radically countercultural: stewardship.

Possible Preaching Angle: Stewardship isn’t just about protecting the planet. It’s about managing every resource—time, money, relationships, possessions—in ways that honor God (Gen. 2:15). When our shopping carts (digital or otherwise) are overflowing with things we don’t need and can’t afford, we’ve veered off course. And when our closets look like a Forever 21 warehouse but our tithing is nonexistent? It’s time for a heart check. The issue isn’t, “Can I afford this?” It’s about remembering that everything we have—our paycheck, our possessions, our very breath—is on loan from God. When we buy mindlessly or hoard resources, we’re not just being careless. We’re saying we trust in “stuff” to bring satisfaction instead of trusting in the One who provides all we need.

TikTok’s grip on our collective attention spans might be even more dangerous than we thought. According to the company’s own research, users may only need to watch 260 videos before developing addictive behaviors. The findings also link excessive use to a series of mental health issues, including impaired memory, loss of analytical skills, diminished empathy, and heightened anxiety.

Lawsuits have filed against TikTok, accusing the platform of falsely advertising its algorithm and putting children at risk. The lawsuits claim that the company prioritized user engagement over the well-being of its younger audience.

The unredacted documents suggest that TikTok struggled to balance safety with its desire to keep users engaged. While the platform implemented features like screen time alerts and usage limits, its own data shows these measures had little effect. In fact, the screen time limit feature reduced usage by only 1.5 minutes per day, raising concerns that such interventions were more about optics than actual safety.

The platform’s effect on body image also emerged as a significant issue. The documents allege that TikTok’s algorithm has a bias toward promoting content from conventionally attractive users. Meanwhile, harmful content—such as videos related to eating disorders and suicidal ideation—often slipped through moderation and became part of algorithm-driven “bubbles” that young users were frequently exposed to.

In a statement to NPR, a TikTok spokesperson responded to the allegations, saying, “We have robust safeguards in place, which include proactively removing suspected underage users, and we have voluntarily launched safety features like default screen time limits, family pairing, and privacy settings for minors under 16.”

Disney is trying to be as addictive as Netflix, and they want to grab and keep your attention. Disney spent years trying to attract new subscribers to its Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ streaming services. Now it is trying to make sure those customers spend more time glued to the screen. The entertainment giant is developing a host of new features aimed at lengthening the amount of time subscribers spend viewing its shows and movies. The goal is to mitigate customer defections and generate more revenue from advertising sales.

A metric known as “hours per subscriber”—a measure of user engagement—has taken on increased importance at Disney in recent months, current and former streaming employees say. Netflix, famous for enabling binge-watching with batch releases of episodes, has also given priority to improving user engagement and return visits in recent years.

New features in the works at Disney include a more-personalized algorithm to power content recommendations, customized promotional art for new shows based on subscriber’s tastes and usage history, and emails sent to viewers who stop watching in the middle of a series reminding them to finish.

The bottom line is this: many organizations are vying to capture your attention. What will you choose to set your mind on?

When the local public transportation agency in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, received a federal grant to refurbish their headquarters, they wanted to call attention to the new upgrades. Apparently they were concerned about putting too fine a point on it, so instead they went the other way.

In a playful reference to their name, the Transit Agency of Central Kentucky, also known as TACK, installed a giant red thumbtack at the front of the entrance.

Glen Arney, CEO of TACK, said he initially considered outsourcing the job, but the only place he found was an out of state firm that wanted to charge them well over $100,000. So Arney and a few employees found a YouTube video to help them build one onsite.

At 21’ 7” tall and weighing about 3,000 pounds, the new agency addition was certified by adjudicator as holding the Guinness World Record for the largest thumbtack, beating out the previous benchmark of 19’ 8.”

Possible Preaching Angle:

Sometimes in life, God has to do something really big and obvious to get our attention.

More than 40% of commercials shown during the 2023 Super Bowl game featured multiple celebrities, a nearly sixfold increase from 2010. 2024’s game was no different. Many star-studded commercials featured celebrities, including a Michelob Ultra spot featuring Lionel Messi, Jason Sudeikis, and Dan Marino, and a BetMGM ad starring Tom Brady, Vince Vaughn, and Wayne Gretzky.

Brands are leaning more on celebrities because there is “so much pressure to break out,” said one branding strategist. Celebrities help advertisers get noticed and help them tap into the buzz on social media, “because people will share that sort of thing more than they will share a product story,” the strategist added.

Celebrity-free Super Bowl ads have now become a rarity: They accounted for less than a third of all commercials shown during the game in recent years. There is a downside to the approach. “There are so many celebrities appearing during the game, and it is really hard to tie the celebrity to the brand,” said the branding expert. “It’s celebrity soup.”

Possible Preaching Angle:

The Bible encourages Christians to be discerning and to think critically. So, when faced with celebrity endorsements, it's important to evaluate the claims made and to consider the motivations behind the endorsement. Christians should not blindly accept everything they see or hear, but should use their discernment to make informed decisions.

A popular pizza chain known for its snarky ad campaigns has been forced to apologize after a sustained public outcry over its latest special. In early October, D.C.-based &Pizza (pronounced “And Pizza”) announced the addition of “Marion Berry Knots” to its dessert menu, referencing the late former mayor of the District of Columbia Marion Barry. The ads for the new product made extensive references to Barry’s drug use and public drug arrests (“so good, it’s almost a felony”).

Marion Barry was arrested in a drug sting in 1990 and was eventually convicted of a misdemeanor drug charge. After six months in prison, Barry was elected to the city council in 1992, and re-elected mayor in 1994. Despite his death in 2014, the memory of Barry, the district’s first African American mayor, still looms large over residents of Washington, a city with a sizable African American population.

The local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), called the ad campaign “inflammatory, and culturally-insensitive,” calling for its removal. The organization also challenged &Pizza to donate to organizations doing substance abuse prevention as a way to rectify the wrong.

“Candidly, we made a mistake," said &pizza CEO Mike Burns in a statement. “And for that, we sincerely apologize.”

Legal representatives for Barry’s widow Cora Masters Barry and the Barry estate called the apology insufficient, issuing a cease-and-desist notice request that &Pizza refrain from profiting from Barry’s name, image, or likeness.

D.C. restaurant owner Peyton Sherwood said:

Barry’s life was about opportunity, dignity, and equality for everyone in Washington, D.C. To reduce that legacy to a crass ad about his darkest moments is not only offensive it’s cruel. It disregards the immense good Barry did for this city and the battles he fought on behalf of all its people.

Possible Preaching Angle:

A person is more than their failures. Every person is a mixture of good and bad, failures, and successes. We should always look to remove anything in our own eye before we try to remove the speck in other’s eyes (Matt. 7:1-5), even if done in jest.

Giant companies that study us in hopes of unearthing insights that can help them sell more potato chips, laundry detergent, and lipstick have reached a conclusion that economists and pollsters have also found. We are unhappy—squeezed by inflation, troubled by global conflicts, and worried about an acrimonious election season. The companies are calibrating their pitches to entice us to open our wallets as a way of improving our collective mood.

Clorox thinks it can help with a new toilet bomb, a tablet of cleaner that foams and fizzes in the toilet bowl and releases a pleasant scent. “People are looking for a spark of fun and joy,” said Clorox’s general manager of cleaning. “We all know the world can get messy, but we understand the link between a clean environment and one’s physical and emotional well-being.”

As part of what Clorox calls a “consumer-obsessed” approach, staffers started using artificial-intelligence tools to scan digital media for new ideas. The Foaming Toilet Bomb is its first product from this initiative.

Procter & Gamble combs societal trends to select a scent of the year. So, P&G declared “Romance & Desire” its scent of the year, and bequeathed it to anxious Americans in the form of new Febreze air fresheners with a fragrance of pink rose petals and champagne spritz. The product line is intended to offer a sensory reminder of the importance of human connection, the company said.

As Christmas approaches, too many parents will be competing to track down and purchase the latest and greatest toy that their child has set their heart on. Take a break from your frenzied competition with other parents to look back at the “5 Best Toys of All Time.” It’s guaranteed that you won’t guess them, even though you should.

So, here are five items that no kid should be without. All five should fit easily within any budget, and are appropriate for a wide age range so you get the most play out of each one. These are time-tested and kid-approved!

1. Stick

This versatile toy is a real classic—chances are your great-great-grandparents played with one. Stick works really well as a poker, digger, and reach-extender. Stick comes in an almost bewildering variety of sizes and shapes, but at least the classic wooden version is biodegradable.

2. Box

Box also comes in a variety of shapes and sizes. You can turn your kids into cardboard robots or create elaborate Star Wars costumes. A large box can be used as a fort or house and the smaller box can be used to hide away a special treasure. Got a Stick? Use it as an oar and the box becomes a boat. One particularly famous kid has used the box as a key component of a time machine, a duplicator and a transmogrifier, among other things.

3. String

Kids absolutely love string. The most obvious use of string is tying things together. You can use it to hang things from doorknobs or tie little siblings to chairs or make leashes for your stuffed animals. Use string with two cans for a telephone, or with a stick to make a fishing pole.

4. Cardboard Tube

The cardboard tube comes free with a roll of paper towels and other products. Some kids have nicknamed the cardboard tube the "Spyer" for its most common use as a telescope. Or tape two of them together for use as binoculars. But if you happen to be lucky enough to get a large size from Christmas wrapping paper, the best use is probably whacking things.

5. Dirt

One of kids’ favorite things to play with is dirt. As we grow up, we pick up an interest in cleanliness and aren’t such a fan of dirt anymore. Many parents aren't so fond of it either. But dirt has been around longer than any of the other toys on this list, and shows no signs of going away. In fact, there are some studies have shown that kids who play with dirt have stronger immune systems than those who don't.

So, what can you do with dirt? Well, it's great for digging and piling and making piles. Dirt makes a great play surface for toy trucks and cars. Just add water and—presto!—you've got mud! Dirt is definitely an outdoor toy, despite your kids' frequent attempts to bring it indoors. If they insist, you'll probably want to get the optional accessories broom and dustpan. But as long as it's kept in its proper place, dirt can be loads of fun.

Jonathan Haidt is a social psychologist who believes that your child’s smartphone is a threat to mental well-being. His book, The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness, hit the No. 1 spot on the New York Times’ best-seller list. This book has struck a chord with parents who have watched their kids sit slack-jawed and stock still for hours, lost in a welter of TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitch, Facebook, and more. He says:

I do a little demonstration. I ask people, suppose a demon came to us in the nineties with three magical boxes. And he said, “You can open as many as you want, but if you open a box, it’s going to take fifteen hours a week from you.”

The first box is the Internet. You get this amazing thing, but it’s going to take fifteen hours a week from you. Would you open it? Are you glad we have the Internet? Everyone is glad we opened that box. We think that time is worth it.

The next box is the smartphone. You open it up. It’s this incredible digital Swiss Army knife (of apps and functions). It’s going to take another fifteen hours a week. So now you’re up to thirty hours a week on this. Do you want it? Are you glad we have smartphones? At that point, most hands go up. The great majority of adults say, “Yeah, I’m glad we opened that box.” Now you’re at thirty hours a week.

Next there’s a third box: social media – Instagram, Facebook, Tumblr, TikTok. It’s going to be another fifteen hours a week. So now you’re up to forty-five hours a week. What do you think? Are you glad we opened that?

The great majority of people say, “I wish we hadn’t opened that one.” I’m not talking about keeping kids off the Internet. I’m talking about not allowing them … to give away their data, and some rights, to a company that does not have their interests at heart. That is using them as the product to sell to their customers who are the advertisers. That’s what I don’t want done to eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen-year-old kids.

Some years ago, a frozen pizza company was trying to figure out an advertising campaign to bring attention to their product. They designed a series of humorous commercials where an individual was about to lose his life in some melodramatic fashion—in front of a firing squad, about to walk the plank, or a teenager who’d had a party while his parents were away for the weekend. In each case, they were asked, “What do you want on your tombstone?” to which the answer was “pepperoni and cheese” or some other pizza topping.

It was a risky ad since Americans don't want to hear about death. The company was trying to be funny with their name: Tombstone Pizza Company which originated in the Tombstone Tavern in Medford, Wisconsin. The tavern was across the street from a cemetery.

But seriously, if you requested a stone to be placed over your grave, what would you want on your tombstone?

For example, Ruth Bell Graham, the wife of evangelist Billy Graham, died in 2007 and had this chiseled into her tombstone, "End of Construction -- Thank you for your patience." She didn't pick a favorite Bible verse or a lofty quote from a famous leader. She humbled herself and admitted that her life had been "a work in progress" until she died.

Bad news, your car is a spy. If your vehicle was made in the last few years, you’re probably driving around in a data-harvesting machine that may collect personal information as sensitive as your race, weight, and sexual activity. Volkswagen’s cars reportedly know if you’re fastening your seatbelt and how hard you hit the brakes.

That’s according to new findings from Mozilla’s *Privacy Not Included project. The nonprofit found that every major car brand fails to adhere to the most basic privacy and security standards in new internet-connected models. Mozilla found brands including BMW, Ford, Toyota, Tesla, and Subaru collect data about drivers including race, facial expressions, weight, health information, and where you drive. Some of the cars tested collected data you wouldn’t expect your car to know about, including details about sexual activity, race, and immigration status, according to Mozilla.

Jen Caltrider of the *Privacy Not Included project said,

Many people think of their car as a private space — somewhere to call your doctor, have a personal conversation with your kid on the way to school, cry your eyes out over a break-up, or drive places you might not want the world to know about. But that perception no longer matches reality. All new cars today are privacy nightmares on wheels that collect huge amounts of personal information.

Modern cars use a variety of data harvesting tools including microphones, cameras, and the phones drivers connect to their cars. Manufacturers also collect data through their apps and websites, and can then sell or share that data with data brokers, law enforcement, and other third parties.

Possible Preaching Angle:

If this causes concern for every car owner and passenger because of the constant observation of our actions, imagine how aware we should be of God’s attention to all of our words, thoughts, and actions.

In 1907, the American Thermos Bottle Company launched a marketing campaign to popularize its vacuum-insulated bottles. They succeeded so spectacularly that “thermos” became a household word. The problem was, by the early 1920s, competitors were using the term “thermos” to describe their vacuum-insulated bottles as well. And so began the battle for the trademark, which included multiple lawsuits, changing the name of the business to the American Thermos Products Company, and launching Thermos-branded tents and stoves in an effort to prove that “thermos” was not a generic word for vacuum bottles. But it was too late. In 1963 a court deemed that the term “had entered the public domain beyond recall.”

Thermos is not the only corporate brand to fall victim to its own success. “Escalator,” “laundromat,” and “zipper” all used to be trademarks. Believe it or not, a company called Sealed Air Corporation still holds the rights to “Bubble Wrap,” Wham-O Inc. owns “Hula Hoop,” and Sony is hanging on to “Memory Stick.” Velcro went as far as producing a music video urging us to refer to generic versions of their product as “hook and loop,” but that’s not going to catch on.

Possible Preaching Angle:

Positive spin: Many words in Christianity have also taken on a “life of their own.” We commonly hear phrases like “it’s the gospel truth,” “it is the company’s mission statement,” and it is “their cross to bear.” This can be an aid to preaching, if we are careful to define what the Bible means by these now familiar words.

Negative spin: We must be careful that the gospel, the cross, and our mission not be watered down by the world hijacking biblical words, redefining them, and robbing them of their original unique spiritual meaning.

Advertising is big business today. There are over 350,995 billboard signs throughout the US (more than any other country.) Google holds about 28% of the online market share, and Facebook controls 24.5%. Enormous amounts of money are spent annually on advertising, YouTube made over $28.8 billion in revenue in 2021.

In the 1970s, the average American saw anywhere between 500 and 1600 ads per day; by 2017, the number increased to 4000-10000 ads daily. Even though we see thousands of ads daily, we notice less than 100 and only remember a handful of ads. There are a lot of messages that are reaching our attention.

Possible Preaching Angle:

While we don’t “advertise” the gospel, Jesus commissioned us to preach the gospel, the most needed message today! We have been commanded to spread the message (Matt. 28:19-20).

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recently issued a voluntary recall for all Tesla cars equipped with the driver-assist technology known as FSD, which stands for “Full Self-Driving.” The technology is branded as a way to turn a Tesla into an autonomous vehicle, which means that it’s supposed to be able to operate itself without human intervention.

Yet, the recall was issued because the NHTSA found a significant pattern of vehicular failures in the FSD software. The report stated: “[FSD] may allow the vehicle to act unsafe around intersections, such as driving straight through an intersection while in a turn-only lane.” It also listed other problematic behaviors, such as speeding, rolling through stop signs, and running yellow traffic lights “without due caution.”

Notably, there is no similar FSD recall in the European Union, because Tesla hasn’t received the green light to offer it there. Tesla CEO Elon Musk himself summarized the difference in transatlantic car regulations: “In the U.S. things are legal by default, and in Europe they’re illegal by default.”

For example, in the U.S. if a plane manufacturer is designing a new piece of software, the company must work closely with the FAA to get the go-ahead prior to deployment. But for autos, the U.S. has basically said to carmakers, “You’re good. We trust you.”

Former NHTSA senior advisor Missy Cummings believes that autonomous vehicles should be treated with the same stringent safety requirements as commercial airliners. She said, “Because cars are on the road every day, we think of them as less complex than planes. But cars with autonomy are extremely complex. The amount of code that goes into these systems is phenomenal.”

Industry analysts believe that the dangerous driving behavior of autonomous vehicles are the direct result of the government taking a laissez-faire approach to safety regulation.

Possible Preaching Angle:

When accomplishments are exaggerated and profits are emphasized there is the potential for danger. What is claimed to help, might in fact, be harmful.

Suppose you were exploring an unknown glacier in the north of Greenland in the dead of winter. Just as you reach a sheer cliff with a spectacular view of miles and miles of jagged ice and snow covered mountains, a terrible storm breaks in. The wind is so strong that the fear arises that it might blow you and your party right over the cliff. But in the midst of it you discover a cleft in the ice where you can hide. Here you feel secure, but the awesome might of the storm rages on and you watch it with a kind of trembling pleasure as it surges out across the distant glaciers.

At first, there was the fear that this terrible storm and awesome terrain might claim your life. But then you found a refuge and gained the hope that you would be safe. But not everything in the feeling called fear vanished. Only the life-threatening part. There remains the trembling, the awe, the wonder, the feeling that you would never want to tangle with such a storm or be the adversary of such a power.

God’s power is behind the unendurable cold of Arctic storms. Yet he cups his hand around us and says, “Take refuge in my love and let the terrors of my power become the awesome fireworks of your happy night sky.”

The next frontier for advertising isn't virtual reality or holograms—it's your dreams, according to sleep researchers. And they warn, the practice could soon become a nightmare.

In an open letter, the scientists criticize the concept of dream advertising. Using audio and video clips companies engineer ads into your subconscious. They say in the letter, that not only does the practice already exist, but a beer company has even publicly tested it out during Super Bowl LV.

The sleep researchers cite a press release as an example. In it, Molson Coors Beverage Company openly admitted it could manipulate your dreams so you can collectively see visions of alcoholic beverages dancing through your head using the science of guiding dreams.

So, how exactly do marketers slither into our dreams? Molson Coors collaborated with Harvard psychiatry professor Deirdre Barrett. "Barrett worked with the Coors team to develop a stimulus film that induces relaxing, refreshing images including waterfalls, mountains, and of course, Coors."

It's easy to see where the researchers' concerns stem from as this scientific power makes its way to advertisers—especially when the advertiser offers a product with the potential to be habit-forming for consumers.

Possible Preaching Angle:

Dreams; Mind; Temptation; Thoughts; Worldliness – This technique is nothing new. Satan has been practicing influencing the minds of people for thousands of years. As believers we need to take control of our thoughts. What do you fill your thoughts with? What do you fall asleep thinking about? Focus your thinking on God (“think on these things” Phil. 4:8-9).

Before he met Jesus, Ravan worked as a paid assailant for the RSS, a Hindu nationalist organization in India. For seven years, Ravan relished his role as a hired thug. After the death of his father when Ravan was 15-years-old, he was ripe for the RSS’ recruitment to persecute Christians. The RSS trained him to find Christian farmers, beat them, and hand them over to police. Ravan says he felt powerful and happy for the sense of purpose, national pride, and camaraderie.

But the Lord was preparing his heart for a much deeper purpose. His mother, who had become a Christian years earlier, earnestly prayed for her son to meet Jesus. Ravan said, “Ever since I was small, I used to tell her to pray quietly. Sometimes I would wear headphones to drown out the sound of her praying.” But after a near-fatal motorcycle accident, his RSS friends abandoned him. His mother was the only person who stood by him. When his mother invited him to church, he balked, especially considering the suffering he had caused the Christian community. But the pastor surprised Ravan with gentleness and love.

Ravan soon trusted in Jesus, married a Christian woman, and together they planted a church. He said, “I saw how I had been in my old life and how I lived now. I felt a burden within me to do something in return for God.” Six months after his newfound faith in Christ, his former RSS friends started persecuting him.

Ravan expects more persecution in the future, but he also says,

There’s a lot of zeal within me that no matter what comes. We face a lot of persecution, but when I read the Bible and pray, I have experienced God speak to me. I have learned that persecution is a part of the Christian faith. But I am determined to never turn back from my ministry. God gave me new life, so it doesn’t matter even if I die.

A mall-shop worker putting up Christmas décor might seem an ordinary sight in December, November, or even October—but it is August in the Philippines. This majority-Catholic nation has been heralded for the world’s longest Christmas season, typically spanning from September to January or February, depending on the date of the Lunar New Year.

While American Christians lament the “Christmas creep” beginning around Halloween, the majority of Philippine society begins playing Christmas tunes and lighting up the streets at the start of the -ber months: September, October, November, and December.

Glowing Christmas star–shaped lanterns and belens—the physical representations of Joseph, Mary, and the baby Jesus by the manger—are put on display. The colorful lights can be seen almost everywhere, from the poshest subdivisions to the humblest shacks.

For the country’s faithful, the extended public Christmas celebration—fueled by commercial forces more than Christian devotion—can both enhance and detract from “the reason for the season.”

Several major economic shifts from the late 1990s helped to alter the Christmas calendar. Money is pouring into the country from Overseas Filipino Workers ($11 billon in just four months in 2021) and the explosion of call centers in the Philippines (over $26 billion each year). Another factor is the rise of shopping malls. Cultural anthropologist Felipe Jocano says, “The malls are probably how the Christmas season became longer—to encourage the family to spend. The economy became a factor of cultural change.”

So, beginning in August, stores begin to decorate for Christmas. With a bit of a wink and some Christmas cheer—and with a real economic undercurrent that has implications for the Christmas message. All these stores are trying every trick in the book to get people to spend.

Pastor Chad Williams of the Union Church of Manila sees all of this as an opportunity for speaking more openly about Jesus’ incarnation. “The season is far larger for us. How do we use the belens? How do we talk to our neighbors about the incoming incarnation of Christ when they start putting [the belens] up? I want to explore how to use it.”

Possible Preaching Angle:

The holiday season in the Philippines can be fertile ground for spreading the Word to people who just might be more open to it. This can also be true in the U.S. if we can move the seasonal message away from spending and toward the Savior.

Sales were stagnant at the insurance company where Daniel P. Amos worked as the chief executive. So, he decided to take a huge risk with a novel ad campaign that poked fun at the company’s name. The TV commercials featured an obnoxious white duck often getting injured and then loudly quaking “Aflaaaac.” The little-known business soon became a household name. Aflac’s stagnant US sales doubled between 1999 and 2003.

Amos told The Wall Street Journal that leading a company always involves taking risks. He said, “I like to manage risks [since] everything we do is risk related. [If you avoid risks] you are really not taking a broad enough perspective for a company to succeed.”

Amos, now 70, learned to evaluate risks while studying risk management and insurance at the University of Georgia’s business school. Among his risk-taking advice he gave this nugget: Never risk a lot for a little. He added that he lives by that risk principle every day of his life.

Possible Preaching Angle:

Many things about following, serving, and leading for Jesus involve risk. We can’t avoid it. But with Jesus we never have to worry about risking a lot for a little. Our risks for him are always worth it.

It has been said that everything rises and falls on leadership. Leadership occurs at every level of any organizational system. You don't have to be the CEO or part of the management team to make a difference.

Over the last decade, we have seen the exponential growth of social media. According to the We Are Social report, 3.484 billion people actively use social media - that is 45% of the world population. This social media boom has given rise to the Social Media Influencer.

Influencers leverage their knowledge and expertise to shape and mold culture. They build credibility and trust through regular posts and blogs that impact our thoughts, feelings, and responses. Name brands love influencers because they create trends and fads that bolster sales.

Possible Preaching Angle:

The bottom line is that leadership in its purest form is influence. The old African proverb says, “He who thinks he leads and has no one following is only taking a walk.” The Great Commission calls us to be influencers in the world. Who is going with you on your journey?