One of the greatest desires of my life is to remain a student all my life. It is challenging, especially for ministers to continually maintain a culture of learning. But the day you stop learning, and it is only about teaching and giving out to others, your mind will become stagnant, and you will risk being burnt out.
I have a habit of reading and studying the Bible everyday. I am sure we all do that. Apart from that there are many blogs and podcasts that I have subscribed to. They help me to not only keep my heart encouraged and motivated at all times, but also keeps my perspective and view from getting narrowed down to a few things.
So in this post, I would like to share just a few of them with you. These are not the only ones that I follow, but out of space constraints, I am mentioning only a few of them. Please take some time to go through the list and follow or subscribe to the ones you would like to. I am sure that they will be a blessing to you.
Blogs from Friends
Some of my minister friends who are also consistent in their online writing have blessed me from time to time when I needed a word of encouragement. In fact I started writing this blog on inspiration from my mentor Rev. Shyju Mathew who has himself been blogging for quite a long time.
- GTH Blog – This is the blog authored by Rev. Shyju and it has been a blessing to thousands, over the years. GTH also has french, tamil, spanish and chinese translations of the posts. You would never regret subscribing to this blog.
- Viewpoint – This is the blog by Pastor Subi & Beena, from Tabernacle of Prayer, in Mumbai. That’s been my home church and Subi & Beena have been my pastors since my days in Mumbai. There ministry has been a blessing to many, and now their writing, especially the ones on family topics have been such an inspiration!
- Olivedose – This blog authored by our dear friends Derrick & Kim D’souza, has been such a great source of encouragement for me and Rashmi week after week after week. Infact Kim just released her book “It’s Your Turn for a Beautiful Pregnancy”. And the first 100 subscribers on Olivedose will receive the ebook as a free gift.
- Busy With Jesus Blog – My dear friends Evg. Kenneth and Ishwarya who lead the Holy Spirit Revolution Ministries are the authors on this blog. If you are planning to subscribe to this blog, I will have to warn you that you run chances of catching the same passion this young couple carry for God, His Word, A Holy living and yielding to the Holy Spirit.
- Jeevan Kumar – Pst. Jeevan and Leena are pastors with us here at Bangalore Revival Center. Their ministry has been a blessing to so many people in various part of the country where they have ministered and pioneered churches. Pst. Jeevan recently finished writing his book “The Giant Killer”.
Blogs from Leaders
Here are some of the blogs by leaders and authors around the globe that I have been following. Again, i am mentioning just a select few, you shouldn’t miss.
- For the Family: This is an awesome blog that deals with everyday family and parenting topics and issues. Their mission is to encourage and equip families to build God-honoring homes for the glory of God and the good of the world. I subscribed to this blog after Zahal’s birth, and trust me, it was worth every bit of time spent on the read.
- Desiring God Blog – God is most glorified in us, when we are most satisfied in him – John Piper, This blog exists to help people everywhere understand and embrace this truth. The blog aims to make the glory of God and the goodness of joy the foundation and flavor of everything we do. John Piper is one of the chief authors on this blog.
- Christian Personal Finance – The mission of this blog is to make, save, grow, and give money – not necessarily in that order. There is a much better and higher purpose for our money, than to just store up treasures for ourselves, it is to build God’s Kingdom and help others.
- Ron Edmonson – He is the pastor at Immanuel Baptist Church, and writes content for leaders, pastors and for church planters. He covers a variety of issues, especially with regard to church, family and leadership.
- The Resurgence – Posts on the resurgence includes content from Pastor Mark Driscoll and the leadership at Mars Hill. Jesus centered Theology, Jesus Modeled Leadership, Jesus Empowered Living, Jesus’ Mission is the heart and focus of this blog.
Podcasts by Speakers
Since before I began writing or reading, I had already been hooked onto podcasts on itunes. It became so much more convenient when God blessed me with an ipad and iphone, but i have always been a podcast listener and I currently follow over 40 podcasts. Please do take out some time to go through these few podcasts and subscribe if you are an audio person. You can also check out these podcasts from our ministry: Oasis By Revive Nations & Sermons at Bangalore Revival Center.
- Mark Driscoll: If you love Jesus and if you love the Bible, you would love the teachings by Pastor Mark Driscoll. All his sermons from Mars Hill are aired on this channel. At the moment he is teaching a series on the book of James.
- Bethel Sermons: This podcast has a weekly sermon from Bethel Church at Redding, and features teachings from Bill Johnson, Eric Johnson, Kris Valloton, Danny Silk and many other guest ministers at the church. One of the best podcasts if you are a student of the things of the Spirit, and the supernatural.
- Steven Furtick: Sermons by Pastor Steven Furtick from Elevation Church is so entertaining, nourishing and encouraging at the same time both to the soul and spirit. If you are discouraged, and down, this is the podcast you should listen to!
- T D Jakes: I am sure, I don’t need to introduce his ministry to most of you. One podcast that I always look forward to listening is the Jakes’. It’s so full of God and encouragement, coupled with mighty revelations from God’s word.
- Passion City: I have been following Louie Giglio and all the ministry that passion has been doing for a while now. When I came across this podcast, I had to subscribe to it. No one puts the message of God’s love and grace, better than Louie. It is always a delight to tune in to the Passion City Church podcast.
Apps On iPhone/iPad
I had not originally intended to include apps in this post. But since i am mentioning all inspirational and edifying material, I think I should share a few great apps as well.
- Instapray: Built very much like the instagram app. Here instead of posting pictures, you post prayers. And your followers, instead of like the picture, the pray or comment on the prayers. The best feature of the app is to be able to pray with people from around the world who are in need and would love a word of advice. Do not miss downloading this app on your apple or android device.
- Youversion: Most people have the youversion apps. I use the kids version too, just to entertain Zahal once in a while. The Bible app is most helpful for me cause of the audio bible feature. I love that.
- Joshua Project: If you have a heart of an intercessor and would like to pray for the unreached, this is an app you should definitely download. Every day it will give you a new people group from the nations of the world, with the statistics and their greatest needs, so you can raise them up in your times of individual or corporate prayers.
- Gotquestions: GotQuestions.org is a great website, where you will find answers to almost every question under the sun, for eg: Who was Cain’s wife? 🙂 I love just searching for some subjects/questions and reading the tons of information/knowledge available for read on their website, also available on an app for the ipad.
- Strong’s Concordance: A great tool for Bible study, especially when you want to understand the root meaning of the hebrew or the greek word used in the original text of the Bible. An essential app to have if you are a student of the bible and don’t always have access to the internet to keep googling for the info you are looking for.
Thank you for taking out time to read my list of inspirations, now I would like to know your list. What are the inspirational content that you follow? We would like to hear from you. Please use the comments below!
wow thats awesome bro.. its gonna be helpful and inspirational for all who reads it… blessed 🙂
GTH and your blog are the only ones I read consistently…Need to subscribe to more 🙂 Rogue theologian by Jonathan Welton is my latest add…I dont go with podcasts, i go to youtube search out the stuffs i want to listen, download and then listen to them when i have time……Love learning from different people 🙂
Thanks Ps Priji for the mention. Humbled..We really love the way you have been consistently sowing into lives through your blog! Keep up the great work. Prayers for your site!
Thank you Kim for being a blessing to us by your friendship and writings. Thank you for the encouragement also. Appreciate your prayers!
Thank you Kenneth for sharing. It is such an honour to have passionate student and teacher like you as a friend. Blessings on all you do.
Thank you Divya! Kindly please keep the same in prayers too.