Josh Lafferty Ministries

02/19/2026

Leaders Explain Yourselves or Stop Teaching

I've seen and heard more than a few Christian leaders recently who seemed to trivialize the need to explain the full meaning and implications of what they are teaching - as if the explanation was not their responsibility. They simply release open-ended sound bite controversies generating questions and confusion, and then move on as if they have no responsibility to offer clarification - even becoming frustrated at the notion that they should clarify.

Their most ardent followers will nod in agreement, not fully processing the implications of what was said. If questions are raised, their defenders will pounce, say something supportive of the leader along the lines of "you're really rattling cages" and then fall in line and expect no explanation. Many charismatic Christian mystics live here - surrounded by supporters who ask no questions themselves and permit none to be asked of the leader. It's why there's so much nonsense being exposed in the charismatic movement at large.

Perhaps you're not rattling cages? Perhaps you're just being ridiculously and even recklessly unclear? Perhaps you're proposing theological ideas that could end in spiritual error unless clarification is given? Pastor, or Apostle, or Prophet, or whatever title you assume, you are responsible for what you teach.

Preaching the Word is not philosophy. It is an exercise in truth. We are purveyors of truth, not murky ideas. That doesn't mean there isn't mystery. But if we address mysteries, we should say so and take time to explain the nuances of the mystery.

Leaders, you owe it to the people who are listening to be clear - to offer explanation - to tell us exactly what you think and believe and allow us to measure it against Christ and His word. Faith movements die in vagueness. They explode in obvious truth.

If you feel you shouldn't have to explain yourself, you're not suited for leadership. Sit down please and stop the confusion.

02/03/2026

Teach them to pastor their families...

I remember the Lord speaking this to me during Covid. It was the opposite of what we were trying to do. During that season, we as church leaders tried to find ways to maintain the large church gathering. It was in this time that the explosion of church live streams and online campuses happened.

What if that wasn't what God wanted to teach us? What if He didn't want us to become more tech savy or to develop a new fad called virtual church?

What if He just wanted something simple? 2 or 3 gathered in His name.. Covid exposed many things, not least among them the deficiencies of the personality/experience driven model. When the personalities and experiences were removed, so too were the Christians. Many still haven't returned.

What if instead, we equipped fathers and mothers, saints, for the work of the ministry in their own homes? What if we taught them to lead their families in holy communion and prayer, to understand the simple gospel, to prophesy the word of the Lord over their household? What if we modeled how to be 2 or 3 gathered in His name?

This prophetic word from the Lord has stuck with me and been a defining approach for the congregation I lead. We're learning to pastor our families. That way, when the next Covid or winter storm happens, the church doesn't have to reinvent itself or miss a beat. She just becomes what she was meant to be - simple gatherings with many saints equipped for the work of the ministry. Leaders, teach them to pastor their families.

01/23/2026

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for…

10/17/2025

"Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance..."

10/13/2025

Christians. You are the end of the line for gossip, every time.

Whether you're the first person or the 100th person to hear it, you are where it stops. This may be the most valuable thing that we introduce to our broken world. The destruction of other people's character does not go a step further than the threshold of our ears. As a matter of fact, being "new creation" in the middle of a still groaning world demands that we have courage to not only *not* repeat gossip but to also confront it and ask that it not be told to us. I daresay we rarely possess this type of courage or even think that this is what the Spirit requires of us - knowing it may make us unlikable or ostracized in our circles. If you are reviled for a faithfulness to the Spirit of truth, count it joy.

This alone will advance the kingdom more than all of our charity combined. The tongue is a ruthless lion and the believer should be its tamer - whether it costs us or not.

09/11/2025

I have the utmost respect for those who stare down the lions.

Politics aside, a Christian man was martyred yesterday, in America, in full view. I don’t care who he helped elect. What a despicable way to determine whether a man deserves to live or not. If this is your mindset, you have no place in a free society. We can’t live in harmony. We can’t co-exist. I could care less where you land politically or how far right or left you are. I’m exhausted with that debate and everyone who allows politics to be all, to consume absolutely. Shame on us for letting votes be our moral arbiter.

My platform as a pastor is not votes, it’s truth. It’s morality. It’s right and wrong. It’s good and evil. It’s powers of darkness and powers of light. It’s principalities and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. Here Charlie shined the brightest, with a courage that shamelessly mocked the ambiguous relativistic wavering pulpit that has become so prominent in popular Christianity. Take no stands, make no enemies, lose no fans.

Courage is not just needed now, it’s essential. We’ve entered an age where we must have answers and only courageous men and women will give them. There will be lions-they will roar-they will nash their teeth-they will seethe in anger-they may even appear to triumph. Where there are lions, there will also be martyrs. And the martyrs voice is loudest once the lion has done its worst. It’s how Christianity subverts the world-by the spectacle of willing martyrs and the deafening echoes of their lives reverberating from the grave. The voice of the Christian martyr is not their own-it is instead the roaring of the Lion of the tribe of Judah-upon whose shoulders the government rests-before whose feet every high thing will be brought low-every path made straight-every corner of darkness exposed. The passive, anemic, die-on-no-hill Jesus who supposedly “gets us” is not who He is. Back to hell with that lie. He doesn’t empathetically get us. He is a consuming fire of compassion before whom we cease to exist to be restored in His image. Stop with the better people nonsense. We are not made better. We are made new.

I’ve never felt this more strongly-if you’re not prepared for the moral fight to come, get out of the pulpit. If you’re more concerned with votes than you are with light and darkness, get out of the pulpit. We can no longer tolerate what is only popular. We must declare what is right. The blood of martyrs and the Lion demand it.

08/02/2025

A podcast all about discipleship and leadership. The goal is to create conversations that encourage and empower you on your journey. Each of us has a unique, one-of-a-kind journey. However, as disciples who are leaders and leaders who are disciple...

07/31/2025

05/12/2025

The first actionable step in regards to evangelism seems to be counterintuitive to evangelism - it is not to "go" but to "tarry." The work of the Spirit in the world is often full of paradoxes.

When the disciples entered the Upper Room, they were the only people in the world who knew the Gospel and were capable of spreading the truth of Jesus. They were the only evangelists. The entire world was lost and in need of evangelism. The Earth lay in groaning waiting for the sons of God to be revealed. And yet, they enter the Upper Room to tarry - to wait - to pray - to worship - to seek - to adore - to behold. We might say that valuable time was wasted - the lost were seemingly neglected.

But the Spirit ordered this moment. The Spirit demanded the waiting. The Spirit called the evangelists to seclusion. The Spirit told them not to "go" but instead to "tarry." What is the Church to glean from here?

If God's ways are to be mysterious, then let them be mysterious. Could it be that more evangelism was done as the Church tarried in the presence of God, waiting for the outpouring of power and Spirit than it would have done on the streets of Jerusalem? Is there something to be said for those who wait upon the Lord, whose strength is renewed, who find themselves carried on eagle's wings? Could the paradox be that somehow God accomplishes His purposes not because we were good at doing a particular thing but because we were willing to wait upon Him and build an altar and a temple in the midst of a groaning and broken world?

Does this lead us towards indifference in regards to the lost? Does this make evangelism or our role as carriers of the Gospel superfluous? Does this undermine the Great Commission or permit us to be lazy and unconcerned evangelists? By no means. However, it does allow us to rightly order our affections - to properly place our worship in word, deed, and system. No one is lost as we wait upon the Lord. None condemned as we tarry in His Presence. To think otherwise could be to assert ourselves as savior - that another's salvation depends far more upon our own actions than upon the drawing of the Spirit or the Son of Man lifted up from the Earth. It is a paradox that should be wrestled with - that somehow we are going while tarrying - that somehow the Gospel spreads as the Church worships - that evangelism falls less on our ability to do and more on our willingness to wait. It is a paradox indeed, mysterious and yet seemingly true.

The truth is, the evangelist who emerges from the Upper Room, upon whom the Spirit rests and remains, will do more to ease the groans of the world than he who goes without Spirit, or he who "does" more than "tarries." This is not permission to neglect or be unbothered by the lost. But it is permission to rest, to wait, and to trust that somehow the Spirit reconciles the world to Himself, despite my ability or inability to do.

Evangelism is not the Church's first occupation. Worship is. With worship firmly established, evangelism is sure to follow, carried on the wings of the Spirit, not on the backs or the abilities of the evangelists.

05/06/2025

04/17/2025

My hope for the church this weekend is that we spend as much time inviting Jesus as we’ve spent inviting people. It’s His church, His Bride, after all. Surely we won’t make Him a byproduct, an addition to our other offerings. Pastor, please don’t just shuffle people through this weekend. Greet Him with a kiss, pour oil upon His head, wash His feet with your worship- let your actions be reflective of the Bride that you are. What a shame it would be to devote so much time and energy into Easter services and miss the Passover Lamb or be in such a hurry to facilitate the next group that we never actually commune with Him. Who cares if we’ve filled rooms with everything but Him? What possible benefit is this to the world?

It’s one thing to say we honor Christ on this holy occasion. It’s another thing to honor Him.

Church leaders, slow down. If you spend one more moment planning for people than you do for the Christ, you have shown where your true value lies. And no, “ministering” to people is not sufficient and does not atone for neglect. The Lamb must not be an afterthought. He must not.

02/07/2025

The notion that women can by martyrs but not pastors is ridiculous.

That dying for your faith is acceptable but instructing a congregation on how to live out their faith is off limits seems to be inconsistent with the obvious contributions of women in the Early Church and Paul's ministry throughout the book of Acts.