What does it look like to plant a church inside a famous honky-tonk bar on the Gulf Coast? Ben & Julie Ragsdale are doing it every Sunday.

Dan Ehrman sits down with Ben and Julie Ragsdale, lead pastors of Worship on the Water — a thriving congregation that meets under an open-air tent at the world-famous Flora-Bama, right on the Alabama-Florida line. With 8 million tourists passing through their community each year, this couple has built a church in the wild where the gospel goes out every week — and baptisms happen right in the Gulf.

In this episode of the Church Around the World podcast, Ben and Julie share:

• How they balance local church discipleship with a constant stream of first-time visitors from across the country
• What it means to co-lead in ministry as a married couple — including the real challenges of family life and church planting
• Why they believe the next great revival will happen in the marketplace, not the four walls of a church

"And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved." — Acts 2:47 (NLT)

If you're a pastor or ministry leader thinking about gospel-centered leadership in unconventional spaces, this episode is for you. Visit them at worshiponthewater.com.

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Church Connect – Access trusted resources from leading Christian publishers to strengthen your church. Enjoy everyday bulk discounts of up to 45%, free shipping on orders over $50, and more. Every purchase supports the Tyndale Foundation, funding Christian ministries and global mission organizations.

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What would it look like if your church committed to reaching every home within five miles — by prayer, personal invitation, and a Bible on every doorstep? That's exactly what Cross Points Church in Shawnee, Kansas set out to do.

In this episode of the Church Around the World podcast, Dan Ehrman sits down with Pastor David Jones and lay leader Shannon Jensen to unpack the 3-for-30 initiative — a three-year, whole-church outreach effort to pray for, invite, and deliver 30,000 New Living Translation Bibles to every home in their community. Their story is full of unexpected conversions, hard-won logistical lessons, and the kind of fruit that only comes through patient, gospel-centered leadership.

3 things pastors and church leaders will take away:

• A replicable outreach model — low barrier, high impact, and easily adapted for churches of any size
• What happens when the Word of God does the work — real stories of lives changed through Bible distribution and community care events
• The long game of discipleship — why commitment to a multi-year vision matters, and how to disciple new believers starting from zero

"It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it." — Isaiah 55:11 (NLT)

This episode is an encouraging resource for any pastor thinking about church planting and evangelism, discipleship in the local church, or how to mobilize a congregation around a shared mission.

Travis & Heather's conversion story
Cross Points Church

Church Connect
Church Connect – Access trusted resources from leading Christian publishers to strengthen your church. Enjoy everyday bulk discounts of up to 45%, free shipping on orders over $50, and more. Every purchase supports the Tyndale Foundation, funding Christian ministries and global mission organizations.

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What does it look like to lead a ministry organization for decades and never lose sight of the fact that it belongs to God? That question sits at the heart of this conversation with Mark Taylor.

Dan Ehrman and Tyndale House Foundation's Caroline Curry sit down with Mark Taylor — former President and CEO of Tyndale House Publishers and longtime Chairman of Tyndale House Ministries — for a rich conversation spanning six decades of gospel-centered leadership, Christian publishing history, and sacrificial generosity. Mark shares the story behind the founding of the New Living Translation Bible, Tyndale House Foundation's global grant-making, and the stewardship convictions that shaped his entire career.

Key takeaways for church leaders:

• Stewardship over ownership — How Mark's father Ken Taylor modeled holding ministry resources with an open hand, and what that looks like in practice for pastors today
• Generosity as a leadership discipline — Why Tyndale House Foundation has given away over $150 million and why that commitment must be built into organizational leadership from the start
• Developing leaders patiently — The decade of formation Mark received before stepping into the CEO role, and why gradual leadership development matters in the local church

"Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the best part of everything you produce." — Proverbs 3:9 (NLT)

This episode is an encouragement for any pastor or ministry director navigating the tension between organizational success and faithful stewardship — and a reminder that God-honoring leadership leaves a legacy far beyond what any one generation can see.

Church Connect
Church Connect – Access trusted resources from leading Christian publishers to strengthen your church. Enjoy everyday bulk discounts of up to 45%, free shipping on orders over $50, and more. Every purchase supports the Tyndale Foundation, funding Christian ministries and global mission organizations.

More from The Church Around the World:
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Listen to more episodes of The Church Around the World podcast: Listen now