Leaders

God gave us bodies that heal amazingly, given time and proper treatment. However, hearts and souls may not heal so well apart from tender mercies, kindness, bearing with one another, and forgiving one another. Gina discusses the necessity of the servant-leader’s attribute of healing.

Sometimes life moves quickly like fast-moving traffic. Sometimes we make a wrong turn and get stuck in a life traffic-jam, and then choose to stay there. We aren’t caring for others because we are too busy coddling ourselves. We are (and are choosing to be) ineffective in God’s Kingdom.

Caleb Bislow wrote a book about his calling. He is a farm boy from Nebraska, and went from a restless life as a Christian youth pastor in the Midwest, to quitting his job, emptying his bank account, and traveling deep into Africa.

Not only is there healing and recovery for those who have experienced church hurt but you can learn powerful and positive life-changing lessons on the journey. What happens when Christians aren't behaving like Christians?

I know that other artists feel the same spiritual connection that I do while creating. I hear artists talk about it a lot. However, I've noticed that most artists don’t talk about this experience in relationship to Jesus.

Awkward moments feel like we’re stepping off the edge of a cliff. Peter, the Apostle is quite famous for his awkward moments. Three times he was interrupted by God – by the Son (Matt. 16:23), by the Father from heaven (Matt. 17:5), and by the Holy Spirit (Acts 10:44). Yet Jesus made it clear that He believed in Peter and assured Peter of his usefulness to care for the flock of God (John 21:15-19; 1 Pet. 5:2-3).

Solomon told us that for everything there is a season. There are times that we need comforting, times that we need to comfort others, and times for growth when we are called to step out of our comfort zones. Kris describes what this means and the blessings God has in store for us when we do.

Bernard Baily said, “When science discovers the center of the universe, a lot of people will be disappointed to find they are not it.” Leaders can lose sight of how much others contribute to the whole scheme of things tending to allow pride to lead. Dionna highlights the necessity of keeping self in perspective through humbleness. She reminds us that everyone needs a dose of meekness to keep the balance in our lives.

Researchers have caught elephants in the act of empathetic actions. They console each other when grieving, they help each other when in trouble, and the leader always knows when leaving a severely wounded elephant behind is best for the tribe to survive. But she still grieves over the one left behind. Practicing empathy is essential to the growth and well-being of those who report to the servant-leader as well as for the entire organization.

Learn how to turn a difficult situation into an empowering one through collaborative leading. Who says you should feel drained and defeated by the people you work with?

Dogs are exuberant in their joy. They exhibit it when they see you coming. It never matters how long – it could be ten minutes or ten hours – their joy is just as exultant. They know their purpose is to share that joy with you. However, it’s easy to get to a place in life where you forget the joy that you first found in your role. To rediscover that joy, leaders may only need to take a step back, and find the purpose and vision that God designed in what we are doing. We can have exultant joy.

How can having a major stroke and suffering a coma be a stroke of grace? Bill describes Dieter Zander’s story: “Dieter’s stage was gone. The applause he thrived on was gone. The opportunity to use his talents and earn a living were gone. Gone. It seemed everything was all gone…”