Tag: Christian Blog

An update on my garden, and on areas I need to grow in personally.

Leadership, at its best, inspires others toward what is true and beautiful. How do good leaders stay on track?

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matt 11:28. Ministry hinges on leaders, but effective leaders are few and precious and many effective leaders fall. But before they fall, they burn out.

Missionaries are like the church’s Special Forces, right? They go into enemy territory, sometimes covertly, tearing down walls for Jesus. They have special training, preparing them to serve in the darkest places around the globe. Missionaries are on the front lines of the Kingdom of Heaven, right? I’m sorry, but no.

I want Christ, but I too often want Him as a kind of quantifiable spiritual asset, as something I can always check to be sure of just as I can check my bank account balance or my cholesterol level. I want what God has promised, but I want power of attorney to execute those promises when I’ve determined I need them. That’s not what the gospel of Jesus Christ is all about.

Jesus Christ was the First. The Most. The Best. The Last. The Everything. Regardless of what they tell you, the Christian faith is not about love. Jesus. It’s all about Jesus.

Healthy organizations need the tension between chaos and order. Every company needs both fire and water. Every company needs a healthy soul.

One of the hardest things to figure out in ministry is work/life balance. The schedule is 24/7. Because the demands of the job itself deal with the spiritual and emotional wellbeing of those in your church, it can be hard to say no. There are many good people in ministry who have made bad decisions that can be traced back to their inability to balance well. In my experience, there are four practical ideas you can use to help maintain a healthy balance in ministry.

Your mental health can determine your leadership effectiveness.

Workplaces that support employee mental health are progressive. But what about the mental health of the leaders?

Jesus models for us a letting go of control, earthly power, and reputation. He empties Himself at the cross, trusting in the goodness and love of the Father. God intends that we follow the same path. Yet, in situations both the large and small, we find this incredibly difficult. Why?

John Owen strongly challenged: “Be killing sin or sin will be killing you.” Overcoming temptation is active, not passive. Here are three temptations leaders must fight against daily.

Here are four downsides to every message, announcement, meeting, or event being the most important one in human history, ever.

If you remain in a leadership position long enough you will have to deal with incompetence in someone at some point. Whether that means reassigning someone, redefining their role, or letting them go, as a leader the only option not available is to allow the mission of the organization to suffer.

If you feel that this is the place God wants you to be at the moment, recommit yourself to your role and thank Him for being there for you. If not, ask God where He wants you to be.

For those of us who do know Jesus, be glad and sing praises, like Matthew Henry or Paul and Silas, no matter what’s happening “down here” in our lives. Remember, the sun is always shining above the clouds, and the steadfast love of our God will never cease.

This is the sixth of seven blog posts that are excerpted from book, Steward Leader Meditations. It is my heartfelt prayer that this book...

I’ve been working with some leaders recently who are persevering through perennial and seemingly unrelenting loss. Their hearts are asking, “Is the struggle God’s...

When we talk of attractiveness we usually think of our outward appearance, but of course our looks account for such a small percentage. Our attractiveness has much more to do with the depth of our relationship with God, the fruit of the Spirit growing from our lives and how we behave and interact with people.

The most important leadership characteristic is credibility. Here are five common ways leaders lose their credibility.