Life, leadership, and the pursuit of Jesus' mission!

Prayers for the Church: Urgency

The church needs a sense of urgency! Each week, I’m posting a prayer for the Church. So far, I’ve prayed for awakening and transformational leaders. The Church also needs a sense of urgency (I wrote about urgency yesterday in Eschatological Urgency). O God, we are your hands and feet in the world. Thank you forContinue Reading »

Eschatological Urgency

In my last post, Eschatological Hope, I stated that the eventual return of Christ gives us hope to face whatever we might encounter in this life, and that our focus must simply be to be ready for Christ’s return. As I noted, eschatology is the study of end time events. Jesus certainly talked about endContinue Reading »

Eschatological Hope

Eschatology is the study of end time events. Few areas of scripture are more hotly debated, and perhaps misunderstood and misused, than parts than deal with end times events. Stuff can get off-the-wall pretty quickly. Some faith traditions talk more about eschatology than others. For example, it’s not a big focus in The United MethodistContinue Reading »

I Am Not Invincible!

When I hit the wall several months ago, I remember reminding myself during a time of prayer, “I’m not invincible.” At the time, I was pushing it pretty hard, physically (doing 30,000 steps/day as part of a 21-day national Virgin HealthMiles challenge). And, basically, I had been living on adrenaline, because that’s the only wayContinue Reading »

Prayers for the Church: Transformational Leaders

The Church needs transformational leaders! Last week, I began a series of posts praying for the Church. The church certainly needs awakening. It also needs transformational leaders. Joleen and I have always endeavored to be transformational leaders. Transformational leaders seek to help the churches they lead experience new life and to become more active inContinue Reading »

5 Benefits of Journaling

I was a 19 year-old college student when I sensed God calling me into full-time ministry. Shortly afterward, I transferred to a different college and changed my major, and my life focus, from engineering to ministry. While I was finishing up my last two years of college, working on a Bachelor’s degree in ministry, IContinue Reading »

Prayers for the Church: Awakening

I am beginning a series of posts, praying for the Church. Once a week, for a while, I plan to offer a prayer for the Church, each focused on a specific area. First up is awakening. O God, thank you for your Church, your hands and feet. Thank you for inviting us to participate inContinue Reading »

Fruit Comes From Staying Connected to God

The sooner we settle the issue of how desperately we need God, the better! Jesus once said … I assure you that the Son can’t do anything by himself except what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise. … I can’t do anything by myself.” (John 5.19, 30) Later,Continue Reading »

4 Practices of Sustainable Leadership

Recently, I read two articles on the Harvard Business Review blog: Fatigue Is Your Enemy and Manage Your Energy, Not Your Time. Tony Schwartz writes … Two years ago, I began hearing the phrase ‘It isn’t sustainable’ over and over from senior executives. They were talking about the everyday demands at work. The day ofContinue Reading »

Dreams Should Get Bigger As We Get Older

When I read The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson this past year (I wrote several posts; the last one was 5 Takeaways From “The Circle Maker”), one section that struck me was the idea that as we age, we typically follow one of two paths: we either move toward memory or imagination. Batterson writes …Continue Reading »