Follow Jesus. Lead the church. Change the world.
I have heard it said that some things are better caught than taught. We teach through what we say, but our words must match our actions. We are certainly learning this principle as parents. We use words to teach Ethan how to behave, but he picks up on our actions, too. Recently, Virgin HealthMiles replaced … Read more
My two biggest passions in ministry are preaching and leadership. I recently blogged the role of preaching where I reflected on my journey as a preacher. My leadership journey, like my preaching journey, also began early on in my spiritual journey. The standard question is whether leaders are born or made (i.e., nature vs. nurture). … Read more
I grew up in a tradition where preaching was highly valued, so much so that a call to ministry was commonly described as a “call to preach.” As I began processing God’s call on my own life, I naturally focused on preaching above everything else. Interestingly, two years into my ministry journey, during my senior … Read more
Everyone has limitations, which means that no one can do everything. But while everyone has limitations, not everyone knows their limitations. When you don’t know your limitations, you’re likely to spend too much time doing things you’re not gifted to do (of course, we all have to do things we’re not gifted to do occasionally, … Read more
One of my favorite books on leadership is Next Generation Leader (by Andy Stanley), which I read several years ago. The book focuses on five key areas: competence, courage, clarity, coaching and character. On character, Stanley writes … Your talent and giftedness as a leader have the potential to take you farther than your character … Read more
One morning last week, during my time with God, I was praying for my (and Joleen’s) ministry/leadership, and said … Make us the followers you want us to be so that we can be the leaders you call us to be! I have always believed that leaders must first be followers. Christ-following leaders must first … Read more
Experience is a good thing. We need experience in order to grow. But there is a downside of experience. The more experience we get in using our God-given gifts/abilities, the more confidence we get in our abilities. (BTW, I believe I got this idea from a book by Bruce Wilkinson that I read several years … Read more
I love what Jesus said about calling us to be fruitful. As a Christ-follower, I want to honor God with my life. I believe that means, in part, living a fruitful life. Jesus said … You did not choose me. I chose you and sent you out to produce fruit, the kind of fruit that … Read more
Following up on my Ruthlessly Eliminate Hurry post, I’ve been mulling over the difference between urgency and impatience for a while now. On the one hand, impatience is obviously a bad thing. But I believe that having a sense of urgency is a good thing. What’s the difference? Impatience is defined as … a dislike … Read more
The phrase, “Ruthlessly eliminate hurry,” has been nagging me from time to time ever since I read it several years ago (John Ortberg wrote about it in 2002 in an article at christianitytoday.com; the follow-up article is worth reading, too). BTW, I briefly mentioned this phrase and the article it comes from in a post … Read more