Tag: leadership
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Public Ministry Prerequisites
A friend recently expressed a frustration that anyone who works in a church feels all the time. He said, “We just get the leftovers of people’s time, energy, and heart.” He said it in a negative way. I affirmed him in a positive way. “That’s the way it’s supposed to be.” I get the same…
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5 things gardens teach us about healthy churches
Last year, Kristen and I made a commitment to grow organically or buy organically 25% of our families food. For us, that has meant starting and maintaing a garden. As they say, inch by inch and row by row– we have watched our garden grow. A native suburbanite, I’ve discovered many revelations about my perceptions…
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How to be a great church leader
Sometimes I think that being a great leader in the church looks like being a great leader in everyone’s eyes. After all, greatness is not achieved until you are publicly recognized as great, right? I start to read books about being a business leader and think, I want to do that! I like to listen…
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You need clarity and focus
Paul’s teacher has been on us for a few months to get his eyes checked out. She’d tell us, “He squints to see the board” or “He says he has to sit up front. I think he needs glasses.” I assumed, just like his big sister, that he’d need glasses eventually. Everyone in my family…
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4 Clarifying questions to begin my day
Am I called to lead or to serve? Am I called to give or to receive? Am I called to prosper or to sacrifice? Am I called to endure or conquer?
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Exit Strategy
Over the weekend it was announced that the Huffington Post was selling to AOL for $315 million. The press release will reassure fans that the change in ownership won’t change the core of the business. But it will. The only party who really believes that nothing will change is AOL. From now on a line…
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What does restoration look like?
My heart breaks for those hurt by the church. Specifically, for people called to full-time ministry, but gravely injured by the people they were called to serve. Hardly a day goes by when I don’t interact with a youth pastor or former youth pastor who was deeply wounded by their church. The church treated them…
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Let Grace be our language
Is grace enough for you? Maybe I’m a cynic but I don’t think grace is a hallmark of a lot of Christians. We’re too busy having unrealistic expectations for one another and then wallowing in the disappointment of failed relationships. I’m too busy judging you for judging me for grace! Let’s get past this oddity…
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If you don’t want to play with the big boys…
Stay on the porch. I remember my mom saying this when I was a kid. One of us would come home crying because we got a bloody nose or a scraped knee from playing 2-hand-touch football or 21 in basketball, and she’d just kind of sarcastically say, “If you don’t want to play with the…