Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. – 2Timothy 4:2 When I was in seminary it seemed like the one constant piece of advice from the professors for being a pastor in the local church was, “All you have to do is preach … Continue reading Shepherding with Patience
As a leader I have more questions than answers. The principles I have learned about leadership may have originated in a book or conference, but the ones that stick out are the ones conferred upon me through real life leading. This list is not exhaustive. It’s only scratching the surface. Leadership Lessons from the School … Continue reading School of Hard Knocks
The tendency is for Christians to dichotomize our lives into the secular and the spiritual. When we do this, what we are actually doing is denying God His rightful place as the Sovereign of the universe. We tend to categorize issues as spiritual or non-spiritual in a rather flippant manner. For example, going to church, … Continue reading Every Issue Is A Spiritual Issue
Ministry has been defined for too long by programs and activities. A quick survey of a handful of church and parachurch ministry websites and we find a litany of programs, dates, times and links to sign up for this and that. Programs, events and activities are not evil. Yet, they can be distractions from the main event. … Continue reading Relationships Matter
What we do in the corporate times of worship has greater influence for making disciples than how we do it. Ultimately, culture is what drives an organization. There is not enough strategy in the world to overcome culture. Culture eats strategy for breakfast. This means that the culture of worship in a church will eventually win out over … Continue reading Worship Matters
A friend of mine signs all of his emails, “Make Progress Daily.” As the old saying goes, the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. Progress is defined as forward or onward movement toward a destination. There is forward, neutral and reverse. So, if we are not making progress then we are losing ground. … Continue reading Make Progress Daily
Your team members are your most valuable asset in your organization. Without them, the organization is unlikely to be very successful at achieving the mission. Team members want to do a good job and contribute to the overall success of the team and organization. As the leader, it is your responsibility to invest in your … Continue reading Performance Reviews
Cultural anthropology is the branch of anthropology concerned with the study of human societies and cultures and their development. What does this mean for the local church? Churches must know and understand their ministry context in order to be effective at intersecting the lives of the people with the gospel and love of Jesus. All people have … Continue reading Students of our Culture
Culture is what sets an organization apart as either a hard place to work or a great place to work. An organization’s culture will directly impact the success of the organization. The leader(ship) of an organization is always creating culture. Culture eats strategy for breakfast. An organization can have all the strategy, processes and cool … Continue reading Creating (healthy) Culture
There are those precious commodities of life that are valuable in nature and limited in amount. TIME is one of these such commodities. We only have a set amount of time each day. Yet, the demands for our time seem to grow exponentially by the hour. Time is constantly moving and once it passes it … Continue reading Like Sands Through the Hour Glass
MichaelStovall 