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Praying for and Supporting Those Who Struggle
With every prayer and petition, pray at all times in the Spirit, and to this end be alert, with all perseverance and petitions for all the saints. Ephesians 6:18 One of my responsibilities is to pray, especially for some loved ones who are fighting personal battles and for global workers planting churches in unfriendly environments. After the last few difficult years, it is easy to give up. After all, prayer is hard work and doesn’t always garner visible results. I can’t do it alone. Thankfully, I have prayer partners who intercede with me and for me. Together, we follow the example of Moses, the leader of the Israelites. As Moses led the people out…
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Decide today who you will be tomorrow-Purposeful living brings reconciliation.
Circa 2002, I made the first of several visits to the King Center and Center for Non-Violent Social Change in Atlanta, Georgia. At the time I was a college student and I was highly impacted by Dr. Martin Luther King and his unwavering commitment to justice and peace. I made up my mind then that I wanted to be like Dr. King. I wanted to be courageous and peaceful in the face of evil and committed to loving people with the sacrificial love of Jesus. I have since developed a mantra that has followed me into Christian leadership, “decide now.” When I am speaking with a young lady about sexual…
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Nehemiah teaches us how to handle the Backyard Bullies
Nehemiah is not the only one who faced backyard bullies who used their strength or power to intimidate the weaker Jerusalemites. Joshua and Jabez did as well. Bully's tactics begin as a low rumble and escalate to a roar! They are jealous, angry, scornful, mockers who plant invidious ideas and thoughts to distract and scare. Our children meet these backyard bullies with their taunts and scary words. They meet them when they are faced with pressure to log on and be a part of the social media scene. Help them to see and understand that bullies are like that because essentially bullies are scaredy cats who are all bluff and…
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Courageous Leadership
I still remember the first time I slipped out of my chair and stood at the head of a boardroom table. The women before me were leaders, mentors, and trailblazers in my profession. "They don't teach you how to do this in seminary," I thought to myself. I swallowed hard, hobbled through our hour-long agenda, and concluded the meeting. Since that day, I've experienced the same what-am-I-doing-here feeling a hundred times. You too? As leaders we seldom feel adequate—let alone courageous—as we survey our task. So how do we practice courageous leadership when we feel anything but courageous? Some of our best instruction can be found in the book of…