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The Giants Are Going And The Pygmies Must Take Over
Recently one of my former students sent me an e-mail about a current article in Christianity Today on Karl Barth, one of the most influential theologians in the early part of the twentieth century who had an adulterous relationship for much of his married life. The article was revealing, penetrating, and distressing as it spoke of such terrible sin in the life of one of the most significant thinkers in the past one hundred years. My former student, now a man with thirty years ministry experience and a key theological thinker in one of the largest evangelical countries in the world, reminded me of a time when he came to…
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When God Forgets You
How do you respond when God forgets you? He forgets your cell phone number, your e-mail address, and your Face book page. He doesn’t recognize your picture or recall your address or even your long unused landline. How do you feel? As far as you can tell God has forgotten He even created you let alone had a plan for your life. All of those identity defining expectations He once gave you are long gone and never thought of—at least by Him. Perhaps you’re like Moses who defended one of God’s enslaved people only to have to flee for his life. Once he was a member of the…
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The Leader, Not Leadership
At Leader Formation we focus on the leader rather than leadership. Effective leadership is our aim, but we have learned that leadership collapses when competent leaders lack godly character. God has used leadership from the beginning of time, but time after time we see leadership fail because leaders fail. Look at Adam, Abraham, Moses, David, Solomon, Peter, Mark and on throughout history, and you will see that leadership is flawed because leaders are flawed. As one of our board members, Dr. Gary Wood, declared, “Skills are essential but not sufficient.” Leader Formation exists to strengthen leadership by forming leaders. As we see it, the heart of the…
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The Managerial Style of Moses: Part I
You’ve heard it said, “Leaders are born, not made.” While a person may possess a certain charisma, extroversion, and tenacity from birth, having these qualities does not pre-qualify him or her as an effective leader. Moses, for example, was a former criminal, fugitive, and poor public speaker (Ex. 2:12, 15; 4:10). Per today’s standards, Moses was unfit for leadership. I doubt we would have trusted him with managing the entire nation of Israel. But God chose Moses regardless. God had a plan—a plan that required Moses to grow into his leadership responsibilities, learning along the way while relying on the Lord. Perhaps you can identify with Moses’ predicament. You’re…
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15 Principles Every Leader Should Practice
Your team is faltering, accomplishing the goal seems impossible, and you have opposition from all sides. What do you do? Where do you look for help? You look to an expert leader from the 5th century BC, accustomed to adversity. From corporate to church leadership, practicing these fifteen principles of Nehemiah will make your leadership—and your team—stand firm. Determine to Make a Difference– An effective leader does not idly sit and watch her team suffer. She compassionately believes she can make a difference. She takes responsibility by making their problems her problems. Nehemiah mourned, fasted, and prayed for days when he heard of the ruins of Jerusalem. (Nehemiah 1:4) Pray…
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How to Handle Unfair Trials from Leadership
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When the Numbers Stop Working
Leadership is broken because leaders are unbroken We use numbers to hold our lives together and demonstrate our value in life. Numbers measure time or distance or height or age or the amount of power we have or value, especially the value of our identity: our address, our net worth, our power (an office suite or a penthouse on the 50th floor is a lot more impressive than the 2nd floor), our business success (25 years on the job is more impacting than 5 months). And now we use numbers to tell us how to be happy and (maybe) how to please God. I say maybe about pleasing God because…
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Is Your Altar as Big as Your Heart?
Leadership is broken because leaders are unbroken Is Your Altar as Big as Your Heart? When I was twelve years old I put my heart on God’s altar. It happened on a Sunday morning when Mr. Stewart, the superintendent of the junior high Sunday school department in my church, exhorted us mightily to give our all to the Lord. I don’t remember what he said, just that he spoke with intense passion about giving our all to Christ. As I listened I remember distinctly thinking, “That’s what I thought it’s all about. That’s what I did when I trusted Jesus as my Savior.” I became a Christian in my…
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Leadership Insanity
Leadership is broken because leaders are unbroken All of us are familiar with the definition of insanity as doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results. Based on that definition, Christian thinking about leadership is beyond insane. Leadership is broken, and we continue to count on talent, experience, and success to fix leadership, even when it’s evident that these factors fail to fix the problem. In fact, talent, experience, and success hinder us from accomplishing God’s leadership call to us. We’re caught up in a leadership fad, not the first fad the church has ever faced. When I started pastoring—a while back—some of us (including…
