Yesterday I wrote about the growth of urban slums. Which leaves us with the question: “What can we as the church do about it?” Yet our guiding question shouldn’t be, “What can we do to address the challenge of urban slums?” but rather, “What will it take to...
Lately I’ve been reading a biography of Winston Churchill and ran across this quote from him: “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.” This reminds me of the role we have as Christian leaders. Certainly...
Ministry is like rubber bands and shoelaces. With rubber bands, no stretch equals no growth. But if you stretch people too far they break. Shoelaces need to be tied together to function, just as people need to be tied together in relational networks in order to...
When we’re doing ministry in a more decentralized fashion, we need to help our leaders think through what they need by way of support and connections to sustain them. Hugh Halter and Matt Smay, in their book The Tangible Kingdom, outline the concept of the three...
Lately I’ve been struck by how important it is to have a ministry partner, especially if you’re leading a ministry. It’s not healthy to be by yourself and constantly giving out without receiving. We each need someone to share the load with, someone who is equally as...
Lately I’ve been working on putting together missional coach training for a couple of different groups. I’ve done quite a lot of these types of trainings over the years, but no two are ever quite the same. Even when two different groups need and want the same basic...
