Putting it all together

Leadership

After getting involved in a difficult church leadership situation at a relatively young age, I would have had some serious answers to the questions we asked in the last post. At the age of 28, I went through eight months of clinical depression and did not feel I had...

The hardest verse in the Bible

Leadership

In Matthew 5:48, Jesus told people, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Simple enough. If Jesus said it, it must be something we’re supposed to do. Perfect. It sounded so…born-again. Such an apt summary of everything...

Holistic formation counters consumer Christianity

Leadership

For several years, I worked with a ministry that put on retreats for Christian leaders to learn practices that would nurture their spiritual formation – most for the very first time. I watched many of these leaders experience the transformation that comes from...

Beyond spiritual formation

Leadership

Have you ever experienced a challenge that compelled you to reach deep into your soul in search of the resources you needed to meet it? You feel equipped to deal with the challenge, but when you reach into that space – hunting for wisdom and answers –...

On-ramps for bringing people on-board

Leadership, Training

I live in Pasadena near the oldest freeway in the country– the 110. In the oldest section of that freeway, they have stop signs just before you enter the freeway. There’s a stop sign, then you have literally 50 feet to get onto the freeway. You have to sit there...

Investing where you see growth

Church Planting, Leadership, Prioritizing

Michael Gatlin, pastor of Duluth Vineyard and director of Multiply Vineyard, follows the practice of “investing where you see things growing.”  When you see a particular harvest field yielding good crops, how can you send in more workers to tend and harvest that...