Leadership
Holistic Leadership Development
You want to develop leaders who will do what Jesus called us to do, leaders who can take the church forward into the 21st century. You look to the fields and see them, as Jesus does, ready for harvest — and you know that’s where your ministry needs to concentrate.
What’s needed is holistic leadership development — the kind of leadership development that comes from the harvest and leads people back into the harvest, resulting in subsequent generations of new believers and new leaders living as Jesus called us to live.
We can help you develop leaders the kind of leaders you need in a way that is both relational and intentional… and ultimately effective in helping your church accomplish its mission.
New seminary entrance requirements
What would it look like if no one was admitted to a Bible college or seminary until they had made and multiplied a small group of disciples? Enrollment would take a hit, of course. But imagine the quality of the leaders that would be graduated. These would be people...
Third generation training
The first time I planted a church, our first public gathering was at another church building on a Sunday evening. I had one guy who was the head usher (head meaning we only had one). He was the setup guy, the logistics guy, and the greeter. Before our first service...
Missional communities: the ideal leadership training ground
If you’re trying to raise up church planters, pastors, missionaries, or almost any other type of Christian leader, 80% of what you need them to be able to do can be developed in the context of starting and multiplying missional communities. Certain additional skills,...
Scripture shedding light on coaching
In what ways does scripture inform the way we think about coaching? 1 Thessalonians 2:11-12 sheds light on how coaching is done: The Apostle Paul paints a picture of how we are to develop others in their faith—as a father dealing with his children. The functions a...
The art of shepherding
A coaching client of mine recently made a great observation about shepherding. He said, “You can lead a sheep to the field, but you don’t shove grass down their mouths.” He was learning to not over-shepherd, but to teach people to take responsibility for themselves....
Equipping people for works of service
Ephesians 4:11-12 sheds light on why coaching is done: “So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in...
Lifestyle habits that get in the way
When Christian leaders try to figure out reasons why we are feeling angry, depressed or just out of sorts, we usually look outside of ourselves: a difficult spouse, parents or children. A stressful job, a challenging ministry. Yet to deal effectively with our emotions...
Lies we believe
The lies we believe can make us mad. We can take a lie and accept it as the truth. Usually this lie contains part of the truth, but has been distorted in some way. For example, Pastor Steve has had some negative experiences being judged by people in the church in the...
Pride and listening
Pride is a spiritual disease. Like Adam, in choosing to defy God’s commands, we take control of our own life. Pride is the inner push that prompts us to do this. Once we give in to this self-centered thinking, it becomes part of our personality. A day doesn’t pass...
Dependency and anger
Most of us don't have healthy models of how to deal with anger, and then when it spills out in our churches, ministry teams, and small groups, we wonder why we have troubles. If we are to address issues of anger in our own lives and be equipped to help others in our...
Hitting the pause button
You may have heard of the fight or flight response. When we feel threatened, we either flee or we lash out. Fight and flight are two sides of the same coin-- anger and fear. But there is a third option: fight, flight, or freeze. Freeze, in this case, means hitting the...
Anger and choices
Once we have learned to recognize and identify the way we personally express our anger, we can learn to distinguish right and wrong ways of managing it. We always have a choice about how we handle it, no matter what the other person is doing. That places the...