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.
The next five years
At our last ViaCordis campfire gathering, we gathered leaders of the churches who are in the ViaCordis network. We had a time of prayer and listening to the Lord and see what the Spirit might be prompting people to share. My friend and associate Doug Lee shared that...
Webinar: Getting your Ministry Moving in a Missional Direction
Most of today’s leaders want to move their ministries in a missional direction. We want to see our people engaging with the world around them in positive ways: building relationships, serving, making a difference for the Kingdom. But too many of us just aren’t sure...
Principle #7: Cultivating others to live incarnationally
Leave it to Jesus to be forward-looking. He knew there’d be many years to come when he couldn’t be there with his followers, showing them how to do things. He taught them how to figure out how to take the next steps. He shaped their characters and prepared them to...
Principle #6: Calling people to follow Jesus
Jesus didn’t shy away from calling people toward commitment, but he did approach it in a surprisingly wide variety of ways. He was gracious to those who were struggling. He was unrelenting to those whose hearts were hard. With the woman at the well, he was tender and...
Principle #5: Serving the least of these
I’ve written about this on my blog before, but it really stood out as I read the gospels with an eye toward seeing how Jesus lived. He really focused his ministry on the least of these. I’d challenge you to take some time this week to look through the following...
Principle #4: Engaging authentically with others
Jesus not only lived among those he served, he truly interacted with them at a personal level. He treated people as individuals and engaged in conversations with them around issues that mattered to them. Here are some of the observations I made as I read the gospels...
Principle #3: Dwelling among the people
Jesus didn’t teach from afar. He personally and relationally among the people he ministered to. Some he knew well: He cried with them, laughed with them, ate with them, traveled with them. Sometimes we forget that there were others beyond the twelve disciples who...
Principle #2: Living with purpose
Jesus wasn’t just wandering around the Holy Land aimlessly. He was walking with a purpose. We too, as we seek to live incarnationally as he did, need to walk with a purpose. That doesn’t mean we’re in a hurry or that we’re not relational. Quite the contrary,...
Principle #1: Staying connected with the Father
One principle I found when looking at the life of Jesus is that he stayed connected with the Father. That may sound simple and obvious, but it’s amazing how quickly we lose sight of it in day-to-day ministry. Especially those of us who plan well can begin relying on...
The 7 principles of incarnational living
After doing a study on the life of Jesus, which I’ve written about previously on this blog, I have arrived at 7 principles of incarnational living. Living incarnationally means: Staying connected with the Father Living with purpose Dwelling among the people Engaging...
Video interview with Dennis Easter
Amazing video interview with FourSquare Pastor Dennis Easter of Portland. He has taken a historic downtown church and helped move it in a missional direction. Lots of great examples of the ways his church is integrating with the community around them to live out their...
Why is urban ministry so lonely?
Why is it that when you are working in urban contexts it’s so hard to get people to join you? Why do people seem unwilling to join in urban ministry ventures? In rural settings, it’s relatively easy to get people to come out and build some houses or churches, dig...