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.
Your time or your money?
Which is harder for you to give—your time or your money? In a lot of cases, time is the more precious resource. I’ve often found it easier to give money than time: “Why do I have to spend four hours washing cars at this youth group fundraiser? Can’t I just write a...
Getting angry at what angers God
I read John 2 recently, about the clearing of the temple. This passage is often cited for the idea of “righteous anger”—it’s okay to get angry if it’s for a good reason. I think that’s true. But take it one step further—what did Jesus get angry about? I think at the...
Values: the roots of ministry
Your ministry flows out of your values. Picture the whole church as a tree: the values are the roots. You can’t see them, but they are responsible for virtually everything that happens above ground. The roots produce the fruit. If the fruit is good, you assume the...
If you don’t enjoy it here, go home!
“If you don’t enjoy it here, go home!” That’s the advice Carlos (formerly Chuck) has for missionaries. To be an effective missionary, we don’t just need to understand the culture. We need to embrace it and enjoy it. Jesus engaged the culture he lived in. He went to...
Mine your experiences
A significant dimension of my continuing education is reflecting on my conversations and experiences. What did I learn? What principles did I discover, affirm or deepen? What common threads do I see? How does this connect with other situations? What patterns can I...
Solidify the change
The team I worked with in Mexico, after experiencing the power of the "Barnabas questions," quickly recognized that they could use these questions in their work with community organizing. They regularly come alongside people to help them with community problems and...
Model the change
We need to model the change we want others to embrace. Use the questions I listed in yesterdays’ blog entry as you engage with others in the relationships you already have. Let people experience coaching conversations so they can capture the emotions and the benefits....
6 questions to create a coaching culture
I like to call these The Barnabas Questions: How are you? What are you celebrating? What challenges are you experiencing What do you plan to do about these challenges? How can I help you? How can I pray for you? I introduced these six questions, originally used by...
Slow down for potholes
Mexico had a speeding problem. People would go way too fast. Now they’ve solved that problem by putting up “topes” everywhere that force drivers to slow down. “Topes” are gigantic speed bumps. Some are so big the bottom of the car scrapes across it and most drivers...
Self-Scouting by Tom Nebel
Today's entry by Tom Nebel is a re-post from www.churchplanting.com. A few weeks ago I had the unique experience of chatting with Green Bay Packers’ head coach Mike McCarthy, in his home. Long story, but I was given an on-field pass before the Packers/Broncos game,...
Paul and Barnabas
Quite a while back I was asked to work with multiple denominational groups in Germany on a church leadership initiative they wanted to put together. I told them I’d do it as long as Christoph would work with me. Christoph was a young emerging German leader. They...
A staff meeting of Barnabases
When I was in Mexico recently, I attended the staff meeting at Comunidad Mosaico, a ministry that works toward transformation among the urban poor. They had a time of worship, and due to my poor Spanish skills, I understood very little that was going on. But I felt...