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.
Winston Churchill on courage
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...
Take the 30-day challenge
For the next 30 days, every time someone asks you an advice-type question, instead of giving them an answer, them this question: “What do you think?” Then discipline yourself to simply listen and help them unpack their thoughts. When I tried this experiment myself, I...
When God is at work, don’t mess it up
When you’re coaching someone and they say, “That’s a good question,” how should you respond? The correct answer is silence. When someone says, “That’s a good question,” it means the Holy Spirit has connected with them and what you need to do is nothing. Be silent and...
What makes a question powerful?
Most powerful questions are simple and they are short—usually 5 words or less. What do you want? What would it look like? Who can help you? What are you hearing from God? These are short, simple questions. Powerful questions have no long preamble or explanation on the...
Does Christianity change?
Did you see last Monday’s article in USA today? They’re doing a series on faith in America and the author, Oliver Thomas, is making the point that things change—even in the area of faith. Once a faith stops connecting with the people and the culture, it begins to die....
What makes missional coach training different?
I’ve done conducted a lot of coach trainings over the years. Last week in Denver I did my first coach training geared specifically for missional leaders. Missional coach training: coaching for incarnational, missional ministry. It felt different. Since then I’ve been...
Rubber bands and shoelaces
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...
The three circles and decentralized ministry
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...
True Religion
By guest blogger Keith Shields I had coffee with a friend the other day. He lamented that it seemed to him that many people rally under the Christian banner but then argue and disagree about a lot of small things. I agreed. It would be nice if we could create a place...
Two are better than one
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...
How to contextualize training
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...
Baby steps in coaching
Let’s say you’re coaching someone in the area of spiritual formation. So far he’s had no intentional connection times with God at all. When he visualizes setting aside time to be with God, he’s thinking two hours a day of reflection on scripture. Many times people try...