A Barnabas is someone who asks good questions and sometimes that makes all the difference. I was listening to someone recently who was upset about a particular situation. He’d been venting for a while, when I asked, “What do you want?” “What I want is for [coworker]...
Barnabas moved people toward maturity rather than dependence. Instead of simply telling people what to do, he helped people mature in making their own godly decisions. In this way, people grew in responsibility and in leadership. Paul casts a beautiful vision for this...
A Barnabas assumes that God has different plans for different people. What one person is supposed to do isn’t necessarily the same as what another person is supposed to do. Barnabas recognized this as he helped establish Paul among the apostles (Acts 9:26-28). We also...
“As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another” (Proverbs 27:17). Each person is responsible before God, yet we live in community. In healthy, faith-based relationships, we can honor one another and hold one another accountable. Barnabas did this for Paul and...
Welcome to a six-week series on Barnabas, one of my favorite people in the Bible. During this Lenten season, we can engage together in this devotional series that includes scriptural insights, food for thought, and points of action. Often overlooked but deeply...
I ran across a great blog entry recently from Carey Nieuwhof. I highly recommend reading the post by Jenni Catron; you can find it here. One phrase in particular that stood out to me was “Define the What; Release the How.” Define the What; Release the How. The...
I realized early on in ministry that I was not smart enough to be the Holy Spirit. The best I can do is to help people listen to what God is doing in their life and then to cooperate with the Holy Spirit to see God’s agenda become a reality. When we are discipling...
How can you be sure you are asking the right questions to get to where you want to go? As you lead your church or ministry, the kinds of questions you’re asking make a big difference in where you’re going and what you do—or don’t do—in order to get there. For...
How to decide? Often in ministry and in life, we are faced with choices between two—or more—good options, but we don’t have the time, energy or money to do all of them. We have to choose. It’s especially difficult to choose when both options seem quite good. A friend...
