When we see someone doing something poorly, what’s our natural inclination? To tell them what their problem is, of course. How else would they fix it unless we tell them what they’re doing wrong? Advice, “constructive” criticism, unsolicited feedback… these are our...
What does it really mean to repent? If you are in ministry, how do you respond to people who say that they are sorry but then don’t take action to change? What do you do when people express words of repentance, but then mix them with words of blame for others and not...
One of my favorites of Christian Schwarz’s books is The 3 Colors of Love. In this volume of his 3 colors series he looks at how to evaluate your growth in the fruit of the Spirit. With solid biblical exegesis, he traces the word love throughout scripture to...
As ministry leaders, we need to teach people to gradually take responsibility for their own spiritual growth and discipleship. It’s true that babies need to be fed. But as they grow, they are able to take on the task of feeding themselves in increasing measure. Most...
The more you mature as a leader, the more challenging it is for growth. The issues God wants to work on are deeper and not as obvious. Counter-intuitively, the more we grow, the more intentional we need to be about taking time for reflection. How can we do that? We...
When I was speaking recently in the masters program at Life Pacific College, a student told me it was transforming for him to realize that he was always expecting others to make space in their life for him, but he wasn’t willing to do the same. He was always the...
I recently spoke at Life Pacific College to a class on the personal development of the leader through coaching. I’ve done a lot of teaching on how to coach, but I think this was the first time I’ve done a focused presentation on how to get the most out of being...
Whatever you want to end up with, you must start with in seed form. Always ask yourself the question, “What if it works?” If this new ministry takes off and grows, how will you handle the growth? What unit will you need to multiply? Group leaders? Meeting space?...
*Multiply disciples *Launch new groups and teams *Develop new leaders Communities of believers are organisms that must keep growing or we die. That can mean passing on the faith to a friend or onto the next generation. It can mean giving someone an assignment that...
