April 26, 2018
burnout

If You’re Ready To Give Up On Yourself As A Leader, Some Hope

This post shared with permission of Carey Nieuwhof.  When you start out in leadership, it’s easy to think that everything will be up and to the right. I mean that’s how we plan it out in our heads, isn’t it? And yet every leader I know faces a season or two that threatens to take them out. It just feels too hard—or not worthwhile enough—to continue. For me, it came 12 years ago. It was the year I almost gave up on myself. If you haven’t reached that moment, (sadly) I promise you as a leader it will likely come. Can […]
April 19, 2018
global

Ramesh Richard and Global Pastoral Training

Podcast interview with J.D. Payne and Dr. Ramesh Richard aired originally on “Strike the Match,”  Missiologically Thinking, reposted with generous permission by the same.  “Church multiplication strategies must include pastoral training. Though some people believe pastoral training gets in the way of making disciples and planting churches, the bible advocates otherwise. “After church planting, what?” asks my guest, Dr. Ramesh Richard. In this episode, we discuss the importance of pastoral training throughout the world. We address the global conversation related to this topic and both formal and non-formal training. Equipping pastors to equip the saints for the work of the ministry […]
April 12, 2018
realities

Are You Fully Recognizing Your Realities?

EXCERPT SHARED WITH PERMISSION FROM “ACHIEVE WITH ACCOUNTABILITY” CHAPTER THREE BY MIKE EVANS Are you open to perspectives of others? How tightly do you cling, defend, and hold onto only the way you see things? When provided an opposing point of view, is your initial inclination or response to argue for or protect your position? Do you sincerely attempt to see the world through the eyes of the other person? If you only see the world through your own lens, you are setting yourself up to fail. No two people see the world exactly the same. No one person can […]
April 10, 2018
unlikely

Empowering Unlikely Leaders

In this episode, Drs. Darrell L. Bock and Gerald McDermott discuss empowering leaders with speech impediments. Timecodes: 00:15 McDermott’s book Famous Stutterers 09:17 Moses’s case of stuttering 16:48 Aristotle’s and Demosthenes’s cases of stuttering 21:58 Joshua Chamberlain’s case of stuttering 24:34 King George’s case of stuttering 28:54 McDermott’s own experience of stuttering 33:55 Cause of and cure for stuttering 40:14 Marilyn Monroe’s and Annie Glenn’s cases of stuttering Darrell Bock: Welcome to The Table, where we discuss issues of God and culture. My name is Darrell Bock, executive director for cultural engagement at the Hendricks Center at Dallas Theological Seminary. […]
April 5, 2018
hard

5 Hard Truths About Healthy Church Growth

Reshared with kind permission by the author Carey Nieuwhof. Most church leaders I know would love to see their church grow. Similarly, most leaders I’ve met want their church to grow for what we might call the ‘right’ reasons: they sincerely want more people to encounter the love of Jesus Christ. That’s amazing. And yet there’s a strong reaction against growing churches by many leaders. For some reason, many people love to take pot-shots at growing churches and large churches. Some are categorical denouncements. I don’t know what to do with those. Sometimes I sense that underneath the anger are […]
April 5, 2018

God Nailed It!

“When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.” Colossians 2:13-14 As we approach Passion week and the Easter story, it is essential that we take time to consider and reflect on the cross of Jesus and what that truly means. Often in our excitement and joy in the resurrection we quickly move past Good […]
April 3, 2018
board

Who Decides What: The Pastor or The Board

Guest post from Aaron Buer. Reposted with kind permission from Breeze. Who gets to decide what in your church? If the person who leads the children’s ministry at your church decides that it’s time to redecorate the kid’s classrooms, who needs to approve the decision? Who needs to approve the money allotted, the paint colors chosen, and the hiring of painters? Speaking of children’s ministry, who evaluates the effectiveness of the children’s ministry? Who is involved in the decision to fire or hire a children’s ministry director? The reason I bring these questions up is because in many churches the boundaries […]