Category Archives: Leadership
Soul care, equipping and encouragement of those who find themselves on the front lines of vocational ministry. The endless demands of church growth, budgets and growing healthy vibrant communities of faith place a lot of pressure on leaders and their families. Be equipped and resourced to lead well, proven strategies for balancing family and ministry demands, conflict resolution plus preventatives to avoid burn out. Focusing on your needs as a ministry leader so you can continue to serve those within your community.

The Cross, Victory and the Non-Violent God

[ This article was originally written in 2011 - thought I'd blow the dust off it and share it again. fresh thoughts are in [*]. Worldview runs silently in the background of our consciousness, filtering and shaping the way we interpret the world around us. It is from these interpretations that our worldview shapes our…

[Guest article by Jacob Rose] The Jewish tradition of midrash offers something rich to the practice of scriptural interpretation that is too often forgone in the Christian tradition. Rachel Held Evans, author of Inspired, writes: “While Christians turn to Scripture to end a conversation, Jews turn to scripture to start a conversation” (24). Often, the understanding of…

Finding Community along the Beautiful Way

For at least the last decade many have been sensing a new reformation taking shape. It started to be a fairly broad critique of what manifests as institutional forms of church and the nature of its structures. Much has been written on this issue and we have seem a steady exodus from western institutional forms of church regardless of stripe.

It was the beginning of Passover as Jesus and his friends headed to Jerusalem for the to celebrate Israel's liberation from Egypt. Word spread that He was on His way to the city. People ran out to meet this Jesus who was taking the land by storm, with his radical teachings of love; turning the…

The Big Idea: Our best, most authentic work needs to be rooted in something bigger than us and our good work. A deep guiding force that keeps us from being consumed by our good work or worse, becoming that which we resist. We think that the good work in and of itself will keep us…

Human Being versus Doing. Towards Wholeness

I am not alone when I admit I have wrestled with the being versus doing dichotomy. In essence, it's a longing to live more authentically, to experience meaning in those things we do and not feeling disconnected from our sense of being whether by mindless rote, guilt or unhealthy obligation. I know that this was…

A fascinating 1972 video clip of Viktor Frankl, filmed in Toronto, Canada. In this video, Frankl is calling humanity to aim to a higher standard, to pick a target beyond ourselves and while we may fall short, he argues we will reach further or closer to wholeness than if we aimed for something less. In…

Once upon a time, there lived a woman who wished she could understand the difference between Heaven and Hell. She petitioned God for such an experience, and one day God came to her in a dream. God said to the woman, “I have heard your prayer, and I am willing to grant your request. I…

In my quiet time this morning I was reading a piece of scripture for the New Testament. I found myself lingering around Jesus’ temptation in the desert in Matthew 4. 5Then the Slanderer carries him off into the Holy City, and stood him upon the pinnacle of the Temple, 6And says to him, “If you…

Christmas day is fast approaching and many people are in a full-on lather of activity; shopping for gifts for our friends and family, attending Christmas social events, Church events, and Children's Christmas activities and concerts. Not to mention scrambling to get things tied-up at work before the Christmas break! This is just par for the…

March 9, 2012
Restoring Fallen Leaders

It seems we are always looking for heroes, someone to place upon a pedestal and inevitably they fall from the heights we have elevated them! Sometimes it is simply they don't live up to the unrealistic expectations we place upon them but sometimes they fall from the pedestal because of their actions. Recent history is littered with prominent Christian leaders Continue Reading...
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December 14, 2012
Show me the Kingdom of God

A follower of Jesus went into the city to meet with an elderly Spiritual Director. They sat under the old elm tree and enjoyed a glass of iced tea, enjoying the warmth of the spring day. As the conversation was lively and often deep, the elder turned to the other and asked quite sincerely "What is stirring your Continue Reading...
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April 18, 2012
Really Listening

Seems to be a theme in my life these days - learning to listen well. Even when we do this well, we can always learn to listen better. I have written about learning to be present in the moment in other posts but specifically I want to explore the aspect of listening. Listening, truly listening and being present to other Continue Reading...
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The Cross, Victory and the Non-Violent God

Playing with Scripture – Midrash

Finding Community along the Beautiful Way

Two Parades. The Lie of Sacred Violence

Deeper for the sake of Good

Human Being versus Doing. Towards Wholeness

Motivated by Meaning

A Hell of a Difference

Trash Talk with Scripture

Navigating the Christmas Rush

My Blog – Articles

Restoring Fallen Leaders

Show me the Kingdom of God

Really Listening