No.
Not if the focus is more on the office of the leader than on the needs of the led. Leaders tend to have places in authority that give them the power to move people around, get people to do (or not do) things, hire and fire people, and in other ways mess with people’s lives. Often those people (and the leaders) reverence the office more than the mission. In Church World, I’ve been in places where “pastor” was synonymous with “Your Majesty.” Where whims of the leader today become orders in stone tomorrow. Where elders become rubber stamp specialists and people in general act like they just drank the Kool Aid – at least when the Anointed One is around. And I don’t care who you are – that’s not healthy.
Not if there is a distinction between the interests of the leader and the good of the group. [click to continue…]
(And You Can’t Do For Somebody Else)
Commit your life to Christ. Study your Bible. Confess your sins and shortcomings. Grow. Change. Restore broken fellowship with God. Obey the Lord. Learn spiritual truth.
Think. Learn. Set goals. Visualize the future. Understand people. Pass tests. Listen. Focus on virtuous things.
Be happy. Feel guilty. Grieve. Laugh. Relax. Overcome depression. Stop being jealous. Express love. Calm down. Be content.
Get up after falling down. Get over failure. Get out of bondage. Overcome addictions. Decide. Change your mind. Quit. Succeed. Make good choices. Make bad choices. Change your mind about the bad choices you made in the past.
Lose weight. Eat right. Rest. Exercise. Take your medicine. Go to the doctor. Prevent unnecessary disease. Be healed. Take a bath. [click to continue…]
Bryce is a prisoner in his own home. His really nice home with the pool, three-car garage, RV parking, and more bathrooms than family members. His “friends” are (too) curious about his life and trappings, like something of a bad sequel to The Great Gatsby. And despite his material success, Bryce remains restless, empty, and hungry for that One Honest Touch.
Tony is a prisoner in his own accomplishments. A hyper-achiever, he lives in a world of “What mountain have you climbed lately?” Last year’s exploits are old news to a bored world, many of whom live vicariously through Tony’s courage and imagination. Inwardly terrified to admit he’s just as bored and scared as they are, Tony longs for that One Honest Touch.
Madison is a prisoner in her own skin. Always a head turner looks-wise, for as long as she can remember, Maddie’s life has been revolving door of one vain relationship after another. Superficial. Super-physical. Super-lonely. Her striking beauty has always ensured her all the attention she could ever ask for. But it never has given her what her heart cries out for most – that One Honest Touch.
Deep Connection
All of us were created with a capacity, and need for, deep connection. A Touch. And our spirits never rest until we have it. [click to continue…]
A Fable about leadership, teamwork, unity, and of course, honey…
It was a lovely morning in the Hundred Acre Wood, where Christopher Robin’s friends lived and played. The bees were abuzz making their honey (and You-Know-Who knew just who it was for).
Kanga had already gotten an early start on motherly things, while Roo was playing close by.
Piglet was pacing about his tidy home saying “Oh Dear, Dear, Dear” because he knew something Important was about to happen, but he couldn’t quite remember what it was.
Rabbit was tending his garden, nervously glancing around for signs that he soon may be bounced by Tigger.
Eeyore was a bit confused as he chomped on a thistle because he couldn’t think of anything to be gloomy about.
Owl was remembering the time to no one in particular that his great uncle Waldo on his mother’s side did something famous because it happened on a lovely day such as today.
And Winnie the Pooh? Being a Bear of Very Little Brain, he was sitting at the Thotful Spot, thinking. And wishing for just a bit of honey, because as everyone knows, bears think better when their tumblies aren’t so rumbly. And there’s nothing like honey to take the rumbly out of the tumbly.
This was no ordinary day after all. This was the day of the Grand Celebration. They weren’t quite sure what they were celebrating, but everyone had agreed that today would be a fine day to celebrate it. [click to continue…]
Grace is not a loan to be repaid with interest. It is a gift to be received with gratitude.
+++++++
The greatest benefit of perseverance is not the prize you attain, but the person you become in the process. [click to continue…]
You wouldn’t have wanted to trade places with George. But bad as it was, when all was said and done, I don’t know that he’d have wanted to trade places with you, either. Years ago George Matheson was ushered into new dimensions of faith, understanding, and intimacy with the Lord. But the price he paid was beyond expensive.
It all began with the brutality of rejection.
George had his future shining in front of him. He was engaged to be married, and was pursuing a career and calling in ministry. But that bright future began to dim – literally – when George began going blind. When his fiancé learned that the doctors gave him no hope for a cure, she ended the engagement, saying she couldn’t go through life taking care of a blind man.
I don’t know of a loneliness more devastating and bitter than that of rejection. Matheson had to learn to do without a woman he had come to feel he couldn’t live without. What’s more, he had to live with the piercing thoughts that taunted him incessantly: [click to continue…]
“Joel Andrew Wood! I call you to walk with me in Integrity, Responsibility, and Accountability, and to join me in this community of men!”
There, through a line of tiki torches and a longer gauntlet of whooping, encouraging, cheering men walked my son. For fourteen years I had been his hero. Tonight he would be mine.
As he reached the end of the double line where I was standing, I placed a special necklace around his neck that he has to this day. Then I turned him to face those men and said some of the most powerful words I have ever spoken: “Gentlemen, this is Joel Andrew Wood, my son, in whom I am well pleased.”
I have always lived with the honor of walking in my own father’s unconditional favor – even when he didn’t always approve of my choices. On this night 11 years ago, I had the greater honor of publicly declaring that same kind of blessing over my son.
A Fatherless, Manless Culture
Ours may be the only culture that has no formal point where a boy becomes a man. [click to continue…]
Where does she get this stuff? I know that verse about “out of the mouths of babes,” but seriously? So here’s the story…
Kyle, my son-in-law, had been away on his second mission trip in three weeks – this one to Ecuador. Back home, Carrie was shepherding Shepherd and corralling the one she calls the “Big Sasster.”
A certified Daddy’s girl, Laura Kate was ecstatic when he got back. There back at the casa, Sassy Pants exclaimed, “This is our castle and our king has come home!”
All was well.
The promise of “soon” was replaced with the presence of “the king.” And she was once again with the man she loves more than all others.
And out of the mouth of a babe – well, technically a three-year-old – God perfected praise.
If only she knew – and one day she will… [click to continue…]
(The further adventures of Eugene Davis, Sophomore Christian)
“What would be s good time to come by your office?”
The voice on the other end of the phone was none other than Eugene Davis, Sophomore Christian and resident expert on all things spiritually enormous.
Normally Eugene would pop in, sort of like the Allies dropped by to pay the Germans a visit at Normandy. But this was different. It had the air of urgency. Eugene Davis was always serious and everything was important. But this was a step beyond. It was deliberate. Ruggedly precise. Appointment-worthy.
“I’m free about 3:00,” I said. ”What’s up?” (To this day I don’t like ambushes in meetings.)
“I think the Lord has given me a vision.”
“Well,” said I, ”I’ll be here. Come on by.”
Apparently I didn’t send the right signal. Didn’t catch the gravy of the situation. This was a vision. From God! [click to continue…]
Want to see a sure-fire sign of a leadership disaster? Try leading everybody the same way. Fairness is one thing. Crafting organizations with a cookie cutter is another. It doesn’t work with kids; why in the world do you think it would work with their parents?
Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus put it this way:
Leadership is essentially a human business…. What we have found in studying leaders is that the higher the rank, the more interpersonal and human the undertaking. The top executives we followed spent roughly 90 percent of their time with others and virtually the same percentage of their time concerned with the messiness of people problems.
Different situations, different people, and different teams and organizations require leaders who can flex their approach. Here are seven different situations that call for different styles or messages from leaders: [click to continue…]
No.
