My eight-year-old son Henry isn’t a big fan of church. It feels too crowded and pushy and like he’ll get ambushed. He loves road trips and oceans where he can see vast distances. He says the open space makes him feel safe. So for the past few months my wife and daughter go to church,…
The thing about being a king – or a business owner, or a leader of people – is that the perks and prerogatives make it easy to feel like you’re doing okay even when you’re not. The burdens of leadership are a wildly potent source for rationalizing compromised behavior, as though you’re taking on wounds…
The key to a powerful punch is the plant foot from which a person drives force through their body to the punch itself. Similarly, the power to bless is born from the plant foot of identity in Christ, from which comes authority, alignment with the Kingdom’s desire to love and connect with creation, and clarity…
Proverbs 29:18 says that where there is no revelation/vision, the people cast off constraints and do what is right in their own eyes. For the centurion, the inverse is also true. Clarity of vision seems to define boundaries and narrow the path for people who steward a calling/work defined by a compelling vision. This is…
Your vision is your description of the place or condition to which you’ve been called by God. Casting vision is inviting people to the place or condition to which you’re heading, and where you will hold space for the people you’re inviting to join you. In the same way that a good leader responds better…
Several years ago, I named the nonprofit donor retention platform Bloomerang, and then I spent a couple of years working with leaders from the company and from professional fundraising associations asking the question, “Why has charity been stuck at 2% of GNP for years, and what would happen if we could bump it to 3%?”…
Testimony might be the rustiest, most neglected spiritual weapon in the Kingdom. It’s treated like a pre-packaged sales pitch that focuses on specific moments and commonly follows a recipe something like 70% “me before,” then 2% “Jesus lightning and fairy dust,” followed by 28% “me-based humble brags and life hacks.” Testimony is not supposed to…
Who will pick up the tab? It’s usually the one in the authority position … if people get to project their daddy issues onto you, you’re the dad, and that means you’re the one who picks up the tab (same for moms). That doesn’t make the people you lead children. It does mean that the…
Prevenient grace is the way God draws a person into relationship before the person has invited the relationship or God’s touch. Prevenient means “preceding.” Picture a tennis ball on the mattress of your bed. The rule is you can’t touch the ball, but you need to move the ball off of the bed. One good…
Parish is another word for a minister’s territory. Anyone or anything going on within the parish falls under the calling and blessing of the parish priest. Compare this to contemporary ideas where pastors tend to be more location-defined, as in the location of a church or a specific ministry. A parish exists and the Kingdom…
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