It is deeply tragic when ministry leaders lose their ministry, when sin sidelines them for a season. Not only is it painful for the leader, but also it is painful for the people who have been impacted and influenced through their leadership. Because sin is always crouching at the door and because Satan prowls around like a roaring lion looking to devour, we shouldn’t be surprised when great leaders implode. We should grieve, pray, and love, but we shouldn’t think ourselves better. In fact, here are five ways to lose our own ministries: 1. Believe in yourself. If you want to lose your ministry, believe in yourself. When someone stumbles,… [Read More]
3 Views of Restoring a Fallen Pastor
In twenty years of serving and leading in the Church, one of the most painful and disappointing realities has been watching leaders I respect removed from ministry positions for patterns of sin in their own lives. At the first ministry conference I attended when I was 22 years old, a speaker recounted how he wrote down the names of 20 friends he started in ministry with, and each year he would need to scratch through a name as leader after leader was disqualified for some type of sin. According to the speaker, there were only two names left on the list. I was stunned. I remember thinking about those I… [Read More]
Darkness, Being Anonymous, and Church
Does darkness and anonymity impact one’s behavior? Researchers from the University of Toronto conducted a series of experiments to discover the impact of darkness on one’s perception of being anonymous. In one experiment, the researchers placed participants in two different rooms and instructed them to complete math problems and reward themselves with allotted money each time they scored correctly. Participants in both rooms performed the same, but participants in one of the rooms cheated more and took money they did not earn. The darker room gave the sense of anonymity and dramatically increased cheating and lying. In other words, research shows there is a relationship between being anonymous and being… [Read More]
“Mean Tweets” Video Shows Us How Messed Up We Are
Last week a video of guys reading mean tweets to female sportscasters went viral. [Caution: the language is offensive] The women had read the tweets beforehand, as they likely saw them in their twitter feed in real time. The guys had not read the tweets and were recruited to read them to the women as cameras captured the interactions. As they tried to read the tweets, the guys were dumbfounded, stunned, and unable to look the women in the eyes or continue reading. They were embarrassed, heart-broken, and apologetic. The tweets were cruel, filled with hatred, and laced with sexually abusive language. As a father of daughters growing up in… [Read More]
Links for Leaders 4/15/16
It is nearly impossible to keep up with advances in technology, even in the workplace. New types of communication and productivity tools seem to be created every day, and it can be overwhelming at times. One thing that doesn’t change, though, is good management. Much of the role of a leader is to lead and manage people. “When people sit in a chair and listen to you for thirty minutes or three hours…what keeps them in that chair?” This is a crucial question leaders must ask themselves on a regular basis. Pastor Dan Reiland offers some insight about it on the LifeWay Leadership blog. Leaders are broken. It is the… [Read More]
Three Temptations Leaders Must Fight Daily
John Owen strongly challenged: “Be killing sin or sin will be killing you.” Overcoming temptation is active, not passive. Defeating sin requires grace-driven effort. D.A. Carson said, “Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness.” With that in mind, here are three temptations leaders must fight against daily: 1. The temptation to speak before listening Leaders usually have a lot to say. They are driven by convictions and an internal sense of mission, which can easily lead to speaking before listening. But wise leaders listen before speaking. Wise leaders gather information before giving direction. The apostle James reminds us: My dearly loved brothers, understand this: Everyone must be… [Read More]
[GIVEAWAY] 3 Steps to Connecting New People to Groups
![[GIVEAWAY] 3 Steps to Connecting New People to Groups](https://ericgeiger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Wed-resource-6-2.jpg)
I am honored to lead the Resources Division at LifeWay and serve with a team of leaders who are passionate about serving the Church in Her mission of making disciples. Each week, I share the heart behind one of the resources our team has developed and give an opportunity for you to register to win a free copy of the resource. This week’s resource is the small group Bible study, Awake: The Call to a Renewed Life, by Dr. Ronnie Floyd, from Bible Studies for Life. Bible Studies for Life is a Bible study resource that focuses on real-life issues through a research-validated discipleship plan. The studies are also great… [Read More]
How Boredom Destroys
When David wrote Psalm 27 he was in awe of the Lord, happy in Him, and found nothing more beautiful than God to capture his heart. I have asked one thing from the Lord; it is what I desire: to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, gazing on the beauty of the Lord and seeking Him in His temple (Psalm 27:4). As David gazed on the beauty of the Lord, he was surely not bored. The Lord is not boring. He is infinitely awesome. And because God is infinitely awesome, boredom is a sin because it reveals our hearts are not in awe of Jesus. Jared… [Read More]
He Is Still Alive…
Yesterday was awesome. People gathered in churches to celebrate that Jesus is alive, that sin and death no longer claim us. He has saved us, freed us, and one day He will raise us to everlasting life. Many churches saw an increase in attendance yesterday, and though there were a lot of guests, most major jumps in attendance were because people just all came the same Sunday. Regardless, church likely felt very alive yesterday. Perhaps you muttered, “Why can’t every Sunday be like this?” We must be careful not to equate the excitement of a Sunday, a good and holy excitement, with the reality that He is alive. He is… [Read More]
The Beauty of No Shame
When the apostle Paul wrote about marriage, he reminded us of the first couple in Scripture: For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. This is a profound mystery — but I am talking about Christ and the church. (Ephesians 5:31-32) Mystery does not refer to something we cannot grasp, or something that is too difficult to understand, but to something that was hidden in the Old Testament and is now revealed to us through Christ. The profound mystery is now clear… “I am talking about Christ and the church.” Marriage is a metaphor,… [Read More]