People love to watch great and mighty buildings fall. We find it fascinating that a structure that took years to build can come down in a few seconds. Some arrive hours early for a scheduled implosion to get a good view of the devastating seconds when the building topples inward. Those who love to watch…
sin
How Should We Respond When a Leader Implodes?
I was at lunch with a friend recently, processing the news of another fallen leader. While perhaps we are only more aware of the number of leaders falling because of our constant connectedness via social media and online news, it sure feels like an epidemic at times. Regardless of whether or not the reality of…
Why I Almost Didn’t Write the Book AND Why I Have Already Struggled to Promote It
I almost did not write the book How To Ruin Your Life because I was afraid people would assume I was piling on, leveraging the pain of others, and kicking good people while they were down. In my role at LifeWay, we had been through a painful season of seeing leaders we love disqualify themselves…
Leaders, We Must Face Our Shadows
Pete Scazzero recently joined us on the 5 Leadership Questions Podcast. Pete is the founder and pastor of New Life Fellowship Church in Queens, and he speaks and writes on the importance of leaders being healthy. He mentioned the daily need for a leader to “face your shadow.” The metaphor is compelling. When we were…
Of ALL People, I Never Thought THIS Guy Would Fall…
If there were ever a person whom people believed would be above falling, above imploding, it would be David. David penned psalms, defeated a giant, defended God’s people, conquered enemies, united God’s people, and received the promise from God that his throne would last forever—which is presently happening because Jesus Christ came into our world through the lineage of David. David was so powerful that even men around him were considered mighty. When we read about David, we can easily feel dwarfed by his passion for God, his skillful leadership, and his bold moves for the Lord. He was a great man, a skillful leader, a passionate worshiper, and a brilliant artist. Yet David fell.
5 Things I Want You to Know About My Next Book
My newest book is titled How to Ruin Your Life and releases early next month. I have lived with the content of the book for over a year now, in speaking engagements, in conversations, and in forming the book, so I’m ready to get the book out the door. I am hopeful and prayerful the…
Anger, Atonement, and the Academy Awards
As this year’s (2018) Academy Awards began, people were still talking about the moment during last year’s Academy Awards when Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty presented the Oscar for Best Picture to the wrong cast. The moment, known as Envelopegate or the most shocking moment in Oscar history, was perhaps best captured in this photograph…
4 Things I Learned from Stealing Credit Cards and Buying Beer in High School
I have spoken and talked a lot of character implosions over the last year. Leaders in ministry and leaders in the marketplace seem to be imploding at epidemic levels. Some suggest it has always been this way, that we are merely more aware because of our social media feeds and highly connected world. Regardless, people…
The Incomplete Counsel of “Keep Your Hands Off of Money and Women”
When I first went into a leadership role in church ministry, several wise, older men gave me words of caution like “Keep your hands off of money and women, son” or “Be careful with women and money.” They were not being sexist as if women were bad, nor were they advocating poverty as if money…
3 Simple Steps to Self-Destruction
We get the term narcissism from the Greek mythological figure Narcissus, who fell in love with himself, with his own image. He was a hunter and was well known for his beauty. His arch-nemesis was named, well, he was named Nemesis, and he attracted Narcissus to a pool where Narcissus saw his own reflection. Narcissus…