Just because a decision is painful does not mean that the decision is difficult. A person on your team displays a lack of moral integrity. Indeed, it will indeed be painful to act and remove the person from the team, but the decision is not. It is clear. Someone you work alongside consistently displays a…
Suffering
Crawfish Boils and the Shared Experience of Suffering
Like all pastors, every week I stand in front of a room filled with people who are suffering. Not every person in the room is suffering, but there is suffering in every room. Life batters and bruises. There is grief from death, pain from betrayal, uncertainty about one’s future, and sorrow from a doctor’s prognosis….
Leadership in a Crisis: Defining Reality AND Giving Hope
Napoleon is credited with the leadership wisdom of: “The role of the leader is to define reality and give hope.” This is especially true in a crisis – which is where leaders are most needed. The reality is that most organizations have gotten to a place of maturity that they can operate daily and even…
Links for Leaders 11/17/17
John Newton on Suffering in the Pastor’s Life—Erik Reed People are hurting. Many of the people in our congregations are experiencing terrible trials and afflictions. As pastors, we must have our taste as well. It is one thing to hear of others struggles or to talk about them in an application of a message, but…
Links for Leaders 4/22/16
The phrase, “Everyone can be a leader,” sounds cheesy, but it’s true. Even if you consider yourself a follower in your church, workplace, or otherwise, the time may come that you need to step into a leadership role in order to best steward the gifts God has given you. Here are four ways a follower…
The Power of Asking the Right Question
The following is by Michael Kelley. Michael is director of discipleship at LifeWay Christian Resources and the author of Wednesdays Were Pretty Normal and Boring: Finding an Extraordinary God in an Ordinary Life. He holds a Master of Divinity degree from Beeson Divinity School and lives with his wife and three kids in Nashville, Tenn. This…