In Judson Edward’s book, The Leadership Labyrinth, he describes 21 paradoxes in ministry. He defines the ‘relationship paradox’ in this way: the people who like you the most will be the ones you try least to please. He then writes that these three kinds of people fill every church. His insights are quite helpful. The energizers: their very…
So often as a pastor I get stuck on hurry mode which makes me miss moments in life God intended that I pay attention to.
A few years ago I experienced one of the most difficult yet rewarding weeks of ministry in my 39 years as a pastor. I trained 75 Cuban pastors and I will never forget it. I spoke 22 times in 5 days, 19 of those times crammed into three days. A local church in Holguin, a city…
Great leaders are great communicators. Communication certainly includes making a great speech, or for pastors, delivering a compelling sermon.
That’s when, as I fought back tears, I jotted down these insights that I learned from these kids who are surviving cancer.
Sometimes we solve people’s problems by giving them answers instead of fostering insight. These choices are unhealthy dependencies.
An aviation term called a death spiral describes what can happen to a plane in nighttime or poor flying conditions when a pilot loses his sense of the plane’s horizontal orientation. In ministry, leaders can often get caught in a similar downward spiral.
I’ve learned that if I prioritize a few key choices, my life and leadership dramatically improve and my ministry becomes more effective. Here are three key choices I encourage as pastoral priorities.
Stress can diminish brain functioning, which in turn shows up in subtle ways in our bodies. Take the quick self-evaluation below and ask yourself if any of these are true of you.
If I had seen how dysfunctional batons pass from one leader or significant stakeholder to the next, I could have avoided a lot of grief— or least prepared myself to handle those issues better.
