What You Don’t Know about your Church May Kill You
Many pastors begin a new assignment and get blindsided from issues they never expected. When that happens, it can be deadly. I’ve found that creating a genogram of your church, called a family diagram in psychology, can yield much insight into how people may have perpetuated unhealthy patterns in a church. It’s simply taking a
27 Questions Every Leader should Ask before Taking a New Job
When a pastor (or any leader) considers a move to a new church setting or any leader considers a new job, he or she should do whatever is possible to define reality. As Max Dupree, leadership guru and writer said, “The first job of a leader is to define reality.” The first job of a
8 Benefits of Silence and Solitude in a Leader’s Life
We leaders live in a world that bombards us with incessant visual stimuli and noise. And it’s easy to become addicted to such noise without even realizing it. Our so called time saving technology such as smart phones and high speed internet access relentlessly remind us that we can get more done in less time so we
Stopping the Inner Mental Chatter when you Teach and Preach
Has this every happened to you when you teach preach? You’re in a groove and as you scan your audience, you notice someone not listening…or someone’s arms are crossed…or someone has a scowl on her face. And then an inner dialogue begins. Why aren’t they listening? They must not like what I’m saying? They don’t like me, etc.,
5 Ministry Killers in the Life of a Pastor’s Wife
My wife, Sherryl, and I have been married for almost 44 years. We’ve been through ups and downs in our lives and in our ministry. Yet, we still have a zest for ministry as we see each other as ministry partners. When I wrote my second book, 5 Ministry Killers and How to Defeat Them,
Four Ways to Combat Mind Wandering
Let’s face it. Our minds wander, constantly. Research indicates that we mind-wander almost half our waking hours. We all have a bit of ADHD in us. That same research tells us that most mind wandering makes us unhappy. Although healthy mind wandering can enhance creativity, most of the time it doesn’t help. So, how can we
Has Busyness Made your Life Barren?
Busyness can make life barren. Several years ago I took improv classes in downtown Chicago to help develop my right-brain skills. I left mid-day to miss the traffic and then catch up on my task list at a table at Chipolte. One week, with my ear buds snug in my ears to block out noise,
Are You Managing your Mind Chatter?
Chatter constantly fills our mind. It’s in our consciousness but we are often not aware of this chatter, self-talk. Our mind simply wanders a lot. When we are not thinking about anything else, it just wanders off. And often this wandering takes us into thinking that discourages us. One of my interests is understanding how
4 Obstacles Pastors Face in Setting Boundaries
Henry Cloud and John Townsend wrote the wildly popular book, Boundaries: When to Say Yes, How to Say No to Take Control of your Life. Dr. Cloud also wrote Boundaries for Leaders. I recommend them both. Essentially a boundary for a ministry leader or a pastor is like a property line around your yard, only in
6 Ways to Build Community in your Leadership Team
God created us to live and work in community. The more community we experience, the stronger our teams. Highly productive teams often exude strong personal bonds and work in an atmosphere that fosters community. Good leaders understand the importance of community and actively seek to build it among their teams. Consider these 6 ways to
