9 Ways to Respond to the Church Critic
One well-worn adage reads, “The two things you can’t avoid in life are death and taxes.” As a Pastor, I’d like to suggest two more for those in ministry. Two things a pastor can’t avoid: people being late to the Sunday service and…critics. I’ve served in full-time ministry for 39 years and I’ve experienced my share of critics. I’ve
4 Incredible Leadership Insights from Peter Drucker
Peter Drucker, often called the father of modern management, was also a committed Christian. I’ve read several of his books on leadership that have helped me become a better leader and pastor. Several years ago Jim Collins spoke at Willow Creek’s Leadership Summit and shared some practical insight from Drucker. He explained that after Drucker died, Collins spoke at
5 Proven Ways to a Better Brain in 2020
God created a magnificent part of our body, the brain, as our command and control center. With 100 billion brain cells, it weighs a mere two to three pounds, yet it require 20% of our body’s energy. Since God expects us to take care of bodies (1 Corinthians 6.19-20) it naturally follows that we should take care of our
12 Questions your Leaders Wish You’d Ask Them
In the book First, Break all the Rules written by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman, they list 12 core questions the Gallup organization discovered that give organizations the information they need to attract, focus, and keep the most talented employees. Pastors and church leaders would do well to regularly ask their leaders, volunteers, and staff these questions. Do I know
How to Deal with Ministry Pain
We all carry baggage not only from our family of origin, but also from our previous ministry experiences. For some, that baggage may feel like a light daypack. For others, it may feel like a 100-pound duffle bag. How can we deal with this pain so that it doesn’t affect our families, ourselves, and our
8 Decisions Leaders Should Make During a Crisis
One of the best books I’ver every read on leadership is A Failure of Nerve by Edwin H. Friedman. It’s a challenging read, but well worth it. The author was a Jewish counselor who wrote extensively on a counseling philosophy called Bowen Family Systems. The more I read about this way of looking at church leadership through ’systems’
When a Leader Spirals Downward
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. The plane can begin to spin uncontrollable. Unless the pilot pulls out, he can spiral out of control and crash. In ministry, leaders can
The Church Leader’s Brain in the Covid Crisis: 5 Tips to Keep your Brain Humming
Church leaders today are scrambling to find creative, innovative, and workable strategies, plans, and ideas to minister in our Covid-consumed world. I appreciate the plethora of blogs, podcasts, video-casts, and seminars offered to help us respond well. However, there is a fundamental process that precedes 100% of all ideas. And what is that process? Thinking.
10 Subtle Signs You Have Hit your Stress Red Zone
The Red Zone: unsafe areas in Iraq after the 2003 invasion, a region of France decimated during WWI, the area on the field between the 20 yard line and the end zone in American football (source: wikipedia). The term Red Zone is a fairly well understood term that designates either a problem area or a
Emotionally Anxious Leaders: 8 Signs
My dad was an electrical engineer and filled his shop in our basement with the most amazing gizmos. Transistors, capacitors, transformers, electrical tools and every conceivable gadget lined the shelves and entertained me for hours. My favorite gadget was a neon sign transformer. A transformer is a device that either steps up or steps down
