God, a Motorcycle, and the Open Road
My friend Tim Riter has just written a new book I highly recommend, God, a Motorcycle, and the Open Road. Tim is a motorcycle and Jesus enthusiast and has compiled some amazing stories and spiritual truths from riding over 200,000 miles, covering 46 states, and three countries. You will enjoy this read. I releases today
Top 10 Reasons People Don’t Tithe
Tithing is a spiritual discipline many Christians practice. In its simplest form it means giving back to God 10% of what you make. I’ve practiced it for years as a regular part of my giving. I tithe ‘plus’ to my local church and I give to other causes on top of that. However, throughout my
4 Questions to Help you Discover your Leadership Bias
A couple of years ago 65 leaders from Southern Ontario attended our first annual Nfluence conference at West Park Church, London. It was a great time to learn from three seasoned pastors, Dr. Dom Ruso, Steve Adams, and myself. In one session Dom explained how to empower the next generation. One insight he shared that
Who Should Serve on Your Leadership Team? 4 Traps to Avoid
An exceptional book on teams by Ryan T. Hartwig and Warren Bird is Teams that Thrive: Five Disciplines of Collaborative Church Leadership. I highly recommend it! I asked those guys (who are really smart dudes, especially in the area of church leadership) to write a guest post. Their post below offers wise insight on avoiding traps when
Is a Pastor’s Job a Calling or a Career?
My good friend Godfrey Thorogood is one of the smartest guys around when it comes to church leadership. He served as FEB Central’s Leadership Development Director in Ontario and now is pastor at Thousand Oaks Baptist Church in Ontario. He’s worked with literally hundreds of pastors and once shared with me that he noticed a
8 Reasons Why Our Elder Board Works so Well
I serve as lead pastor at West Park Church in London, Ontario, having served my entire ministry in the U.S. prior to my move to Canada 5 years ago. One of my greatest joys has been working with our current elder board. I’ve never worked with a board that has accomplished so much with so much
Should you get Closer to your Critics?
What’s happening in this picture? I used this in a recent talk and asked the church audience to give me their answers. Their responses included… two people are angry, they are upset, they aren’t talking, they disagree about something. One lady came up to me afterwards and said, “I think it means that she was
Are Your Critics Really Trying to Get Close to You
Recently I’ve been reading a lot about how to view problems in ministry and leadership through a different lens. A concept developed in the late 50’s and 60’s by a psychologist, Murray Bowen, has shed some brilliant light on the subject for me; so brilliant, in fact, that I wish I understood this concept 25
Should Pastors Tell Church People to Obey Them?
Several passages in Scripture pose challenges to preaching. Even so, we shouldn’t skip the tough ones. However, when we must deal with tough passages such as this one below, we must take care how we teach them. Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an
Introducing The 2018 Leadership Book Everyone Should Read
There is no shortage of leadership books available to read but Brian Dodd’s Timeless: 10 Enduring Practices Of Apex Leaders stands out. If you read Brian’s popular website Brian Dodd On Leadership, he frequently profiles Apex Leaders – those who are the best in their profession. After years of research, Brian identified over 300 traits and