I was in Memphis one snowy morning recently. A CRM teammate we affectionately call “Hound Doggie” and I were designing curriculum for the upcoming reFOCUS:Atlanta conference when his cell phone rang. “Hi Honey… OK… Are you OK? Are the kids OK? Don’t worry about a thing. Stay put and I’ll be there in ten minutes.” […]
Squared off to Bunt (part four) Read More »
This is the 50th blog entry on distinctions I often make in coaching. For close to a decade, it’s been my privilege to coach pastors, primarily. Invariably, our conversations center on leadership. And, because of the inseparable link between the two: on character. Pastors who lead well do so because of who they are. Who
Squared off to Bunt (part two) Read More »
In some sectors of the church today there’s great momentum, clarity of mission, risk-taking experimentation, courageous leadership, and fresh reliance on the Holy Spirit for direction, empowering, and transformation. Churches are breaking out of the attractional paradigm and are moving their ministry focus off their facilities and into the community where those who need Christ
Squared off to Bunt (part one) Read More »
This series is about coaching distinctions used with hundreds of clergy, from all corners of the church: Episcopal to Calvary Chapel, Foursquare to Presbyterian, Adventist to Nazarene. The desire or distress that brings them to hire me varies widely. But, the work we do doesn’t. This series, now 48 entries long, illuminates distinctions that’ve been
Which Will? (part seven) Read More »
In many quarters of the Church, the contemporary understanding is that Christianity is lived in the passive voice. Wikipedia says: “the passive voice denotes the recipient of the action (the patient) rather than the performer (the agent).” The assumption is that the Christ-follower empties herself of all ambition and self-determination and simply waits, patiently, for
Which Will? (part six) Read More »
You don’t hear much about one’s will in preaching these days. There’s plenty about God’s love, God’s mercy, and how God thinks each of us is so very wonderful. There’s lots about our allowing God to do this or that— be the center, be in charge, be on the throne, take my life, let it
Which Will? (part five) Read More »
In I and Thou Martin Buber writes of the freedom each of us has to pursue our destiny. If you’re paying attention, the longer you live the better you understand the unique contribution you are. I say, “if you’re paying attention” because God is communicating. Those endeavors where you’ve had success, failure, frustration, satisfaction, the
Which Will? (part four) Read More »
We’re examining destiny. You have one. Waiting for you. As Buber says, you must pursue it with your whole being, not knowing where it waits. You have a ‘great will’ that wants to live a noble, heroic, God-honoring, and history-impacting life. And, you have a ‘little will’ that above all desires to: Look good. Feel
Which Will? (part three) Read More »
You have been called. By God. Not just to be good. And not to be religious. To be the ‘you’ God intended. To have the impact for which Christ has given you life. You’re destined. Which is to say, there’s a destination for you. A unique, God-honoring difference that you’re the ideal person to provide
Which Will? (part two) Read More »
No book has been so confounding to me and, at the same time, so powerfully influential as Martin Buber’s I and Thou. Large chunks of the book, clumsily translated from Buber’s original German, for me are indecipherable. Then, like a flash of lightning, a paragraph or a page will suddenly illuminate the sorry condition of
Which Will? (part one) Read More »