Serving Bread

I had a conversation with a colleague recently about the difference between leading people and advocating for people. As one who works in a cross-cultural ministry, I am constantly trying to figure out how to lead effectively within this context. I am aware that the call of the missionary is to invest the energy to [...]

We live in a world of distractions. I just googled “Leadership distractions” and observed the sheer number of articles written on the power of distractions to derail leadership. Whether it be in an organization, a corporation or even individual discipleship, it’s easier to follow and address the distractions and needs of the moment, rather than [...]

A revival in Greater Judea! The writer refers to “the people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem” (Mark 1.5) were flocking to the river Jordan to see the man clothed with camel’s hair. Mark starts his gospel with the proclamation of Jesus as the Son of God and launches with [...]

In a recent conversation with a colleague, we came upon an important leadership insight that is implicit in the understanding of how leadership works, but may often be overlooked. At the foundation of good leadership is trust. Trust gives people relational capital to influence others. The more trust someone has with another, the more he [...]

In a recent Fast Company issue (April 2010), columnist Nancy Lublin raised the importance of followers that do much of the work to make the leader look good. In “Do Something: Let’s Hear it for the Little Guys,” she argues that it’s the people who are not on top that turn “the visionary stuff into [...]

Leaders and followers alike know how important vision is to an organization or a team. Proverbs 29.18 is the most quoted proverb when it comes to visionary leadership: “Where there is no vision, the people perish” (King James). (Incidentally, that proverb is translated quite differently in more modern versions. The NRSV translates the passage as: [...]

As I process with young students whether they should pursue leadership, I often run into two responses: one set of students will take leadership as an almost given. They have little hesitation to take on a more significant leadership role (many of these students are too quick to say yes without counting the costs of [...]

I often interact with students who have many ideas on things we should do as a ministry. Many of the ideas or even criticisms of the direction of our ministry are legit and may be valuable to the growth and strength of our community. But if we implemented every idea that gets sent my way, [...]

In one of my readings for an independent study seminary course, I came across the following quote uttered by a pastor in India: The empty cathedrals in Europe are silent witnesses to the barrenness of the church. Why continue to imitate a failed model? The pastor was responding to a question of whether his model [...]

Jesus knew that the demands and needs of people would be far greater than the ministers and missionaries available to meet those needs. Because of this imbalance, Jesus taught his disciples to pray for more laborers into the fields of harvest. God is the one who sends and calls people, and as we notice need, [...]