Every week church communities gather to worship. Worship includes singing; the vocalizing of praise and gratefulness, the words spoken to tune that can be declaration of rich theology and truth. People have varied emotions about singing but for the people of God singing has always been significant, powerful and formational. Songs can put words into our mouths that remind our hearts… Read more »
I’ve heard leaders, in conversation with other leaders, say “I really don’t need worship but maybe once a month.” What does that mean? Do they feel it is a need or feeling that can be satiated one time a month? Have you looked carefully at the pattern of Jesus? To begin with, he was an Israelite. The people of Israel… Read more »
Every day we can enter the amazing reality of God’s goodness and greatness. It is accessible through prayer and through the Word. The Word is an entry point to how the Lord blesses, moves, turns challenges into places of praise, restores our inner thoughts and shuts down the voice of the enemy. Yesterday I experienced some challenging news. I chose to pray. The… Read more »
Have you noticed, the ways of God can at times stir anxiety and other times produce in us wonder and awe? And yes, at times we can experience both in the same setting. In Mark 10, Jesus is headed to Jerusalem knowing he is walking into a death trap. The scripture highlights for us the picture of the circles. Two groups… Read more »
Powerful leaders have in their history painful times. The difference is that spiritually powerful leaders have learned that the Lord shows up in those seasons and uses them to catalyze a future that they do not want to miss! Don’t waste your pain! Bring it to the Lord as a sacrifice and allow Him to sanctify it.
Ezekiel takes us behind the scenes of history, behind the bravado of a nation, the crisis of exile and the hopelessness of their setting. God speaks to the prophet of the coming fall of nations who appear invincible. Assyria may look “all that,” but one day… and that day, declares the Lord through the prophet, is in the hands of God. Hopelessness permeates our lives,… Read more »
Jesus will always call out our inner world. He did it for the disciples (Mark 9:14-33). Before we can be used mightily, we must be cleansed deeply. He does this inner work by asking the questions that deeply reveal our hearts. “What were you arguing about along the way?” He asked, knowing that the subject of the argument was revealing their inner world. What… Read more »
No one could figure that this promotion would change the heart of this leader… but it did. Power and prestige do strange things to the human soul. What they really do is reveal what is not settled with the Lord! Perhaps our inner world of confidence, significance, etc. appears resolved, but when we come into power, it is as if… Read more »
When Your Friends Go Crazy! He was going through a challenging season – major work decisions, high stress. Truth is, he was quite difficult to be around. Chaos, high tension and fear was the cloud following him. Others can be difficult to be around when they are going through a tough season. Of course, we can be just as challenging,… Read more »
Recently I was in a hot meeting. High stakes, strong emotions, people seeing differently. The good news is that they were people of integrity. Finally at one moment, I turned to a leader who was outspoken, strong and intense – all good qualities! My challenge was for him to lead. Lead the moment! Lead the way home so that those… Read more »