A friend of mine from seminary days told me that every leader has a number on his (or her) back. 50 100 200 1000 10,000 His theory? Basically everyone has a natural number that reflects the size of organization (or…
Why on earth would pastors and church leaders have a hard time attending church of all things? Kind of a strange thing to ask, isn’t it? After all, wouldn’t leaders who have led churches be the most anxious to attend them? Strangely, not always.…
Donald Miller’s blog posts about his decision to not attend church very often has spawned a huge discussion. In some ways, as much as all this leaving breaks my heart, it’s good the discussion is happening. Here’s what’s happening all…
Sometimes you and I make life out to be more mysterious than it actually is. You ask why you keep getting speeding tickets (why me God?!?) when the simple truth is you usually speed. You ask why your friendships are…
Self-confidence. Almost every leader I’ve ever met struggles with it at some level. I do. And my guess is you do too. Most of us swing between trying to avoid arrogance at all costs and having an unhealthily low self-esteem.…
If someone asked you how your heart is, what would you say? I know, it’s a weird question But what I told you that the answer to that question would determine: How long you’ll last in leadership. How effective you’ll…
One of the tensions many of us wrestle with as leaders who are trying to navigate change happens when people tell us: I want our church to grow. I just don’t want it to change. Every time I hear or…
Chances are a big chunk of what you’re going to do today in leadership is think. Really, thinking is a big slice of what a leader is paid to do. You try to solve problems, analyze opportunities, listen, facilitate and…
I don’t know why I wanted to write this today. But I did. Other than a brief time in law, pastoring a church is what I’ve been involved in for my adult life. I’ve probably had thousands of conversations with…
You might think “things will never be the same again” is a conversation reserved for people over 70. But my guess is you’re struggling with that in ministry leadership right now. Even if you don’t realize it. And you’re probably…
Being an authentic leader is hardly negotiable anymore. People want to see the real you, with your weaknesses, mistakes, and vulnerabilities. You know that, because you’re watching the last fumes of the ‘never let ’em see you sweat’ leader vaporize into the…
While there’s a lot of ‘sensitivity’ around the subject of large churches v. smaller churches, the reality is many leaders I know sincerely want to reach more people. The challenge is the church growth barriers you encounter along the way.…