Category: Living

Back during the pandemic we heard a lot of complaining about “Zoom fatigue.” People were forced to work from home and meet online and they didn’t like it—as opposed to very different feelings today. After we got back into church buildings most of us reverted to old patterns often overlooking the power we gained through…

A friend recently asked me to state, in one word, what I thought could kill a movement. As I reflected on that, my mind went to Acts chapter 15, where the Jerusalem Council met and struck down the whole issue of circumcision. This isn’t about circumcision, but it is about rules. That was my one…

EDITOR’S NOTE: The following is an excerpt from What Actually Starts Movements by Emanuel Prinz, used with permission. This book is a significant new resource for leaders pursuing disciple-making movements. You can purchase the book here. There is a kind of person the Lord of the Harvest looks on with favor and uses to start…

A friend recently gave me reason to pause. He was talking about a tendency many of us have as leaders—to over-strategize. Sometimes, in our passion for progress, we fail to wait for our people to catch up. Instead of walking in the light we already have, we chase after new light, new revelations, new ideas….

When a leader becomes consumed with the idea of what is perfect, it can cause a ripple effect of harm to themselves, their loved ones, and especially to staff and employees. This is because perfectionism cannot be contained. Like that burned popcorn smell that seeps from the microwave, polluting the air and everyone around it…

One of the ongoing struggles in church leadership is learning to separate vision from strategy, especially when leading people toward change. Too often, we focus on the how—how something will be implemented, who will be involved, where it’s going to happen—but we overlook the deeper question: why are we doing this? If we don’t understand…

Did you ever stop to consider that at the heart of everything Jesus did was mobilizing His followers to do ministry? I believe the purpose of the Church—the “big C” Church—is to equip its members to do works of ministry. This follows the Apostle Paul’s teaching that each believer is God’s masterpiece, created for good…

There’s an account in Scripture, in the book of Acts, about the apostle Paul’s own dark night. Luke’s second scroll tells it like this: Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. When they came…

Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem days before his death is recorded in the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew 21:6-10; Mark 11:6-11; Luke 19:34-44). All three provide details about Jesus’ story from the palms waving and cloaks on the ground to shouts of “Hosanna!” Often, we think of the crowd of the Palm Sunday sermon and the crowd…

Once upon a time I enjoyed surfing. Not that I was ever good enough to call myself a surfer but I did catch quite a few waves. It was the small ones that confounded me. Foolishly brave, I actually rode a few “freight trains” while struggling to catch their smaller siblings. Friends would quickly catch…