October 2010
1 post
1 tag
Naked and Unashamed
This post was written for The Journey blog at http://journeyon.net During the 90s, Seinfeld became a huge success by poking fun at itself as “a show about nothing.” During the first few verses of the Bible, God made something out of nothing too. God crafted the heavens and earth out of the void and breathed life into it. He delighted in its goodness (Genesis 1:31). But in chapter 2, God...
September 2010
1 post
1 tag
Together 4 Adoption
The following was written by my good friend Saint Fults in preparation for his session at the Together 4 Adoption National Conference. On October 1 and October 2, the Together for Adoption national conference will be held in Austin, Texas. I will be hosting a session titled “The Needs of Foster Children.” In preparing for the conference, I continually asked what I think is a critical question: ...
August 2010
1 post
1 tag
The Cultural Architect
I was in a good conversation last night with one of our pastors Bob Bickford. Often I refer to our organization in the same likeness as a family system. There are generations of leaders, systems of thought, patterns of behavior, etc. In this frame of looking at our leaders and our organization, I’ve regularly used the terms “Culture Maintainers” and “Culture...
July 2010
3 posts
1 tag
Revisiting Our Adoption Story
I thought I’d repackage this whole story and post it again. Here it is piece by piece. The latest with us is we are still pursuing adoption. It is a lot of waiting. We are excited and hopeful and in a pretty good place these days. In the meantime, Miranda and I are enjoying the summer together, laughing a lot and trying to keep it light. Hope you readers are doing well, that those of...
3 tags
Staying Faithful Means No Porn, Brothers
After I wrote this post, I started getting a different kind of feedback in regard to men staying faithful to their wives. The topic? Addiction to pornography. It was an interesting—and appropriate—application of the discussion of marital faithfulness. While I had originally pointed to sexual and emotional affairs as a destructive behavior, many men came forward and confessed to...
The Brickyard
It was sensory overload. Unbelievable. See the full gallery on posterous
December 2009
2 posts
Process Your Week-Brain Dump
When I first started working in ministry, the lessons were plenty. If you’re in a fast-paced job out there—meeting with a lot of people and making plenty of quick decisions—the weeks can fly by and you never process any of the million things happening around you, to you, and in you. Here’s an idea for you, something simple I’ve added into my weekly schedule to help...
November 2009
5 posts
Leading with Repentance
I left a meeting the other day when I received a call from one of our elders who had been at the meeting with me. He began to tell me how after leaving, something was nagging him. He couldn’t figure out what it was, but after praying, he realized he’d sinned against me. I was floored. After apologizing, he explained that he’d undermined me in another conversation...
Discipline-Bible Intake
Read Psalm 119
Today I’m talking about Bible intake. I don’t assume any of us are great about our time in the Word. Some of us spend more time on Twitter or Bookface than we do in God’s word. Some of us read for the wrong reasons. Some of us just don’t know how to read. I am guilty of all that.
For those of us who struggle reading, there may be many reasons we...
Why Technical Solutions Won't Last
This morning as I was reading Leadership on the Line by Ronald Heifetz and Marty Linsky, I dwelled on the how their principles of adaptive vs. technical leadership applied to building a culture of leadership.
Technical leadership supplies current knowledge to solve problems. This leadership often sounds like this, “We need a better system,” or “We need to get organized.” With many problems, it...
Ask for Clarification
In an age when communication moves faster than ever, when instructions and delegations are sometimes tweeted instead of spoken face to face, it is as important as ever to ask for clarification. Sounds simple enough.
But time and again I run into this simple frustration—people only understand about 80% of what they’re carrying out, which is just enough for the boss to think they get...
The 3 Ways Influence Works
influence: the act or power of producing an effect without apparent exertion of force or direct exercise of command (Merriam-Webster).
Influence is something that leaders prize. It is the currency of leadership. You don’t just have attention—that attention produces something. And nothing is more frustrating to a leader than trying to exercise their influence without return. As...