Category Archives: Leadership

Prudence

If I were to identify the number one error I have committed more than any other as a pastor the last twenty years, I would have to talk about imprudence. Proverbs is filled with teaching to cultivate this very rare virtue. I have rushed, reacted, failed to ponder implications of decisions, spoken when it was best to be silent, moved out of anxiety instead of stilling my own soul. I recently studied every verse in Proverbs about prudence and speech. It was both edifying and sobering. The following are a sampling I shared at a recent NLF staff meeting. I commend them to you for your prayerful meditation: The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways -Prov. 14:8 A simple man believes anything, but a prudent man gives thought to his steps.-Prov. 14:15 The discerning heart seeks knowledge, but the mouth of a fool feeds on folly. -Prov. 15:14 The heart of the. Read more.

Marriage, Singleness and Spirituality

This weekend Geri and I are leading a retreat for 16 couples in NJ. It is the fruit of over 12 years of thinking about a theology of sexuality, marriage and spirituality. We limited the retreat purposefully and spent an inordinate amount of time creating a one and a half day experience in Scripture, small groups, time alone with God and emotionally healthy skills. It will be the first of 2 parts that we hope to make more permanent a part of NLF culture for all marrieds. It was a challenge for me to clear my life the last two weeks in preparation. I find myself easily pulled into larger, more “grandiose ministry”. God used her groundedness and this weekend to pull me down to earth (humus-humility) about what is really important. That is integrity in our spiritual lives and vocations — whether we are single or married. Paul makes clear that if we are skimming on. Read more.

The Wisdom of the Deer and Your True Self

Poetry has a wonderful way to draw out of us our true self before God. Read the following poem slowly, prayerfully. Listen to what God might be saying to you today about His will for you. The Wisdom of the Deer …a deer standing before me shamelessly telling me by his presence through his very manner of being there what I did was all I could do what I did was truly all I could do. the deer didn’t move for what seemed like the longest time kept standing there unflinching regal as if the fallen leaves adorning his great hall were lush earthen carpet and I had been grated a brief audience with a nobility whose lineage was pure and undefiled and then I understood the wisdom of the deer the secret to my own dignity all I have ever been is all I will ever need I must look back And. Read more.

Abba Anthony, Henri Nouwen and CCDA

Last week I attended and spoke at the Christian Community Development Association conference (CCDA) in Miami. Over 2000 people were in attendance. The work of John Perkins and CCDA, along with their commitment to racial reconciliation and relocation to live among the poor, helped shape my journey for Christ almost thirty years ago as well as our work here at New Life. Most leaders in attendance are very busy. I also became acutely aware of the growing impact of emotionally healthy spirituality around the country. Both realties concerned me. Then, as I sat in my hotel room one early morning, God came to me through the following: Abba Anthony received letter from emperor Constantine to visit him in Constantinople. He wondered if he should go and asked Abba Paul who said, “If you go, you will be called Anthony, but if you stay here (in desert alone), you will be called Abba Anthony. “ An “abba’ was someone recognized as. Read more.

The Mundane, Prayer and Leadership

I was driving to church the other day for a series of staff meetings and realized I was excited. There was nothing else I wanted to do! What had changed? For most of my 21 years as senior pastor of NLF, most of the time I went grudgingly, preferring to be home alone in prayer and study. Something clicked spiritually a fourteen months ago: all of life is holy and to be lived in the presence of God. For example, managing, looking over job descriptions, discerning the best use of time, energy and money at NLF, planning, hiring, getting the right people in the right roles is sacred work, very sacred work – as sacred as my Daily Offices and Sabbath. God invited me to take responsibility and lead NLF. I am here. But I resisted this role for almost 20 years. I suspect this is related to bad models, poor teaching and faulty theology, but the bottom. Read more.

Leadership's First Task: Monitoring Your Heart

Geri and I were in the car last weekend driving in beautiful upstate New York, taking one of our daughters to look at colleges and began talking about the dynamics of leadership. Soon, we realized we had stumbled upon a simple, but powerful process of leading well – at least in God’s church — that is now helping us quite a bit. 1. Monitor Your Heart. Whether it is preparing for sermons, reading a book on strategy, sitting through a staff meeting, or deciding on priorities, I am guarding my heart. Is my motive really God’s glory or is this about me? Am I anxious? If so why, and how is that impacting my decisions now? Am I avoiding a challenging reality? a confrontation? Is the content of this sermon I am preparing simply head knowledge? How does it speak to my life? Am I really living what I am preaching? This of course requires. Read more.

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