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Tag Archives: authority

What Makes a Leader Christian?

We can learn many things from secular sources about leadership. Yet Christian leadership is different. 1. Our leadership is ultimately about pointing people to Jesus. 2. Our leadership aims to equip people to become the living presence of God in the world. 3. Our marriage and singleness are calls to be a living sign and wonder of His love to the world. 4. Our plans flow out of a deep dependence and communion with God. 5. Our identity and authority emerge from a different foundation. 6. We lead out of our brokenness. What might you add?

What Makes a Leader Christian?

We can learn many things from secular sources about leadership. Yet Christian leadership is different. 1. Our leadership is ultimately about pointing people to Jesus. 2. Our leadership aims to equip people to become the living presence of God in the world. 3. Our marriage and singleness are calls to be a living sign and wonder of His love to the world. 4. Our plans flow out of a deep dependence and communion with God. 5. Our identity and authority emerge from a different foundation. 6. We lead out of our brokenness. What might you add?

Top 10 Quotes from Benedict's Rule: Part 2

The “Rule of Benedict” (RB) is considered one of the classic works of Western literature. More importantly, it challenges the result oriented, numbers-driven, “strategic” leadership models that surround us. Again, I invite you to prayerfully let God speak to you his insights: 1. “The fourth step of humility is that in this obedience under difficult, unfavorable, or even unjust conditions, his heart quietly embraces suffering and endures it” (RB 7:35). 2. “Our holy Fathers read the full psalter (all 150 psalms) in a single day. Let us hope that we, lukewarm as we are, can achieve it in a whole week” (RB 18:2-25). 3. We must know that God regards our purity of heart and tears of compunction, not our many words. Prayer should be short and pure” (RB 20:3). 4. “Sleep clothed. Thus the monks will always be ready to arise without delay when the signal is given; each will hasten to arrive at. Read more.

Excellent Example of Civil Disagreement on "Hot" Issues

This is ABC TV panel is worth 15 minutes of your time. Observe a healthy, kind discussion around the divisive issues of our day in the USA. This is an excellent example of godly disagreement among Christians with an Islamic spokesperson and a woman representing atheism/secularism also at the table. I love Southern Baptist’s Richard Land gentle, civil disagreement with Jim Wallis of Sojourners: “There’s a difference between the authority of Scripture and our understanding of Scripture.” Calvin Butts from Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem also does a great job presenting his position. Unfortunately your browser does not support IFrames.

The Pursuit of Humility

One of the topics God opened up to me on Sabbatical was related to the indispensability of growing in humility. I was struck at what a major theme this was for the early church, especially in her first 500 years. Their understanding was that humility is the face of a pure heart. It was considered the one, unmistakable quality of the Christian life. I recommend Humility Matters: For Practicing the Spiritual Life byMargaret Funk. Her work led me back to John Cassian and Benedict of Nursia’s excellent writings on humility. The following is my adaptation and applications for my own leadership. I am following their classic schematic of progressively climbing a ladder with rungs. (Please note that any of these can be easily abused without a framework of emotional health). Step 1 – Put to death all desires but God –  Application: Ensure I have ample time with God, balancing time alone with Him. Read more.

Freeing the Church from Western Cultural Captivity

This blog title comes from Soong-Chan Rah’s outstanding book entitled The Next Evangelicalism(IVP, 2009). I have given over thirty years of my life to the task of building racially, ethnically and culturally diverse communities, first as an Inter-Varsity staff worker and the last twenty-one here in Queens at New Life. Doing theology and leadership,within this context, has been a rich privilege. Along these years I have often felt the need to write a book about racism, reconciliation, and the church  There is no need. It has been written by Soong-Chan. I highly, highly recommend it! The following are a few of my highlights from this well-seasoned, thoughtful work on the challenges before us around the world (and not simply the USA) as we seek to build churches that demonstrate the power of the gospel to bridge race and culture. The white, Western cultural captivity of the church is marked by individualism, consumerism and materialism, and racism. Less. Read more.