The big deal Jesus made about gratefulness in the one leper (and the lack thereof in the nine), points to the high value He places on a grateful heart. I believe leaders above all should evidence a grateful heart. Evaluate your level of gratefulness against these three gratefulness indicators.
Charles Stone
The story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37), one of Jesus’ most famous stories, describes the power of true love. In this story, Jesus contrasts those with big heads (the priest and the Levite who had heads full of Bible knowledge) with one who had a big heart, the Samaritan. This story also offers clues about leaders with big [...]
Charles Stone
Words carry great power. The book of Proverbs tells us they have the power of life or death and that a well-placed word is very valuable.
Charles Stone
Kevin Cashman lists several questions that can help reveal where our leadership strengths lie. In this article, these five questions have been adapted. I suggest reading these questions slowly and reflectively every day for the next five days.
Charles Stone
Rather than solving a problem analytically, when we focus our attention outwardly on the problem, insight occurs when we turn our attention inward and becomes less focused. This inward focus can help us experience a sudden “aha” solution. This historical illustration about insight describes the “aha” process well.
Charles Stone
If you are just starting out in ministry, here are five key lessons Charles Stone learned over the last 20 years as a pastor.
Charles Stone
The big deal Jesus made about gratefulness in the one leper (and the lack thereof in the nine), points to the high value He places on a grateful heart. I believe leaders above all should evidence a grateful heart. Evaluate your level of gratefulness against these three gratefulness indicators.
Charles Stone
Leaders fall into two categories ‒ those who flourish and those who don’t. What are common traits of flourishing leaders? I believe what happened in the early church gives us clues to traits of a flourishing leader.
Charles Stone
Christian leaders, or any leader for that matter, face a kind of fatigue that can rob our energy and diminish leadership effectiveness. “Decision fatigue” refers to the way decisions degrade in quality after a long string of successive decisions. In other words, the more decisions you make, the more the quality of those decisions declines.
Charles Stone
Every leader at times has probably reacted defensively to another. I have and I regret every single time I did. Leaders naturally face situations that can easily provoke a defensive reaction. But seldom does defensiveness move our churches and organizations forward. So how can we avoid defensiveness? I suggest five proactive ways.
Charles Stone
Problems come. Difficulties arise. Challenges persist. Yet, an attitude of gratitude can keep our hearts hot for Him, our focus in the right place, and our leadership most effective.
Charles Stone
It’s easy for leaders to get stuck in life, but we need to be constantly moving forward. Charles share 10 signs that you might need a new challenge.
Charles Stone
Humans make dumb mistakes. With more than 33 years in ministry, Charles has committed his share of dumb mistakes, as have we all, without ill will or an evil heart. Even so, these mistakes are … well, just dumb.
Charles Stone
Gratefulness expressed to others is not only biblical, but it brings with it many practical personal benefits as well. Science is now telling us what the Bible has for centuries: showing gratitude, saying thanks, and affirming others is really good.
Charles Stone
During a recent trip to Cuba, I was able to spend time with local leaders. All together, we served about 150 pastors that represented conservatively over 8,000 people in their churches. Here’s what I learned.
Charles Stone
Everybody faces conflict. Wise leaders, however, know how to manage conflict when it comes. Four good questions arise from Acts 15 for how to face conflict.
Charles Stone
What do you do when your plans get interrupted? Fume … fuss … cuss? I tend to fume. I recall two experiences that interrupted my well laid-out plans. In the process, I also learned a few important life lessons.
Charles Stone
I’ve experienced one that I believe often trips leaders up. It’s called the confirmation bias. It’s a thinking bias that looks for information that supports our preexisting attitudes, beliefs, and actions. So, how can leaders counter the confirmation bias?
Charles Stone
In the Leadership Labyrinth, Judson Edwards describes 21 paradoxes in ministry. He defines the “relationship paradox” in this way: the people who like you most will be the ones you try least to please. He writes that three kinds of people fill every church. Would you agree with his assessment?
Charles Stone
Trust is having strong conviction in the evidence of something, or agreeing the evidence is true. That is why no one trusts a bridge they can plainly see is broken. Building trust depends upon actions that are the evidence that a person is trustworthy. Here are ways leaders can ensure the trust bridges are strong and true within a team.
Charles Stone
