Community
Articles in this category focus on rejoicing in the community of other believers, how to build and nurture community, and how to better reflect Jesus Christ to our brothers and sisters in the faith.
Healthy Leaders Choose Accountability
The task of Christian leadership comes with high standards – the highest, we would hope! Therefore, every emerging leader must learn to choose accountability.
Malcolm Webber
Authentically Counterproductive
We hear so much about being an “authentic” leader. I believe fully in authenticity. You must lead from who you are; at the same time, authenticity does not give you permission to be a jerk. The most productive leader leads from strengths and dials back those tendencies to react poorly. This week’s question: When might [...]
Corey Olynik
How to Help Someone Not Change
Dear Stephen, I have this person in my life – maybe it’s my spouse, maybe it’s one of my kids, maybe it’s a friend – it doesn’t really matter. They have this sinful habit that drives me absolutely bonkers. They complain a lot. Or maybe they criticize me a lot. Or maybe they argue a […]
Stephen Altrogge
3 Changes Your Church Needs to Make to Serve Families Better
Ministry is shifting. If you’ve been in children’s ministry for a while (as many of you have), you might feel like your skills are growing dull; strategies that used to work seem to fall flat. Practices that used to easily equip families no longer work. Things are changing. There are a host of cultural realities […]
Larry Fowler
Building Relationships for Lasting Success
Whether you realize or not, relationships are the fuel that feeds your success, and are often highlighted as an important part of your role as a leader. Interpersonal relationships are most important to success in all organizations today. They are especially important in times of organizational stress, emergencies and disasters. They are [...]
Patrick Ondrey
Parenting as Missionary Training
After glimpsing pain in my neighbor’s eyes my curiosity was stoked. That moment has led us to five years of immersion into the lives of those in closest proximity to us. We immersed ourselves in the rhythms and relationships of our neighborhood. We anticipated some great opportunities, but we didn’t anticipate training our kids to [...]
Alan Briggs
Community Is Essential to Building Leaders! Here’s How You Can Activate Transformational Communities.
The most effective leader development efforts are conducted within a living community of people in which the emerging leaders function and participate.
Malcolm Webber
Had Your Buttons Pushed Lately?
While writing this, I am watching four seagulls that are initially sunning themselves on the sand. Then suddenly two start squawking at the other two and a battle is begun, until one party is intimidated and retreats. But no reconciliation or resolution has taken place. How often does that happen in life?
Stephen Mayers
Groupthink Can Kill Your Team! Here’s How You Treat It
Groupthink lulls a team into deadly complacency. Here’s how to know if your team is already there.
Malcolm Webber
The Culture of Mistrust
Trust is such a fragile commodity. It can easily be broken even before it is built. Yet we know trust is the foundation for healthy organizational behavior.
Elaine Vitikainen
How to View God’s Weak, Flawed and Messy People
It’s easy to look at our brothers and sisters and see their warts and blemishes. Yet the perfect One, the holy One, the One without a single imperfection doesn’t look on His people the way we often do.
Mark Altrogge
7 Traits of a Great Team Member
The longer a great team is together, the better it seems to work together, but it starts with finding the right people to join the team.
Ron Edmondson
7 Ways I Gain Influence with a Team
I think it’s vital to a healthy team that the leader be continually conscious of his or her need for influence and ways to improve upon it.
Ron Edmondson
The Pearls of Kingdom Friendship
Ultimately, God has made us ‒ even as leaders ‒ to connect best with other specific people. We must wholeheartedly seek them out and refuse to settle for second best by sometimes saying “no” to certain people in order to say “yes” to others.
Nick Franks
The Life-Changing Magic of Showing Up
We all want better, truer, deeper Christian community. We all want to grow personally. But how do we get there? Scripture has a surprising answer: Show up. We are obsessed with life hacks and shortcuts today. Everywhere ads hit us with easy tricks to grow our investments, to make dinner prep a breeze, to give […]
Ricky Alcantar
8 Tips to Survive the Messy Middle
Impacted by a testimony of the transforming work of God in someone’s life, we are often left in awe of God’s faithfulness and with a fresh hope of what He will do in us and in others we are praying for. How quickly we forget that in most cases transformation in our lives is a […]
William Frisbie
Don’t Just Be Accountable to Your Leader – Be Accountable to Each Other!
The effectiveness and health of a team is directly associated with developing a common working approach.
Malcolm Webber
Fostering an Environment of Collaboration
I’ve been in many church offices where I observe walled-off office after walled-off office. Collaboration is paramount to a healthy church culture. Even if you are the only paid staff member you still need to be collaborating internally on projects, creativity, and other things.
Joe Hoagland
We Must Improve Our Criticism
We need to get better at criticism. Much better. That is my criticism of the church.
David Goodman