A pastor recently contacted me to ask if there was any hope for his church to survive. The few people in his church were aged, and the church was slowly but surely declining in numbers. My answer shocked him. I said there was great hope for him and his church ‒ because the Father was already at work in his town.
Rod Denton
“The largest stumbling block to leadership development in the global Church is that we train the wrong people.” (Ralph Winter)
Malcolm Webber
How do you deal with disappointment? Some of us hide it away. We deny its reality with fine words. But deep down we become numb. We become afraid to trust God again. “Surviving disappointment” becomes our background story, influencing our response to every interaction. We need to grieve disappointment in a healthy way.
Dorothy Stewart
I admit it. I have a tendency to be a loner. I like my personal space and my private time. I recognize, though, that my tendencies aren’t always the best for a pastor. Here are my reflections on others like me.
Chuck Lawless
We know healthy leadership requires good character, but how do we deal with those headstrong, sinful habits?
Patricia Tillman
Transformation is radical change. To transform means to change in the way that a caterpillar transforms into a butterfly, or a tadpole into a frog, or a baby into a child and then into an adult. After the process is completed, it is as if the older form ceases to exist.
Malcolm Webber
City walls helped create a shared identity amongst a people. They provided security – a safe environment to work together productively. But some of the churches and NGOs I work with sadly remind me of Jerusalem’s city walls in the time of Nehemiah. The organisation’s walls are broken down by internal conflict, mistrust and fear. [...]
Dr. Stanley Arumugam
Can a short book like Philemon provide us with extensive insight into the nature of the Early Church? Find out in this brief excerpt from Glimpses of Church Life: An Exposition of Philemon, by Malcolm Webber.
Malcolm Webber
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
Paul’s letters are incredible examples of how to build leaders.
Brent Hoover
Wise leaders and pastors understand that lasting change requires individuals to change first before an organization will change. Your change won’t last or will disrupt your church unless those in your teams personally embrace the change first, at least at some level. So it behooves us to first understand why most people initially resist [...]
Charles Stone
Listen to our new episode of In the Word with Malcolm Webber!
Malcolm Webber
“Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another.” (Hebrews 10:24-25)
Skye Jethani
At one point, I was a comer. One day in the future, I will be a leaver. But for the past twelve years, I have been a stayer. And I’ve passed through all the feelings: joy at new friends, sorrow at goodbyes, anger at goodbyes, self-righteous judgment of newbies, carelessness about my current circumstances, delight in my situation. It [...]
Rachel Pieh Jones
Do you have difficulty surrendering to Jesus? This holistic design will help.
Malcolm Webber
Much has been written on growing healthy leaders who can in turn grow healthy churches. It seems an obvious concern but in my experience many Christian leaders do not really see it as part of their brief; church growth is something for the specialist or the traveling evangelist. Too many appear called to maintenance rather than mission.
Gordon Mylchreest
The effective leader will focus on three time horizons simultaneously: 1. Cultivating current responsibilities, extending and defending the core existing ministries. 2. Tending and nurturing emerging ideas, strategies, and processes. 3. Planting seeds for tomorrow. This pattern encompasses the mature, emergent, and embryonic phases of an [...]
Malcolm Webber
Here are four core qualities of an emotionally unhealthy leader.
Pete Scazzero
If we look at our own lives, where are we blaming others for a situation?
Rick James