I continue to slowly re-read Nouwen’s Wounded Healer. This is one of the best books on Christian leadership I have ever read. It feels like Nouwen is peering into the window of my soul as he writes and perfectly describing the human condition as I experience it. In the second chapter, he attempts to characterize the nature of the rootless generation that was emerging in a post 70s world. He says that we share the following characteristics: We are an…
It can be argued that there were three primary offices or stations of leadership within Ancient Israel. They were prophet, priest, and king (included here is the role of judge, which was the precursor to king). When Jesus came, he fulfilled all three of these roles. He is called the prophet in the gospels, he is considered a king in the line of David, and he is a priest in the order of Melchizedek. As I read through Hebrews 7…
There’s nothing like a close friend. When we were in seminary at Gordon-Conwell and after Mary and I were just married, we were friends with three other couples who were all living in the same on-campus residence. We shared values, interests, life-stage, cultural backgrounds, missions in life, and location! We also had unorthodox schedules because of our studying, which allowed us to drop by during the day or stay up late hanging out and talking about the ups and downs…
I recently came across this series of articles by Lori Carrell. She is a professor of communication at the University of Wisconsin. These articles are the results of research done for a Lily-endowed Center for Excellence in Congregational Leadership. She did a survey of more than 10,000 sermon listeners and a number of pastors as well. I found these articles encouraging and helpful. If you’re a preacher, I highly recommend them! Sermons Most Likely to Succeed The Perils of Power…