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I am sure everyone has heard the comical philosophical question, “Which came first: the chicken or the egg?” At Creation, the chicken clearly came first. But in other instances, sometimes the correct answer is not either-or but both-and.
The apostle Paul warned his protege Timothy, “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear” (2 Timothy 4:3). In other words, the people are saying, “The truth makes us uncomfortable, so tell us something that makes us feel good. If you do, you will be rewarded by our popular support.”
Nearly 600 years earlier, God had something to say to those popular teachers, “Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing!” (Ezekiel 13:3). The New King James Version says they “prophesy out of their own heart” and the New American Standard Bible says they “prophesy from their own inspiration…following their own spirit.” In other words, they are speaking a popular message, not a truthful message.
So which came first: the chicken of people with itching ears or the egg of false prophets with a popular message intended for itching ears? I think this is a true both-and. It’s both people looking for a feel-good message, and false prophets realizing they can be rewarded for sharing a popular feel-good message.
Absolutely no one benefits from a prophecy from my own inspiration. True prophets of God don’t want people following their own spirit but following the Spirit of God.
A mark of anungodlyleader is one who uses God’s name only as his platform for personal gain.
To those false prophets, God says, “Woe are you, for My judgment will fall on you.” To those with itching ears who trade popularity for truth, Paul says to Timothy, “Have nothing to do with them” (2 Timothy 3:1-5).
This is part 72 in my series on godly leadership. You can check out all of my posts in this series by clicking here.
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating… (Mark 12:28).
The “them” in this verse are the Pharisees, the Herodians, the Sadducees, and Jesus. Mark especially loves this Greek word syzeteo, using it six times in his Gospel. Neither Matthew nor John uses this word at all. Luke uses it four times: twice in the Gospel of Luke and twice in the Book of Acts. This word appears nowhere else in the New Testament.
Syzeteo is a compound word that means a joint pursuit. Check out some of the ways this word is translated:
debating (NIV)
arguing (NASB)
disputing (AMP)
lively exchanges of questions (MSG)
reasoning together (NKJV)
The phrase “reasoning together” may sound familiar to you. It appears in the Old Testament when God says, “Come now, and let us reason together” (Isaiah 1:18). This is just one word in Hebrew (yāḵaḥ), which is defined as making something clear by demonstrating or proving.
Whether in the Old or New Testaments, this is not considered to be one-upmanship, or attempting to get the knockout punch, or trying to prove one’s superiority. It is a legitimate journey of discovery—asking good questions, truly listening to the answer (not just listening to respond or counter), and then processing the other’s words before responding. Plato defined syzeteo as seeking or examining together.
The teacher of the law noticed “that Jesus had given them a good answer.” He then asked a follow-up question. After hearing the reply from Jesus, he said, “Well said,” and reiterated Christ’s answer. To this Jesus noted “that he had answered wisely” and said to the teacher, “You are not far from the kingdom of God” (Mark 12:28-34).
The word “argue” used to mean the presenting of premises that led to a conclusion. Then the other person would perhaps challenge one of the premises to maybe show a different conclusion. These arguments or debates weren’t screaming matches and they certainly weren’t intended to be over trivial matters.
So should Christians debate? I would say yes IF all of these conditions are true:
…IF this isn’t a trivial matter which has no impact on eternity.
…IF I can ask good questions and truly listen to the other person’s answer.
…IF I can have an attitude of journeying together toward the truth found in God’s Word.
…IF I can humbly receive the truth that is spoken to me by the other person.
True Christian debating is not bantering with the other person, not attempting to score a “gotcha!” against the other person, not wanting to win an argument. The only true win comes when both parties arrive at the truth given to us in Scripture. This is true reasoning together.
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Douglas Carmel from Rock Of Israel ministries shared an amazing overview of the seven Jewish feasts that are listed in the Book of Leviticus, and how Jesus is the fulfillment of all of these feasts. Doug was born into a Jewish family and became a Christian in his late teens, so he has firsthand knowledge of both the traditional celebrations and the Christian understanding of these feasts.
One of the things I appreciated was Doug’s explanation that the feasts were merely a shadow of the reality—Jesus is the Reality!
Passover—celebrated on the 14th day of the first month
Leviticus 23:4-5
Matthew 26:17-29; Mark 14:12-26; Luke 22:7-20
Jesus was crucified on the same day that the Passover lamb was being sacrificed
Unleavened Bread—celebrated on the 15th day of the first month
Leviticus 23:6
1 Corinthians 5:6-9
Firstfruits—celebrated on the 16th day of the first month (or the day after the Sabbath)
Leviticus 23:9-14
1 Corinthians 15:12-26
Seven Weeks—celebrated 50 days after Firstfruits
Leviticus 23:15-21
Also known as Pentecost
Acts 2:1-41
Doug called our attention to the calendar on which these feasts appeared. Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, and Seven Weeks all happen in the spring. All four of these feasts have already been fulfilled in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
There are no feasts in the summer months, as these are the months of field work (Leviticus 23:22). This is where we are now, which is why Jesus told us, “Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field” (Matthew 9:38). This is the time for us to tell others about Jesus the Messiah!
The final three feasts appear in the autumn—Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles. These are feasts that are still to be fulfilled at Christ’s Second Advent.
Trumpets—celebrated on the 1st day of the seventh month
Leviticus 23:23-25
This is also known as Rosh Hashanah when the shofar is blown
1 Corinthians 15:51-53; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18
Atonement—celebrated on the 10th day of the seventh month
Leviticus 23:26-32
This is also known as Yom Kippur—the one day of the year the high priest goes into the Holy of Holies
Romans 11:25-32; Matthew 23:39
Tabernacles—celebrated on the 15th through the 21st days of the seventh month
Jesus said of Himself, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty” (Revelation 1:8). Jesus is THE Reality and THE Fulfillment of all of these celebrations!
When someone wants to “grow” an organization, what exactly does that look like? Is growth only numeric or is it something that’s perhaps a bit more difficult to count? The leader needs to have this clear in their mind, and they need to regularly communicate this metric to their team. I unpack this in greater detail in my book Shepherd Leadership. Check out more of this message here. And be sure to check out all of my videos on my YouTube channel.
It appears that creativity is largely fueled by two things: proper sleep and finding your “sweet spot” each day. If you are an early bird, protect that creative time. If you are a night owl, don’t try to become an early bird to emulate someone else, but lean into your productive time. Check out this full post.
I love reading, but even I have trouble finding time to sit down with my books. But this insight from John Piper totally rejuvenated my thinking about reading. “Suppose that you can read about 250 words a minute. Now, that’s not real fast; most of us can do that—250 words a minute. And suppose that you set aside fifteen minutes a day to read a great book—a classic or some book that you’d been longing to read that would help you grow in your wisdom, your understanding. Now, fifteen minutes a day for 365 days is 5,475 minutes a year. Now, you multiply 5,475 times 250, and you get 1,368,750 words that you could read in a year at fifteen minutes a day. Now, an average book has about 300 to 400 words on a page. So we’ll take 350, which is kind of in the middle, and divide that into 1,368,750. And you know what you get? You get 3,910—almost 4,000 pages a year. An average book has about 200 pages. You see the implication of that? You could read twenty books by this time next year by setting aside fifteen minutes a day.”
An ancient Hebrew inscription consisting of 48 letters was discovered on Mt. Ebal in Israel and is centuries older than any known Hebrew inscription from ancient Israel. This is yet another archeological discovery that speaks to the historicity of the Bible.
T.M. Moore wrote one of the endorsements of my book Shepherd Leadership. His thoughts here about the role of godly shepherds is right on the mark: “The work of shepherds consists of helping the people of God to connect with Him—to know, love, fear, and serve Him in every area of their lives. This work cannot be fulfilled by one who is merely a good speaker, an effective organizer, or an inspiring motivator. This work must be done by one who truly knows the Lord. For unless we know the Lord, the Lord will not know us, and He will not honor our labors.”
You are one-of-a-kind! There has never, ever been anyone like you, and there never will be. God made you on purpose and for a purpose. And God wants to reveal the purpose He has for your life. You be you—that is how God is most glorified through you.
Listen to the audio-only version of this podcast by clicking on the player below, or scroll down to watch the video.
Performance reviews are a great tool to help leaders measure and celebrate the growth of their team, but the standard model of quarterly and yearly reviews is a terrible way to go about it. In this episode, Greg and I suggest a different approach to reviews that relies on frequent coaching and giving your team “the answers to the test” to set them up to succeed.
[0:15] We all have “have to” and “get to” leadership tasks in our organization, but we think performance reviews never should be in the have to” category.
[1:29] Performance review times are a great time to unleash potential in our teammates.
[2:44] Greg shares how his daughter’s school does this well and how an organization he worked with did this poorly.
[4:02] I teach leadership principles to a group of young men called “Guys With Ties,” and I always have them focus on future growth.
[5:22] Leaders can only do effective reviews by having regular interactions with their teammates.
[7:00] We suggest a better way to give out compliments and corrections.
[8:35] Three key elements in performance reviews: (1) honesty, (2) timeliness, (3) looking forward.
[10:54] How do we handle situations where the review doesn’t match the projected employee bonus?
[12:55] Many of our teammates have probably had a bad experience with a previous performance review, so we need to address that upfront.
[13:16] Accountability is a heavy word but it is a vital growth piece.
[15:23] What happens when leaders are tired?
[17:27] What does it say to our teammates if we’re always too busy to schedule a time for a performance review?
[21:13] The culture we need to foster in our organization is an “improvement culture.”
Check out this episode and subscribe on YouTube so you can watch all of the upcoming episodes. You can also listen to our podcast on Spotify and Apple.
Because of the miraculous things that God had done through Elisha, word began to spread about God’s power that was on display through this godly prophet. In fact, word even spread to other countries, including the land of Aram where was a highly decorated military commander named Naaman lived. This revered leader was afflicted by leprosy. The king of Aram sent Naaman to Elisha to be cured of this disease (see 2 Kings 5).
When Naaman came to Elisha, he was given instructions to bathe himself seven times in the Jordan River. Initially, Naaman balked at this, but eventually, he humbled himself in obedience and was miraculously healed of his leprosy!
Naaman had come to Israel and Elisha with the intention of buying a miracle (just take a look at the treasures that he brought with him). Elisha would not accept money or gifts from Naaman. Not that there’s anything wrong with a prophet receiving gifts, but not when the intention of the giver is to give a bribe.
This is where Gehazi makes a fatal mistake. Gehazi has a conversation with himself (notice the phrase “he said to himself”) that he should have had with Elisha. He determined that he and Elisha were owed something for their ministry work. Gehazi then compounded this unhealthy conversation by telling one lie after another lie to justify the conclusion he had reached.
Elisha knew that God keeps track, that God keeps perfect records, that God will reward far better than any man ever could. He said, “Is this the time to take money or to accept clothes?” No! We need to let God determine the timing and the gift.
As a result, the leprosy that had left Naaman now attacked Gehazi. In reality, it was a leprosy of his heart that merely appeared on his skin. Gehazi was then dismissed from his ministry position with Elisha.
Sadly, I’ve witnessed many ministry leaders who have derailed their leadership with an “I deserve this” attitude. Thinking “I’m owed this” took their eyes off God and put them on the rewards they thought they should have received. How sad this is!
Our constant prayer should be, “Holy Spirit, guard my heart against the leprosy of entitlement. Help me keep the ‘I’m owed this’ attitude far, far away from my heart’s door.”
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
Every organization has a culture and has some sacred cows.
I define culture as the unwritten rules that everyone who’s been around for a while knows, but seldom thinks to share with any newcomers. Those newcomers usually don’t know they have broken one of those unwritten rules until they actually break one of those rules!
Sacred cows are the untouchable things in every organization. Those things that have always been in place and can never be changed or removed.
But what if you’re the new leader coming into an organization? How do you navigate the new culture? How do you keep from messing with those sacred cows? Greg and I discussed this on a recent episode of our leadership podcast.
Check out the full episode this clip came from by clicking here.
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
One of the things I remember the most about my Mom is her fierce belief that God had a plan for my life. There were times I struggled in my belief, but she was tenacious in her faith on my behalf. I’m here today doing what I do—which I love doing!—because of my Mom’s faith-filled, persistent prayers. So if I could give two words of encouragement to godly mothers who are praying for their kids it would be this: Don’t quit!
In 2 Kings we meet a godly woman who very much wanted to be a mother. While she waited and prayed for an answer to this prayer, she kept ministering to others. One of the men who benefitted from her gracious hospitality was the prophet Elisha. Whenever the prophet would pass through Shunem, he would stay that this woman’s house, where she and her husband had prepared a room especially for him.
It appears this Shunammite woman is married to a man much older than her. They are without a male heir, so if her husband dies she will lose everything—no property, no voice, no source of income. Clearly this has to be a concern for her, but she doesn’t mention this to Elisha when he asks how he can bless her for their care for him. Perhaps she had resigned herself to the thought that her barrenness was a hopeless situation, but Elisha told her that in a year’s time she would become pregnant with a son. She must have been disappointed before because she says, “Don’t mislead your servant,” as if saying, “Don’t get my hopes up again!”
However, God does give this couple a son, and that little boy is dearly loved! At a very young age, this boy dies suddenly. This could have been a time that anger or depression could have been expected. But not with this woman!
Remember when we looked at Psalm 42 last week? The psalmist was grateful for the experience he had in God’s presence, but now that there is a setback of some kind he is struggling with the “Where is your God?” taunt from his enemies.
When God answers our prayer, the devil loves to whisper, “Lucky break. You didn’t really deserve this.” So if anything goes wrong he can lie again, “See, I told you so!”
This is where we must not merely listen to those thoughts but talk back to them. Perhaps the Shunammite said something like, “You’re right, I didn’t deserve this or earn this gift of my son. This is a gift from God’s grace. God promised this son to me and I believe God will preserve what He gives.”
Moms, you must cling to God tenaciously in faith-filled prayer!
This godly mother shows us what tenacious faith looks like. She took her son into Elisha’s room, placing him on the prophet’s bed, and she quickly sends word to her husband that she is going to find Elisha. When her husband asks what is wrong, her faith-filled answer is, “It’s all right.”
As she gets close to Elisha’s home, he sees her in the distance and sends his servant Gehazi to ask, “Is everything okay?” To which she gives the same faith-filled reply, “Everything is all right.”
When she finally gets to Elisha, she grabs onto him and says words that must have gotten Elisha’s attention immediately: “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” These are the exact same words Elisha said to Elijah three times on the day Elijah was taken to heaven. Just as Elisha clung to the promise of God’s blessing, so did this mother (see 2 Kings 2:2, 4, 6).
God did answer her prayer and raised her son back to life. But this wasn’t the end of the blessing.
Remember that a widow without a son has no standing in the community. To be saved from a famine in Israel, this woman and her family lived for seven years in Philistia. While they were there, her husband died and squatters took over her property.
But in God’s perfect foresight and timing, this woman and her miracle son walked into the king’s throne room just as Gehazi was telling the king about the miraculous resurrection Elisha prayed for. The king is so moved by this story that he doesn’t just restore her land, but he orders the squatters to pay back to her all of the income they earned from her land during the time she was away!
Not just restoration, but blessings beyond imagining (see 2 Kings 8:1-6).
We don’t know who wrote Psalm 116, but it very well could have been this boy who was raised to life. The opening verses talk about God’s deliverance from death, but then the psalm says, “I serve you just as my mother did” (v. 16).
This woman’s tenacious faith resulted in immediate provision for her, a legacy of faith in her son, and a testimony that is still encouraging us 3000 years later!
So let me repeat this to godly mothers who are praying for their families: Don’t quit! There are eternal testimonies and rewards coming that you cannot even perceive!
A prominent Chinese scholar, Dr. Wang Yun Wu (1888-1979), abandoned atheism in 1924 after he witnessed the miraculous healing of his sister’s eyesight. Dr. Wang later became Vice Premier of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Check out this miraculous story in the Pentecostal Evangel.
What it is: May is mental health awareness month, making mental health and suicide prevention bigger topics than ever. #mentalhealthmatters has around 42 billion views on TikTok, and #mentalhealthawareness has racked up 20 billion.
Why the conversation is changing: The CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior survey showed that suicidal ideation, especially for teenage girls, is continuing on a concerning trajectory. In 2021, 30% of girls said that they had seriously considered suicide in the past year, and 24% said they had an actual plan to end their life. According to data published by Mental Health America, 16.4% of youth reported experiencing a major depressive episode within the last 12 months. This news comes at a time when adults are feeling so lonely that the US surgeon general has declared loneliness a public health emergency. Stigma around mental health topics appears to be eroding, but that isn’t necessarily leading to better mental health outcomes for teens and for the population at large.
Conversation Starter:What do you think are the biggest contributors to mental health issues for your generation? (Check out our new video series on Mental Health for more help having this conversation!)
“A pessimist is one who makes difficulties of his opportunities and an optimist is one who makes opportunities of his difficulties.” —Harry Truman
Is pain good or bad? Dr. Matthew Loftus makes the case that avoiding suffering undermines the role of medicine and also stunts our ability to feel and express compassion. Check out this full article and the thoughts John Stonestreet shared about them.
“What a sweetness lies in the little word ‘our’; how much is God’s glory endeared to us when we consider our interest in Him as ‘our Lord’ [Psalm 8:1].” —Charles Spurgeon, in Spurgeon and the Psalms
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
I have two back-to-back chapters in my book Shepherd Leadership where I discuss the confidence and the humility of leaders. The healthiest of leaders are self-aware enough to know which one of these leadership styles is naturally theirs, and they are also actively aware of how to bring balance to those two extremes.
As Karl Vaters and I discussed on The Church Lobby podcast, the natural tendency for confident leaders is to view humble leaders as pushovers, and the natural tendency for humble leaders is to view confident leaders as arrogant. Is this fair? Check out how Karl and I unpack this.
If you would like to grow your leadership effectiveness, please pick up a copy of Shepherd Leadership for yourself. And stay tuned as I’ll be sharing more clips from this interview soon.
I am sure everyone has heard the comical philosophical question, “Which came first: the chicken or the egg?” At Creation, the chicken clearly came first. But in other instances, sometimes the correct answer is not either-or but both-and. 
Craig T. Owens 