Writing Shepherd Leadership opened the door for me to have a lot of conversations with pastors, and I discovered just how beat up so many of them feel. As a result, I am working on a new book called When Sheep Bite as a way to help these pastors not just survive, but thrive in their ministry. I am self-publishing this book, and I could really use your financial investment in this project. I’ve got some special offers for you. Please check out this link and prayerfully consider helping me help these hurting pastors.
I love learning more about the historicity of the Bible! If you do too, check out this archeological biography of King Jehoram. And if you would like to keep the history of the kings and prophets straight, this side-by-side chart is one of the most downloaded resources I have ever produced.
“I can accept failure. Everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.” —Michael Jordan
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Sometimes people say it would be nice to live a carefree, never-have-troubles life. But I think we would rob ourselves of so many lessons if we avoided all of the difficult things.
I’m not saying to seek out things that are difficult, but instead of trying to get out of those difficult things, try to see what lessons you can get out of those difficult things.
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Thank you to my many friends who helped make Shepherd Leadership a reality! My first book would not have been published, and been such a blessing to so many Christian leaders, if it hadn’t been for such amazing people who helped me fund this project!
Shepherd Leadership opened the door for me to talk with so many pastors. In my conversations with them, I discovered how beat up so many of them were feeling. This began to stir in me the desire to write another book to help them out, which prompted the thought for yet another book.
The first book has the working title When Sheep Bite: How shepherds should respond to attacks and abandonment. This book will be presented in three sections:
Cultivating a shepherd’s heart toward the sheep
Handling the various bites and kicks that come from the sheep
Staying faithful to God’s call to shepherd His flock under your care
The second book has a working title of Amen Indeed! This is a book of prayers for the variety of situations that pastors face. The first part of this book lists the different scenarios that call for prayer and then presents a prayer that is rooted in biblical texts. The second part of the book is a prayer for pastors for each Sunday of the year.
But in order to help these ministry leaders, I once again need some help from you. One of the lessons I learned from my first publishing experience is that a lot of money was spent on a publisher that could have gone toward getting the book out to more people. So this time I will be self-publishing these books.
Would you consider being a sponsor of these books?
For a donation of $35, you will get an advanced, pre-release copy of the ebook. You will be reading this book before anyone has it![UPDATE: 1 sponsor at this level]
For a donation of $75, you will not only get the pre-release copy of the ebook but also an autographed copy of the pre-released print version of the book.[UPDATE: 2 sponsors at this level]
For a donation of $200 or more, you will get all of the above, AND you will have access to the opening paragraphs of each chapter as they are written, as well as some behind-the-scenes videos throughout this journey.[UPDATE: 3 sponsors at this level]
All of my supporters will receive immediate access to the audio version of the introduction to When Sheep Bite.
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We’ve all heard people make some audacious claims. But the real power is in being able to back up those claims. Without any proof, it’s all talk! As things were coming to a conclusion for Christ’s ministry—at least in the world’s eyes—there were some bold claims being made. Some were made by Jesus Himself, some by His rivals, and some by His supporters.
The first bold claim we’re going to consider was made by the high priest: a man named Joseph Caiaphas.
The Sanhedrin was the highest court in the land and was made up of 70 + 1 men. This comes from Numbers 11:16-17 (seventy leaders) plus Moses. After Moses, another person was always appointed to serve as the leader, which was usually the high priest.
By the time of Jesus, this ruling body had become more political than religious. Very frequently, leadership would change because of the whims of the Romans or their puppet leaders (someone like a King Herod). The high priest in Christ’s early years was a man named Annas, who served from AD 6-15. During all of the public ministry of Jesus, the high priesthood had transferred to Caiaphas (AD 18-36), who was Annas’ son-in-law. Yet both of them still shared considerable influence (see Luke 3:2; John 18:13, 24; Acts 4:6).
Caiaphas and his family were Sadducees. They didn’t hold to any beliefs of the supernatural—no angels or demons, no resurrection, no afterlife. Partly because of these unscriptural beliefs, the Jewish Qumran, who safeguarded the careful copying of the Scriptures, called Caiaphas “the wicked priest.”
Annas, Caiaphas, and their family member were the ruling party that wanted to stay in power. So their activities were always a balancing act: Trying to keep the Jewish community happy on one hand, while not offending the Romans or other political leaders on the other hand.
It’s with this backdrop that we read the story of Lazarus’ resurrection in John 11. Jesus knew this miracle would validate His ministry, and sure enough, after the resurrection of Lazarus, more and more people put their faith in Jesus. So much so that the religious leaders wanted to kill both Jesus and Lazarus (11:53; 12:9-11).
Ironically, these same religious leaders had previously asked Jesus for a sign to prove He was who He made the bold claim to be. To this demand, Jesus said that He would give them “the sign of Jonah” who was considered dead in the belly of the fish before he was “resurrected” to complete his mission (Matthew 12:38-40, 16:1-4).
Since the religious leaders viewed everything through a political lens, they thought Jesus was also going to instigate a political or military uprising. The following that Jesus would gather would challenge the Sanhedrin’s hold on power, so Caiaphas proposed a political solution disguised as a prophecy (John 11:49-53).
Caiaphas meant it like this: “We’re trying to keep the balance between the Jewish people and the powerful Romans. If we kill one Man (Jesus) in time, we may be a little out of favor with the Jews but we will save our position with the Romans. Later on, we’ll make things right with the common people.”
Even to this day, people are trying to balance, juggle, control, appease, and bargain their way to get or keep the life they want to live. They will use religious dressing to do political things, thinking they will “make it right” later on.
Caiaphas made this bold claim: “If Jesus dies, our position will be saved for us and our children.” But he had no power to back up his bold claim, so it was just talk.
But Jesus made this bold claim: “I will die so that your souls can be saved for eternity.” He, on the other hand, had the power to back up His bold claim (John 10:17-18).
Caiaphas’ plan sounded like it would be the end of Jesus and His mission, but “the end” was really just another step in fulfilling what God had already planned!
Let me say it again: God’s plan always prevails. The bold claims of powerful evil people may make it seem like the end is near, but don’t fret because their “end” is only fulfilling God’s plan!
There are some long-lasting benefits in keeping a journal. Here’s one benefit I shared with some ministry interns. If you haven’t already done so, please check out my YouTube channel for more great content.
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is causing problems for Big Bang proponents. In a recent post from the Institute for Creation Research, some of these problematic areas were laid out. “As noted in a previous Creation Science Update and Impact article, data from the JWST show that distant galaxies look more ‘mature’ and ‘developed’ than predicted by Big Bang theorists. Big Bang astronomers assume light from the most distant galaxies took almost 14 billion years to reach Earth. Although this may sound reasonable, creation scientists think this assumption is open to challenge. But in any case, by Big Bang reckoning, we should be seeing these very distant galaxies—not as they are now, but as they were almost 14 billion years ago. Hence, these galaxies should appear very “unevolved” and ‘immature.’ Yet, this expectation is routinely contradicted, and data from the JWST are making the disagreement even worse.” One thing the JWST has definitely done: It has shown the beauty and the power of our Creator!
John Piper said, “One of the greatest hope-killers is that you have tried for so long to change, and have not succeeded.” This is an encouraging word for anyone who has prayed, and prayed, and prayed for a breakthrough. “Take heart, struggler. Keep asking, seeking, knocking. Keep looking to Christ. If God gets glory by saving robbers in the eleventh hour, he surely has his purposes why he has waited till now to give you the breakthrough you have sought for years.”
This is pretty compelling evidence for the global Flood that is described in the Book of Genesis—
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When we think about leadership, we often envision the people in organizationally designated leadership roles “leading down” to the people on their team. In this episode of The Craig And Greg Show, we flip the script, discussing how you can “lead up” to those above you and help your team achieve greater levels of success.
[0:30] This is part 1 of a new series of periodic episodes of how to lead at all levels of your organization.
[1:07] What is the real definition of a leader?
[1:55] You need different skills to lead up based on how receptive your leader is.
[3:31] Do you have the right tools to lead up, or do you need to fill your toolbox first?
[5:30] What happens when the leadership above you changes?
[6:35] There are two really important words when leading up: stewardship and accountability.
[7:59] “I told you so” doesn’t help you lead up, nor does withholding information from your up-leader.
[11:55] What are the best ways to talk to your up-leader?
[14:35] Everyone in the organization already knows when you have the good ideas, so you don’t have to announce it.
[15:05] How do you balance being proactive with being too aggressive?
[16:05] What lessons can you learn from working with your difficult up-leader?
[17:42] You shouldn’t try to “fix” your up-leader, but help your up-leader.
[19:34] I share how I kept my attitude in check with my difficult up-leader.
[22:00] Coaches can help you do what you’re already doing better than you’re currently doing it
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.
“That’s a pretty bold claim. Are you prepared to back that up?”
I’ll bet you have heard something like that said to you, and maybe you have even said that yourself to someone else who made a big, audacious statement.
After Jesus is arrested by the religious leaders—an arrest that will ultimately lead to Jesus being crucified on the Cross—there are some incredibly bold claims spoken by key people in this part of the Story. For the most part, these are claims that we don’t read earlier in any of the Gospels, but as this story is heading toward its most crucial moment, we have these audacious statements pronounced.
But here’s the most important part: These bold claims weren’t just made, but they were backed up with proof as well.
As we head toward the remembrance of Christ’s death on the Cross and His resurrection three days later, please join us for this look at these eye-opening bold claims. I would love to have you join us in person, but if you are unable to do that, we will make all of the messages available on Facebook and YouTube. If you’ve missed any of the messages, or simply want to review what we’ve already learned, you can find all of these messages here:
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When I was younger—and so much more immature—I thought it would diminish my leadership if I ever answered, “I don’t know” to any question. As a result, I fired off very self-assured answers that probably weren’t well thought-out.
They probably weren’t very God-honoring answers either.
Once a leader is “on the record” with an answer, they will usually defend their stance even if it appears to be wrong. After all, they must save face at all costs.
A downward slide continues when a leader then uses their position of authority to say something like, “Because I’m the leader and I said so!” With this stance, people are often repelled from that leader.
How much better to to wait before giving an answer—to give up the need to always be “The Answer Man”!
And better yet, let’s not give anyone our answer, but let’s seek God for HIS answer! Not only will this be the best answer, but God will defend Himself without us having to step in to “help” Him.
With this stance, the people are not only drawn to this godly leader but they are drawn to God as well.
Consider these examples from Moses:
Stand still, that I may hear what the Lord will command concerning you. (Numbers 9:8)
So Moses brought their case before the Lord. (Numbers 27:5)
A mark of a godly leader is one who hears from God before answering men.
So the next time someone asks your opinion, pause. Remember that it’s okay to say, “I’m not sure how to answer you on that one. I need to hear what God has to say about this.” Let’s give up the desire to be “The Answer Man” for everything. Instead we can simply announce the answer that God has given.
This is part 69 in my series on godly leadership. You can check out all of my posts in this series by clicking here.
If you are a pastor (or if you really want to encourage your pastor), I’ve got a super-special deal on my book Shepherd Leadership. Check it out by clicking here.
Craig T. Owens 