[3:20] Leaders look for ways to honor those around them
[3:48] Can you honor too much?
[4:29] How can we honor our parents and grandparents?
[5:13] Greg has a book releasing soon called Sage Advice
[9:44] Greg explains that application is the real compliment
[10:36] Honor starts with noticing others and then expressing what was noticed
[11:49] Honoring calls out great potential in others
[12:32] What does it mean to “trust the person with a limp”?
[14:15] Honor is for people who gave, not for people who received
[15:28] Why is hard for leaders to acknowledge the success of others?
[16:27] Leaders need to looking around for opportunities to honor others
[17:11] Hand out compliments publicly for maximum effect
[17:55] Leaders receive honor by first honoring others
[19:45] Our leadership challenge to you
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[5:40] Greg reminds leaders that there isn’t an award for not taking a vacation
[6:46] Greg has seen the fallout from overly-tired leaders, and I share some ideas for leaders to help themselves and their teammates de-stress
[9:31] How do leaders build playtime into their regular work schedule?
[11:10] Share your ideas with us!
[11:34] Greg shared some playtime activities he used in his organizations
[12:27] Why do leaders think they have to be so serious?
[15:15] Some thoughts for leaders to help their teams
[16:51] Greg emphasizes again the importance of self-care and they guys talk about how we can help other leaders practice self-care
[19:03] Our coaching huddles can help you grow your leadership
[20:02] Is it possible to find work-life balance?
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[0:15] I adapt a verse from the Bible to talk about generosity and Greg agrees with me.
[1:00] Generosity is so much more than donating money.
[2:15] Generous leaders are proactive, and have appropriate boundaries.
[2:48] Leaders cannot fake generosity.
[3:42] Generosity isn’t in the big things, but the everyday things.
[4:25] Time, talent, treasure are all important components in generosity.
[6:00] Greg shares a telling statistic about how Americans give to charities.
[6:45] Greg says giving your network can be one of the most generous things a leader does.
[7:37] Generosity requires an abundance mindset.
[8:52] What holds us back from being generous?
[10:00] Comparisons kill generosity.
[10:27] Being generous expands our influence, but stinginess strangles it.
[12:55] Our teammates are looking for places to be generous.
[13:53] Generosity opens doors for new opportunities.
[14:51] Greg shares an insightful quote from Anne Frank
[15:17] I make a connection to the change in Ebenezer Scrooge’s life.
[16:11] How we define a generous leader.
[17:38] Our leadership challenge: how can you view generosity differently?
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Max Lucado addresses the sickening news of sexual abuse coverups in the church. He wrote, “[Jesus] defended the weak, stood up for the forgotten. The idea that His church would be unsafe for His sons and daughters disturbs Him deeply. And you can bet your Bible that He’ll turn a few tables. If history teaches us anything it is this: Jesus will not sit idle while His church drifts from His cause. ‘I will rescue My flock from their mouths,” He declared through a prophet. ‘It will no longer be food for them’ (Ezekiel 34:10).
“Repentance is necessary; heartfelt, tear-stained, face-on-the floor repentance. By all of us in positions of leadership. Will we see it? I pray so. Regardless, I pray that you will pursue the difficult path of seeking Christ in spite of Christians who have let you down. His pastors have failed to pastor. But when they don’t, He still does. Let Him pastor you.”
Darren Carlson wrote, “Healthy pastors experience the fullness and complexity of their emotions, and then hold them up against the sinlessness of Christ. How might Jesus respond to the pain and loss and victory and neediness in front of me? We grow emotionally as leaders by studying the heart of Jesus as he walks among sinners and sufferers.” His post ‘Healthy Pastors Have Emotions: How to Test and Cultivate Your Feelings’ is an excellent read. I explore the emotional health of shepherd pastors in my book.
[17:06] Forgiveness looks forward to better things.
[17:59] The personal experiences that Craig and Greg have had make them well-equipped to work as your coach. Check out our coaching huddles!
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[6:30] Efficiency and effectiveness don’t have to compete with each other
[7:11] Quality is never an accident
[7:50] Greg shares a helpful list of three items, but to stay on track you can only pick 2-of-the-3
[8:45] What distracts us from pursuing quality?
[10:00] Both quality and quantity have their places, but the leader needs to determine which one takes the priority
[10:47] Greg shares a comical conclusion he made after overhearing a break room conversation
[12:27] Why do leaders find security in “more”?
[13:55] There is one key place where quantity should probably come first
[14:48] Numbers are easy to use to measure quantity, but quality is much harder to measure
[16:38] An important lesson for leaders
[18:14] A leader’s words need to be more qualitative than quantitative
[19:15] Our coaching huddle clients get both quantity and quality
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To fill the granaries of God! —Margaret J. Prescott
My friend and podcast partner Greg Heeres talked about growing and learning through change. You can check out the rest of this episode of The Craig And Greg Show here.
Sometimes the prophetic language in the Bible can be a bit confusing. Like the phrase: “A time, times, and half a time.” Here is how Dr. Henry Halley unpacks this—
“It denotes the duration of the other horn of the fourth beast (Daniel 7:25). It denotes the period from Daniel to the time of the end (Daniel 12:6–7). It is used in Revelation 12:14 as identical to 42 months and to 1260 days (Revelation 11:2–3; 12:6, 14; 13:5), the period of time the Holy City was trampled, the two witnesses prophesied, the woman was in the wilderness, and the revived beast was on the throne.
“The word ‘time,’ in the phrase ‘a time, times, and half a time’ is generally taken to mean year; the phrase thus means three and a half years, which is 42 months, or 1260 days.
“By some, this is taken to refer to a literal three and a half years. Others, on the year-day interpretation (Numbers 14:34; Ezra 4:6), take it to be a period of 1260 years. Still others look upon the figures, not as defining time limits or periods, but as being symbolic: 7 Is the symbol of completeness, while three and a half, which is half of 7, represents incompleteness—that is, the reign of evil will be only temporary.” —Halley’s Study Bible(check out all of the biblical references in this quote by clicking here)
“Ambivalence toward the Law of God is troubling. Theologians discard the Law, and pastors either reject or neglect it. Jesus said that keeping and teaching the Law of God was a mark of Kingdom greatness (Matthew 5:17-19). Apparently that’s not a goal many of us aspire to. He also said that when the Law of God is neglected, love grows cold (Matthew 12:24). The ubiquitous lack of love in our world today is undoubtedly related to our failure to teach and live according to the Law of God. …
“Pastors have three main resources for the work and business of ministry: The Word of God, prayer, and their personal example (Acts 6:4; 1 Peter 5:1-3). If any of these fails, their ministry will as well. Especially must pastors be seen to be men zealous for the Law of God, to obey all the counsel of the Lord in His Word and to resist the devil and overcome every temptation. Jesus did. Paul did. John said this is the way love flourishes (1 John 5:1-3). Throughout this generation, failures of obedience on the part of highly visible pastors have contributed to the Church’s becoming an object of scorn by many unbelievers, while believers have been largely silent about their failings. We must be diligent in obeying Christ if we would teach others to do so and thus fulfill our calling to the Kingdom and glory of God.” —T.M. Moore
Not all viruses need to be eliminated. A study has discovered 5500 new RNA viruses on the ocean, finding “an entire phylum, the Taraviricota . . . found all over the oceans, which suggests they’re ecologically important.” The Creator knew what He was doing!
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.
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.
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
How many times has fear constricted your world?
When I look back on some of my past decisions, I can see that often my procrastination in making that decision was from a fear-based, worst-case scenario. I held back because I was afraid of the outcome from my decision.
Also when I look back I see that even the things that didn’t go perfectly never turned out to be devastatingly bad, but something from which I could recover and learn valuable lessons.
Now, I’m not talking about shoot-from-the-hip, never-thought-it-through actions. Those things have frequently gotten me in hot water! What I’m talking about is thinking it through, getting good counsel, praying about it, and then still holding back from making a decision.
Fear would cause us to procrastinate, only see the negative possibilities, and maybe even become disobedient to God because we think we have to rely on our resources. On the other hand, hope wants us to see the possibilities, hear God’s voice, and then step out in confident faith.
My friend Greg and I discussed this fear versus hope topic on an episode of our leadership podcast called The Craig And Greg Show.
On this episode of “The Craig And Greg Show” we talk about: 
Craig T. Owens 