I shared this video last week with my Patreon supporters. When we’re unclear about all that God has asked us to do, the first step is to obey the part that is clear to us. Check out my blog post Clearing up the Confusion for more insight on how Peter handled this.
I have lots of new content every week, which you can check out on my YouTube channel.
T.M. Moore calls on Christians to recognize the God-given authority our leaders have. Not just recognize, but submit to that authority: “We show that we believe the Lord and trust in His Word, and we demonstrate the evidence of that faith when we submit to our church leaders as unto the Lord (Colossians 3:23-24). Submitting to proper authorities is an integral component of full faith. If we want to gain the benefit God intends for us from those appointed to lead, we’re going to have to learn to submit.”
“Talent is never enough. With few exceptions the best players are the hardest workers.” —Earvin Magic Johnson
“Take your job seriously, but don’t take yourself too seriously.” —Alex Trebek
The American Bible Society reports that Gen Z is engaged with Scripture less than any other generation. But here is a sad outcome: “Scripture Engagement is associated with significantly lower anxiety levels among all Americans, but especially among Generation Z. The anxiety score for Bible Engaged Gen Z respondents (3.4) is less than half that of the anxiety score for Bible Disengaged Gen Z respondents (7.1).”
What if the qualifications in Acts 6:3 were the only qualifications we used for selecting folks for ministry assignments: (a) good reputation, (b) full of the Holy Spirit, and (c) full of wisdom?
Listen to the audio-only version of this podcast by clicking on the player below, or scroll down to watch the video.
One of my friend Greg’s passions is helping business owners with the final step of their journey—succession of the organization. It was this passion that drove him to write his new book The Business Baton. In today’s episode Greg and I discuss the new book, and Greg lays out his philosophy for a smooth succession process.
[0:15] Greg has written a new book called The Business Baton.
[0:53] Greg opened his book with a chapter that surprised me.
[1:51] What makes a person ill-prepared to hand off the baton in their organization?
[3:26] The questions Greg asks to make sure a business is really ready to hand off the baton.
[6:34] Greg’s book has a lot of statistics and case studies to help guide readers who are considering handing off the baton.
[8:18] In Greg’s new book he continued a trend he started in his previous book Sage Advice.
[10:07] Sometimes a succession navigator has to push for some emotional choices to help you get your business across the finish line.
[12:21] Greg discusses the readiness, formation, increase, selection, and succession steps needed to get to a place where a business is ready to sell.
[17:02] I really appreciated the voices of other business leaders that Greg included in the book.
[17:31] The end of The Business Baton reminds exiting leaders to lead well.
[19:45] Greg gives his final thoughts on writing this book and the role of a succession navigator in the process.
[24:03] Visit Maximize Leadership to learn more about how Greg can help you as a succession navigator.
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My book Shepherd Leadership has five chapters dedicated to the health and wellbeing of pastoral leaders. One important principle: Only healthy shepherds can help their sheep get healthy.
I have lots of new content every week, which you can check out on my YouTube channel.
Clinton Manley has a great post on the way the Holy Spirit empowers a Christian’s life. He tells of this work in terms of an adventure: “We were made to go to God, the Home for our souls, made to enjoy God more and more forever, to really live. And the only way to get there is by following the Way crossing the only Bridge that brings us to God (John 14:6; 1 Peter 3:18). And we can only walk that Way when God’s own breath fills our lungs and animates our steps, when His Spirit sets us walking in a new direction as new creations on new adventures.”
Even among the reformers, Conrad Grebel was consider something of a radical. “Grebel was convinced that the city councilmen should have no authority over the church and its practice — more so, they should have no authority over the word of God itself. On the flip side, he didn’t think the church should have authority over the state either, and he opposed compulsory tithing and the like. The seeds of a separation between church and state were germinating. To us, this separation is as familiar as the air we breathe; to them, it was revolutionary.” Read more about both Grebel and other reformers here.
“If we would rise into that region of light and power plainly beckoning us through the Scriptures of truth, we must break the evil habit of ignoring the spiritual. We must shift our interest from the seen to the unseen.” —A.W. Tozer
“Success is dangerous. One begins to copy oneself and to copy oneself is more dangerous than to copy others.” —Pablo Picasso
Christian apologist J. Warner Wallace has a great strategy for responding to skeptics who claim that the Bible contradicts itself.
Listen to the audio-only version of this podcast by clicking on the player below, or scroll down to watch the video.
As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. You might be motivated by a feeling of limitation where you are, excited by a new opportunity, ready to retire and soak up some sun, or many other reasons. Whatever your reasons are, Greg and I would like to give you practical advice to apply when you’re considering moving on.
[0:15] Is it time?
[1:42] Greg goes negative first! Don’t make a move because of “greener grass.”
[2:54] Some better questions to ask about moving on.
[5:30] I always asks, “Why did you start here?” before asking, “Should you leave here?”
[8:01] Greg and I wonder about the value of getting “outside advice” when considering a move.
[10:40] We need to weigh both emotion and logic when thinking about the timing of a move.
[13:26] We can have regrets about leaving and we can have regrets about staying too long. A navigator can help you think through your options.
[18:40] Sometimes an owner is not ready to sell but a leader inside is ready to buy. How do we walk through this?
[21:16] Here’s the key takeaway on the timing of moving on.
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.
Leaders need to give others confidence to try something new. We need to help people get moving so that we can coach what they are doing. For more great leadership insights, check out The Craig and Greg Show.
I have lots of new content every week, which you can check out on my YouTube channel.
A couple of thought-worthy quotes for pastors. First from David Mathis: “Pastors, observe that in and of itself, mocking is no clear reflection of the faithfulness or fruitfulness of preaching Christ. Wise preachers do not take mocking as an indicator of failure, nor as an indicator of success. Twice in Athens some mock Paul, which may seem like a failure compared to his homiletic triumphs elsewhere. However, others say, ‘We will hear you again.’ And then, in the end: ‘some men joined him and believed’ [Acts 17:32-34]. … How foolish it would be to distract ourselves with the mockers. Or to call special attention to the mocking as some great badge of our own faithfulness. Rather, we have the example of Paul at Mars Hill, who, so far as we can tell, wholly overlooks, with a holy disregard, these mockers and concerns himself instead with those asking honest questions.”
…and then one from John Piper: “Preaching is a happy business. Because even if the text is a hard word that devastates the hearers, the preacher connects the hard word with the gracious word and the hopeful word, and he catches them as they fall. So, in the end, all preaching is a happy business.
“A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.” —Dwight D. Eisenhower
“For condemnation to work, we must say to God what the devil has said to us and believe it. If I want to stand before God with excuses that make what He said to me void, I’ll have to quote the devil to God. Does that sound like a good thing to do? God’s will for me is not to condemn me, but to liberate me from everything that holds me back from being what He created me to be through an ongoing relationship. To accomplish that, I need to do the opposite of what I used to do when I walked in condemnation. Instead of quoting to God what the devil is saying, I quote to the devil what God has said.” —Jim Wiegand, in Recruiting To Releasing
Another great story from the “Here We Stand” series of biographies of notable people during the Reformation. “An attendant asked [King Henry VIII] whom he wished to have at his bedside. The king asked for Thomas [Cranmer]. By the time Cranmer arrived, King Henry was unable to speak. Foxe tells the story. ‘Then the archbishop, exhorting him to put his trust in Christ, and to call upon His mercy, desired him though he could not speak, yet to give some token with his eyes or with his hand, that he trusted in the Lord. Then the king, holding him with his hand, did wring his hand in his as hard as he could (Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, 748).’ The scene sweetly punctuates the most important friendship in the English Reformation. Whatever King Henry believed when he squeezed Cranmer’s hand that day, God used the bond between them to break England free from Roman Catholicism and to recover the one true gospel.”
The ICR reports, “Genesis claims that people in the pre-Flood world routinely attained 900-year lifespans. The best-known example is Methuselah, who had the longest recorded lifespan of 969 years (Genesis 5:27). Skeptics dismiss these great ages as fanciful legends, but recent fossil data are providing unexpected, albeit indirect, corroboration of the Bible’s testimony.” Check out this full report.
“In my experience, each failure contains the seeds of your next success—if you are willing to learn from it.” —Paul Allen, cofounder of Microsoft
Listen to the audio-only version of this podcast by clicking on the player below, or scroll down to watch the video.
It’s good to be good, but good is never great. As leaders we have to consciously work to avoid the trap of good. Join Greg and me as we discuss how to make your good better, and your better best.
[1:09] What happens to our leadership if we become satisfied?
[2:10] Striving for perfection is also a terrible trap for leaders.
[4:12] What happens if leaders settle for merely “satisfied”?
[5:40] How to send the message to your team that we’re going to keep raising the standard.
[8:17] Some people are looking for excuses to remain complacent.
[9:59] At some point, leaders will have to take a risk to raise the standard.
[10:49] Why do people want to cut corners? How do we avoid this trap?
[13:19] How do we get motivated to go farther?
[15:45] A couple of great examples of leaders who pulled people to excel.
[17:36] We have to keep working or it’s going to be more work!
[19:10] A quote from Charles Sorenson that is insightful.
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.
After examining Jesus himself and then getting a report back from King Herod, Pontius Pilate announces to the crowd of religious leader, “I find no basis for a charge against Him. But…” (John 18:38-39).
The “But” signals the language of an unsure leader.
Pilate knew the truth. He knew the Roman law. He had soldiers around him to protect him from physical harm. No recrimination or rebuke would have come from Rome for letting Jesus go free. Yet Pilate wavered.
He was unsure of his leadership position. “Did I earn this position or did I manipulate my way into it? What will others think of me if I make this decision? Is there a way that I can keep everybody happy?”
Pilate gave himself an out: “…but it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Would you like me to release Jesus?”
Pilate was hoping to satisfy the fickle mob that was pressing in on him and pestering him to give in to their demands, even if it meant he would be perverting justice. Unsure leaders are always trying to find a way to navigate the current situation, just to get on to the next chapter of their leadership.
A godly leader who is sure of his calling can make tough calls while still preserving justice and maintaining truth.
A mark of anungodly leader is one who is bothunsure of his leadership authority andunstable in his leadership activities.
I talk more about a godly leader’s sure calling in my book Shepherd Leadership. And in this blog post, I give a three-word statement that can help godly leaders navigate through the toughest of decisions.
This is part 79 in my series on godly leadership. You can check out all of my posts in this series by clicking here.
When a teammate seems to choke in a pressure-packed situation, good coaches help them learn from their mistake and get right back into the game. This is how leaders help their teammates go from choke to clutch. Check out the full conversation Greg and I had about this.
I have lots of new content every week, which you can check out on my YouTube channel.
“Most of us who aspire to be tops in our fields don’t really consider the amount of work required to stay tops.” —Althea Gibson, tennis great
“There is only one way forward when vindication is delayed: total forgiveness. And I can give you a motivation to forgive totally greater than any other that could be conceived: you do it for an audience of One. Yes. That’s it. That is how you do it! Total forgiveness comes easily when you realize you are doing it for God and the glory of Jesus Christ!” —R.T. Kendall
ICR reports: “Millions of years of erosion should have toppled all the beautiful sandstone arches out West, yet many hundreds remain.” But following the biblical timeline of Creation and the Flood makes it unsurprising that the arches are still standing.
“A coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment.” —John Wooden
October is the month Protestants remember the start of the Reformation. The folks at Desiring God have a wonderful resource available by email every day during October called Here We Stand. Each day you will receive an email with a mini-biography of a key character in the Reformation. I am thoroughly enjoying these each day. Sign up here.
None of us are self-made. God created us on purpose and for a purpose. He gave us the gifts we need to accomplish that purpose. We will only find our fulfillment in life in stewarding those God-given gifts and opportunities in ways that glorify God. Not only fulfillment here, but then eternal satisfaction when we hear our Savior say, “Well done, good and faithful servant! Enter into your Master’s happiness!”
I also discovered that the portions of the Levites had not been given to them, so the Levites and the singers who performed the service had gone away, each to his own field. So I reprimanded the officials and said, “Why has the house of God been neglected?” Then I gathered them together and stationed them at their posts. All Judah then brought the tithe of the grain, wine, and oil into the storehouses. To be in charge of the storehouses, I appointed Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and Pedaiah from the Levites, and in addition to them was Hanan the son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah; for they were considered reliable, and it was their task to distribute to their kinsmen. (Nehemiah 13:10-13)
According to the Hebrew definitions:
“considered” = accountable
“reliable” = trustworthy
Both words mean someone who has passed the test and someone who is still passing the test. These men were faithful leaders before they were given this important job, and then they continued to prove themselves faithful even as their work was carefully scrutinized.
A title doesn’t make you a leader, and a title doesn’t sustain you as a leader. Your faithful, God-honoring, trustworthy accountability makes you a leader—even if you never get the title, God sees you and He will reward you.
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Would you like to be known as somebody who’s “full of it”? I know that phrase usually has a negative connotation, but I would like to make the case that this is actually a really good thing.
I have blogged and talked and written quite a bit about a godly leader’s reactions being a strong indication of what a leader is truly full of. Three notable leadership posts are:
What if the qualifications in Acts 6:3 were the only qualifications we used for selecting folks for ministry assignments: (a) good reputation, (b) full of the Holy Spirit, and (c) full of wisdom?
Craig T. Owens 