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One of the most important boundaries that shepherd leaders need to establish—especially when contending with biting sheep—is the protection of their family. Check out this clip from The Craig and Greg Show.
You can watch the full episode in which Greg and I talk about some of the principles in When Sheep Biteby clicking here.
Please pick up a copy of When Sheep Bite for yourself by clicking here.
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Sanctification (“saint-ification”) is an ongoing process that usually involves the help of other saints. We learn this by having a biblical worldview (that’s the “B”), being accountable with saints (“A”), and serving the Body of Christ (“S”). These are the things that bring out increased fruitfulness in our lives, make us more joy-full people, and enhance our testimony to others.
What a blessing it is to be involved in all of these saint-ification things alongside other brothers and sisters. Isn’t nice to know that you’re not all alone on your journey?
Two brothers walked up the hill to the park every afternoon to play baseball. One day a neighbor who lived near the bottom of the hill saw the younger brother pulling his older brother up the hill in a wagon. He observed this for a couple of days before he finally asked what was going on.
The younger brother said, “My big brother broke his leg so I pull him in the wagon so he can watch us play baseball and can be our coach.”
“He must be heavy,” the neighbor replied.
“He’s not heavy,” the little boy said, “he’s my brother!”
In the first brothers that the Bible shows us, we see the origin of the phrase “brother’s keeper.” Cain was jealous of the way God was blessing his younger brother, and so he murdered Able. God came to Cain and asked him, “Where is your brother Able?”
Cain responded with another question, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” (Genesis 4:9).
The word brother is someone connected to me by blood or some other common bond. Cain used the same word for brother but then asked if He was supposed to be his brother’s keeper—his guard, helping to keep him in bounds, celebrating his victories.
The clear teaching of Scripture is that the answer to Cain’s question is an emphatic “Yes!”
That definition of brother’s keeper sounds a lot like the definition of an intercessor. In the Hebrew, that word mean to go to God on someone else’s behalf (Genesis 25:21; 2 Samuel 24:25). The Greek of the New Testament sounds more intense (hyperentygchano): to meet a person of the purpose of conversation in behalf of someone else.
Remember that the Hebrew word for brother was pretty narrow? The Christians in the New Testament took the word for relative-by-blood (adelphos) and made it a synonym for fellow saint, regardless of where they are from (Acts 9:17; 2 Corinthians 13:11).
John used Cain’s misunderstanding of brother’s keeper to show us the spiritual responsibility we have to our adelphos (1 John 3:12, 15-16).
When we intercede for our adelphos—our fellow saints—we are participating in the same work as both the Spirit and Jesus (Romans 8:26-27, 34;Hebrews 7:25; 1 John 5:16).
A couple of weeks ago we looked at Philemon’s service to the Body of Christ. Look at how Paul’s intercession may have released Philemon to do this (Philemon 7, 16, 20).
As Paul said to Philemon, I say to you—
I appeal to you on the basis of love: Be your brother’s keeper!
Guard your adelphos, keep them in bounds, and celebrate both their righteousness and God’s blessing on their lives.
T.M. Moore is sharing a fascinating series of posts on economics through a biblical worldview. “All the ancient laws of Israel contain principles like this, principles which, if rightly understood and faithfully practiced, could tap into the grace of God and bring more honesty, respect, fairness, justice, generosity, forbearance, and love into the economic practice of a powerful nation such as the United States—more of grace and less of greed to our economic life.”
“Christ had even a literary style of His own, not to be found, I think, elsewhere; it consists of an almost furious use of the a fortiori. His ’how much more’ is piled one upon another like castle upon castle in the clouds. The diction used about Christ has been, and perhaps wisely, sweet and submissive. But the diction used by Christ is quite curiously gigantesque; it is full of camels leaping through needles and mountains hurled into the sea.” —G.K. Chesterton
David Mathis writes that the Bible is not just “a Book.” He says, “In my mind, one of the greatest imaginable tragedies is a professing Christian who is bored with the Bible. Could a truly loving husband cherish his wife but not care for her words? Could an adoring wife respect her husband but not what he says? What are words anyway? They are the breathed-out expressions of the person himself. Words are audible revelations of the otherwise unknown heart.”
Another archeological study supports the historicity of the Bible. This one identifies the battle preparations that King Joash made.
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In the wise words of John C. Maxwell, “He who thinketh he leadeth and hath no one following him is only taking a walk.” As always Maxwell is right on the money. And the first step to getting others to follow you is trust. If you want to lead your team into uncharted territory they have to first trust that you’re not going to lead them off a cliff! In today’s episode Greg and I cover why trust is so vital and offer suggestions on how to build and maintain trust.
[0:42] People only listen to leaders that they can trust.
[2:03] Trust is an emotional glue between a leader and the team.
[3:03] Trust has to be built over time.
[6:07] Sometimes our teammates will test our trustworthiness.
[6:57] How leaders build trust.
[10:22] Phrases leaders should never use!
[12:07] Be careful of becoming defensive if someone questions your trustworthiness.
[13:26] Some people are unaware that they are not trustworthy.
[13:59] In building trust, be sure to extend grace to others.
[15:10] An external coach can help you spot the areas where you may be undermining your own foundation of trust.
[16:28] Trust builds culture and culture builds trust.
[18:04] Trusting cultures foster greater creativity and camaraderie.
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Can we take just a couple of minutes to talk about fear? This isn’t on the list of anyone’s favorite topics, but it is something we all have to confront.
But when I am afraid, I will put my trust in You. I praise God for what He has promised. I trust in God, so why should I be afraid? What can mere mortals do to me? … I praise God for what He has promised; yes, I praise the Lord for what He has promised. I trust in God, so why should I be afraid? What can mere mortals do to me? (Psalm 56:3-4, 10-11 NLT)
“Tragedy is the highest expression of the infinite value of human life.” —G.K. Chesterton
Clinton Manley says, “Though we often read by ourselves, we never read alone. When you open up a book, you sit down with an author. The book is fundamentally a technology of conversation; it fosters the meeting of minds across time and space.” Referencing several classical works and the Scripture, Manley reminds us that we become what we read.
“It has always been easy to hate and destroy. To build and to cherish is much more difficult.” —Queen Elizabeth II
“Those of us who have been true readers all our life seldom fully realise the enormous extension of our being which we owe to authors. We realise it best when we talk with an unliterary friend. He may be full of goodness and good sense but he inhabits a tiny world. In it, we should be suffocated.” —C.S. Lewis
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On the Church Lobby podcast, Karl Vaters asked me for the best piece of advice I have received as a pastor. Here’s what a wise mentor told me that changed my leadership style.
Isaac Newton said, “This most beautiful system of the sun, planets, and comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being.” Isaac Newton and Johannes Kepler are two gigantic figures in the world of science. These men were both devout Christians. Check out these mini-biographies from the ICR.
“What made David’s heart remarkable wasn’t the absence of sin but his unrelenting pursuit of restoration with God.” —YouVersion reading plan Men of God: Ancient Virtues for Modern Warriors
It’s always fascinating to read about archeological discoveries that overlap with the historical accounts of the Bible.
Whether you are a pastor, a Sunday School teacher, or just a Christian sharing your testimony with your friend, we need to handle God’s Word correctly. John Piper’s lesson on 2 Timothy 2:14-15 is spot-on.
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Everyone knows that we all make mistakes. Good leaders know more than this: They know that it is their responsibility to help those around them recover from those mistakes.
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Did you know that’s possible for your greatest strength could become your most limiting weakness? Let’s learn how to spot and avoid this pitfall on this episode of The Podcast.
As leaders, we need to continually work on the “unconscious” areas of our lives. Here are some additional resources to help you.
Craig T. Owens 