Feb 06, 2013

The gift of failure and pain


I was young when I went through the dark night of the soul – four years – my first pastorate. In that four years, my dreams were shattered, my heart was broken, my self worth was nearly destroyed, my reputation vilified by a powerful few. There have been other periods of great pain, none as great as the first but still they tried my soul and tested my faith and calling.


Those periods felt like...
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Nov 01, 2012

A counter-intuitive idea for celebrating success

We love success in ministry or in our personal lives. It is a sign of God's blessing through the years and each of those blessings we can celebrate for He is indeed the cause of our success. But I have a suggestion that can make that celebration even more interesting.

Why do we celebrate our successes along the way? We do so to mark those places where God has been especially good to us and brought...
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Nov 01, 2012

A counter-intuitive idea for celebrating success

We love success in ministry or in our personal lives. It is a sign of God's blessing through the years and each of those blessings we can celebrate for He is indeed the cause of our success. But I have a suggestion that can make that celebration even more interesting.

Why do we celebrate our successes along the way? We do so to mark those places where God has been especially good to us and brought...
Read more
Oct 15, 2012

When a great idea didn't work: dealing with failure


There is a saying, If you always do what you always did you always get what you always got. Leaders and teams know that innovation is key to staying sharp and working toward greater effectiveness.


Of course it is not blindinnovation for innovation sake. We take calculated risks in ministry after thinking through the unintended consequences and trying to minimize our "dumb tax" by talking to others...
Read more
Oct 15, 2012

When a great idea didn't work: dealing with failure


There is a saying, If you always do what you always did you always get what you always got. Leaders and teams know that innovation is key to staying sharp and working toward greater effectiveness.


Of course it is not blindinnovation for innovation sake. We take calculated risks in ministry after thinking through the unintended consequences and trying to minimize our "dumb tax" by talking to others...
Read more