Every leader, at some point in his or her leadership life, will be called upon to make a tough decision. And the acid-test of credibility for leaders lies in their ability to make, and follow through on, difficult decisions.

I began in church ministry as a youth pastor. I've always struggled with being a people-pleaser, and when I was younger, I really wanted everyone...

Disorientation can be humorous. I mean, how many jokes get told on men because they become lost, but refuse to stop and ask for directions? Disorientation, however, can be much more serious than that. Airplane pilots are trained to deal with something in the aviation world called spatial disorientation. A pilot will tell you that it begins when a queasy knot settles in th...

"Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers." So goes the sage advice from president Harry Truman. I have books filling cabinets, nightstands, and bookshelves.I have full shelves in my office, home, and my study. My wife, Darlene, has always been incredibly patient with all of this and doesn't ask me too often to clean things out and get rid of some books. S...

Five Ways To Move Off A Plateau For Pastors Only (But you can take a peek, too!) If you're a church leader, you are well-acquainted with times of slow- or no-growth. Times whenthings have plateaued. Times of discouragement. Times even of decline. We're all dealing with these things in one way, shape, or form during these COVID-19 days, aren't we?Does it have to be this...

In ancient Athens there were hundreds of statues peppering the city. They represented deities and values important to the Greeks.One was specifically referred to by the apostle Paul; it was a "let's-cover-all-of-our-religious-bases" statue.Dr. Luke tells us Paul said to the Athenians,"For while I was passing through and examining theobjects of your worship, I also found an...

C.S. Lewis, in his bookMere Christianitywrote,"Very often the only way to get a quality in reality is to start behaving as if you had it already. That is why children's games are so important. They are always pretending to be grown-upsplaying soldiers, playing shop. But all the time, they are hardening their muscles and sharpening their wits, so that the pretense of being ...

Embracing Forgiveness and Reconciliation Lessons from the Life of Joseph, Part Three Genesis 50:20 "To err is human, to forgive, divine." When Alexander Pope wrote those immortal words many years ago, he stated a truth that still resonates in our own hearts. Forgiving others seems to be one of the hardest things some of us ever have to do. Why? At times it is difficu...

Battling Loneliness Lessons from the Life of Joseph, Part Two Genesis 40 The great poet, John Milton, reminded us that loneliness is the first thing which God's eye named not good. In Genesis 2:18 God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." Our Creator, right at the beginning, knew that human beings need other human being...

Lessons from the Life of Joseph, Part One...

Heaven will be peopled by followers of Jesus you and I may have never heard of, but they were known intimately to God - because they had a close relationship to Him and they served Him so faithfully. Dr. Thomas Barclay is one of these people.Thomas Barclay labored for over 60 years as a missionary and linguist to the Taiwanese people from 1870 to 1935 (Taiwan was then call...