-
The Cost of Leadership Part 4
Please start with the first 3 posts in this series if you haven’t already. Cost 4: the cost of going deep. Although similar to cost 3, this is specifically talking about depth in our relationship with Christ. Just a heads up, I won’t finish cost 4 in one post, but will share 8 aspects of this cost. Hebrews 6:1-2 reminds us to leave the elementary things, let go of shallowness, and go on to maturity. We are warned to be careful not to become lazy in our spiritual life. Therefore, let us leave the elementary teaching about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance…
-
The Cost of Leadership Part 3
This is part 3 in The Cost of Leadership Series. If you missed it, read part 1 here and part 2 here. Cost 3: the cost of learning new things. Maybe because I love to read, and always have lots of books going at the same time, you might think this is easy for me to say. Actually, just because I read a lot, doesn’t always mean I am learning new things. I must first admit I need to learn and then I must choose to learn. But I definitely do believe in continuing to grow and learn. While at LifeWay, one huge learning challenge for me was technology. When I landed…
-
The Cost of Leadership Part 2
This is part 2 in The Cost of Leadership series. If you missed it, read part 1 here. Cost 2: the cost of priority changes. If we are living to serve Christ in every aspect of our lives, there will be a refocus on what is most important. Remember, serving Christ covers every assignment He gives us. This includes family, community, workplace, and church. But priorities within each of these areas will change once we submit them to God. One way there is change is how we look at immediacy and waiting. Although there are times that God will ask us to use whatever wisdom we have to make a…
-
The Cost of Leadership Part 1
Whether you seek to serve and lead, or just feel like you fell into leadership, it is a calling God has placed in your heart. Out of obedience, you must follow that call. Once you accept the assignment, often there is a season of challenges that occur. This is when you might want to give up! There is a cost to leadership and at times it will shock us! The cost is small in comparison to how God will lead us to know Him better through each sacrifice He requires as we serve Him. Over the next few weeks we will take a look at some of these “costs” and…
-
Helpful Blogs for Current Times
The church, and people of faith, are seeking to share the hope of Christ in a world that seems to be falling apart. People leaving their faith, sometimes in later years of life, violence occurring every day, hopelessness on every corner. It’s tough to lead when we feel overwhelmed. I pray these blogs will encourage and challenge you to endure in the place the Lord has called you to serve. 1 You have heard much about what women in the church need today. Here are some key issues that must be in place to reach and disciple women effectively. Check out What the Church Must Provide Women in Today’s Culture…
-
Workplace Mission Field
When you think of a mission field, what picture do you have in mind? For many, this means a country overseas somewhere. Maybe you think of traveling across the US to a location away from home. But what about where you spend most of your time now? Many of you would say your workplace, whether it’s an office, school, factory, retail store, restaurant, home, or zoom meetings (especially if you work from home). Is workplace what you think of when you hear “mission field?” Maybe you need to consider workplace first since it’s where you spend the majority of the time. I’d like to recommend an article by Courtney Moore,…
-
Who Do You Imitate?
How would you answer the question in the title of this post? A celebrity? Best friend? Sports hero? What about the “cloud of witnesses” we see in the book of Hebrews in chapter 12? When I was in elementary school, I played “teacher” after my all time fav teacher. Mrs. Evans was so kind to the students. My fondest memory was when she gave me a peppermint candy in class because I was coughing. I felt loved and cared for, and quite special since I was the only one who got one that day! She was always smiling. In my teen years sometimes I would imitate friends I thought were…
-
Two Book Recommendations
I recently finished reading two amazing books I want to recommend to my readers. The first is When Strivings Cease by Ruth Chou Simons. My D-group did a slow walk through this book. I wrote one post on it in Perfect? For Who? since I am a recovering perfectionist! Ruth takes us from a “self help” mentality to a grace mentality as she reminds us of who Christ is and what He has done for us. Because of His grace we can walk in confidence in His image and stop striving to work our way through self-help methods. Yes, there are things we do to become disciplined disciples, but even those things…
-
The Blessed Limp
Ever had an injury that just wouldn’t heal? Or surgery on a part of your body that took forever to heal. Maybe, like me, you never were the same after an incident. I’ve had 3 foot surgeries. Each time I’ve had numbness from the procedure that I’ve never fully recovered from. The last surgery took the longest to heal. I limped in a boot for a while, then limped as I favored it when the boot was removed. Lasting issues, although minor, continue to bother me. But what happens when the “limp” is a spiritual one? Those sometimes last a lifetime, and yet, they can be some of the sweetest…
-
Who Hates Disruptions?
Task oriented people like me! You know, gotta get the job done…today…now! No matter what. What about you? All of us have experienced them. Most of us do not like them. Over 2 years ago the entire world experienced disruption to life as we had known it. In addition to the pandemic, many others also experienced a disruption in their good health, close relationships, face-to-face community we relied on, satisfying jobs, and income that goes with that. And this is the short list. Some experienced continual losses, one after another, along with, and in the middle of, the pandemic. But, what if, for whatever reason, this was God’s plan for…
