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A Sweet Legacy
Many of you have never heard of Esther Burroughs, especially those younger than Gen Xers. But for many Boomers and some Gen Xers, she was a huge catalyst for women seeking to grow spiritually, share their faith, lead, and minister to others. Sweet Esther transitioned from life on earth to life eternal this past week. This is a great article on her life and ministry. It features her and another pioneer women’s leader of influence. Baptist News-Two Trailblazing Women in Ministry. Esther was a trailblazer before we knew of many Christian women’s speakers and before we even started using the term “women’s ministry” in many churches. She encouraged women’s leaders…
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Vessels of Christ
What is your favorite way to minister to others? What have you seen Jesus do through you as you obediently serve Him? Are you serving as God’s vessel daily? Because God is sovereign and omnipotent He does not need any help to get His work done. He chooses to use His followers so we can shine His light in the world and experience the blessing that serving Christ brings to us and to those we serve on earth. My ministry friend Kay led worship at many of our You Lead training events for LifeWay Women where I had the joy of serving for over 22 years. She also led in an…
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Posts for the Leader
Sometimes I’ve struggled with how much or how little to share personal as I’ve led. Whether we are using social media, sharing one-on-one or in a group setting, we need to be wise. I’ve always been a pretty transparent person, sharing what is going on in my life as I’ve led. But I also have tried to use discretion, wanting to be sure I didn’t hurt another person by what I shared. I didn’t always get it right. This is a great post by Carey Nieuwhof you must read: The Fine Line Between Oversharing and Undershare as a Leader. LifeWay Research provides many helpful posts for leaders. This one refers…
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Marriage Thoughts Part 2
Be sure to read back to see part 1 before reading this second post. This continues my encouragement to a young bride, things I wish I’d known when I married. 3. Remember, your first ministry is your family. Serve your spouse without grumbling when you’d rather do something else! This is still something I am praying to achieve: being grateful I have to close his dresser drawers AGAIN for the 5th time today. Doing it is one thing, doing it with gratefulness instead of resentment is another! If you have children, they too are your first ministry, but do not place your children ahead of your spouse. One day, Lord…
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Vacation Blog Share
I am on vacation in September so will be taking a little break from blogging. But, I have 2 great posts from other bloggers to share with you today. Enjoy! 1 How well is your church reaching single adults? Read some statistics in this article from LifeWay Research: Pastors Encourage Single Adults, Some Provide Targeted Ministries, written by Marissa Postell. Take a look at these statistics and ask God what He wants you to do to reach your singles. 2 What does your prayer time look like? Has it become routine or maybe even dull? Read Ideas On How To Spend Your Prayer Time from LifeWay Women written by Tessa…
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The Cost of Leadership Part 8
Please start with the first 7 posts in this series if you haven’t already. This is the final segment. Cost 5: the cost of giving ministry away. As some point, the Lord will ask us to leave behind a place of ministry we have led. He may ask us to serve differently, or He may call us home to eternity. The question is, what do we leave behind? We must ask the question now: have I invested well so that God’s work continues even after I am no longer around? Our job it to obey and serve the best we can, then step away when He directs us to do…
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The Cost of Leadership Part 7
Please start with the first 6 posts in this series if you haven’t already. The seventh aspect in the cost of going deeper is battles. Followers of Christ have an adversary, and his name is Satan. His desire is to keep us from knowing, serving, and trusting Christ as we walk with Him. At times we will carry scars from the battles with him. Ultimately Christ has won the war, but this side of heaven the enemy still has influence on earth that we will face continually. It may come through painful relationships, failure, criticism from others, health…any number of situations in which we face spiritual warfare. Even when we…
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The Cost of Leadership Part 6
Please start with the first 5 posts in this series if you haven’t already. The fifth aspect of the cost of going deep is prayer, and the time it takes to pray. Deeper for me was when our daughter walked away from our family for 8 years. And God called my husband and me to continue walking and serving faithfully when the waves we had to cross got even bigger. We continued to pray for years that the Lord would bring her back, keep her safe and draw her to Himself. Sometimes as we serve and lead, God does not answer for a long time. But He is at work even…
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The Cost of Leadership Part 5
Please start with the first 4 posts in this series if you haven’t already. The second aspect in the cost of going deep involves laying down our fears through our faith in Him. For me, the deep, was when He first called me to speak in front of my church. If you know me, you’ve heard me say, I’d never be a public speaker. Deeper was when the Lord called me to LifeWay to continue serving out the call to disciple women, this time training church leaders across the country how to effectively develop ministries for women that help them grow deep! Laying down fear takes courage. Just look through…
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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…
