Is it possible to stay on mission during chaotic times? Apparently so, according to Jesus. One of the most chaotic times for early believers was the interlude between the crucifixion and the ascension. The disciples were confused and terrified (John 20:19). They were facing religious and secular...
It was my privilege to speak recently at the 150th anniversary celebration of the St. Joseph Baptist Association in Northwest Missouri. The association was founded in 1871 and now has 46 cooperating churches. They have maintained a consistent witness for the gospel, cooperated on multiple...
In his book, The Culture Code, Daniel Coyle defined organizational culture as “a set of living relationships working toward a shared goal.” This is a value-neutral definition. When the living relationships are unhealthy and subset groups of people have their own shared agendas, culture is...
Here are eight perspectives (and one concluding story) which have helped sustain my spiritual, emotional, and strategic equilibrium – and helped me maintain a positive perspective on denominational involvement and leadership.
When an organization faces challenging circumstances, the temptation is to focus decision-making on solving presenting problems. While some fires do have to be put out immediately, veteran leaders know better than attempting to regain organizational health by focusing on the tyranny of the urgent.
One of the pressing challenges for Christian leaders is staying focused on our core mission of making disciples. Doing this requires evangelizing the lost, stabilizing new converts, developing stronger believers, and ultimately producing new leaders for our movement. There are so many other...
One of the most challenging aspects of Christian leadership today is staying focused on our core mission—the Great Commission—and devoting our efforts to fulfilling strategic goals toward that end. Competing agendas constantly shout for our attention. Focusing our attention on what really...
When two people or groups have a disagreement, it’s called a conflict. When multiple conflicts break out, with people and groups changing sides depending on the issue, that’s called chaos. In the past, conflict has been considered a normal part of life—but not chaos. That seems to have changed...
We are kicking off another semester at Gateway this week. Since most of our students live in California (even in an online or video-classroom world), maintaining academic programs and organizational operations is challenging. Our COVID infection and death rates in Southern California are still...
Many Christians today are captivated by discussions, arguments, and speculations about concepts or conspiracies like socialism, Critical Race Theory, intersectionality, QAnon, the 1619 Project, etc. American Christians have been duped