ShepherdLeader.com

I know that this is the first of the posts but it is actually my final entry. Call it my concluding thoughts. As I alluded to in a previous entry, this online community has been like my confession sessions. I am so humbled by the way real shepherds lead their flock. Reading this book has given me a ...

Living in a suburb of America it is easy for me to forget that this world is not my home. I live in a very nice townhouse in an affluent suburb of Atlanta. I have 2 cars, one of which is a new SUV. I have two Apple computers and a HDTV at home. My closet is stocked with nice clothes and so are my ch...

"The key was an unimposing ewe who apparently possessed the natural leadership in this flock. She was just waiting for someone to make eye contact with her and begin walking. She would've followed with the rest behind - even the goats!" There is so much insight and wisdom on leadership in ...

I am so glad that through the writings of Dr. Laniak I am getting a clearer picture of what shepherding is. What is often promoted in my culture is a heavy hierarchal, top down, solo ministry. Team ministry is defined by all the direct reports executing, without question, the point leader's vision a...

I believe our preconceived definitions of leadership limit our effectiveness as leaders. Much of the literature that is out there about leadership and the cultural forces that exert influence talk about leadership in very stiff terms. Leadership is often promoted as something that is done from the f...

It frustrates me to no end when I see leaders who use only the "rod" to move the flock from one destination to another. It further frustrates me when I see the same leader using the rod to take the flock to places that only benefit him or her and not the flock. It is a shame that leaders.....

I come from a culture where hard work and sacrifice is the normative. So much so, that what is affirmed and lifted up as role models are pastors who sleep less than 4 hours a night. What is promoted are pastors who don't take vacations and don't stay back to help his wife who just had a new born bab...

I finally saw what a shepherd's rod looked and felt like. It was about the size of a billy club with a round nob on the end. It was hard, dense and it felt like it would seriously cause damage if wielded. Simply put, its a weapon. But it was a defensive weapon used to protect the flock from predator...

After reading and reflecting on Day 19 there are two things that come to mind. First of all, I am so very guilty of this but I believe God has been domesticated in our churches. We preach and teach about a God who is loving, gracious, merciful, caring and compassionate. Of course all of this is true...

Ten years ago, I found out that my former youth pastor had inappropriate relationships with at least 2 female students at my church over a two year period. That was the first time in my ministry experience that I had regrettably experienced a wolf within. I was obviously devastated when this came to...

Intuition is one of my greatest strengths but it is also one my greatest dangers. I don't know how much merit to place on the Myers Briggs personality inventory but I swept clean the Intuitive category. I scored 0 in the sensing and 20 in the intuition. More importantly, my life experience has certa...

I talked a little bit about my mother in the previous entry. She is an incredible woman. All her life she worked and sacrificed comfort for the betterment of my life. She has an incredibly sweet and gentle spirit and presence about her. One of the ways in which she demonstrates her love for me is by...

I am eagerly awaiting the results from the 2010 census because I am confident that it will validate my following assumption. I don't have hard evidence but anecdotal evidence points that there are over 100,000 Korean Americans in the metro-Atlanta area. Of that figure, we can conservatively say that...

"Leadership means mothering." Coming from a very patriarchal culture, leadership is always seen as a masculine trait. In fact, many in my culture promote that women are not even fit for leadership. Strong, dominate leadership is promoted and affirmed in the context of the church. But when ...

One line jumped out at me in Day 8. It reads, "The health issues of a single member are health issues for a whole flock." This is actually a profound statement because in it are two realities that are both true. On a positive, if one person is physically, emotionally or mentally ill, I do ...