ShepherdLeader.com

The paradox of a living sacrifice = Jesus changes dead things to living things, but first, he calls living things to dead things. In Galatians 2:20 Paul said, I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live. It's Christ who lives in me. My old nature it died. It died with Christ. It no longer...

How does one hold the tension of a soft heat and a strong heart? How does one learn to be gentle as doves and shrewd as sepents At first glance it almost looks like Jesus is telling people to be "sneaky" or something like that. After all, isn’t that what "shrewd" means? I think...

How do we move our Boards to see their role as watching? How do we develop the the kind of insight, instinct, and vision that is needed? How do we help them see what people communicate without words? Maybe it should start with the Undershepherd watching the Board...especially if the Church is in the...

I have to ask myself the same question...am I fully cognizant of the spiritual battle that rages around me? Especially when I find myself in a culture that plays down Satan while at the same time playing up evil. The enemy's work is obvious when we compare societal statistics inside and outside the ...

Several months ago, I used the James 4:14 text as the basis for a message series "30 Days Left to Live". Our lives are but a mist that appears for a little while and then vanished. The question that drove the series was this...If you only had 30 days to live how would you live you life. Th...

I met someone recently like Mr. T. I had arrived early for the Sunday morning worship service and took a seat. I was one of a handful of people in a space that had a capacity for 500+ people. I wasn't too surprised to see an individual going around and greeting all of the people who had arrived earl...

I am not sure I am ready to see interruptions as invitations. At least not in a positive light. I am ADHD and for me, an interruption is an invitation....to distraction. Once I am distracted it is difficult to get me back. In fact my greatest battle is not with some secret sin of the flesh -- but wi...

What is a cynic? A person “disposed to rail or find fault� and as one who “shows a disposition to disbelieve in … sincerity… and is wont to express this by sneers and sarcasm.� In short, the cynic is “a sneering fault-finder.� Many of us know a few people we would describe as cynics....

This reflection really struck an area I have had to come to terms with previously. I am an introvert and so in a group (of which I am not leading) I tend to be reserved. I enjoy watching and observing. As such, it is easy to get lost and feel out of touch. I recent years, I find myself evaluating le...

The opening reflection and question, “ Do we really want to know the extent of the needs?� Honestly, in this season (w/Pam’s grandmother), I have not been able to look too far below the surface of the sheep in my flock. My priority has been to focus on my family’s needs. The Hebrew notion of...

Do you know what a face plant is…its when you trip or fall and plant you face in the ground. Well that’s pretty much how I felt about the reflection in today. “They aren’t interested in what I have to say, anyway.� Well that might be true for those that have left the congregation with inte...

Two thoughts are raised for me today. First, the shepherds need to touch the sheep to be checked individually for signs of illness, wounds or weight loss. Second, is truth that health issues of a single member are health issues for a whole flock. I can’t help but wonder whether the tension between...

Feed my sheep. Wow, this understanding of adequate, balanced nutrition and its connection to ‘healthy production’ never really him me until today. I understood this in the sense of feeding my soul…to be able to feed others. But evaluating my feeding of others leading to their ability to feed t...

I was struck by this statement and the notion of hospitality as leadership. I wonder how many times I have longer for ‘greener pastures’ and missed the provision (hospitably) right before my eyes. My focus on where I want to go often takes my focus off where I am and God ‘provision’ in a pre...

I wonder sometimes about colleagues who see their roles as a means to entitlement rather than responsibility. Individuals who see themselves on the career track, rather than the servant track. But I need to watch where I point. For you have heard it before, haven't you. "You only work on Sunday...