ShepherdLeader.com

These are days of confusion on every front, functional illiteracy about not only the Bible but important tenets and documents of democracy, a time of fear and uncertainty. People are looking for an authoritative voice to guide them through. Unfortunately, they often follow an authoritarian voice whi...

I wholeheartedly agree with Jamie's recommendation. It helped me to recognize some terrible patterns in a church I was attending - and removed the guilt they heaped on that kept me from experiencing God's grace.

I think I will go back and read it to see what I need to be careful NOT to do.

It is a privilege to work among pastors and leaders in a global context. It is a faith assuring experience to see that God really can pull of unity within diversity when His Spirit has the lead. The scene in Revelation 4 where the worshipping community is made up of every tribe, tongue, people and n...

Jamie and Bob have raised key issues of the church climate today with their discussion on the problem with numbers. I am reminded of 2 Samuel 24 which highlights David's impulse to number Israel. Of course he had just finished singing a song giving all the glory of his personal deliverance, reign an...

I am a goat girl. Always have been to some degree or another, always will be more than likely. I am one of those independent thinkers that either slow group processes, shake them up or even shock them. (Sometimes I shock just for fun, I admit it. But it is great to see a little destabilization in th...

It is humorous when you think about it. We can become obsessed with doing ministry right - yet what kind of characters has God preferred to accomplish His kingdom work on earth. People who are flawed, prone to lose focus and apt to assert ego at the drop of a dime. In short, people like us ! Clearly...

I really appreciated the thought here. However, as a popular greeting card says, "Growing old is mandatory, growing up is optional." I have been under leadership made up of many chronological years but stunted in emotional and relational areas - in that case give me heart over head any day...

This was one of those entries that make me think, "Wow, God made me a leader !" and then "Wow, God made me a leader?" Both a sacred and a scary proposition. The description of Husein's deft yet delicate care for the flock at large and a couple of sheep in particular with the elem...

This could have been a part of Jamie's excellent post as it comes from Eugene Peterson as well. Yet it is so critical that it should be heard on its own terms: Matthew 11: 28-30 - The Message "Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your ...

Jamie and Bob are dead on with this line of thinking. The "junk food" and "fast food" culture doesn't just affect our stomachs but our heads and hearts. One of my frustrations with the "seeker' church phenomenon is they cater - another food analogy! - to this. Most of the ti...

This is such convicting chapter. It captures so much of the journey God calls us to as the sheep of His pasture: following Him on a journey, reliance on His wisdom and love, longing for our final home with Him. But as an undershepherd I am also expected to model these very traits. Do the sheep under...

Unforunately, ours is a culture looking for results, results, results. Digging wells and drilling deep and trusting God were for "back then." In an instant coffee in the microwave society where the average person has the attention span of a gnat with ADD, wait is a four-letter word. ...off...

In reading both of the prior posts, I would say you are both right. How is that for diplomacy? I didn't read Jamie's post as indicative of our self-indulgent culture. Bob, how do you square the idea of "burn out" with streams of living water? Burn out happens when there is scorching drynes...

The opening story in the book is amazing. While I appreciated the description of Jamie's call, it was the predicament of the ewe that really caught my attention. I could "see" her struggle, I could "feel" the dragging weight of sodden wool, I could resonate with her desperate sea...

Of all the lines on a pastor’s resume for passion and calling or on a leadership search team’s list of “non-negotiablesâ€� for the next leader, where does “a heart for God’s peopleâ€� emerge? Is it in “discipling,â€� “empowering,â€� or “equippingâ€�? No – at their core these are â€...