Why should God’s people and God’s servants care about excellence? From the maintaining of a church facility to the order of hall closet—does it matter if we have a standard of excellence and order in our lives and ministries? For many, this is a “self-image thing.” Excellence can be about self-promotion and personal image before…
Have you ever fallen off the wagon? I have. In fact, through all the transition of the past few months, I’ve just about fallen off the “blog wagon.” If you read these posts with any regularity, you know that. (Thanks for hanging with me, by the way!) But falling off the “blog wagon” got me…
Don’t miss this month’s Spiritual Leadership Podcast from Pastor Paul Chappell. The topic is “Strengthening the Things that Remain”—a lesson taught this past year at the Spiritual Leadership Conference. This lesson will challenge you to have a spirit of encouragement, friendship, and edification toward other like-minded leaders. Don’t forget, you can always subscribe to receive the…
Life is busy. Honestly, in a given week or day, there is more stuff flowing at us (in the form of information and opportunities) than we can possibly comprehend, much less accept. Doing the right things in life means saying “no” to a lot more than you could ever say “yes” to. The challenge of the…
WARNING: Failure to communicate frequently and effectively will bring distrust, tension, and grief in any valuable relationship. A large percentage of our problems in work, family, and ministry could be attributed to communication failures—either miscommunication or a lack of communication. Everybody has people in their lives with whom they should work at communicating more effectively…
The newest edition of the Spiritual Leadership Podcast from Dr. Paul Chappell is posted. This month the lesson is entitled “Developing a Biblical Vision for Every Stage of Growth.” This lesson discusses the various stages of growth that every church experiences, and how to develop vision for each of those stages. It’s a very practical…
What can you do when your grown children begin to stray spiritually? I’ve seen a lot of parents hurt, mystified, and shaken by sudden and radical spiritual changes in the lives of their adult children. I realize, one day I may be one of them—and so could you. In these moments, some parents grasp for control—trying…
The most recent Spiritual Leadership Podcast is one you SHOULD NOT miss! It’s entitled “Staying the Course Through Troubled Waters” from Pastor Paul Chappell. This lesson challenges spiritual leaders to stay faithful through difficult times! I promise you it will encourage your life and strengthen you in the ministry. You can listen above, or better…
This is part two of a series on an effective staff member. You can read the first article here. The big question we’re answering is simply this: What qualities make an effective staff member? What characteristics produce winning teams? If God has placed you “in the middle” of the organization chart somewhere—welcome! Many of us…
I’ve never written a ten part blog series, but here goes! Whether you hang with me for all ten parts, or just read one or two, I hope you will be encouraged. Do you serve on a ministry staff? Are you a member of a team? If so, you are no second-class citizen in the…
Don’t miss this month’s Spiritual Leadership Podcast from Pastor Paul Chappell. The topic is “How to Develop Christ-likeness in the Church.” This lesson will challenge you to evaluate the spiritual health and development of your church family. More than that, it will provide some thoughts for measuring progress and evaluating what a “Christ-like church” looks…
The newest Spiritual Leadership Podcast from Dr. Paul Chappell is now available (above or through iTunes!) This lesson was taught at our annual staff orientation and is entitled “Striving Together in Spiritual Leadership.” It’s a two part lesson—this is part one and focuses on the spirit of ministry. It’s a challenge to have the right…
Do you ever have the feeling that you’re so busy, major values and priorities in your life are slipping? This is a sinking feeling—and bailing water doesn’t help. Time to plug the holes in the boat! Here’s a short list that might help you evaluate priorities and return to that which is most important in…
Recently I was having a conversation with a wonderful servant of God who has worked for several “high-profile” Christian leaders in the past two decades. This is a person for whom I have the utmost respect—an individual with a very gracious spirit, incredible gift mix, and true servant’s heart. And this is a person who…
The December edition of the Spiritual Leadership Podcast is now live. It’s a little late, but you were probably too busy before Christmas to listen to it any way, right? The lesson is entitled “10 Characteristics of a Healthy Church” and it focuses on the health of a church as opposed to the growth. So…
Perhaps you’ve come across this blog in the past 12 months. If so, this post is for you. Over the past few years, I’ve written a number of articles about creating an annual planner for life and ministry and about personal productivity. I thought it might be helpful to re-post these with titles, summaries, and…
If there’s one thing that modern culture, technology, and the evolutionary world view have killed in even our Christian teenagers, it’s a life vision. Today, we desperately need an army of student ministry leaders to awaken vision in the hearts of young people. While some teens have some small form of vision for their future,…
Lately, especially while battling cancer, I’ve been greatly encouraged by devotionals from Oswald Chambers “My Utmost for His Highest.” Nearly every day the Lord has blessed my life by something profound from this man’s heart. So in this post, I’m shot-gunning a collection of quotes that have been significant to me and why. I hope…
Correction on the November Spiritual Leadership Podcast—the one I previously wrote about was actually October’s lesson. November’s lesson is about Balancing Pastoral Priorities and was taught originally at Spiritual Leadership Conference 2010. This lesson investigates the roles and responsibilities of the Pastor and breaks down some practical and biblical input on how to balance those…
Growing the Church in Biblical Stewardship was October’s Spiritual Leadership Podcast! You can listen to it above or subscribe to the Spiritual Leadership Podcast through iTunes. This month’s lesson is a great resource on how to lead the church to growth in the basics of biblical stewardship. There are a lot of unhealthy leadership techniques…
