I love a good book. I get all geeky over a good read. In fact, I rate (and often review) the books I read online: Goodreads and LibraryThing. Yeah, two different sites – I love to get my nerd on. If you use either site, let’s connect. I’d love to see what you’re reading, and… [Read more…]
October 17, 2011
Scott Thomas offers some simple insights into leadership over at the Acts29 blog. It was a good reminder. Many leaders fail to passionately celebrate the accomplished goals of their team or business or church. It seems that they are never satisfied and are focused on the minor flaws rather than exuberantly enjoying the positive advances… [Read more…]
August 29, 2011
I thought that I’d take a minute and share a few of my favorite books from this summer (not that these books were released this summer, just that I was able to read them this summer). Here’s my top three: Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope that… [Read more…]
February 21, 2011
The last three months have been tough. I love our team; I love the ministry; I love what God is doing in us and through us. However, I’ve also come to realize that I’m working outside of my primary gifts and strengths. This simple fact has worn me down. In these last three months, I’ve… [Read more…]
January 17, 2011
I love to read. Here are a few of my favorite books that I’ve read this fall/winter. Enjoy and happy reading! Surprised by Grace: God’s Relentless Pursuit of Rebels (Tullian Tchividjian; Crossway 2010). Pastor Tullian moves artfully through the book of Jonah, pointing out gospel landmarks and Jesus-sightings along the way. Surprised by Grace is… [Read more…]
December 27, 2010
I spent a weekend in Elmira, Ontario (Canada) earlier this month. About an hour outside of Toronto, Elmira is home to the offices of International Teams – Canada. [A very quick explanation for the uninitiated: International Teams sends out 1200 missionaries to over 200 teams around the world (in 66 countries, to be exact). The… [Read more…]
October 5, 2010
My mom gets into town next week. She’s bringing a book that I’m looking forward to reading, Making Ideas Happen. It’s all about taking a thought from the idea stage to the practice stage. It’s all about, well… making ideas happen! I’ve heard good things and am looking forward to diving in. On the general… [Read more…]
September 28, 2010
Every fall our team gets out of the city together for a long weekend of planning and prioritizing. We just returned yesterday from a lovely time together outside of Patras, Greece. Would you continue to pray for our team as we seek to offer our very best in God’s work here? Our 2010-2011 priorities: 1… [Read more…]
July 14, 2010
I stole this chart from Tony Morgan. I find it challenging; it pushes me to be a better leader. But I still struggle to put this “right people” leadership into practice. My sinful heart is naturally attracted to the control of the task-focused leadership. My default assumption is that people need my instruction and oversight… [Read more…]
May 17, 2010
Call me naive, even arrogant… but I want to do great things. I want to change the world; not for my own praise or to make a name for myself, but to make much of Jesus to the glory of God. I want to preach the gospel until I’m 90. I want to train preachers… [Read more…]
May 12, 2010
Last week was a great week… and a very tough week. I joined together with 200 colleagues from around the world at an International Teams leadership conference in Turkey. We learned from one another; we discussed issues and challenges in our ministries; we celebrated God’s work together. One the other hand, I was away from… [Read more…]
May 10, 2010
Since July I’ve taken on a new role here in Athens: team leader. I’m responsible for ministry vision and overall team health. I’ve been learning a lot over the past 10 months – a whole lot! The experience has been something of a crash course… but at the same time, I love the journey and… [Read more…]
March 17, 2010
Just finished a valuable leadership resource that I thought I’d pass along: Steering through Chaos: Mapping a Clear Direction for Your Church in the Midst of Transition and Change by Scott Wilson, a pastor in Dallas, Texas. The words church and change don’t often mix well. However, change is necessary in any church that seeks… [Read more…]
January 6, 2010
As you read in a post before Christmas, our team’s vision for this ministry is to see “Lives Transformed: planting gospel seeds in the lives of refugees across Greece that take root and bear the fruit of life transformation in Jesus Christ.” Our heart is to share the hope of Christ with refugees across Greece…… [Read more…]
December 23, 2009
As a team, we’ve been re-working our ministry vision and mission statements this fall. It’s taken a lot of time, prayer, poking, and prodding, but – after three months – we’ve got a finished product. We going for simple and memorable, rather than comprehensive. At the end of the day, this is what we want… [Read more…]
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October 24, 2011
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