Leadership
Cold but heart warming Perth
Our family have been in Perth for the last 10 days or so. We are here another week. When we arrived the overnight temperature dropped close to zero. Coming from warm Cairns we had the shock of our lives. It is the first time I have seen Michael’s lips turn blue. We are in Perth for [...]
Learning from Luther
Martin Luther (1483 – 1546) was one the most colourful and passionate characters in church history. As a principle reformer, Luther took complex issues and unravelled them into the common vernacular – allowing theologians and farmers alike to respond with childlike simplicity to the Gospel. We know and love the narrative. The lawyer turned Catholic [...]
Three Errors in Establishing Church Ministries
A good friend and mentor taught this personal life lesson to me. NO VISION, NO ABILITY TO EXECUTE “We’ve tried it before.” “That won’t work here.” “I’m too busy.” It can be very disheartening to meet people who have no vision for God’s work and no heart to see it accomplished. The Ephesians were partly [...]
Just because
You know how to recognise a person who isn’t acting deliberately? Ask him “why?” If he doesn’t know, then he’s probably doing it “just because.” “Just because” is rarely a good reason. “Why do I need a reason for everything I do?” you might ask. Because that’s what it means to live deliberately. It means [...]
Thoreau: “to live deliberately”
He wasn’t a believer, but Henry David Thoreau was a thoughtful and articulate man. This piece from Walden inspires and intrigues me. I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, [...]
Good Books
I once read a survey which listed top books recommended by evangelical leaders. It was fascinating to discover which books had influenced the minds of great pastors and leaders. Theological titles comprised most of the list, while some were biographical or fictional. Have you ever considered what books have impacted you? I browsed the bookshelves [...]
Deliberate living: death of spontaneity?
Does deliberate living spell death for spontaneity? I’ve been thinking this through over the last two weeks as several people brought it up in the comments here and here. Here are my thoughts. 1) The opposite of intentionality is not spontaneity. The opposite of intentionality is traditionalism. Traditionalism does something because “that’s the way we’ve [...]
The deliberate Christ
To be deliberate is to always move forward with the destination in mind. Perhaps the most striking picture of the deliberate Christ is found in Luke 9:51: “He set his face to go to Jerusalem.” This is at least six months before his crucifixion, and yet Jesus Christ—the deliberate Christ—is moving forward with the destination [...]
Deliberate living
Every believer is responsible to conduct himself deliberately. Let me explain what I mean. To live deliberately is to live on purpose. It’s the opposite of letting life happen to you. It’s the opposite of going with the flow. To be deliberate is to be careful, not careless. To be thoughtful, not thoughtless. To be [...]
Time for a thinkathon
I just spent what may be the most valuable $17.45 of 2010. That’s 2 x $4.60 for two flat whites, $5.50 for a large strawberry thickshake, and $2.75 for a pen when my other pen ran out. Oh, and I spent about four hours. This is an annual New Year’s ritual I’ve been doing since [...]
On the leader’s personality
1 Samuel 16 Saul was anointed while seeking asses; David while tending sheep. The kings came from things commonplace. “God looketh on the heart” (v. 7). Skill, fine features, pleasing manners—”personality”—can be had by external imposition, and God cares little for such. His eye is on the heart. Now external effects are not bad—David had [...]
Succession by Atomic Split
Churches do, for a variety of reasons, split. Divisions and problems in assemblies, even those with the best teaching, are as old as the early church. The believers at Corinth were so divided it was remarkable there was a church left for Paul to write to. Churches split due to:- 1. Doctrinal reasons; 2. Personal [...]
