“He was patient during my bitter doubts knowing that eventually His power and purpose would unfold.” I didn’t always have such a fond opinion of Psalm 40. In December of 2005 I wrote out the first verses of this Psalm in a journal. I included some skeptical, critical, and angry thoughts about how I doubted it’s reality. My wife and I were at the beginning of a difficult valley. We had two choices: Give up and walk away from God and each other, or push forward even though the road seemed entirely uncertain. In the months that followed, we saw…
Keep Your Wounds From Becoming Walls
[su_quote]Ministry thrives on real relationships; so building walls of protection around yourself keeps you from building strong relationships with others. [/su_quote] A stinging pinch of truth I bet you can remember the first real backstabbing you ever received while serving in ministry. I remember my first, and I also remember some important words spoken to me by a close pastor friend shortly after… “Welcome to ministry.” Initially, I didn’t really understand what he meant. That little statement contained a bit of humor, a touch of sarcasm, and a stinging pinch of truth. Ultimately it was an important adjustment…
The Cynical Leader
“When the leader is bitter and cynical, the followers will either begin to adopt those same those attitudes, or simply move on.” You can’t hide it for long… cynicism will eventually show itself. It’s not very noticeable at first. It begins like little weeds that grow in your mind. The seeds will be constantly throw at you. They might come from the outside… …you’re not given credit …your opinion gets overlooked …you are criticized They might come from inside your head… … “they’re not on board with me” … “that person has it out for me” … “I’m…