January 26th, 2010 in 2 Kings, Colossians, Conflict Management, Exhortation, Luke, Mark, Matthew, New Testament, Old Testament | 1 Comment »
Few things are more difficult for a leader than to give a firm rebuke to a team member. Yet there are times when confrontation is the most loving thing a leader can do for another person. Read 2 Kings 20:16-19a.
Hezekiah was one of only two kings in Judah who completely followed the Lord. In the days of Esarhaddon, King of Assyria, Hezekiah became ill to the point of death. Hezekiah poured out his heart to God in prayer and God graciously granted him an extra 15 years of life. Read more »
August 26th, 2009 in 1 Samuel, Exhortation, Leadership Principles, Old Testament, Relationships | 2 Comments »
Many leaders avoid confrontation at all costs. Effective leaders understand the role and positive benefit of confrontation when properly handled. Read 1 Samuel 10:17-19; 12:12-25; 13:7-15, 15:14-29.
A true spiritual leader obeys God when doing so is difficult. Again and again Samuel encountered stressful situations in which he had to confront and rebuke others for failing to trust and obey the Lord. He managed each of these confrontations with clarity, decisiveness and objectivity. Read more »
July 2nd, 2009 in Commitment, Exhortation, Joshua, Leadership Principles, Old Testament, Purpose/Passion, Values | 1 Comment »
Joshua continued to lead the people way into his old age. One of his great leadership skills was exhortation. Read Joshua 23:1-24:33.
Joshua’s farewell to the leaders was filled with passion exhorting the leaders to “Be very strong; be careful to obey all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, without turning aside to the right or to the left. Do not associate with these nations that remain among you; do not invoke the names of their gods or swear by them. You must not serve them or bow down to them. But you are to hold fast to the Lord your God as you have until now.” Read more »
June 22nd, 2009 in Commitment, Exhortation, Healthy Alliances, Joshua, Leadership Principles, Obedience to God, Old Testament, Personal Development, Problem Solving, Relationships, Self-Discipline | 1 Comment »
The degree to which a Christian leader tolerates known sin in their own life or the operation of their team is the degree to which they separate themselves and their team from God’s grace and favor. Read Joshua 7:1-26.
I grew up with six siblings. My parents knew that what one of us did that they “viewed as good” would soon show up in the behavior of the others and what one of us got away with would soon affect the behavior of all seven. My mom seemed to have a “proverbial type” saying to fit every situation. One of those sayings was “One rotten apple can spoil the whole barrel.” In today’s world we don’t typically keep barrels of apples around the house so the saying could possibly be changed to “one apple, rotting in the crisper drawer of your refrigerator will cause all the other apples stored in that drawer to get soft spots and begin rotting.” (I do like my mom’s version better.) Read more »
April 24th, 2009 in Accountability, Character, Commitment, Courage/Risk-Taking, Dependence on God, Exhortation, Genesis, Integrity, Leader Qualifications, Obedience to God, Old Testament, Power and Influence, Purpose/Passion, Self-Discipline, Servant Leadership, Values | No Comments »
When defining leadership, many people have used the very succinct definition by J. Oswald Sanders where he simply states “Leadership is influence.” Every leader has a sphere of influence, people to whom their influence is direct and an extended sphere of influence where their influence is transferred through the next generation. According to Genesis 6:9 God chose Noah to be an influencer of an entire world starting over because “Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time and he walked with God.” Read Genesis 6-11.
Just a glimpse at Noah’s sphere of influence comes when we understand a few facts about Noah’s life. Read more »