Protege Film Shoot Today
Today, I have a film shoot for my upcoming new book release, PROTEGE (with Intervarsity Press).
I’ll be in Los Angeles with a group of proteges and friends–I’m always taken back with gratitude at the relationships in my life that have lasted over time. It’s rare and unique to have friends whom you feel are truly “for you.” That’s a powerful and meaningful dynamic of community. Today, I stand in awe of God’s work in my life and somehow through my life.
Invest in others. It matters more than you know. Today, I’m reminded of that reality deeply.
Read MoreWhat Jesus meant by “the Good News”
The Greek word, eugelion is translated best as “good news.”
This was not actually a religious word when Jesus said it.
In the first century, there was a dispute over land between the Persians who had attacked the Greeks and took a large amount of their land. The Greeks fought back and they eventually defeated the Persians in Battle of Marathon. As a result, they sent out a herald to proclaim in essence: “Here is the eugelion: We fought on your behalf. We’ve defeated the enemy. You were slaves and now you are free.” That’s a life-changing message and it was and still is good news.
Jesus took that term and says: I will fight on your behalf. I will set you free.
That’s the good news.
In Exodus 14:14, God says to his people what I believe he says today to us: “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
Read MoreOne Great Idea to Impact Your City
Our church partners with organizations who are doing good in the world, but who aren’t necessarily part of the same faith or religious affiliation. This isn’t natural for many Christians to do, which to me is unfortunate, but ought to become an important aspect of how they interact with their city. Do we have to agree on everything to partner in anything? I think not. There are some amazing humanitarian organizations, and philanthropists who are working toward doing good in the world, who are partnering with others to seek justice, love mercy, serve the poor, and care for the marginalized…this is God’s heart, and whoever is living toward that end, let’s be a team in our efforts. Build relationships with people who are different than you; serve people with other people who have similar hearts even if all your beliefs don’t align; and let’s stop trying to always reinvent the wheel in the name of making our name or our organization famous or known, or making what significant things we’re trying to do in the world all about our own glory. Is that what we really should be motivated by?
Read MoreThe #1 Thing That Shapes Leadership
Leadership guru, Warren Bennis says, “Leaders learn by leading in the face of obstacles. As weather shapes mountains, problems shapes leaders.”
As a leader myself and a developer of other leaders, 3 of the core tensions we must live in are:
1st: Cultivate the eyes to see what the real problems and obstacles are…too many leaders don’t pay close enough attention and they miss the problems right in front of them.
2nd: Lean into the challenges rather than complaining about them. Face them head on. Bring change…that’s what makes a leader a leader. They are change agents at their core.
3rd: Remind yourself OFTEN, that your ability to engage problems and overcome obstacles will shape your leadership development as much as anything else.
Read More2 Quotes I’ve Been Pondering A Lot Lately
“Christian freedom is the joyful acceptance of this unprecedented and scandalous reversal of the world’s values.”
Brennan Manning
“The characteristic of this age was that in it the voice of our neighbor is for many of us far louder than the voice of God.” H.G. Wells
Read MoreWhere MENTOR comes from? [...and what matters most about it]
Mentoring can be understood in a wide variety of relational roles, but let me zero in on where it came from, and what I believe the most critical element of mentoring really is.
The term mentor actually emerged from Greek mythology. Ulysses placed his son Telemachus under the guidance and care of a wise sage named Mentor. Ulysses was away fighting in the Trojan War, so Mentor was responsible for teaching young Telemachus “not only in book learning but also in the wiles of the world.” Mentor’s task was to provide an education of soul and spirit as well as mind, an education in wisdom and not merely in information. — Philip Babcock Gove, ed., Webster’s Third International Dictionary (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1981), p. 1412.
One emerging trend in theological institutions involves them assessing their effectiveness in the formation of Christian leaders. One of the increasing realizations revolves around their neglect of the type of mentoring that attends to the spiritual formation of the emerging leader. Becoming doctrinally astute, practicing proper exegesis, and the adapting of the latest church growth strategy can no longer be seen as the primary three paths that make a “successful” and “well-trained” minister who will lead the church into the future.
This is where the idea of spiritual direction, or spiritual leadership coaching emerges. The whole purpose of spiritual direction is to penetrate beneath the surface of a man or woman’s life, to get behind the veneer of conventional gestures and attitudes which he or she presents to the world, and to bring out his or her inner spiritual freedom, or inmost truth. Ultimately, this is what we call the likeness of Christ in our soul. (See Thomas Merton, Spiritual Direction and Meditation, Collegeville, MN: Order of St. Benedict Press, 1960, p. 16)
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