Articles for tag: Ministry: Specialized Leadership

January 8, 2013

Christian Standard

How Do You Define Your Leadership? Keith H. Ray

By Keith H. Ray Leadership is a divine mystery where the science of management, art of creative thinking, humility of servanthood, and prompting of the Holy Spirit meet to do the unimaginable for the kingdom of God. Perhaps most delightful of all is watching God transform the simple acts of servitude into influential initiatives that bring about timely and fruitful change. This servitude is also accompanied by the sometimes difficult realities of truth. I call this “truthship,” where we speak the truth in love in order to bring God”s reality to bear on our ever-changing circumstances. Wishful thinking and notions

January 8, 2013

Christian Standard

How Do You Define Your Leadership? Natalie Puljung

By Natalie Puljung My leadership is defined by whom I follow. It is easy to become consumed by leadership books and talks, and forget that Jesus is the ultimate example of leadership. Every leader needs to follow someone, and it would be foolish to think I can be the sole leader of myself. I define my leadership by following Christ. If I find myself reading more leadership books than the Word of God, then who am I actually following? If I claim to be a follower of Jesus, yet use his words only to supplement my leadership, then am I

January 8, 2013

Christian Standard

How Do You Define Your Leadership? Matt Proctor

By Matt Proctor As a leader, I wear many hats: team builder, decision maker, fund-raiser, and problem solver. But my favorite leadership hat””and perhaps the most important””is storyteller. A leader”s primary job is not to fulfill a mission, but to create a mission-fulfilling community. A leader”s task is not simply to get a job done, but to mobilize and inspire a group of followers to get the job done. Of course, forging a hodgepodge group of individuals into an effective team with common values and a shared mission isn”t easy. So how do we get people “on the same page”?

January 7, 2013

Christian Standard

How Do You Define Your Leadership? Tom Plank

By Tom Plank Fifty years ago, when I began my ministry, no one was talking about leadership, so everything I have learned has been by trial and error. One thing I have learned is that leadership begins at the top with the minister. People will not follow what you say so much as what you do. Set the example. All too often I have been around ministers who expected to be first in line for a carry-in dinner and the first to receive a compliment. These are the ministers who lose their effectiveness because they leave the impression it is

January 7, 2013

Christian Standard

How Do You Define Your Leadership? Lisa Jernigan

By Lisa Jernigan “They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit” (Jeremiah 17:8, New Living Translation). Living in the desert of Arizona, I understand dryness and I understand drought. Sometimes it is hard for life to survive and thrive in these conditions. Our lives in leadership can also go through times of dryness and drought. How do we stay green and fertile? As leaders, how do we

January 7, 2013

Christian Standard

How Do You Define Your Leadership? Jeff Faull

By Jeff Faull Defining your leadership style is a difficult assignment. There is what you think you would say, what you could say, and what you should say. I am certainly not a typical type A leader, and do not possess some of the traditional leadership gifts seen in strong leaders. However, when pressed by commitment, deadline, and the work of honest self-assessment, I believe I can reduce my leadership definition to two concepts. There is the power of following and the power of standing. Simply put, the extent of my capacity to lead anything or anybody is directly related

January 6, 2013

Christian Standard

How Do You Define Your Leadership? Mike Crull

By Mike Crull The nature and style of my leadership is best described as service and goal oriented. I strive to lead by clarifying and modeling the stated mission, values, and objectives of the Christian faith and practices seen in the life of Jesus Christ and prescribed in Scripture. In so doing, I first and foremost try to lead by example, modeling the essential expectations of the Christian faith, but also the mission and purpose of the organization, ministry, and community of people I serve and live within. My leadership strengths include being direct, focused, grounded, stable, and someone who

January 6, 2013

Christian Standard

How Do You Define Your Leadership? Tom Claibourne

I know I am leading when . . . “¢ I inspire people to dream more, learn more, and become more. “¢ I see ahead what others can”t see. “¢ people thank me for taking a risk. “¢ not everyone agrees, most people follow, and some of the doubters later understand. “¢ I see people and love them (Mark 10:21). “¢ I help produce a healthy atmosphere in the church. “¢ I communicate well, verbally and in writing. “¢ I speak biblical truth boldly and in love to a confused, politically correct culture. “¢ I take advantage of all teachable

January 6, 2013

Christian Standard

How Do You Define Your Leadership? Gene Appel

By Gene Appel Others tell me that I”m a visionary pastor whose personal leadership style is collaborative, empowering, and team-oriented. I love to get the right people and right systems working right. I believe that with God”s touch, great things can happen. Several years ago a leadership consultant studied me and defined me as a “catalyzing leader.” I am motivated by problems and love to build teams, cast vision, and solve problems that have kingdom implications. I like to pull key leaders and influencers together to prayerfully dream and consider what God is calling our church to do and be.

January 4, 2013

Christian Standard

Ages 50 to 75: The Minister”s Sweet Spot

By Brian Jones I believe pastors don”t hit their ministry “sweet spot” until they”re in their mid-50s. And if they stay engaged and growing, that sweet spot will last into their mid- to late-70s. Anyone who has ever led a church, or been led by a pastor in a church, knows this. Put another way, I believe a pastor”s personal ministry effectiveness, as defined both biblically and experientially, doesn”t reach its full potential until a pastor has grandkids and starts to get AARP letters in his mailbox. You can understand my great disappointment, then, when I read my friend Kent

January 3, 2013

Christian Standard

Focusing on Under-40 Leaders

By Mark A. Taylor This summer CHRISTIAN STANDARD wants to profile leaders in the Christian churches and churches of Christ who are 40 years old or younger. We”re focusing especially on church leaders””paid or volunteer, working for local churches, on the mission field, in a Christian college, or some other parachurch ministry. Maybe this leader is a local church minister, or the president or dean or teacher at a college, or the head of a missions agency, or a writer or missionary or musician. Whatever their calling, the younger leaders we”ll feature all will have this in common: These influencers

November 26, 2012

Christian Standard

What”s Your “˜However?”

By Tim Harlow It seems one can”t attend a gathering of church leaders without hearing a sad discussion about some brother or sister who has fallen. Sometimes it almost seems like having a fulfilling and successful life in the Lord is just as much about the things you DON”T do, as the things you DO. Sure, giftedness is important, and attitude, and a good team, and vision, and all of that. But you can have all of that and blow it just once and have it all come crashing down. There is always forgiveness and grace; and none of us

November 24, 2012

Christian Standard

Sticky Conversations: Pornography in Ministry

THIS IS THE SECOND IN A SERIES OF FIVE “STICKY CONVERSATIONS”   By Steve Larson We want to believe this is someone else”s problem. We want to believe that ministry professionals are above entanglement in this sin. But statistics tell us, and my experience affirms this: pornography is present even in the church, but those enmeshed in it can be helped. A little over 15 years ago, I left the marketplace in Michigan and planted a church in Cary, North Carolina. Crosspointe Church began in the fall of 1997. Having been involved in a family business for a number of years,

September 22, 2012

Christian Standard

The Culture of Celebrity Pastors

By Brian Mavis Joel Osteen, Rob Bell, Francis Chan, John Piper, T.D. Jakes, Rick Warren, Bill Hybels, Billy Graham, Dwight L. Moody, Charles Spurgeon, George Whitefield, John Wesley, John Calvin, Martin Luther, Augustine, Origen, Polycarp. Celebrity pastors are nothing new. So what”s new and what”s next? Putting ourselves first is as old as day one (I mean, day six). The difference today is that the ability to reach the fruit, feed that temptation, and be applauded for it has never been easier. Just consider these low-hanging branches: YouTube, MySpace, iTunes, iMac, iPod, iPad, and iPhone. “I, me, mine . .

August 31, 2012

Christian Standard

Bigger Issue than Same-Sex Attraction?

By James Engelbrecht Individuals with same-sex attraction make up as much as 6 percent of the male population and 4.5 percent of females (though some studies estimate half that). Those are not insignificant numbers, especially when same-sex attraction involves you or someone you love. Thus began Mark Moore”s February 12, 2012, column, “How Should the Church Relate to Those with Same-Sex Attraction?” Here”s the rub. As a follower of Christ, I hear Christians say: “Keep your nose out of my private life.” “It”s my body.” “Christians aren”t called to be judgmental.” “It”s not a sin. I”m this way due to

August 29, 2012

Christian Standard

Surprise!

By Eddie Lowen On my 30th birthday, a sweet woman from the church I served interrupted the close of the worship service. She walked up the center aisle holding a large birthday cake decorated with my name in icing. Everyone sang “Happy Birthday.” It was a very kind gesture and, looking back, it was a harmless moment, perhaps even helpful. At the time, however, I didn”t like it. Why? I don”t like surprises””especially during the worship service! Since that birthday surprise, I”ve learned that minimizing surprises is feasible, but eliminating surprises is impossible. When you throw hundreds (or thousands) of

August 28, 2012

Christian Standard

Painful Truth with Overwhelming Love

By Mark A. Taylor More than once in recent years, Christian Standard has advocated for compassion toward homosexuals. Most recently we published Mark Moore”s plea1 that those with same-sex attraction need not identify themselves as “gay” and the church should not ostracize them. Last year we reprinted Ben Cachiaras”s advice2 to his church when the issue of same-sex marriage was before the Maryland state legislature. In a piece filled with calls for sensitivity toward gay couples, he wrote, “We must be extra careful about how we discuss this so we don”t give any reasons for Christians to be misunderstood as uncaring or

August 17, 2012

Christian Standard

A Voice from Long Ago

By Jewell Johnson When my husband retired after 42 years as a minister, a time of adjustment followed. As LeRoy reflected on his years in ministry, he began to second-guess all the time he had spent working for God. Did I do any good? he asked himself. Is there any lasting fruit from those years? Did I help even one person? A few years after retirement, LeRoy and I celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary. That”s when we received a special phone call. “Does a Pastor Johnson live at this number?” a hesitant voice asked. As LeRoy talked on the phone,

August 6, 2012

Christian Standard

Confronting Burnout in the Ministry (Part 2)

By Daniel Sherman Burnout is one of the fiercest foes of pastoral ministry. It robs a pastor of needed energy and creates an atmosphere characterized by cynicism and futility. But it”s neither inevitable nor permanent. Still, one must be on guard and have appropriate weapons to confront burnout. Last week we discussed the definition and the cause of burnout. We learned a minister is suffering burnout when he (1) feels exhausted; (2) becomes cynical, removed, emotionally distant from people and ministry; and (3) believes he is not making any difference””that all his work is in vain. A burned-out person will

August 5, 2012

Christian Standard

It”s All About the Mission

By Mark A. Taylor Sometimes we discover truth from an unexpected source. Not long ago, I pondered the implications for the church in a Harvard Business Review blog post by a columnist for Time magazine. Joel Stein shared a conclusion he had reached as he did research for his new book, Man Made: A Stupid Quest for Masculinity. “I learned that my vision of what makes a good leader was all wrong,” he wrote.*   I spent hours working alongside fire chiefs, army captains, Boy Scout troop leaders, and others who guide teams. To my surprise, the best of them

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