Josh Ellis
The Best Leadership Book You've Probably Never ...

One of the best parts of getting a PhD in Leadership was being required to read widely on the subject. From time to time, I get asked what some of my favorite leadership books are. So, I thought I would take the time to answer that question here and accompany my answer with a fairly through review.

If stranded on a desert island and given only one book from which to teach leadership, I would choose a lesser known book called Reframing Organizations: Artistry, Choice and Leadership by Lee Bolman and Terrance Deal.

The Best Leadership Book You've Probably Never Read
Tony Wolfe
Building (and Rebuilding) Trust

In one season or another, every one of us has needed to either build or rebuild trust. The issue of trust is a human issue. Building it is crucial to every budding relationship, and rebuilding it is crucial to every damaged one. So, how do we build or rebuild trust? They didn't teach me math in seminary, but over the years, I have used this formula:

TRUST = (Truth + Transparency) * Time

Building (and Rebuilding) Trust
Campo Londoño
Antimetabole

Antimetabole es la transliteración de una palabra griega y consiste en la repetición de palabras en clausulas sucesivas, pero en diferente orden. Por ejemplo: ¿Cómo sería una congregación donde la mitad son creyentes no practicantes y la otra mitad son practicantes no creyentes? Sería una situación que haría llorar a nuestro Señor Jesucristo.

———

An antimetabole is a Greek literary device that consists in the repetition of words in successive clauses, but in a different order. For example: Do we have congregations where some are non-practicing believers and others are non-believing practitioners? This would make our Lord Jesus Christ cry.

Antimetabole
Sally Hinzie
Is the Building the Vision?

How many new church plants start to decline after they acquire a permanent building? I recently received this question in an email.  Though I don't have the statistics, I do have stories. These are stories of churches that have slowly started their decline after completing building projects and others that have built and are still thriving today. But what has made the difference?

Is the Building the Vision?
Dian Kidd
April Prayer Guide

Every month, we feature people, events, and ministries we want our people to pray for. So, join us as we pray to and praise God for what He's done, because we're always better together.

#UBAPraysTogether

April Prayer Guide

culture

The Creative('s) Way to Do Outreach

The Creative('s) Way to Do Outreach

Have you ever thought of art as a form of outreach? If we do it right, art can bring glory to God and display his greatness to mankind in a way that causes people to follow him. That sounds a lot like outreach to me! I recently wrote an article encouraging leaders to value art in ministry, but what about the creatives in our midst?

Artists can serve to aid in evangelism, discipleship, and the edification of others in the church, as well. So, how can we get started? Here are a few suggestions for the artists (and wannabes) among us.

What Your Worship May Lack

What Your Worship May Lack

What if we did away with harmony in musical worship? Is it, or any other artistic expression, really necessary to the way we function as a church? Probably not, but most note beauty definitely adds something to the experience. Good art can help better articulate the gospel and move our affections towards God.

In the same vein, I wonder what other expressions of worship we may be missing. Are there some art forms we could use to help us better feel the depth of God's story or understand His person? How might leaders use those mediums to teach, to disciple, and to better explain the faith?

Rethinking the Nativity

Rethinking the Nativity

I have always been an avid collector of nativities, picking one up as a souvenir for each of my travels near and far. So, I was incredibly surprised to find that the reality of the nativity is hardly depicted in most of my little scenes.

With some insight from Kenneth Bailey's Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes, I've learned a lot about Middle Eastern culture and how things would have actually happened in the Christmas story. Here are some of the things I've gleaned.

Sharing Spaces

Sharing Spaces

I was in a meeting a couple of weeks ago with two churches wanting to share a building. The host church is almost 60 years old, and the church wanting to share their space was an immigrant congregation that is about 5 years old. It was a challenge to work out the details across cultural worldviews and language barriers.

Three Things the Immigrant Church in Your City Does Better than You

Three Things the Immigrant Church in Your City Does Better than You

When evangelical Christians consider the large number of immigrants coming to North America, they most often think of the unreached. Though many unreached peoples come to the US every day, many more immigrants are brothers in sisters in Christ, who we can (and must) learn from.

Taco Eating Dragons

Taco Eating Dragons

Is it possible in our continuing quest for non-confrontational methods to begin spiritual conversations, that culture's adoption of phrases birthed by scripture is an opportunity to introduce people to Jesus? Possibly- when this method is considered a tool among many employed for a specific situation. But definitely when taco-eating dragons want to do something helpful and be labeled good Samaritans.