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We’ve written before about the critical need for healthy self-awareness in leaders (here and here). Knowing who you are, gaining discernment regarding blind spots, and identifying your strengths and weaknesses are crucial components for anyone—but particularly important for leadership. Tools like DiSC, Enneagram, Myers-Briggs, StrengthFinder, and Achiever are not foolproof end-alls, but anything that gives us a bit more insight into who we are, our personalities, and our

Recently the New York Times published a fascinating article titled “Why Scandals Don’t Bring Down Politicians Anymore: It’s about more than just shamelessness.” I’m old enough to remember Gary Hart, the Democratic presidential nomination front-runner in 1988. He was on the probable path to run against George H. W. Bush, that is, until rumors of an extramarital affair emerged. He left the race. Later, a photograph was published in the National Enquirer of a young woman sitti

When I was pastoring, we had a paraphrase of a Mother Teresa quote etched in big block letters on the front of the church building: Small Things Done With Great Love Will Change The World. I think there’s something to this “small” thing. Many years ago, a little book called Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff…And It’s All Small Stuff became a gigantic best seller. It was a nice, simple book about not worrying. And, of course, a whole series then followed: Don’t Sweat the Small Stuf

The recent court case against Meta seemed huge: they settled for $18 billion. Meta was accused by dozens of U.S. states and territories of purposely using social media to addict children and teenagers to its platforms—Facebook and Instagram—while misleading the public about its destructive effects on mental health. Plus, Meta was accused of collecting data on children under thirteen without parental permission, which, as it turns out, violates state and federal laws. For

As a rapidly aging Boomer, space was a big deal in my childhood. The U.S./Soviet Union space race was thrilling and scary all at once in the atomic age, and by the time I was fifteen, we won—whatever that means. I watched Neil Armstrong leave a footprint in the lunar dust, live on a portable television in grainy black-and-white glory. The images that have come from space have always created a sense of awe and wonderment in me. And though I wasn’t a Jesus follower until

Recently, I sat in on a workshop focused on pastoral burnout. In my coaching work with pastors, it’s a topic that comes up often. So first, the relatively good news: the latest surveys from the Barna Group have shown a decrease in the number of pastors who said they had “seriously considered leaving full-time ministry within the past year” —down from the peak levels of the pandemic. As of late, that number is now about a quarter of all Protestant senior pastors. Better,

I’ve noticed in some churches a slight misunderstanding of the differences in Assimilation, Discipleship, and Leadership Development—all critical strategies for organizational health, growth, and effectiveness—and all having overlap. Let’s begin by defining the terms, and I’ll admit, the lines between them can get blurry. These definitions may be a bit arbitrary, but you can adjust them to your particular context. Assimilation Assimilation is the process by which an “

In 1957, Elizabeth Eckford was fifteen when she attempted to attend an all-white school in Little Rock, Arkansas.

One day, a religious expert decides to check the bona fides of this new rabbi from a Galilean town with a simple salvific question: How do I live forever?

Many years ago on one of my trips to Nigeria, I visited a hospital outside of Jos that was doing work with the AIDS epidemic. Some of the offices were simply shipping containers, those huge steel makeshift rooms that felt like 120 degrees inside. In the hospital where they did lab testing hung a single light bulb from a porcelain socket with loose wires knitted together. In regular fashion, the electricity would go out citywide, the gas-powered generators would belch on

We just celebrated the semiquincentennial birthday of the USA. America is a complicated country of high ideals, filled with a rich history of stunning achievements and abject failures, and reflective of the human condition. It echoes the issues we have with one another when we simply want things to be black and white, good and evil. This or that. Heroes and villains. But humans, like the countries they inhabit, aren’t that easy to categorize. Yes, there are legitimate h

In between meetings with people, you’ll usually find me at a fast-food restaurant. Bear with me for a minute. Over the years, I’ve modified Maslow’s “hierarchy of needs” to something a bit more, uh, specific. Starting at the top of my triangle is Jesus—that’s kind of obvious for a former pastor, right? Then next is family: my wife, two amazing daughters, and a gaggle of grandkids. Next is friends: how can you beat a circle of friends in a cozy pub with some Old Fashioneds

Recently, I stumbled across an old Christianity Today magazine from 2007. As I thumbed through it, it seemed so quaint in what the American Church, specifically evangelicals, were wrestling with at the time—and in my humble opinion, how much more tragic and embarrassing the evangelical picture is now. But what struck me most was a multi-page spread on Hillsong Church titled Taking Revival to the World. As you probably know, Hillsong is a non-denominational evangelical- ch

“The words of the wise prod us to live well. They’re like nails hammered home, holding life together. They are given by God, the one Shepherd. But regarding anything beyond this, dear friend, go easy. There’s no end to the publishing of books, and constant study wears you out so you’re no good for anything else.” ECCLESIASTES 12:12 (THE MESSAGE) That quote is, of course, from the book of Ecclesiastes. Take your Zoloft before reading: the author is painfully honest about the

Powerful things happen when your Mission meets your Messages in an intentional way.

There was a time when the average human considered a grain of sand the smallest object in the universe.

I am writing this on Pentecost Sunday evening. This morning I listened to the devotional on the Lectio 365 app, which by the way, if you don’t have it, you need it. Trust me. I was struck by Pete Greig’s quote from Dr. Chris Green, Professor of Public Theology at Southeastern University, Florida and Bishop of the Diocese of St. Anthony (CEEC): “Whatever we might've heard, Pentecost is not the story of devout believers lost in prayer, hidden away in an upper room, caught

At one point in my life, I found myself working as an engineer in a commercial recording studio in Cincinnati. On off-times, the owner let me use the then state-of-the-art 24-track room to record different friends and musicians. One was Tim Spransy, a fabulous guitarist—and equally amazing painter (visit his artwork here)—who had done a stint in the Christian rock band Servant back in the day. Tim had a moving, beautiful solo acoustic guitar song called Kristallnacht. You

Way back in 1982, an eclectic documentary came to theaters: Koyaanisqatsi. Scored with a hypnotic Philip Glass soundtrack, it was unsettling in its barrage of images. Filled with time-lapse photography of busy city streets, subways, and factories—and having no dialogue—it reflected the meaning of its title: a Hopi word meaning "life out of balance." I remember seeing it at the Esquire Theater in Clifton in Cincinnati. Much like the film, I’ve wondered what it would look

Maybe it’s time we leaders reconsider how we think about power. In relationships. In politics. In culture. In organizations.

Taking a hard look—both philosophically and practically—at our church systems that not only denigrate our fellow image-bearers but limit ministry outcomes is the work of leadership.

A recent article in Forbes reported on the growing divide between leaders of organizations and their employees. It made the point that the billions of dollars corporations spend on leadership development is missing a key aspect when preparing people for senior positions and what they need once they are in those positions. The report first noted that employee engagement is continuing to drop, according to the latest Gallup surveys. As you might guess, this is not good: t

Currently, I’m working with a church that has had a very difficult senior pastor succession. It was a perfect storm of events and leadership challenges. Then things went seriously south. The pressure was so severe that the new senior pastor resigned. In writing their report, I included the following personal story: I have been on both sides of a megachurch succession—both were challenging for different reasons—one was successful but difficult, and one less successful

I’ve written before about organizational integrity, one of the four critical components we’ve identified in healthy organizations. But let me offer a real-life example. The Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical company is a humongous corporation, with reported revenues of $89 billion in 2025. Their reputation has taken some serious—and deserved—hits over the last couple of decades, from consumer fraud settlements to ongoing lawsuits regarding the link between their baby powde