April 2013

How to Make the Most of Your Travel Budget

4 savvy tips to save money on your next ministry trip

It's not uncommon for my husband, Leif, and I to spend more than 200 days a year travelling for work. We bounce from airports to rental car terminals to hotels and back home on a regular basis, and along the way we've discovered a few tips to stretching our travel budget—enjoying better hotels, rental cars, and amenities for a fraction of the cost.

Need an example? We recently ...

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Kari Jobe on Worshipping Authentically

Worship leader Kari Jobe grew up traveling with parents in ministry before experiencing a "divine appointment" at the age of 10, when she decided to commit her life to writing songs to help people communicate their feelings to God. She's currently on tour with Chris Tomlin, but recently took a break to lead worship for 8,500 women at Gateway Church's Pink Impact Conference. ...

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Transforming Suicide

What I learned through God’s healing after my mother’s death

The hymnist Fanny Crosby wrote these words: "Chords that were broken will vibrate once more." I included her words in the first chapter of my upcoming book, Victory Song. Below is an excerpt describing my up-close encounter with suicide and the remnants it left behind.

I was 17 the night it happened: the single, tragic event that would shape my journey and life's purpose from ...

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Edith’s Passing, Mental Illness Makes Headlines, Bombing in Boston, and a Papal Dust-Up

Four recent events that matter to your ministry

Consider these recent events and how they might affect your ministry.

The Example of Edith

On Easter Sunday Edith Schaeffer—a woman best known for the L'Abri Fellowship in Switzerland she founded with her husband, Francis—died at the age of 98. She wrote more than a dozen books, on topics ranging from biblical womanhood to children and family life to human suffering to music ...

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From No Experience Necessary to Your Experience Necessary

We can’t afford to make young women wait for their chance to lead

Every job I have applied for, or hired for, has required experience of one kind or another. Software experience. Task experience. Leadership experience. I can't think of one job description I have ever written that included the line "no experience necessary."

Because let's face it: we don't want to take a risk on someone cutting their leadership teeth on our projects and our ...

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Leadership Lessons from a Convent

What one woman learned as an Alongsider

At her Baptist church in Toronto, Susan Murphy sits on the deacons' board—the leadership team charged with making many of the important, grassroots decisions that affect the congregation. When her passion ignited at deacons' meetings, she'd speak up, not afraid to push and push again…to prove a point.

Twenty years after earning her undergraduate degree, Susan felt called to ...

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Women in Church Combat: A Cautionary Tale

We must move away from “engaging the enemy” and toward fighting for a common cause

Lillian was a strong, charismatic woman who founded her church's women's ministry. Her vibrant personality made almost anything she tried a success. She was like a beloved sergeant in the military—close to those under her care, an advocate for them with the church leaders above her, and militantly passionate about their growth and development. She had created an atmosphere ...

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Why Endings Matter

I’ve learned to value the practice of benediction

We sat together at my kitchen counter, conversation trickling to awkward silence. Things in her marriage had reached a breaking point, she said. She hoped I could help, she said. I listened and tried to give encouragement, but in my heart I knew it wasn't enough. I wanted to give her something that would last, something she could cling to even in the difficult season of her ...

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When Women’s Ministries Meet Messy Houses

A unique service idea

Professional organizers have been doing it for years. Television programs have started doing it, too. Over the years, from time to time, friends have gathered to help one another out of difficult household-organizing situations. Yes, group home-organizing has a rich and varied history.

The problem of disorganization seems to be getting more pronounced. But what are the guidelines ...

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