Years ago I remember listening to Arthur Godfrey do a radio ad for a cure-all medicine. The ad went, "At last, hope for middle age." Godfrey paused and said, "Hope? I've got hope. What I need is help."

At times, most of us could echo Godfrey's words. We need help. Especially in the complex situations we encounter in church life, we often need wise counsel.

There's never any shortage of opinions, but how do we get good advice?

Here are the principles I've discovered.

Deciding to Seek Advice

Some time ago I had an experience that let me know, particularly in the business world, how difficult it is for some people to seek advice. I was with executives from a major oil company, discussing a troubling problem the company faced. I remembered a friend of mine had faced a similar problem, and so I called him.

Within fifteen minutes, he told me exactly what I needed to know. After I hung up the phone, one of the executives turned to me and said, "Fred, you just did something I could never do."

"What do ...