My week on a Montana trout stream, with only my fly rod and my Bible—and without television, phone, or internet—was a total immersion in renewal. But leaders can't live from break to break and expect to be effective.

Rather, we must create an ongoing culture of renewal for ourselves and those under our influence that is (1) dramatic, (2) deliberate, and (3) discerning.

1. Learning from the dramatic moments triggers renewal.

New Year's resolutions don't cause many people to eat right and exercise long term, but a heart-attack scare often will. Any life-pattern adjustment that moves far beyond teeth-gritting determination is usually born out of a dramatic moment.

Those dramatic moments are more often negative than positive, but we can have assurance that God is using the hard times to prepare us for what is yet to come. When life comes against us, we need to be looking to where God wants to push us rather than only pushing back.

Sometimes the trigger comes because the ...