2012

How Joy Helps Us Discern God’s Will

The desires God puts in us bring us energy and life

Have you ever wondered how you could know God's will or recognize God's voice? Does God give you a brain and expect you to figure things out for yourself? Or does God have a blueprint—a Plan A—for your life that you can miss? Is Plan B just as good? How do you discern God's movements in your life anyway?

I doubt there is one right answer to these questions because each of us ...

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The Titanic Need for Authentic Leaders

How do you exercise authority without pretending you have it all together?

Sometimes I'm embarrassed to admit that I would rather jam out to My Chemical Romance than contemporary Christian music. "His Banner over Me," frankly, gives me heart palpitations. But "Welcome to the Black Parade"? Now that preaches. This may seem inconsistent with my profession as a writer and professor of Christian spiritual formation and leadership, but actually, nothing ...

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The Longings of a New Generation of Women

Understanding why it’s time for a change

In recent times, the Web has been alive with banter about our generation of women and why we feel discontent with women's ministry. I believe our discontentment comes from a good place, though at times we can be a mess about it. We are a reckless, passionate generation of women, who long to know Jesus and change the world.

For those of you who aren't sure what all the fuss ...

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Bra Straps, Battery Packs, and Other Divine Accoutrements

A true story for women in ministry

One Sunday before leading prayer in worship, it occurred to me that perhaps the most significant question of my entire ministry career was facing me that very morning. Standing in the sacristy (fancy word for room where the sacred stuff is kept), our Tech Guy mumbled a bit and nearly chewed off his lip with an anxious chomp, "Um, well, where do you want me to hook ...

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The Surprising Cure for Lonely Leaders

How solitude fills us
The Surprising Cure for Lonely Leaders

Leadership can be a lonely assignment, as a recent post here on Gifted for Leadership explored. By definition, leaders are often self-reliant and achievement-oriented. We can easily let tasks and strategy become more important than the people accomplishing those tasks or implementing that strategy.

That recent post offered some great strategies for engaging in authentic community. ...

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Church Salaries for Women

Men still outpace women in pay by 28 percent across all positions.

Results from Christianity Today's biannual survey of 4,600 churches nationwide, which are featured in the new 2012-2013 Compensation Handbook for Church Staff, reveal the top 7 paid positions based on gender.

Even though the top spot for men or women is senior pastor, men typically are compensated more than their female counterparts. Some of this may be explained on the ...

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Shoes that Fit

Effective leaders learn to embrace who God has made them to be

"You did such a great job. I have big shoes to fill!"

My words, meant to compliment, betrayed how intimidated I felt. My predecessor was as good a leader as her reputation boasted. As she slid the mantle of leadership from her shoulders to mine, I simply knew I could never lead as well as she did.

Too often as leaders, we spend our effort trying to fit into ...

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Collaborative Leadership

Even on the narrow way, there is room for people walking side by side.

The most efficient way to lead, if you want to be completely pragmatic about it, is via dictatorship. A system in which one person makes all the autonomous decisions is, at least for a while, the most efficient, the least messy.

But power corrupts, and ultimately, while decisions get made and orders are carried out, those decisions are often bad ones. Great execution ...

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I Can Just Do It Myself…But Should I?

Becoming a Delegating Leader

I am a control freak, like many women in ministry. When I began the women's ministry at my sweet church, I tried to do everything on my own, for many reasons. I enjoyed every aspect of ministry, of building something from the ground up. I was wired up with spiritual gifts in leadership, administration, and creative communication. I didn't want to burden anyone. And let's be ...

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5 Types of Critics in Your Church

And how to handle them


No matter how far up the ladder of ministry you climb, you will always find those eager to analyze and judge your work. So how do you respond?

Maybe whenever you see one of your critics coming, your palms begin sweating. The hairs on the back of your neck may stand straight in a salute. Your eyes focus on every object in the room and rest on the chemical storage closest—perfect! ...

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