The purpose of my new book, What Women Wish Pastors Knew, is simple: "To help today's pastor better understand women in the congregation so the pastor can better minister to them."

My research included survey responses from women ages 18 to 92, working both at home and outside the home in numerous occupations, high school to Ph.D.-educated, married and single, ...

I have often pondered these two sets of verses - positioned almost as brackets at the beginning and end of Proverbs, a book that understands and describes wisdom as she:

"Wisdom cries out in the street; in the squares she raises her voice. At the busiest corner she cries out; at the entrance of the city gates she speaks?" (Proverbs 1:20-21)

"Her husband ...

The kick-off presenter at Willow Creek's 2007 Arts Conference was a renowned photographer. Twenty-some years with National Geographic, Dewitt Jones wowed the audience with his photos ? people and nature in rare and breathtaking candor. As the photos scrolled, he spoke of falling in love with life. Finding the extraordinary in the ordinary. Immersing oneself in the moment ...

GFL: What do women need to know about preaching or communicating gifts?

Jill Briscoe: I think they need to know everything men need to know. And I think that's something that needs to be said because there seems to be a growing awareness that women need equipping for the speaking. They need equipping for the speaking skills to use in church and mission, but there are ...

If it weren't too long for the allotted space, I would've titled this post, "Everything I Needed to Know about Leadership I Learned from my Son's Preschool Teacher." And after two years of watching Ruth Harkema, this phenomenal leader, at work, I'd mean it. Of course, I knew a thing or two about leadership before I saw this gifted woman using her ...

One of the great foilers of good intentions is "overwhelm-paralysis." The engulfing wave of global suffering can immobilize the most ardent leader. Gary Haugen, in Good News About Injustice, writes, "We feel like deer frozen by headlights . . . Instead of energizing us for action, the overwhelming injustice in our world actually makes us feel numb."

All ...

If I were to think of myself as the model godly woman, I'd picture myself sitting at the table in my breakfast nook, steam rising from the fresh cup of coffee in my hand, reading my study Bible and Beth Moore book by the rays of the early morning sunlight that stream through my windows, the faint sound of birds chirping in my flower-filled yard.

As I've struggled ...

Dreams are powerful things. They help propel us forward in life. They are the aspirations of our hearts, and we hope, the framework of the extraordinary. For better or worse, what we think and what we dream tends to materialize. "As a person thinks in the heart, so a person becomes" (Proverbs 23:7).

The best dreams call us to our higher selves, participating ...

The following article was first published in June 2000 in CHRISTIANITY TODAY. Wendy Murray Zoba painted a beautiful picture of what Ruth Bell Graham called her "martyrdom of a long life." All of us at Gifted For Leadership extend our sympathy and prayers to the Graham family. Ruth was a leader we would all do well to follow - especially as her life pointed so clearly ...

It is a simple proposition: In a culture of abundance, the greatest luxury is meaning. What does my life mean? What am I doing here? Do I matter? Is there more to existence than consumption? Are we called to improve the lives of our fellow human beings? Are we called to take care of the earth? Is it really possible for one person to make a difference?

If the above proposition ...