Tag: church leadership
A NOW Prophetic Word to Local Church Leaders
The greatest church-growth program ever devised in the history of mankind and the church Jesus is building is the Fivefold Ministry Model outlined in Ephesians 4:4-16. Every senior church leader in America and some other nations around the world has at their ready disposal some of the most battle-tested, God-anointed, God-appointed, life-experienced Fivefold Ministers on the planet living right in their “backyard,” so to speak, in the form of highly-experienced preachers/teachers/ministers who reside in their geographical sphere of operation — in their immediate locality, their region, or state. God has distributed these mighty warriors of God all around you like salt on a plate of food. These are Kingdom-assets God has blessed you with who are eager to do what they can within their range of ministerial expertise to HELP you in the task of building your local church.
Read More
12 Reasons “Spiritual Covenants” Are Not of God
Recently, I interfaced and interacted with a group whose primary commonality is their claim to be apostolic leaders, which, in my view, is extremely dubious in the case of but only a few. In the aftermath, a great disappointment and matter of dismay to me was being made aware, despite the decades of disapprobation and disrepute, some of their number, including some of their senior leaders, continue to employ in working/relating “covenant relationships” with junior leaders of their group such “spiritual covenants” of the ilk described and referenced herein. I was deeply grieved in my spirit by what I saw, discerned, and experienced at that conference.
Read More
Seven Reasons People Follow Diva Preachers
The church has seen the rise of “celebrity cult status” pastors who act like spiritual superstars, who act as little gods who believe they are above everybody else. They walk around with an entourage, body guards, and are inaccessible to family, friends, high level staff and peers, and are an unaccountable island to themselves.
Read More
How Empire-Building Church Leaders Limit Followers
There’s a growing discontent and frustration among many young marketplace and professional believers with respect to being undervalued, underused, limited, and sometimes ignored by local church leadership rather than recognized, celebrated, developed, and released into their particular callings. If the church does not shift towards a kingdom mindset and move away from an empire-building mindset, we will continue to alienate some of the best and brightest young leaders in our generation.
Read More
Fourteen Common Traits of Toxic Church Leaders
Yes, toxic leaders are the distinct minority of Christian leaders. But they can do harm to the cause of Christ disproportionate to their numbers. And they can get away with their behavior for years because they often have a charismatic and charming personality. Charming like a snake.
Read More
10 Reasons Church Leaders Need Continuing Education
I admit my bias here. I am a seminary dean and professor, and I believe in education. Students help to pay my salary. They have become my friends, my mentees, my children in the faith. Graduates make me proud. My reason for writing this post, though, goes beyond these thoughts. If we are doing the work of God, we must give our absolute best. I desire to be part of a team that trains and sends out the strongest leaders in the world—leaders who make a difference in the kingdom of darkness. Those leaders never stop learning.
Read More
The Thin Line of Leadership (Part 2)
At a juncture in American history when the sitting president has revealed himself in obvious and undeniable ways to be an avowed Marxist with a belly filled with fiery ambitions of a would-be world dictator, who is hell-bent on transforming the republican form of government that has served this, the greatest nation on Earth, for some 240 years, into a totalitarian socialistic nanny state, and every segment of society, from political to economical to ecclesiastical, is now inundated with people driven by what Augustine called libido dominandi—lust for rule or dominion—the matter of legitimate versus illegitimate authority is being speedily forced to the top of public discourse. The scope of this article and the series it inaugurates is primarily leadership in the ecclesiastical realm. However, much, if not all, of the principles regarding legitimate and illegitimate authority—i.e., abuse of authority—addressed herein can also with some adaptation be applied to authority in any realm of society and human interaction.
Read More
The Thin Line of Leadership (Part 1)
At a juncture in American history when the sitting president has revealed himself in obvious and undeniable ways to be an avowed Marxist with a belly filled with fiery ambitions of a would-be world dictator, who is hell-bent on transforming the republican form of government that has served this, the greatest nation on Earth, for some 240 years, into a totalitarian socialistic nanny state, and every segment of society, from political to economical to ecclesiastical, is now inundated with people driven by what Augustine called libido dominandi—lust for rule or dominion—the matter of legitimate versus illegitimate authority is being speedily forced to the top of public discourse. The scope of this article and the series it inaugurates is primarily leadership in the ecclesiastical realm. However, much, if not all, of the principles regarding legitimate and illegitimate authority—i.e., abuse of authority—addressed herein can also with some adaptation be applied to authority in any realm of society and human interaction.
Read More
Twenty-five Signs You Are Leading from Your Dark Side
May God help us to not lead from insecurity, through manipulation, or for personal ambition! Here are 25 practical examples that indicate when someone is leading from their dark side.
Read More
Twelve Common Mistakes Young Pastors/Leaders Make
Having started in full-time ministry at the age of 22 and pioneering a local congregation at the age of 25, much of this article comes from the “school of hard knocks.” Either I have made each of the following mistakes or I have observed them made by other pastors in my 30+ years of full-time ministry.
Read More
