Grace to Lead
Issue #38, August 25, 2010 Leadership Nuggets from Ephesians, 2 Servant leaders have grace to lead. Paul’s discourse on grace in Ephesians 2:1-10 provides great insight for the role of grace in servant leadership. Grace has been described as “unmerited favor,” God’s lavish goodness to each one of us. The grace Paul describes for all […]
The Leaders’ Identity
Issue #37, August 11, 2010 Leadership Nuggets from Ephesians, 1 Servant leaders influence greatly because they have a strong sense of their identity in Christ. Paul lays the foundation for our identity in Ephesians 1:1-14 and provides several key factors that shape our identity. The principles he lists apply to all believers, but three have […]
Leading with Purpose
Issue #36, July 21, 2010 Everyone longs to feel significant and to know that their life has purpose. Many leaders find this purpose in their performance, but servant leaders discover the power of leading with purpose. Paul provides this perspective for servant leaders when he says, “Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move […]
Speaking Truth with Love
Issue #35, July 7, 2010 Leaders use their tongue with great impact. Servant leaders recognize the power of their tongue to bring life or death to those who listen. Paul clearly identified one challenge facing all leaders, “Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the […]
“No” Power
Issue #33, June 9, 2010 Great servant leaders learn the power of saying “no.” They recognize that serving others does not always mean accepting every invitation or request for service. While they have a passion to do more for God, they recognize their own limitations and determine to focus on obedience to God’s will instead […]
Leading on Thursday Morning
Issue #27, March 17, 2010 What do servant leaders do on Thursday morning? They work at their calling! A few open the church door and enter their office. But many report to an office, others show up at a bank, many of them step into a classroom full of students, others sign in for a […]
Don’t Stop!
Issue #22, January 4, 2010 At the beginning of the year I want to shift my focus and write you a personal note of encouragement. Leadership is a demanding and challenging task. Giving to others, serving them, laying down our lives, developing our own gifts and abilities, keeping our relationship with God fresh and growing, […]
Redeeming Time
Issue #21, December 16, 2009 In the last issue we examined ways that servant leaders view time differently. With that foundation, let’s look at some practical steps every leader can take to better manage time. Paul writes that we are to ‘redeem the time’ (Col. 4:5). To redeem is to buy back or reclaim that […]
Open Hearted Leadership
Issue #19, November 18, 2009 Paul practiced what I call Open Hearted Leadership, a unique brand of genuine transparency that characterizes all servant leaders. He challenged his followers and contemporary leaders with these words, “We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians, and opened wide our hearts to you. We are not withholding our affection from […]
Servant Leaders Build Servant Followers
Issue #18, November 4, 2009 In our last issue we looked at the call for servant followers. It focused on following well. But this begs the question, “What can the leader do to encourage followers to follow well?” True leaders will influence this process and recognize that healthy leaders produce healthy followers. In this issue […]