A few years ago, God used the death of a friend—an everyday evangelist—to spur me to talk with strangers about Jesus. Even though I’ve grown in initiating conversations with others since then, I’ve periodically asked God if it’s just a phase. His recent answer bellowed to me from Scripture. I was reading Luke 5, where […]

If mission is king, culture is queen. A vital mission without an honoring culture will eventually wilt. But a life-giving culture enables the mission to flourish. Let’s learn how. Twenty years ago, God began imprinting His culture on our hearts. He did it by pointing out how weary we’d become from running “fast and furious” […]

Next to mission, a godly culture is essential for ministry effectiveness. Absent a healthy culture, mission suffers. So what exactly is ministry culture, and how do you identify yours? Early on in our ministry, our staff was relatively small. We had an unusually strong rapport—personalities, giftings, and skillsets jived well. We enjoyed each other. We […]

The culture of a ministry is the foundational beliefs and values on which its relationships and decision-making are built. Godly leaders establish cultural consistency throughout the organization, even at board meetings.   The three cultural foundation stones at our ministry are: 1) honoring God 2) cultivating healthy relationships with each other 3) seeking God’s wisdom […]

It’s my conviction that the first priority of any Christian board meeting is to authentically engage with Jesus. The second is like it—to actively uphold the ministry’s mission at each meeting. Instead of assuming our mission is central at board meetings, let’s make it so. As leaders, we distill our board meeting agenda to issues […]

Staff meetings can be as satisfying as homemade bread or as stale as yesterday’s toast. As a leader, you want to serve up valuable meetings. The key is using the right ingredients and keeping it fresh. The word meeting has gotten a bad rap, and for good reason. Tell someone you’re going to one, and […]

The phrase “all systems go” harkens back to the era when space ships and missiles were in their heyday. It describes the pre-flight phase when all aspects of their complicated mechanisms were in sync and ready for launch. As leaders, we want every aspect of our ministries to function at optimal effectiveness. Since God is […]

While the culture of a great organization fosters longevity in its leaders, people are inevitably called to move on. In addition to a typical “thank you for serving” occasion, there is a deeply meaningful way to honor both outgoing and incoming leaders. Let’s take a look. A critical transition in sports is the baton pass […]