On Leading Well

Category: Leadership

  • Go Beyond! God’s Heart for All Nations from Genesis to Revelation


    During the Go! Missions Conference in College Station, Texas, I’ll walk through these twelve passages which progressively reveal God’s heart to bless the nations through the person of Jesus Christ.

    Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Genesis 12:1-3

    May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us,

    that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations. Psalm 67:1-2

    And now the Lord says, he who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him; and that Israel might be gathered to him— for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord, and my God has become my strength— he says: “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” Isaiah 49:5-6

    And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction…. These twelve Jesus sent out… Matthew 9:35-10:1, 5

    Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:16-20

    And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.” Mark 16:15

    And [Jesus] said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. Luke 24:46-47

    “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

    Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” John 20:21

    But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8

    The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 2 Peter 3:9

    After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands… Revelation 7:9

    All Scripture quotes from the English Standard Version

  • 35th Spiritual Birthday

    On a Wednesday afternoon in a bank’s unused meeting room, one woman banged out some hymns on a piano while 40 some-odd kids followed along. A second woman then began telling stories from the Bible using a felt-board. Felt-boards were what people used to communicate before Velcro, Power-point, 3M sticky notes and cell phones were invented.

    This felt-board had a big heart with a door in the middle. Jesus waited politely on the outside (the side without a door handle). Only the person inside (me, in this case) could invite him in.

    As a 10-year old fourth grader, I didn’t need a lot of data to convince me of my own sin and my need for a savior. Later, after dinner, I vividly remember going upstairs to my room, kneeling beside my bed, and inviting Jesus to invade my life, forgive my sins, and help me follow Him. That was Halloween night 1973. Shout at the devil.

    Thank you, Ann Pugh, for faithfully presenting the message to a kid who desperately needed to hear it. Another ten years would pass before I fully surrendered to Christ’s wonderful Lordship. You have borne good fruit to God’s glory among the nations. Your labor was not in vain.

    Did you know…? On this day in 1517, Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the church door in Wittenburg, Germany, pouring gas on the flame of the nascent Reformation. Shout at the devil again.

  • Growing in Self-Leadership

    One of the greatest – and most rewarding – challenges of any leader is to grow in conquering the towering mountain of Self. Contemporary culture and media thrive on selling Self-interest, Self-promotion, Self-preservation, and Self-indulgence. But those who lead well have mastered the art of putting others’ interests first.

    I am now three weeks into my 90-day experiment in overcoming physical and leadership plateaus. I’ve been examining my ways and listening to the echoes of “self” in what I say and do. My mirror has been a page from a letter written by one of the greatest and most selfless spiritual leaders of all time – the apostle Peter. Here’s a guy who hung around with the savior of the universe for 3 years and could easily have claimed titles, pulled rank, or dropped names. But after 30+ years of serving others, he called himself a slave of Jesus Christ.

    Here’s what grabbed me:

    “[Jesus’] divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness…. so that through [his great promises] you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue,
    and virtue with knowledge,
    and knowledge with self-control,
    and self-control with steadfastness,
    and steadfastness with godliness,
    and godliness with brotherly affection,
    and brotherly affection with love.

    For if these qualities are yours and increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful…. if you practice these qualities you will never fail. (2 Peter chapter 1, ESV)

    As I have been meditating on this cascading list of character qualities, many observations surface. Two worthy of note are:

    1. The value of growing in more knowledge (books, seminars, sermons, professional development stuff) is limited if it does not lead to greater self-control. This is a call to greater self-leadership. It echoes Jesus words, “If you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.”

    2. The ultimate goal of all growth and development is brotherly affection and love. Maybe the litmus test of “Am I growing?” is really “Am I loving others more?” This should start showing up in my life.

    What about results? A new physical regimen should result in some noticeable changes in body shape and overall well-being. Check. Spiritual growth should also result in some noticeable fruit in how others experience me. Yesterday someone thanked me for exhibiting a specific quality I had been trusting God to grow in from the list above. I’ll take that as progress.

    How are you growing in self-leadership? Check out this practical article by Bill Hybels on The Art of Self-Leadership.