Here are some equippinghispeople posts you may not have read this week:
Leave Some Room
Are you doing too much? Is your church doing too much? Do you have enough time for everything? If not, the answer is to leave some room in your calendar.
Joined with God | Drawn into God’s Dance | Isaiah 6:1-8
On Trinity Sunday, this sermon reminds us that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit dance in divine fellowship with each other, separate persons but undivided in essence. The dance is a metaphor for the inclusive, perfect love of God and the intimate, social relationship we are invited to join.
And here are the top five articles on spiritual leadership or effectiveness I’ve read this past week:
Discernment versus Decision Making by Richard Rohr
Richard Rohr’s daily devotions over at the Centre for Action and Contemplation, is something I’ve been reading daily for a while. I wouldn’t usually post a link to a daily devotional, but the quote contained in it from Henri Nouwen really struck a chord with me. I am guilty of decision making more often than discerning. This devotional has helped me repent.
4 Steps To Start Moving From Teaching a Crowd To Equipping the Saints by Karl Vaters
Karl says the best sermons don’t just impart knowledge, they’re seen as one element of many in a thorough discipling/equipping process. An equipping process cannot be done without walking beside, living among, doing with and assessing after. That requires far more work than delivering a sermon or correcting someone on Facebook. But that’s our mandate. I continue to reflect on how I can best assess the spiritual maturity of my congregation.
Do the Hokey Pokey (and other messages that will screw up your life) by Carolyn Moore
“Are you resolved to devote yourselves wholly to God and his work?” Moore says that when Wesley asked this question of his pastors, he wanted to know if the people who resolve to be church leaders are all in or if they plan to put their left foot in then take it out when things get rough. Folks who can’t be all in not only exhaust themselves; they exhaust us.
The Right Way to Respond to Negative Feedback by Tasha Eurich
Processing and acting on negative feedback is not always easy. It can make us defensive, angry, and self-conscious, which subsequently impairs our effectiveness. What’s more, we can’t take all feedback we receive at face value. While critical feedback can frequently be given objectively and with the purest of motives, it can also be inaccurate and/or nefarious in nature. Eurich gives us four good ways to ensure we respond to feedback in the right way.
Lord, Deliver Us from Passive-Aggressive Conflicts by Pete Scazzero
Many expect church teams to experience less conflict than teams in secular workplaces. Christians tend to spiritualize, rationalize, cover up, or avoid dealing with the issues that lead to conflict. We sweep potential conflicts under the rug. As a result, we leave those issues unresolved, and they linger in the room, threatening to disturb our carefully protected “peace.” While we may not have as many outright conflicts, we ignore—and sometimes feed—elephants in the room. Pete argues that dealing with elephants in the room transforms immature behaviours into critical discipleship moments for your team.
What helpful posts have you read this week? Why not link to them in the comments below?
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Thank you!
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