Tag Archives: Relationships

You have an Advocate

When I travel I try to look for things God is teaching me. I just returned from a trip to Kenya and Tanzania for ServeNow. The lesson that stood out to me on this trip was a new appreciation of having an advocate on your side. For this article’s purpose, let me share what happened in the US and then Tanzania related to the COVID testing process necessary for travel.

Our Father

What Jesus was teaching his disciples and us, is that when we pray, we pray not only in terms of intimate relationship personally with God but in view of our collective family relationship with one another as God’s people and community of brothers and sisters in Christ. God is not just my Father. God is our Father together. We are brothers and sisters in Christ despite our unique differences and races. In a culture that is so polarized, divided, and at odds with one another, I believe this is a message needed now more than ever! When we come together in worship and prayer, we come together diverse and different, but united in terms of who we are in Christ and with God as our Father. We come equally as brothers and sisters adopted into the family of God.

A Call to Emotional Intelligence

I believe what I am about to articulate addresses, perhaps, the single greatest crisis at the core of our current cultural issues. Let me state these two truths and then expand on them a little further: The greatest current cultural, political, religious, societal, personal, family, organizational, leadership, ministry, social media crisis at present is a crisis of emotional intelligence. We are allowing our emotions to control us, divide us, and destroy us in many unhealthy ways. Secondly, I have come to realize that my most significant and personal regrets, failures, and mistakes in life, leadership, ministry, and relationships revolve around a lack of emotional intelligence, not so much spiritual depth or technical skill. The same is probably true for you too when you think about it!

Peace on Earth?

So, what’s the deal with this promise of peace on earth? Why after so many years, if Jesus truly is the Prince of Peace, has peace not come or stayed? And it’s not just wars around the world between nations, it’s the fighting, conflicts and destructive wake of broken relationships we have all experienced and been contributors towards. Has this promise failed? Is Jesus who He claimed to be?

Division & Outrage

It has been a while since I have written a blog article. A major reason has been because of needing to prioritize other things in my life and schedule. Another reason however, is a sense of despair in wondering what difference it really makes in a culture that is so bitterly and politically divided on nearly every issue. There are a thousand voices out there all trying to speak to these issues, an endless stream of information, and yet all I see is it either re-enforcing previous held positions or entrenching people deeper in their views that they are right and the other side is wrong…

What we Miss about the Cross

This is what I am seeing I often miss about the cross. I like knowing I am forgiven, but am I too willing to forgive? I like knowing that despite being unworthy, Christ shows me undeserved grace; but am I willing to extend that grace to those in my life not “worthy” of it? I like knowing there is mercy for my sin; but am I willing to show mercy when others sin against me? I find it moving to know the length to which Christ went that I might have peace with him, but what length am I willing to go to to work towards peace with others?

My Top 5 Leadership Regrets

This is a public confession of sorts. While the past cannot be changed, the past can teach us some lessons for the present that will impact the future. While I have reserved this for my top 5 leadership regrets, it is not to say by any means these are my only mistakes or regrets. NotContinue reading “My Top 5 Leadership Regrets”