The Lie I Kept Telling Myself

I used to tell myself a lie: I just need more help. I said it in my head on long weeks, and if I'm honest, I said it out loud to the people closest to me more than once.

Over the years God has confronted me with what was really going on. I had all the helpers I needed...

The Gap No One Warns You About

You can't just keep increasing your leadership responsibility without also increasing your emotional resilience. Those two have to grow together in order for your leadership to be sustainable. If they don't — if responsibility climbs and resilience stays flat — the we...

There’s a particular kind of tired that shows up on Sunday night.

You’ve preached, led, listened, answered questions, and helped carry burdens that won’t be resolved before you go to bed. Some weeks, you’ve also made difficult decisions that people may never fully understand.

You can be grateful f...

The Assumption That's Quietly Costing You

What if one of your assumptions about how to be effective is actually working against you?

Here's the one I want to put on the table: competition. Not the healthy kind that sharpens a team, but the quiet, low-grade version that lives inside most of us — th...

What would it look like to create a ministry that outlives you?

That question can change the way you walk into work on a Monday morning.

Most of us arrive with a more immediate set of questions: What needs my attention? What’s coming up this weekend? How are we going to fill that position, solve t...

Have you ever looked at your week and wondered, “How am I working this hard and still feeling this stuck?”

You’re preparing messages. Caring for people. Answering questions. Making decisions. And before you’ve had a chance to catch your breath, Sunday is coming again.

Most of the pastors I talk wi...

Most pastors do not set out to become the bottleneck in their ministry. It usually happens for good reasons. You care deeply. You know the people. You can solve the problem faster than anyone else. When something is important, you step in and make sure it gets done.

That instinct may help a ministr...

Most of us assume our teams are shaped by the big moments (the vision series, the strategic offsite, the all-hands meeting where we finally get everyone on the same page). But after years of leading, I've become convinced the truth is quieter than that. Teams are built, or broken, in a handful of or...

Your Church Doesn’t Need More Volunteers—It Needs a Leadership Pipeline

How many times have you caught yourself saying this?

“I just need more volunteers.”

There are ministries to staff, services to prepare, and people to care for. Another volunteer can feel like the answer to everything.

But wh...

You delegated the task.

You explained what needed to happen.

You assigned it to a capable person.

But somehow, the questions, decisions, and responsibility eventually came back to you.

If this keeps happening, you may assume your team lacks initiative. You may wonder whether you need better peop...

A Long Obedience: The Secret to Leading for the Long Haul

Leadership has a drift problem.

Not because leaders wake up one morning and decide to abandon their calling. It almost never happens that way.

Instead, it happens slowly. Quietly. Almost imperceptibly.

One urgent request. One exciting opp...

The Beach Moved

It's really easy to drift.

Picture yourself swimming in the ocean on a perfect day. The sun is out, the water's just right, and you're having the time of your life. Then you turn to look back at the shore — and the beach has moved. You didn't feel it happen. You weren't doing anyth...