Andrew Carnegie, one of the wealthiest men of his time, was a philanthropist, endowing libraries and other organizations. One time, he bought literally thousands of organs for churches. He said it was to “lessen the pain of listening only to sermons.” Sometimes, when I’m guest speaking in a church I’ll look around and say, “I …
When Being Needy Is a Good Thing (Part 2 of 2)
In Part 1 I shared how some of the best witnesses are the neediest ones. Now, from my own experience, observation of others, and the New Testament I’ll share how some of the most effective church planters and missionaries are ones who go out, as did the original apostles, with little to nothing. As with …
Continue reading "When Being Needy Is a Good Thing (Part 2 of 2)"
Leaders, not lords
This post, exposing a controlling model of spiritual leadership and proposing a more Christ-like alternative, borrows from chapter 5 of “Learning Leadership Lessons from 2 Corinthians.” The tendency toward dictatorial leadership is nothing new. Spiritual leaders have always been tempted to try to control and coerce people for one reason or another. The sincere, albeit …
Comforted comforters…
2 Corinthians 1:3-11 This is chapter 2 in my “Learning Leadership Lessons from 2 Corinthians” that you can find here. 2 Corinthians contains more references to “trouble” and “tribulation” that any other book in the New Testament. But it also contains more in it about God’s “comfort” than any other. While the term “tribulation” is …
Swimming for two
In a previous post I described a prophetic dream I had. Remember, there was a young, overweight boy that jumped on my back to carry him to the other side of a public pool and then, after a short gasp of breath, back again. I was wearing a flappy shirt, which made the journey even …
barney wiget 