…Come home
the lamp is lit
I’m waiting, watching
the road’s been cleared
I’ll run to meet you…
I was watching a TV program about a gardener. Something she said pierced my heart.…
To the worship leader who feels like a jukebox, I’m sorry, friend. I know that feeling. It makes Sunday mornings seem like a playlist rather than a fresh encounter with God. Worship leading is more than lining up favorite songs. I heard someone say…
I saw a dartboard hanging on a wall. There were many darts lodged in it; Each tip had a coat of poison. I watch a hand gently remove the darts one by one. In their place, an injection of truth was given. The board began to change…
the sun surrendered to the horizon as colors spilled slowly into the sky A haze,…
I scour the ground picking up crumbs and scraps fallen from the table.You pull out…
I could not, would not write on shepherding and omit Jesus’ words about the lost…
We are created to live in community. There’s no way around it. It is a repeated principle in the Bible. As disciples, community with God and the Body of Christ is essential. In relation to the subject of leadership, there is no exception.
From before the foundations of the earth, God has been devoted to his creation, assuring a way for us to be together forever. We are made in his image and becoming more and more like him as we follow Jesus. And for those reasons, the subject of devotion is important to us as disciples.
Our primary goal as leaders is to lead others to be led by God. Leading others in the kingdom of God, in whatever capacity, means to point them back to Jesus and his lordship. He’s the Good Shepherd (John 10). In the process, our nature as shepherds should mirror Jesus. The apostle Paul says it like this, Imitate me as I imitate Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1).
Power can be deceptive. Just when we think we have it—a position of leadership, a promotion, the ear of important people, an opportunity to speak—it starts to work against us. Our best defense against the trouble power can bring is to clothe ourselves with humility…
The Bible is full of powerful imagery. It’s one of the beautiful things about the Word of God and a constant reminder that God is creative. Among this imagery are shepherds and sheep. It depicts Jesus as a watcher, a leader, a savior, a caregiver, and a comforter, charging us to lead in the same way…
Brave Sparrow 