It’s not even occurred to me to tell this story for maybe 30 years, but Father’s Day just happened and the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting just took place, and somebody just died a few days before that happened, and…
Remembering Bob Dale, who helped us learn to dream again
With the news of Bob Dale’s passing late last week, a torrent of stories, testimonials and heart-felt grief has been flowing on social media and in conversations across the nation. The number of people who have stories to tell about…
Experts warn that the church has lost its way — and its influence
Some Christian leaders wonder if the American church retains any meaningful influence in a society when it has been so strongly dominated by other cultural forces. In the book The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience, theologian Ron Sider laments that…
Creating a culture of call in the church
In my interactions with churches across the country, one specific conversation nearly always emerges. With furrowed brows and a worried tone, they ask: “Where is the next generation of pastoral leadership for churches like ours going to come from?” The concern…
LEADERSHIP LINK: Prophets: champions of compassion
Prophets are rare today. Traditionally, they expose our blind spots, unclog our deaf ears and rub raw our calloused hearts. Mostly, these pesky truth-tellers enlarge our world’s vision. Prophets point us to God’s kingdom, awaken our consciences and stir our compassion….
LEADERSHIP LINK: It takes a community to lead a community
We are Christ’s co-laborers (2 Cor. 6:1). Churches are collaborative communities. Remember Paul’s conversation about how diverse spiritual gifts blend together to empower congregational ministries in First Corinthians 12? Romans 16 emphasizes that same theme — but with names and…
LEADERSHIP LINK: Wanted: Adaptable leaders
We’ve had a failure to adapt. That’s the view of America’s military leadership from World War II to the present, in Tom Ricks’ detailed study, The Generals. The nature and tactics of war changed after World War II and Korea,…
OPINION: Partners in faith: A theology for merger
You’ve read on this website that the Religious Herald and Associated Baptist Press are merging on Jan. 1, 2014. The decision of the two respective boards is more an act of faith than a business arrangement, in my view. We…
LEADERSHIP LINK: Learning from life’s detours
Driving north on Interstate 81 toward Virginia and home, I was enjoying the peace and beauty of East Tennessee’s mountains. I had successfully cleared the traffic congestion of Knoxville’s “malfunction junction” and the four-lane speedway that’s euphemistically labeled I-40 East….