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There are many potential leaders who don’t see their leadership potential, and the onus is on us to invite them—and to invite them well. Unfortunately, I’ve seen efforts to do this that were well-intentioned but not carried out well. One such example is an event I attended that finished with this message: “You might see these big names on stage, but ...

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“So can you help me? Please? I really need your help.”

As I stared into the eyes of my new Christian friend, I saw her struggling. She was feeling tempted to enter into a serious romantic relationship with a non-Christian. Of course I will help her, I thought. I know just what to do!

I scheduled a weekly one-on-one Bible study with her to examine the book ...

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I’ve always been a huge fan of Rocky. Who isn’t encouraged to face obstacles head on when watching Rocky stand up to giants bigger, stronger, and faster than him? Of course, Rocky takes many blows, but after each one he rises to fight on—even if his pace slows a little. As I sit in my comfy chair, watching him continue to get back up on his feet, I’m ...

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It’s an odd thing to break into tears while chairing an elder’s meeting.

Before our gathering, I’d done my homework and had all the facts we needed to make decisions. But when we came to an agenda item about staffing, I became overwhelmed by my feelings—care for the staff person involved, worries that I had failed, fear about financial ramifications. ...

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In this series, I’ve considered the importance of playing with Scripture and the significance of public Scripture reading as a time for communal remembrance of God’s actions in history. Now in this final segment, I’ll provide some practical ways to heighten the communal experience of hearing Scripture in worship.

First, if Scripture is usually read by ...

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We don’t need examples of how we are forgetful people. I’m reminded of my forgetfulness every time I go to the basement and stand there because I’ve forgotten what I wanted to get. On occasion I’ve met people with impeccable memories, who remember things like what I was wearing the first time we met. This astonishes me. I am good at remembering which ...

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“Play!” a theatre director once instructed me. “That’s why it’s called a play!” I can’t remember in which play I was told to play, but I was given freedom to play, and for me that was enough. I don’t know about you, but I love playing.

In Jaco Hamman’s book Becoming a Pastor: Forming Self and Soul for Ministry, he ...

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When I helped my husband plant a church 30 years ago, I wanted to bathe the effort, and especially the people, in prayer. I felt that unless God was intimately involved in each person’s life, little we did would matter.

In the early days of our church, we were only about a dozen or so families, so it was fairly easy to pray specifically for each of them. I would ...

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I love the Bible. I find it instructive and authoritative for my life. I find comfort and correction and challenge in the pages of God’s Word. I have a Bible on my phone, on my desk, and on my bedside table, and you probably do too. Years of seminary and ministry have taught me that I cannot lead or love very well without spending time with God through his Word.

I ...

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My husband, Brad, was a pastor for 27 years when he resigned his pastorate to train pastors in third-world countries who would otherwise receive little or no training. He mostly goes to areas of Africa that are away from the major cities. In these small villages, a church often is started when someone has a conversion experience and realizes his or her village needs a church. ...