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Spring 2016

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The theme for Spring 2016 is “Perspective.”

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Leading as a Steward

A revolutionary approach to nonprofit leadership

What would it be like to lead, not with a list of traits, skills or methods, but out of a heart transformed by God? How would your leadership change if your starting point was not what a leader does but instead who a leader needs to be? Steward leadership isn't just a new name for established approaches to leading the nonprofit organization. It is a revolutionary approach that addresses more of the issues encountered ...

Kingdom Innovation Leadership

The road to relevance for Christian ministry

Once upon a time, two ministry leaders were driving down a familiar highway. These leaders had much in common and were enjoying their time together. Suddenly the landscape changed. One leaned over and asked, "Where are we? Everything looks unfamiliar." The other said, "Did we miss a turnoff or overlook something?" People looked different. They didn't respond as they once had.

I think we can relate to those ...

The Long-Distance Leader

A key for flourishing 21st century ministries

The walls in my basement home office felt like they were closing in on me.
It was June 1, 2010. I sat at a card table with only my laptop, a phone, a lamp and boxes stacked around me. The Memorial Day weekend had just ended, and with it, a whirlwind relocation of my family back to Denver after living three years near Carol Stream, Ill., where my employer Christianity Today is based. We couldn't sell our house...

Three Temptations of Leaders

Learning from Jesus’ wilderness experience

Our CLA anniversary theme is “perspectives.” What sets us apart as “Christian” leaders is that our perspective of leadership, or starting point of view, originates from a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. As Christians, we are called by God to lead in complete obedience to Scripture.

The significance of CLA’s 40th anniversary triggered for me reminders of the importance o...

Equipping Young Leaders

Investing in the future of global mission

A friend recently reached out to 25 or so mission leaders to ask this question: “What is the most important skill if I want to make the biggest impact for global mission in the next 30 years?”

A few refused (nicely!) to answer the question or said, “That’s the wrong question.” The thought was that it wasn’t a very spiritual question. These leaders, rightly so, emphasized that lea...

A Prayer Culture

It will transform your organization.

Our single most important priority as leaders is to hear the voice of God for ourselves and for our organizations. This should be our most defining characteristic as Christian leaders. If there is anything that should be said of us, it should be said that we hear the voice of our Father and obey his leading. We are called to be leaders who don’t run ahead of Jesus, but seek his instruction.

So how do you do this? ...

Responsiveness

It’s the secret to fulfilling your mission.

It’s common knowledge that big organizations move slowly. If you’re a leader who believes that, however, it is time to think differently. Regardless of the size of the team or organization that you lead, this kind of thinking can be crippling for you as a leader. Achieving an organizational mission requires being responsive.

World Vision holds “We are responsive” as one of our core v...

Leadership Truths

Firm foundations built by God

In 1986 I was selected to be the third international president of The Navigators. A year later, I was promoted to Brigadier General in the Air Force Reserves. Big stuff? Not in retrospect. Four years later I was shocked into reality and the realization that life is more than success and leadership. In 1990, our only son, Stephen, was brutally murdered on his job. Suddenly my life was chaos. I had to rebuild my passion for leading on a d...

Blessed Are the Peacemakers

Practical ways to steward conflict well

In the ever-changing, globalized world in which we live, conflict is inevitable. Our fallen world is mired in the types of conflict that tear apart relationships, break apart nations and lead to pain and suffering. Yet as Christian leaders, we are called to be different. In the midst of the world’s conflict, we are summoned to be God’s agents for peace.

Jesus highlights this righteous call in his Sermon o...

A Shepherd's Heart

How listening builds ministry culture.

Listen and hear my voice;  pay attention and hear what I say.
                    —Isaiah 28:23

“Be shepherds with the smell of sheep.”
                 ...