Here are last week's Small Group Leader TIPS as Tweeted, posted on our Small Group Leadership Facebook page, and posted on LinkedIn. * * * * * * * Monday, 6/6: Encourage mbrs of your community to spend time in...
Tag: Solitude
Is It Well with YOUR Soul?
As a shepherd leader, you are undoubtedly concerned about those you lead. You care about their souls. You pay attention to their spiritual conditions and want to lead them deeper with God. At least I hope so. Being in a...
The Brazil Cell-Church Conference: What I Learned … #2: Community Is Not All It Should Be (even in Brazil)
It's been a couple weeks since returning from my trip to Brazil, training cell pastors and leaders at two conferences. Yesterday, I shared the first of some of my discoveries from my trip: Community Is a Way of Life in...
Silencing the Monkeys in the Banana Tree
I came across a quote in an article by Henri Nouwen recently that made me laugh and then made me think: Your inner life is like a banana tree filled with monkeys jumping up and down.* This is hilarious ......
When God Puts You on Hold
Quite often, God puts his children on hold. King David experienced this. "I wait quietly before God," he said in Psalm 62. (Actually, David wrote often about this act of waiting on God.) I've experienced this and so have you....
I Need Someone to Teach Me How to Live
I confess, even after 51+ years, I need the Lord to "teach me how to live" (Psalm 27:11). I don't have this life-thing all figured out yet. I'm reminded of that fact every so often when I think I have...
How I Prepare to Spend Time with God
As I sat down to spend time with my Father this morning, I went through a ritual of sorts. Not the kind of dead ritual of thoughtless, purposeless religious duty, but a heart-felt practice I've developed over the years. I...
What to Do When Your Ministry Feels Like a Failure – Part 2: Respond When God Initiates
Yesterday I began a 3-part post about how to respond when you are not seeing any fruit in your ministry, small group, or just about anything else you are involved in. Read Part 1 here. In reading Isaiah and considering...
Solitude Before Discipleship?
I write this blog primarily for leaders. When I'm writing, I'm thinking about leaders and I try to speak to the hearts of leaders. So sometimes I might say something that can be misconstrued if read from a different perceptive...
Solitude Before Community
“Why is it so important that solitude come before community? If we do not know we are the beloved sons and daughters of God, we're going to expect someone in the community to make us feel that way. They cannot.”...