Archive - Strengths RSS Feed

What does success look like in ministry?

July 30, 2011 in Leadership, Ministry, Strengths with 0 Comments

Photo from (c) eye4deep

“When pastors don’t have rich spiritual lives with Christ, they become victimized by other models of success—models conveyed to them by their training, by their experience in the church, or just by our culture. They begin to think their job is managing a set of ministry activities and success is about getting more people to engage those activities. Pastors, and those they lead, need to be set free from that belief.”

- Dallas Willard

Click here for the Christianity Today article.

Related Posts:

finally overcoming temptation?

March 17, 2011 in Concepts, Faith, Ministry, Strengths with 1 Comment

I don’t know about you, but I face temptation daily. Sometimes I overcome it, and other times I fall into the temptation and sin. There is no way to get rid of temptation completely, but God always promises us a way out of temptation:

“No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13)

The awesome thing is, God uses temptation to transform us and develop us:

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” (James 1:2-4).

However, what practical things can we do to develop self-control in order to overcome temptation when it hits us? This is the question I asked myself while reading Kenneson’s Life on the Vine, and here’s my answer.
Continue Reading…

Related Posts:

growing in patience QUICKLY

March 13, 2011 in Concepts, Faith, Ministry, Strengths with 0 Comments

Being a father of a toddler and a baby, working full time, and working on my masters degree takes up a lot of my time. As a result, I asked myself this question while reading Life on the Vine, “How do I grow in patience when there are so many demands on my time?”

First things first – we need to alter our own understanding and perspective of time! Instead of seeing time as our taskmaster, we need to view time as a gift from God (Chapter 5, Location 1427).

We also need to change the way we view success. Productivity is not how success should be measured in our life, instead it should be the evidence of the fruit of the Spirit – in this case, patience (Chapter 5, Location 1451). As a result, we need to resist the temptation of measuring our day’s worth by what we have or have not accomplished. Instead of asking ourselves, “What have I accomplished?” We should ask ourselves, “Have I loved and responded to interruptions with sensitivity to what the Holy Spirit may be doing?”

We will also need to change the way we view and label our relationships and interaction with others. Instead of “investing” time in others, we should “devote” time to others, since investment expects a return, whereas devotion is to acknowledge the other’s worth. (Chapter 5, Location 1596). It’s a small change of semantics, but makes a huge difference!

That’s how we grow in patience QUICKLY – and yes…I know that phrase is a paradox.

Related Posts:

I am a ligament, what are you?

January 31, 2011 in Church Planting, Concepts, Culture, Faith, Leadership, Ministry, Strengths with 0 Comments

The image of a bridge, or a ligament (Eph 4:16) seems to be a good way of describing my past and the direction I sense God is leading me. Being Korean Canadian, I was born in Canada, but grew up as a Korean – eating Korean food, going to a Korean church, speaking Korean, visiting Korea – basically breathing Korean all throughout my life. In high school, God used me to be a bridge between the English and Korean speaking youth groups – I was involved with both and knew individuals in both groups. I was also involved in a city wide joint worship team, which had the purpose of uniting or bridging all the Korean speaking youth groups. I co-created a Christian club in my high school to unify all the Christians together. I also organized and ran a city-wide youth worship service when I was pastoring in Montreal. While pastoring in Korea, I co-created a network for English speaking youth pastors, where we would put on events together, pray together, plan together, and strategize together.

Currently, as the groups pastor at Beulah Alliance Church, I was part of a team that conducted a survey, which revealed the current and proposed areas of integration amongst the differing areas of ministry.  I am also leading a team that consists of several pastors, in order to bring greater unity to the group life in the church. There is now one front, instead of divided fronts.

When examining my future, I believe that there are three areas that God has ingrained on my heart: church planting, pastors, and multicultural ministry.

Continue Reading…

Related Posts:

The Ambitious Spiritual Leader – A Paradox?

January 29, 2011 in Concepts, Faith, Leadership, Ministry, Strengths with 1 Comment

I’ve been reflecting on the idea of ambition and if its okay for a spiritual leader to be ambitious. After all, in the secular world, ambition and leadership seem to be synonymous with success. However, if God is the one who truly chooses leaders, is ambition really that important for spiritual leadership? Is ambition even okay for the spiritual leader?

1 Timothy 3:1 – Here is a trustworthy saying: Whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task.

Jeremiah 45:5 – Should you then seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them. For I will bring disaster on all people, declares the LORD, but wherever you go I will let you escape with your life.

When contrasting 1 Timothy 3:1 with Jeremiah 45:5, one is presented with an interesting conundrum: It is an honorable ambition to aspire to leadership, but one should not seek great things for oneself. This seems to be a contradiction, but in light of the fact that God sees our hearts and our motives, it is not (Psalm 139:1-4). In spiritual leadership, one’s ambition needs to be for the glory of God, rather than the glory of oneself; for the Kingdom of God, rather than the Kingdom of Self. As a result, ambition can be redefined as humility within the context of spiritual leadership, since all of one’s success is credited to God, rather than to one’s self. For a spiritual leader, ambition is about striving to become the best servant, rather than striving to get the highest number of servants (Mark 10:42-45). Consequently, here is a great question to help discern one’s motives in desiring leadership: Is there any sense of prestige or privilege by having a leadership position in the church? If so, proceed with caution; if not, continue onward.

These reflections are based on my reading of Spiritual Leadership by J. Oswald Sanders.

Related Posts:

Luggage Lessons – Are you processing your life experiences?

January 26, 2011 in Concepts, Faith, Leadership, Ministry, Strengths with 0 Comments

Which image best reflects your life experiences?

I recently sat through an excellent workshop by Hugh Phillips and wanted to share one of my takeaways.

He mentioned how we all have luggage, which are processed experiences, and that our luggage will yield much wisdom and some of our greatest life lessons when they are reflected upon. This is wisdom! This is praxis! Character formation best happens through our life experiences. I love how Hugh mentioned that our luggage can either make us better or bitter, and that it’s ultimately our choice.

I want my luggage to make me better, so here’s my “work luggage” – how my most recent work experiences have shaped who I am:

  • Moving to, living in, and pastoring in Korea: I learned how important it was to place my trust in God, rather than people. Yes, people can be trustworthy, but we are called to love people and place our trust in God. Unfortunately, we too often love God and trust people. We have it mixed up.
    • Jeremiah 17:7 – “But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.”
    • Matt 22:39 – “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
    • Listen to this message by Wayne Cordeiro who unpacks this concept – http://media.enewhope.org/audio/W1046.mp3

    • Continue Reading…

Related Posts:

The Best Way to Empower Leaders

January 24, 2011 in Leadership, Ministry, Strengths with 0 Comments

While I was reading, Spiritual Leadership by J. Oswald Sanders (click on the link to read my book review), one of the questions I wanted answered through the book was this one, “What is the best way to empower volunteer leaders?” After all, volunteer leaders are critical to the health of a church and really, any organization that is dependent on volunteers. Personally, instead of merely delegating tasks, I have found that volunteer retention and satisfaction is higher when they are empowered to a role with responsibilities.

Continue Reading…

Related Posts:

Page 1 of 3123»