When I present my services as a Christian ethicist, I immediately feel several insufficiencies. My lack of love meter twitches in my mind as lower than desired: Why even talk about a love ethic, when I am so far from…
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Christian Influence
“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matt 5:16 This is probably the best single call to… leadership, self-development, vocation, Christian living, Christian influence and the abundant…
Following Jesus: What to do with the 10 Commandments?
Andy Stanley is one of my favorite authors, youtube preachers and DVD study creators. He is an amazing communicator. He has lead me to a better experience of God, to love my family and others in a deeper way, and…
Individuality and Mutuality in Christian Leadership
Within our Adventist educational community, one Ellen White often quoted passage is Education p. 17: Every human being, created in the image of God, is endowed with a power akin to that of the Creator– individuality, power to think and…
How can you shepherd if you are one of the sheep?
The Lord is My Shepherd, sang David. He sang it well. He knew its truth. All sheep know the truth. We know our fragility (at least we should). We can’t see very far. We get tired easily. We suffer raging…
Judges, Kings and A Better Leadership Plan
1 Samuel 8 tells us when the Israelite’s asked for a good king it displeased Samuel and God. God’s advised Samuel how to respond: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have…
Through Sorrow to Joy
There is a lot of learning needed to lead successfully and maybe even more to follow whole-heartily. Doing both well involves moving through sorrow to joy. Both leading and following operate in a social space where courage, deep commitment and…
God’s Telling His Story through Yours and Mine
Dan Allender, in his books and youtube videos and traveling/retreat ministry, helps people discover, write and tell their full stories. His work is fascinating and healing. He encourages people to tap into their life stories to see God’s powerful gospel…
Prophets and Prayer: Believing God Interacts with His World
Our contemporary mindset has a hard time conceptualizing and relating to “prophets” or to the”prophetic” gift. Recently I was reading two individuals who studied Ellen White’s prophetic gift for their dissertations. One used psychological research, specifically psychotherapy, and saw many…
American Beastly Leadership (5 of 5)-The Last in Long Series
This post summarizes the main ideas of a long series of 17 posts on Servant vs Beastly Leadership. This concludes a subseries of 5 on American beastly leadership. Servant leadership I equate with the “Lamb” leadership of Christ. This has…
American Beastly Leadership (3 of 5) #15 in the Series
In the last 14 posts, I nuanced differences between servant (godly) leadership and beastly (satanic) leadership. The last 2 posts extended that contrast to America and Adventists. I used Revelation 10-14 and Ellen White’s Great Controversy to show how Adventists…
American Beastly Leadership (1 of 5)– #13 in Series
The last 12 posts contrasted beastly and servant leadership, using scripture illustrations to show a great war wages for our allegiance. One side pulls individuals and nations toward evil and beastly leadership, characterized by lots of speaking, limited or poor…
Four Acts of Divine Leadership
God leads. That is my deep belief. He acts on his creation in love. That is my deep experience. God leads in more ways than we will ever fully be aware. Much of our ignorance of his ways to lead…
Does God Yell? Listening
Yesterday, I heard a prompt from the Holy Spirit. It wasn’t on a major issue but it was wise advice that if received and heeded my day would have gone better. By the end of the day, I wished the…
More Moral Leadership in Our World
Most of us need more exercise. Most of us want more money. We all could use a little more love. But the greatest need and want is for moral leadership. I have been on a twenty year journey of using…
Labor Day
In the US, we celebrate work with a holiday, a day off for many workers. We call it Labor Day. According to wiki and the U.S. government page on this, labor unions spearheaded the creation of Labor Day as a…
What is Ethical Leadership?
I teach a class at Andrews University called LEAD645 Ethical Leadership. In this class, we talk about ethics, leadership and then what ethical leadership means together. Students pay good tuition for that course and I try my best to help…
You Must Increase: The Call of Mutual Submission
John the Baptist was a figure of a powerhouse. He had a miraculous call to prepare the way of the Lord. He did that mission well. Then the Lord came, his job was done. It was time to wind down…
The Sociologically Savvy Jesus
Matthew 16 shows us the heart of the sociological Jesus. By this, I mean Jesus demonstrates in this passage his deep knowledge of his sociological context and ability to reconstruct that context. He is simultaneously embedded in community–and acknowledges that–but…
Easter and Judgment
One day, while driving, I was admiring a long stretch of a mid-West highway. As I cruise down the road, (near the speed limit) a deep thankfulness came over me realizing how nice it was to have such large and long roads,…
Moral Leadership: Seeing and Meeting Needs for Deeper Healing
As a faculty member in the department of leadership, I can say all of us agree that leadership is an important skill that can be learned. Our responsibilities include helping people become better leaders. However, we don’t have a general…
Moral Leadership: Lessons from Naaman and the Little Maid
My favorite Biblical passage on general and moral leadership is 2 Kings 5: the story of Naaman’s healing.I would urge you to read more about leadership. Although the major theme of the story is on Naaman and Elisha, it includes an amazing…
Leadership Mentoring and Pruning Time
Human being, animals and trees need pruning to bear good fruit. Winter is the best time for pruning trees. The weather is cold and the dormant condition is right for pruning without killing the fruit tree. I learnt about pruning…
You Can Not Serve God and Mammon
Jesus is the greatest physician. He knows our weaknesses. Jesus is the great Truth that can’t lie. “You cannot serve both God and mammon.” Matt 6:24. You can’t. If you try, you will die gasping for money. Jesus is the…
Catholic Morality: Part Four
This is the last in a four part series on Catholic morality. In Post One I praised Catholics I knew who taught me about Christ and helped me get back in a right path with God. In Post Two, I…
Widow’s Peak—Morality of Trust, Money or Fame
Trust is the core virtue on display in the story of the widow’s mite. Money is just the vehicle and religious pretense a distraction. “Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting…
Self-Control, Legalism, or Moral Schizophrenia
“Dad, you’re talking to yourself again,” My daughter chided. I do that to coach myself. I like to use my last name. It was disconcerting to my daughter who shares the same last name. “Covrig, pick up your feet. Keep…
Miracles, Management and Morals
I was hoping for a miracle, but what I really needed was better management. I had two months to go to the end of the year and my budget ran out for buying gifts for my own children. Yes, there…
Soft and Stern Virtues
Two important moral words to carry around in your moral toolbox are “yes” and “no.” They are the voice of softer and sterner virtues. “Yes” is a much nicer word to say and hear. It is softer, welcoming, and optimistic.…
DON’T JUDGE
This is one of those hard commands of Jesus. Stop Judging! Simple. Direct. It can stop you in mid-sentence if you let it…and it can save you a lot of pain if you heed it. It is sooooooooo easy to…