The Power of the Supernatural:

Churches are quite prone to the rise of abusive leadership – particularly churches that embrace the supernatural. This is because the presence of the supernatural in the life of a leader – in the form of healings, deliverances, the prophetic, etc. – can confirm his higher symbolic status in the eyes of his followers, and open the way for a considerably more dysfunctional leader-follower relationship. Continue Reading »

In the face of abusive leadership, followers may react in one of three ways:

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The most central and important characteristic of a healthy leader is a strong personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Servant leaders lead out of a deep and abiding security in Christ. Abusive leaders, however, usually are very insecure. There are other reasons why certain leaders become abusive, but insecurity is one of the main ones – especially in the church. Continue Reading »

In Matthew 20:25-28, Jesus said that kingdom leadership is of a fundamentally different nature than the leadership of the world. Continue Reading »

It takes a long time to build a truly qualified leader. So, what should be our goal for the participants in “leadership training” of some kind? Continue Reading »

There was once a young man who was exceptionally bright. When he was ready, his father went to enroll him in a fine university and said to the President of that school, “Since my son is so gifted, would it be possible for him to finish the courses in less than the normal time?” “It all depends on what you want your son to be,” the wise president replied. “If you want him to be a great oak, it will take a while. But if you want him to be a cabbage, I can have him ready in no time.” Continue Reading »

Potential leaders are more available than many people think. The difficulty is to identify them properly. How can we discern the call of God upon a person’s life? In our last few Letters, we have examined some guidelines concerning how to choose the right emerging leaders to work with. Continue Reading »

Building leaders is an intensely personal exercise, demanding much time and energy. Consequently, we cannot personally build hundreds of leaders – only a few. But how do we choose that few? In our last several Letters we examined seven practical guidelines concerning how to choose emerging leaders. Continue Reading »

How should we choose emerging leaders? How can we discern the call of God upon a person’s life? These are common questions in leaders’ minds. In our last Letter, we proposed the first three guidelines concerning how to choose the right emerging leaders to work with. Continue Reading »

In our last Letter, we saw that since leaders personally build leaders, one leader can build only a few other leaders at a time – that is, if he wants to do it properly. Continue Reading »