Building leaders is not an option; we must build leaders. Here are seven reasons why:

1. Building leaders is biblical. It was one of the main things Jesus did. At the earliest period of His ministry, Jesus began to gather around Him a company of disciples, in order to prepare them to carry on His work. From the start, Jesus wanted not only to have followers and disciples, but men whom He would build to lead and disciple others (Matt. 4:19). The training He would give these men was the principal part of His earthly ministry (John 17:6). Moreover, when He departed, Jesus’ final and ultimate instructions were: “Build people!” (Matt. 28:19). Paul built leaders who built leaders (2 Tim. 2:2). Everything in the New Testament revolved around building people (Eph. 4:12-16). Continue Reading »

What is the best and most biblical way to define a “healthy” church?

Should a church be considered “healthy” when it is doing well financially or when large crowds of people are coming to the meetings? Perhaps a church is “healthy” when the majority of its growth is from new converts, or when it has a strong foreign missions program? Is an effective children’s ministry or youth program the key element for “health”; or perhaps the fact that the church engages well with the culture? Clearly, there are many different things we could focus on. Continue Reading »

When Geert Hofstede, a Dutch sociologist, published his seminal research on dimensions of culture in 1980, he found that Americans were characterized by a high level of individualism – in fact, they were rated the most individualistic people in the world. Continue Reading »

Community serves a twofold place in the life of the leader:

1. The healthy leader is built in community.
2. The healthy leader leads in community. Continue Reading »

The Christian life is personal union and fellowship with Jesus (John 17:3). Church life is knowing God together. Moreover, together – in the context of the community of believers – we can know God in His fullness. 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 »

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 »