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 »

In our last Letter, we saw that a healthy church, like a healthy body, is one in which every member is functioning properly; this means that every member grows, serves and builds others. If we can create a church culture in which every believer takes responsibility to grow, serve and build, our churches will transform their worlds! Continue Reading »

The “Be, Know, Do” (BKD) model of leader development is used by the U.S. Army but has also gained some measure of popularity in Christian leader development.

According to the Army, leaders lead others by their character, by their competence, and by their actions; therefore, effective leader development must focus on the leader’s character and values (“Be”), his competencies (“Know”), and his decisions and actions (“Do”). 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 »

It may be a surprise to learn that the “Be, Know, Do” (BKD) model of leader development which has gained some degree of popularity in both formal and non-formal Christian leader development did not originate in the church, but in the U.S. Army. Continue Reading »

In the last decade or so, there has been an increasing realization in the church around the world – especially in areas of fast church growth – of the need to build leaders. In response, there has been a steady growth of “leader development ministries.” But, what exactly does a “leader development ministry” do? Continue Reading »

Paradigm Shifts

Our last several Letters presented significant paradigm changes regarding leader development that are necessary to deal with the crises of quantity and quality of church leaders around the world.

It is clear that these all require significant changes of thinking – or, “paradigm shifts.” Continue Reading »

A New Paradigm

Our last two Letters set forth several significant paradigm changes regarding leader development that are necessary to deal with the crises of quantity and quality of church leaders around the world. Continue Reading »

In our last Letter, we saw that over the last 20-30 years, there has been considerable focus around the world on evangelism and church planting, producing an extraordinary number of people coming to Christ and new churches being planted. Of course, this is great cause for rejoicing.

However, there has not been corresponding attention given to leader development during this time, and we now find ourselves in a crisis of leader development. Continue Reading »

For the last 20-30 years, there has been a great deal of focus around the world on evangelism and church planting.

Some of the contributing reasons for this have been: Continue Reading »