We love stories of bravery. Whether it's a risky, bet-the-farm business move, the inspiring pursuit of a noble dream, or an adventurous, death defying stunt, bravery stirs the soul. We just don't like to be the brave ones. As inspiring as bold moves can be, our...
People often envision biblical community in a somewhat unrealistic way. Some picture a nice, clean package of happy smiles where Christians don’t have any problems. They envision a small group of religious perfectionists sitting in someone’s living room, talking about...
One of our core values at 7 City Church is personal growth. We say it like this: “We value personalized and unrelenting lifelong learning.” I recently challenged our congregation to embrace this value by putting into practice the four essentials of a growth posture....
I recently had a conversation with a young leader who is fairly new to his organization. He is full of vision and ideas, but he also recognizes that he’s the new kid on the block, and his influence is limited. His question was simple: “How do I lead up?” This is a...
We hear quite a bit these days about the importance of metrics in the local church. Statements like, “What get’s measured, matters” and “What gets measured gets done” are pretty common. I agree with both of those statements. That’s the factual side of metrics. There’s...
In a recent article I shared the four stages in the cycle of pride. Pride follows a predictable pattern: success, warning, deception, and downfall. We see it in King Nebuchadnezzar in the Old Testament book of Daniel, and we see it’s destructive work in countless...
In his book, Humilitas, John Dickson tells the story of boxing legend Muhammed Ali traveling on a flight at the height of his career. While considered a humble man today, his pride showed itself on that flight shortly after the pilot announced that they were...
Growth is expensive! Whether it’s personal, organizational, church, business – you name it – growth comes with a price tag. When we stop paying the price, growth is replaced by stagnation and decline, or worse, death. So what is the actual cost of growth? While “cost”...
One of the greatest things you can do for yourself - and the people you lead - is to increase self-awareness. The better you and your team understand yourselves, the greater your impact will be (personally and organizationally). I've discovered that self-awareness...