In our everyday life, we tend to move forward without much pause. We make decisions and act on those decisions. We decide on a restaurant and eat at that restaurant. We decide on an activity, and we pursue that activity. These choices are simple and straightforward. But occasionally, we encounter bigger decisions that make us nervous. In those moments, we fear a misstep. We fear picking the wrong college or choosing the wrong career or marrying the wrong person. How do we know what to … [Read more...] about The Open Door
Archives for November 2015
Leadership Development in a Nutshell
A major part of any ministry (or work environment) is leadership development. This task can feel quite overwhelming. We wonder where we should start and how we should proceed. But I recently found a simple description of leadership development that helped clear away the clutter in my mind. This definition boils down leadership development to specific terms and stages I can get my head around. I hope you will find it helpful, too. Ed Stetzer and Warren Bird (2010) cite this summary of … [Read more...] about Leadership Development in a Nutshell
For How Long
I once asked a sound engineer how loud the volume can get before it damages your hearing. He gave me an answer I did not expect. He answered with a question: For how long? For how long? I had never considered time to be a factor, but it is. Damaging your hearing is a matter of decibel level and length of exposure. Volume plus time. What does this have to do with anything? That simple point made me think about all the times I forgot to ask the “for how long” question in my life. … [Read more...] about For How Long
The Key to Good Style
I have so enjoyed Steven Pinker's The Sense of Style. If you are writing books or sermons, blogs or lesson plans, you will greatly benefit from his thoughts on good communication. One particularly poignant section captures the secret to good style in a simple metaphor. Pinker writes: The guiding metaphor of classic style is seeing the world. The writer can see something that the reader has not yet noticed, and he orients the reader's gaze so that she can see it for herself. The purpose … [Read more...] about The Key to Good Style