Pathway of Purpose

I was in my office one day and whet to one of our key leaders and asked the question, “what are the key characteristics of a healthy church?” As the individual began to share their thoughts they began to identify with words like loving, connected, and outward focused. This led to a great conversation that caused us both to walk away thinking about what kind of soil was suitable for producing a healthy church.  The words that this individual used to describe the characteristics of a healthy church were just a few of a long list of words that could identify key characteristics of a healthy church. Now we know that there are some churches that are more developed in these areas than others. But that should not stop a local church from wanting to do all that it can to become healthy. I have identified several key characteristics that have the potential to help produce soil suitable for producing a healthy church. 1.       Outward Focused. Healthy churches not on...

Here are s even ways as parents you can build faith in your family. Your home is a place that is fertile soil for God's Word to grow.   Reclaim family dinners   This is a lot time in the family. With everyone going here, there, and everywhere it is hard for the family to come together and eat. Be encouraged to stop once or twice a week to eat as a family. This time can be used to talk about what is happening in each others life from school, friends, spiritual walk, etc.    Mom, dad, this is time to ask those all important questions. Don't miss out on spending time eating together and using it as a time to set everything aside to know what is happening in your child/children's life   Provide non-threatening times for kids and parents to interact together   Get families together to build relationships. Building family relationships can happen by getting families in the same room. Being strategic to have parents interacting with kids from other families and al...

What are you doing to reach out beyond yourself? What does being a good neighbor look like? How can you put into practice regardless of racial tensions? In Luke 10:30-37 we read about how we can reach  beyond ourselves.  Luk 10:30    Jesus replied,  “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Luk 10:31     Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. Luk 10:32     So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. Luk 10:33     But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. Luk 10:34     He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. Luk 10:35     And the next day he took out ...

It is not always easy to know what to do for leadership trainings. Training is a must and train leaders will only strengthen your team. One thing to remember, everyone on the team has different learning styles. Many even think of training as a waste of time. As a leader of leaders of leaders, I push back on the idea of "training being a waste of time." Training does a few things for the leader and the individuals who attend the leadership training opportunities. Motivates the team to have more empathy and emotional intelligence Gives direction and leaders stay engaged Leaders can make better decisions Helps bring clarity on how to move forward Leaders move on and training helps with succession planning   As you are training, here are some ways that you can help you when coming up with trainings.     Grow as a team   Give people the opportunity to grow in connection with others. Read books together, listen to podcasts, even watch training videos and discuss them ...

If you have worked in or with a secular organization or been on a sport team you probably have heard the term "bench." This is a term that is used for those who may not be actively working on a project or playing on field at a given time.   However, every team has a certain amount of players it needs in order to play the sport. For instance, football has 11. Baseball has 9 players. Soccer has 10. Basketball has 5. But what happens if a player gets injured, tired, sick, or thrown out of the game?   Every team has what is known as a "bench." Every team also knows the importance of building their bench. Let's take a look at a typical NFL team. On the roster at every game there are 53, but only 46 are allowed to suit up for the game. There is on average 22 coaches per team. This is not including the office and administration staff, scouts, or the 8-member practice team. Coaches build their bench, because they never know when they will need to put someone in.   Think...