God provides gifts that help us grow up in our Christian life. Below you will find a link to the audio of a message given at Raleigh Street Christian Centre

in Cambridge, NZ.

This message overviews four gifts God has provided to clarify and then assist us in our spiritual journey. There is a handout that can be downloaded that provides a small group leader with questions to use for four lessons based on the message.

The Gifts Are:
1. The Gift of Questions
2. The Gift of Others to Make the Journey With Us
3. The Gift of Illuminating Truth in our Hearts
4. The Gift of Giving What He Has Given To Us

God’s Gifts for Growth – Sunday Sermon at Raleigh Street Christian Centre, Cambridge – New Zealand


LISTEN & DOWNLOAD SMALL GROUP LESSONS



I welcome your comments and questions!

Topics: Audio, Resources | Give Your Two Cents »

Bombs of words are blowing up the unity of congregations and parachurch ministries all around me. In these two articles we seek to lay out biblical teaching for our choice of words.

Download Part One Here!

Download Part Two Here!

Topics: Leadership, Questions Coaches Hear, Resources | Give Your Two Cents »

A Columbia International University chapel message by Roy King about the seasons our lives when the normal sense of God’s presence is absent. How are we to react to seasons of a perceived loss of God’s presence.

This is a 14 minute message given during a summer school chapel at CIU.

Strange Minister – Darkness (MP3 – 14 minutes)
download MP3

Topics: Audio, Healthy Leaders | Give Your Two Cents »

Do we understand what is happening in our hearts when we cross over into sexual impurity?

A Columbia International University chapel message by Roy King for those who struggle with the temptation to view pornography from one who regrets the exposure earlier in life.

Lessons from a Sensual Heart (MP3 – 57 minutes)
download MP3

Topics: Audio, Healthy Leaders | 2 Comments »

How do leaders discern the life cycle stage of the organization where they serve? Looking at the specific work to be done are there clues as to what season of work is required? Read the entire article by downloading here!

Topics: Leadership, Questions Coaches Hear, Resources | Give Your Two Cents »

Care and supervision of a team of staff is critical to the health of the organization. One of the best pieces of advice I could give is work on gathering and refining GOOD QUESTIONS. Write them on your legal pad before you go to the meeting. Also discuss some questions that will be revisited at least monthly and ask them to come prepared to share openly assuring them a safe place of grace!

Bobb Biehl has an excellent brief e-mail that has given me creative ideas for coaching and supervision many times. Go to http://www.quickwisdom.com/ to sign up.

Questions to ask each month:

1) How would you describe your time with pre-Christians this past month?
2) Can you share an experience of helping a new Christian get established?
3) How did you invest in helping a person develop as a leader?
4) How have you invested in your personal and/or professional growth?

Coaching Questions from Bobb BiehlI have used often (note: these are slightly edited to fit my style).

1) What DECISIONS do you need from me?
2) What am I doing that is making your job more DIFFICULT?
3) What do you need to remove a hindrance or be EMPOWERED to move forward?
4) How can I PRAY for you and your family?
5) What problems are keeping you from investing the time you need in your PRIORITIES?
6) Is there anyone that works in this organization that you tend to see in terms of “US” and “THEM”? What needs to occur to get you on the same team?

WHAT QUESTIONS WOULD YOU ADD?

Topics: Church Challenges, Leadership, Questions Coaches Hear, Resources | Give Your Two Cents »

A poem by a dear lady in New Zealand Joan Suisted from her collection Sunlight and Shadows

.

SOMEONE ELSE’S SON

“Lord, send the workers out today,
The ripened fields are all around,
The heavy ears are bent, and break
And lie forgotten on th ground.
The harvest wilts beneath the sun,
(But Lord, send someone else’s son.)”

“Lord raise up workers for the task
To fearlessly proclaim the Word
To those enslaved in Satan’s power
Who die, the Gospel still unheard.
Lost, precious souls, who must be won
(But, Lord, send someone else’s son).”

“Lord thrust new workers out today;
The few who toil are worn and spent,
You know how earnestly they pray
For helpers and encouragement.
There is so much that must be done
(But please send someone else’s son).”

And so I prayed, or thought I prayed,
Until he answered, with a sigh,
“I love My Son. I saw your need
And let Him die. Suppose that I
Had said, “Yes, something must be done,
But let’s send someone else’s son’?”

Topics: Leadership, Questions Coaches Hear, Resources | Give Your Two Cents »

Leonard Sweet and others have the perspective that today’s leaders must approach their leadership as a journey without a map. Why is there no map? Because no one has been there yet. It is “new world exploration”. To be leaders who know how to use a compass of unchanging, reliable principles to navigate by instead of following a predefined path is a very different approach to making directional decisions.

Explorers have a unshakable commitment to completing the mission… Go for it or die!
Explorers have a vague sense of what the destination will be like... “Your kingdom come!”
Explorers know they must be willing to take risks and tap into all of the creative capacity that they or others on the team possess…”We may have to back up when we hit dead end canyon walls, but we will keep moving forward!”

One my courses in the seminary seeks to train pastors and missionaries to live as EXPLORERS. I often begin the day of the one week intensives with a devotion that frames our theme for the day.

You can download them as MP3 files or listen to them here:

Audio 1:

First Day of Class: An overview of some of the critical disciplines being an EXPLORER requires.

Listen to the audio here:
Become an Explorer

Audio 2:

In Romans 15 Paul gives us a glimpse of how he viewed his life — He was linked to the redemptive flow of God’s activity that started in Abraham and flowed through the Old Testament to the stream that was carrying him forward as a Christ follower. He also knew how to give gifts to God that he knew God would enjoy unwrapping.

Listen to the audio here:
Romans 15 – Paul’s Perspective and Gifts

Audio 3:

Explorers do not back down from sacrificial giving and they do not let even the ones with the least resources off the hook. There is no room on the trail for passive consumers. Hear the story of two widows

Listen to the audio here:
Two Widows and Giving

Audio 4:

Change produces conflict because it surfaces differences in beliefs, values and assumptions. Galatians addresses 3 groups in the church that face a choice. They must choose GRACE GOSPEL or ANOTHER GOSPEL. They must choose FREEDOM AS SONS or SLAVERY OF TRADITIONALISTS. They must choose investing their FREEDOM TO LOVE or the BONDAGE OF LICENSE. Churches processing changes will also face these teachable moments. Hear the full overview of Galatians applied to CHANGE PROCESSING.

Listen to the audio here:
Galatians Grid for Change

Topics: Audio, Class materials, Healthy Leaders, Leadership, Resources | 1 Comment »