The Mission Central Blog
Resources on Effective Leadership, Emotional Health, Spiritual Growth, and Faith and Work
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Growing up in a Christian subculture prone to both kitsch and mnemonic devices, I was subjected early on to many cringe-worthy didactic moments. One shining example was a motivational poster on the wall that asked, “Do you have an attitude of gratitude?” The subtext seemed to be, “We know how to make
Death can be unthinkable. Some time ago, I was seated behind a young friend of mine in small evening worship service. Her mother had recently received a late-stage diagnosis of a serious illness. I was heart-worn already that day, and my usual shields set up against imagining tragedy slipped. Her youthful frame
On an apple-picking trip one brisk October, I learned of the glories of the giant rubber band potato launcher. Not to be confused with its more ambitious cousin the potato cannon, the giant rubber band potato launcher is a satisfyingly analog ballistic endeavor. A small
Do you aspire to be a spiritual leader? I’ve never been a stranger to ambition. Since childhood I’ve wanted to fix the world and punish fools. Fortunately, since then, the Lord has shown me that I would fall among the fools if I tried. Yet, the desire to make a difference has lived on. Those
Earlier this week I led a team training on the StrengthsFinder assessment, a popular tool for discovering and naming personality strengths. The assessment is based on the work of Don Clifton, a psychologist whose ideas on leadership have proved so influential that they are now commonplace. Clifton argued that, instead of trying to shore up weaknesses, people should focus on working and leading from their strengths. There’s more than
Sometimes, life is disappointing. Lately, I learned that one of my high school friends just got divorced. Most of the children of a pastor influential in my childhood are hostile to the Lord. And if I lose my stainless-steel straw anytime in the next year, I might as well have been using plastic the whole time. I aired