Words are powerful things- they convey both meaning and emotion. From time to time, I run across statements so captivating that I wish to pass them along. Agree with them or not, they make you think. I'll leave them here for you, and will be adding to them from time to time. Please check back.
- slj
- Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.
- Henry Ford - Many in the church would rather be made to feel comfortable at whatever level of spirituality they are at, than to be challenged to go to the next level.
- Shane L. Johnson - The difference between a politician and a statesman is this- a politician thinks about the next election; a statesman thinks about the future of his country.
- Mikial Gorbachev - Until the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of changing, people prefer to stay the same.
- Richard D. Dobbins - The task of a great leader is to get his people from where they are to where they have not been...Leaders must invoke the alchemy of great vision. Those leaders who do not are ultimately judged failures, even though they may be popular at the moment.
- Henry Kissinger - Some days you can either do your job, or keep your job, but you can't do both.
- Shane L. Johnson - If you want to get to the promised land, sometimes you have to be willing to leave some bones in the desert.
- Shane L. Johnson - I want to be a leader. I want to lead by example.
- a little girl being interviewed by Oprah for entrance into her leadership academy - I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave from reflection. 'Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death.
- Thomas Paine - There is no more noble occupation in the world than to assist another human being- to help someone succeed.
- Alan Loy McGinnus - Leadership is not a one-day thing. It is a constant commitment to excellence, a habit...a daily practice.
- unknown - I've got a made up mind to serve the Lord.
- an elderly "church lady" giving a Sunday night testimony - The Six Mistakes of Man
1- The delusion that personal gain is made by crushing others
2- The tendency to worry about things that cannot be changed or corrected
3- Insisting that a thing is impossible because we "can't" accomplish it
4- Refusing to set aside trivial preferences
5- Neglecting development and refinement of the mind, and not acquiring the habit of reading and studying
6- Attempting to compel others to believe and live as we do
- Marcus Cicero - The strength of the wolf is in the pack.
Kipling - We don't manage time- it is a misnomer. We manage ourselves in the use of time.
- a wise student - We can do anything we want as long as we stick to it long enough.
- Hellen Keller - Nobody ever drowned in his own sweat.
- Ann Landers - The difference between ignorance and stupidity is this- while ignorant people don't know, stupid people don't want to know.
- Shane L. Johnson - When the student is ready, the master will appear.
- Sir Anthony Hopkins in Zorro - Modeling is the strongest form of teaching.
- Richard D. Dobbins - Hurting people hurt other people.
- John Maxwell - Have courage for the great sorrows of life, and patience for the small ones. And when you have accomplished your daily task, go to sleep in peace. God is awake.
- Victor Hugo - Love without truth is sentimentality; truth without love is brutality.
- Dr. George O. Wood - There is nothing the shepherd can do which will overcome what the sheep will not do.
- Shane L. Johnson - A Native American Indian tribal leader describes his daily struggle of right and wrong as two dogs that fight for position. One dog is right (truth, good) and the other is wrong (untruth, bad). When a listener asks which dog usually wins, he responds, "The one I feed the most."
- Tom P. Hafer in Faith & Fitness: Diet and Exercise for a Better World - It is sad when your giftings take you where a lack of integrity cannot keep you.
- unknown - The more secure you are internally, the more ambiguity you can live with externally.
- unknown - It is good to have an end to journey toward, but it is the journey that matters, in the end.
- Ursula K LeGuin, novelist - I am not out merely to produce a "product." I want to be a part of a process.
Pastor Mike Levelle, on pastoring - There are no degrees of honesty.
- church sign, Trinity United Church of Christ, Canton, OH - Spiritual maturity is when beliefs override emotions- doing the right thing with or without the feelings.
- Chris Price, in a 3/30/08 message at New Life Church - We are taking their distress and poverty, their guilt ant perdition upon ourselves, and pleading to God for them. We are doing vicariously for them what they cannot do for themselves.
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer on praying for our enemies, in Richard Foster's Prayer - The righteous man strives in prayer with God and conquers-- in that God conquers.
- Soren Kierkegaard - Authority needs compassion to keep it from becoming destructive. Compassion provides the environment in which authority can function.
- Richard Foster in Prayer - Prudence means practical common sense, taking the trouble to think out what you are doing and what is likely to come of it.
- C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity - It often shows a fine command of language to say nothing.
- anonymous - The secret prayer chamber is a bloody battle-ground. Here violent and decisive battles are fought out.
- Ole Hallesby - The person on top of the mountain didn't fall there.
- anonymous - Success is not determined by the size of the crowd but by the transformation of lives.
- Bill Hybels - What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.
- A. W. Tozer - ...The most revealing thing about the Church is her idea of God, just as her most significant message is what she says about Him or leaves unsaid, for her silence is often more eloquent that her speech. She can never escape the self-disclosure of her witness concerning God.
- A. W. Tozer
More to come...
Articles & Resources for Church Workers
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Starting a Greeter Program
Four years ago I accepted the challenge of evangelism chairperson for our church. One of the first programs the pastor and I developed was the Sunday morning greeter program. -
Motivating the Right Person into the Right Ministry
One of the greatest challenges for most leaders is selecting and motivating the right people into the right ministry positions in hopes of minimizing turnover and frustration. Even in the smaller church with limited personnel, it is important to coordinate people and ministry as much as possible. -
“I TRIED, BUT NO ONE EVER CALLED ME”
“I tried, but no one ever called me” are painful words for a leader who has much work to do and not enough people willing to do it. These words are painful for the person who wanted to contribute, but was never called. These are also painful words for a person who is committed to helping people connect and contribute in meaningful ways within the church.
