Your Best Christmas Gift

The original Christmas story begins with the promise from an angel that Mary would become the earthly mother of Jesus. This is significant because Jesus was and is God’s gift to us, one needing to be unwrapped, and therefore appreciated, by every person. He is not just God’s gift to the world but to every individual. Here’s three reasons why He becomes everyone’s best Christmas gift.

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The Truth About Lasting Peace

Earlier this week, the world commemorated the 100^th anniversary of the end of the First World War. The League of Nations’ short-lived attempt at enforcing global peace after 1918 was an example of the repeated failure of human attempts to bring lasting international harmony. The urgent quest for a truce during times of war will quickly give way to new priorities and expectations. This reveals a sad fact about our own internal drivers and how they typically conspire against attempts to find lasting peace.

The Missing Gift?

The 1997 movie, The Apostle, was another of the many films that paint Christian ministry in a negative light. Today, the apostle is an important, but missing, gift in churches needing reinvigoration. Apostles are often misrepresented, though, as supposedly-superior leaders worthy of recruiting devotees beyond their local church. Self-designation becomes especially problematic when people gravitate to the charisma of leaders deemed to speak for God who have built little and assumed much. Given that the term is itself biblical, it is important to understand its significance to then understand its benefits.

Leading by the 101% Principle

Leadership expert, John Maxwell, advocates the 101% principle. He suggests that you find the 1% that you can affirm in people and give it 100% of your attention. He obviously exaggerates intentionally in order to make a point that can too easily be lost; you catch more bees with honey than vinegar. What does this look like in practice for better leadership impact?

Three Marks of Churches that Grow

Goalposts mark out a footballer’s scoring territory. They help to define success. Coaches may speak of the ‘one percenters’ of contributing effort or praise a player’s execution of strategy, but it is the score on the board that measures the team’s all-important outcomes. How do we improve ‘the score’ in an era of church decline where the message is not tried and found wanting, but is often not tried at all?

5 Keys to Growing New Leaders

Leadership potential exists in almost every person, but people’s capacity to lead will vary greatly. Their development will be a unique journey, one which requires five dimensions to be addressed. These will define the SCOPE of someone’s ultimate influence, which matters greatly for existing Christian leaders for whom the development of others is a core practice of great importance.

The Truth About Your Rebirth

One of the simplest and most foundational aspects of the Christian faith is often one of the most misunderstood. Christianity is not only about having a relationship with God focused on eternal benefits. It offers a rebirth which gives us a new identity positively affecting our life on Earth. A relationship with God transforms us to live differently. It doesn’t deny suffering and imperfection, but offers newfound hope this side of the grave. It doesn’t make Christians better than others, just better off.