Communicating Clearly and Creatively
A conversation between two bloggers that I admire and enjoy.
What Happens to Our Brains When We Exercise and Why It Makes Us Happier
There’s a lot of good news in this encouraging article. For example:
So really, you can relax and don’t have to be on the look-out for the next killer work-out. All you have to do is get some focused 20 minutes in to get the full happiness boost every day.
Delaying Marriage and Same Sex Attraction
Here’s a brave and challenging post from Lore Ferguson on how delaying marriage and being overly-cautious can result in problems for some women. We’re such creatures of extremes aren’t we? If the Devil can’t get us by committing too early, he’ll get us by delaying too long.
Dear Donald Miller
Jonathan Leeman appeals to Donald Miller to return to the church, while Denny Burk explains why to leave the church is spiritual suicide.
Pastoral Leadership and Conflict
A few years ago, Dave Early surveyed a group of twenty-five successful, veteran pastors who were leading a variety of healthy churches.
I asked a few simple questions. One of the questions was, “Please list the three things you did not learn in seminary, but wish you had.” I was surprised that there was one response given by all of them:Learning to resolve conflict effectively.
Toxic Leaders in Our Ranks
Dorothy Greco calls us to learn from the army’s investigation into the kind of toxic leadership that led to 30 US soldiers stationed in Iraq committing or attempting suicide in 2009. According to the Army’s manual, toxic leadership includes:
A combination of self-centered attitudes, motivations, and behaviors that have adverse effects on subordinates, the organization, and mission performance. This leader lacks concern for others and the climate of the organization, which leads to short- and long-term negative effects.
The toxic leader operates with an inflated sense of self-worth and from acute self-interest…. Prolonged use of negative leadership to influence followers undermines the followers’ will, initiative, and potential, and destroys unit morale.