WHY AND HOW YOUR CHURCH CAN AVOID BEING AN INSTITUTION
WHY AND HOW YOUR CHURCH CAN AVOID BEING AN INSTITUTION

It’s usually sad when a person is institutionalized.

When your aging grandmother becomes too confused to take care of herself, her children institutionalize her.

When your elderly uncle becomes too weak to live alone, your cousins institutionalize him.

When a child with a physical or mental disability can’t function in normal society, he or she is institutionalized to keep them safe and help them survive.

Institutionalization is about protection, not propagation; guarding, not going; building a defense, not mounting an offense.

It’s often necessary for the weak—or the wayward; we institutionalize criminals, too. But when thriving enterprises become institutionalized, it’s never a positive sign of strength.

Read More
Church, Leadership, LifeTrevor DeVagechurch, church leaders, institution, prison, preservation, pride, prevention, principles, mission, people, preferences, traditions, transformation, transformed lives, lives, liveComment
EMBRACING LONELINESS OVER ISOLATION
EMBRACING LONELINESS OVER ISOLATION

I don’t know about most of you, but the last year of leadership in ministry has had some very lonely moments. For some it has even been isolating. There were moments where it was lonely pre-pandemic, but in the midst of it, it has been even more lonesome and even isolating at times. Throw in political, racial, and social upheaval, and you have a perfect leadership storm of loneliness that can turn isolating quickly.

“It’s lonely at the top.” Like most clichés, this one gets repeated so often because it expresses at least a little truth. In fact, according to some research, at least half of all CEOS report feelings of loneliness. As one researcher puts it, “You can imagine that … over time having to make a lot of tough, unpopular decisions that are constantly going to upset at least one part of your constituency could start to feel isolating.”

Read More
Church, Leadership, LifeTrevor DeVageloneliness, lonely, alone, isolation, embrace, church, ministry, leadership, jesus, clarity, discover, desire, community, hurt, covid, corona, pandemicComment
WHAT WE NEED MORE THAN ANYTHING IN 2021
WHAT WE NEED MORE THAN ANYTHING IN 2021

Two years ago, I received a Facebook message on Christmas Eve that I’ve been thinking about this week. A member of our church, a young woman who would not live to see the next year, wrote to thank me for our service that night and one song in particular. All of us hear “O Holy Night,” every Christmas, again and again. But that year, one lyric lifted my friend’s spirit: “A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices.”

That hope is what she needed that Christmas.

That hope is what her husband and kids would need just a few short days later.

That hope is what we preached at her funeral a week later.

That hope is what every reader of this blog needs in 2021.

Read More
Church, Leadership, LifeTrevor DeVagehope, cope, compelling, cause, connect, contribute, committed, community, church, church leaders, character, good news, good, leadership, leadership struggle, leader, leaders, hopeful, 2021Comment
HOW TO BE USED BY GOD
HOW TO BE USED BY GOD

One day Jesus drove a demon from a suffering boy after his disciples tried and failed to make that happen. Afterwards they asked him why they couldn’t perform the miracle, and he told them it was because they lacked faith. “Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

Well, I’ve stood in front of a mountain and tried to make it move. Nothing happened. But I do have faith, at least a hint of faith, enough faith to believe that God can do something through me. I believe he will take my tiny faith and make something huge out of it.

And I believe that can happen for you, too.

Read More
Church, Leadership, LifeTrevor DeVagegod, trust, mountain, boad, sink, christmas, mary, joseph, jesus, lowly, lofty, leaders, leadership, struggleComment
WHY THE CHURCH MUST CANCEL "CANCEL CULTURE"
WHY THE CHURCH MUST CANCEL "CANCEL CULTURE"

If you’ve written off someone because of one mistake or dumb remark, you’re participating in what has become a growing problem, “cancel culture.”

“There is no single accepted definition of cancel culture,” according to Forbes, “but at its worst, it is about unaccountable groups successfully applying pressure to punish someone for perceived wrong opinions.”

In other words, you wrong me or offend me, and you’re dead to me. And you should be dead to all my social media contacts, too. I’ll tell anyone who will listen why you’re dead to me and explain why they should cancel you as I have.

The Forbes article gives several recent examples, some of them describing celebrities with careers ruined (although some eventually saw a boost in their following after an initial outcry over their remarks).

Read More
Church, Leadership, LifeTrevor DeVagechurch, ministry, pastor, pastors, leadership, cancel culture, cancelled, cancel, culture, hope, help, hope dealer, forgivenessComment