By God’s grace, a new generation of training in relational wisdom launched this morning. This interactive online course addresses the theology, benefits, and practical applications of relational wisdom. Using a cutting-edge learning management system, it is...
With just six days to go before we launch our new online course, Discovering Relational Wisdom 2.0, God gave us a special gift this week. Feedback from two people who have been using our beta version confirmed that we’ve succeeded in our goal to make the material...
I received a lot of positive feedback on last week's post about a pastor who admitted his need for physical rest, spiritual renewal and relational retooling. One of the most insightful responses came from a different pastor's wife, who described how both she and her...
It takes a great deal of humility, wisdom and courage for a popular pastor to admit that he is a “bruised reed†in desperate need of physical rest, spiritual renewal and relational retooling. That’s exactly what my friend Rankin Wilbourne did last Sunday …...
Most of us are blind to our own poor relational skills. As a result, we often fail to see how our behavior impacts the people around us and undermines our witness for Christ. One of the best ways to counteract our self-blindness is to ask for candid feedback from...
One of the many interesting groups I engaged during the recent European Leadership Forum was the Leaders of Christian Organizations Network. This network is comprised of executive leaders from many of the most respected Christian organizations in Europe. Prior to the...
Corlette and I are having an exciting time in Poland interacting with 720 church and ministry leaders from 45 European countries. They’ve gathered together for the European Leadership Forum (ELF) for a week of training, fellowship and planning on how to “renew...
Lord willing, Corlette and I will be flying to Wisla, Poland, this week to participate for a second time in the European Leadership Form. This conference gathers 700 evangelical leaders from around Europe to provide fellowship, encouragement and training to inspire...
Corlette and I spent the last four days in Seattle teaching relational wisdom and peacemaking at Highlands Community Church. One of the high points of the weekend was delivering a sermon on Gospel Centered Relationships. This is one of my favorite topics, so I’m...
This October I will have the privilege of presenting a Discovering Relational Wisdom Seminar at the Christian Counseling and Educational Foundations’ 2016 National Conference. The theme of the event is “Emotions: Engaging the Expressions of Our Heart.†I have...
Jeff’s reputation was being trashed by people in his own church. He was respected throughout the city for his outstanding Sunday school classes, which had drawn hundreds of people to his church. But then he got caught in the middle of a congregational battle over...
Churches and ministries (as well as married couples) could learn a vital lesson from the U.S. State Department. Chip Zimmer, our ministry’s Vice President, worked for the State Department from 1990-2001, serving in diplomatic posts in Africa and Latin America. In...
Deputy Matt Holman saved the life of a homeless man staggering toward destruction. His name was Robert Morris. He’d lost his family, become an addict, and was living in a tent in the woods … until it was washed away late one night in a flood. As Mr. Morris...
Every relationship has a limited amount of social capital. Among other things, this means that you need to exercise wisdom in how often you initiate uncomfortable conversations with those around you, whether in your family, church or workplace. Think of it like this:...
Adversity tends to pull us down. It hurts when others sin against us, take us for granted, fail to stand up for us, or break their commitments to us. Such treatment can easily cause us to feel discouraged, bitter or depressed. But there is a way to convert these...
I almost shot my car after one of our Montana blizzards. A foot of wet snow had fallen in just a few hours and the roads were impossible. I’d been out earlier in the day in my son’s Honda, and had struggled to make it up the long hill leading to our street. It...
One of the hardest things I’ve ever done was to ask my mother and my mother-in-law to give up their car keys. Doing it with each of them on the same day (since they both lived with us) was especially difficult. Our moms loved running their own errands and driving to...
There is a simple way to test the sincerity of a confession … whether yours or someone else’s. How detailed is your plan for repentance? “For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret (turning from sin, growing in Christ-like...
Habits exert enormous influence in our lives. For better or worse, they guide most of our daily activities, guiding us automatically through routine behaviors (like brushing our teeth), which frees our minds to focus on issues that require deliberate thinking (like,...
As you may have noticed, I missed last week’s blog post … the first one in 160 weeks! Why? Because I’ve been immersed in all of the new electronic equipment and software that we’re bringing online in order to produce the next generation of RW resources. Over...
Many of our habits are spiritually neutral, such as the way we brush our teeth or the route we drive to work. Other life patterns clearly violate spiritual values, such as being addicted to drugs, alcohol or pornography, or reacting to correction with automatic anger...
My wife seemed to be testing my resolve. A month ago I decided that it was time to do battle with my love for candy. That meant not slipping into the pantry two or three times a day to raid the jar of M&M’s we keep for our grandson. I was doing great for three...
I was sitting on the patio of an expensive restaurant in Beirut. Six young Lebanese were sitting at the table next to us, glued to their smart phones. Not a word of conversation between them for minutes on end, a shared agreement that people elsewhere were more...
A five year-old child was sitting alone in a room with a marshmallow placed a few inches in front of her. She was told that she could eat it immediately, but if she waited just fifteen minutes, she would be rewarded with an additional marshmallow. Six hundred other...
I’d like to introduce you to David Mason, our 2015 RW Pastor of the Year. This award goes to a pastor who has shown exceptional energy, creativity and effectiveness in teaching and practicing relational wisdom in his community. David is the Senior Pastor of Green...
My first job out of law school was to clerk for a federal judge. He served on appellate courts around the country, so we often traveled together. One week I left early so I could attend a Christian Legal Society Conference in Chicago before flying on to join the Judge...
By God’s grace, we have built marvelous momentum this year on multiple fronts … and we need your help to keep it going. Corlette and I delivered 25 seminars and presentations in the last three months alone (see our entire 2015 calendar here). We’ve now taught RW...