Next Sunday is Mother’s Day. If you’re tired of doing the same “card and gift†routine, allow me to suggest something that your mother will remember the rest of her life. Since she devoted much of her life to serving you, I encourage you to make a special...
When a pastor steps into a pulpit, he usually has two general goals in mind: to change the way people think and to change the way they behave. The pivotal human organ for both goals is the brain. And yet most pastors—as well as most of the people in the...
Relational turmoil is undermining the witness of Christians all around the world. Family strife and divorce, church splits, workplace conflict, lawsuits between Christians, and clashes with neighbors of other faiths weaken our credibility and slow the advance of...
Highly relational people love to breathe grace. They draw continually on the goodness and power of Jesus Christ, and then they breathe his love, kindness and wisdom into all of their relationships. This is what the Apostle Paul had in mind in Ephesians 4:29, where he...
I’m pleased to announce the formation of a new ministry partnership with Crossroads Resolution Group LLC. This relationship expands our ability to provide churches, ministries, and businesses with professional, biblically-grounded conflict resolution services. CRG...
A young couple headed for divorce because of adultery came into my office one day. They picked the perfect week … the week before Easter. To learn why this week has always been my favorite time to start divorce mediations ... and to discover a power that can restore...
To find your greatest weakness, first identify your greatest strength and then look right behind it. That’s one of the tragic results of sin: it twists our strengths into weaknesses, just as (-1) x 100 becomes -100. Are you highly intelligent and well-studied in the...
I had the privilege of spending the last week with some delightful brothers and sisters in Christ “Down Under.†During my time in Australia, I spoke to the student body at Queensland Theological Seminary, taught for two days at the Acts 29 Church Planting...
If you’d like to see some vivid examples of relational wisdom, be sure to see Disney’s latest release, McFarland, U.S.A. The movie is based on the true story of a 1987 cross country team from a predominantly Mexican-American high school in McFarland, California....
One of the hardest and yet most profitable questions you can ever ask another person is … “How did you experience me?†In other words … “Please tell me how I made you feel and what you were thinking about me during our recent interaction. I really want to...
I recently sent out an impulsive and sin-tainted email to a group of people whom I dearly love. Two brothers quickly and gently confronted me. I then had the humbling experience of emailing a detailed confession to the same group of people. But the embarrassment I...
Click Here For a Downloadable PDF File Any time we make plans that impact a group of people—whether it’s our church, ministry, business or even our family—we have the opportunity to deepen and enrich our relationships, both with God and the people around us. But...
I had the privilege of spending the last three days with 200 men and women who are passionate about planting churches in southern California. We gathered at a leadership conference sponsored by Acts 29, a global network of church-planting churches. Having served...
One of the most dramatic reconciliations I ever witnessed involved five brothers and a sister who were fighting over their parents’ estate. Their relationship had deteriorated so badly that one brother nearly assaulted his siblings with a baseball bat. But then God...
One of the many joys I had last year was seeing my 20-year-old son teaching relational wisdom to business managers and top high school students. RW in the Workplace In November, Jeff and I flew to California, where we had the privilege of presenting a Discovering RW...
I recently found thirteen dogs and one cat who show us how to enjoy a peaceful holiday meal. In the process they demonstrate a central dynamic of relational wisdom (click here if video screen does not appear below). There is a beautiful story behind this creative...
I recently learned what makes some of the most powerful people in the world cry. Dr. Michael Lindsay, President of Gordon College, has interviewed 550 of the most successful political, business, and nonprofit leaders in the United States. This group included two U.S....
Do you know what excites Corlette and me most about relational wisdom? Its potential for leading others to Christ. Jesus taught that when our relationships reflect authentic love and unity, the world can see that He is real and that He delights to save us and utterly...
A tender-hearted, 12-year-old boy has shown that God can use the tragic events in Ferguson, Missouri, to move people to a deeper level of understanding, compassion, and connection. The boy, Devonte Hart, was holding a sign offering “Free Hugs†during a Tuesday...
For most people, the holidays are like the French Revolution: they are either the best of times or the worst of times, a time of relational wisdom or a time of relational foolishness (to paraphrase Charles Dickens). To help you make this season the best of times,...
When people learn about RW360, they often ask, “What’s the difference between relational wisdom and peacemaking, and why, after devoting thirty years to biblical conflict resolution, have you shifted your focus to this new concept?†One of the best ways to...
Last week Corlette and I had the privilege of spending three days teaching relational wisdom to some of the most committed and effective Bible teachers in the world. Bible Study Fellowship’s global network of classes reaches over 300,000 people every week with...
“You warned me. You warned me. And I didn’t listen. Now it’s too late. She’s dead and I’ll never be able to say I’m sorry.†The woman was sobbing so hard on the other end of the telephone line that I could hardly understand her words. But as she calmed...
It’s not often that an attorney loses a lawsuit, along with her two million dollar contingency fee, and yet walks away satisfied. I’ve seen similar satisfaction with employees who didn’t get a promotion. With church members who disagreed with their pastors. And...
Would you like to change the world around you? Then make it a habit to do three acts of kindness every day. Do it consistently for a year, and you’ll bless those around you with 1,000 acts of kindness. Since kindness is contagious, many of the people you touch may...
It’s not often that a prime time television show with nine million viewers makes Christians look sensible by contrasting them with befuddled lawyers, but that’s exactly what last week’s episode of The Good Wife did. Even though I had the privilege of consulting...
I’ve seen a lot of leadership transitions over the past thirty years. Like the characters in an old Clint Eastwood western, they generally fell into one of three categories: The Good, the Bad, and the Clumsy (which often turned ugly). Bad Transitions Bad transitions...