September 24, 2011 – 8:44 am
Best I can remember, I have always had sensitivity for people in need and I have always been open to people from all different walks of life. When I was growing up I would see the problems in the world and I would hurt inside when I would see how people treated each other and how we treated our planet. I guess you can say that I was one of those bleeding hearts. Back a few years ago I learned that in all my compassion and all my “feelings” for people in need, I was only seeing half the picture when it comes to doing something about it. I learned that God does view the world with compassion. But he also views it with justice. If you study God’s compassion and justice in the Bible, you would be hard pressed to find any situation where God separates the two. Perhaps most importantly, I learned that there is a Godly compassion and justice that goes beyond the finite view of compassion and justice that we might see in the social systems of our world. Read more...
August 27, 2011 – 9:11 am
This post is dedicated to young church leaders who are just starting out. As we move into the future you will be serving in a world of digital natives. You will be serving in a world where significance will be measured by how many followers you have in your Google circles instead of how faithful you are to God. This post is for you. Read more...
August 14, 2011 – 8:24 am
We have all heard these definitions before. Leaders are marked by their ability to influence and guide people from point A to point B. Leaders are marked by their ability to develop followers. The definition is true. If you can’t develop followers and influence people to move in one direction or another then you probably are not a leader. However, as important as the ability to influence people is to leadership, I submit that leadership is not primarily about influence. It is primarily about faithfulness. Read more...
August 13, 2011 – 10:52 am
Loneliness, Part of Life Not Just Leadership Read more...
I thought that, by now, the concept of using volunteers in the Information Technology (I.T.) areas of the church would be irrelevant. I am encouraged to hear an increasing amount of stories where churches trust some of their most critical I.T. operations to volunteers. However, many church leaders still struggle with this concept so I thought that I would address a couple issues that I have experienced over the years and “volunteer” some principles that have helped me gain a measure of success helping volunteers use their technical gifts and skills in the church. Read more...
Pat Gilbert preceded me as Director of Information Systems at Willow Creek Community Church. I am extremely thankful for the opportunities that she gave me to grow as a leader. I do not believe that I would have had the opportunity to lead and manage the Information Technology ministry at Willow Creek if it were not for her willingness to take risks on my growth. I know that my energy and propensity toward action can be a handful to manage. However, Pat’s experience, wisdom and patience with me over the years that she lead and mentored me has had a profound and positive impact on my character as a leader, as a professional and as a follower of Christ. Furthermore, I don’t think that I have appropriately expressed my gratitude to her for her investment in me…that is…until today. This Post is dedicated to you, Pat Gilbert. Thanks for taking chances on me. Read more...
February 1, 2011 – 9:10 am
From the day he lead me to Christ during a weekend church service to the day I accepted a new calling to step out in faith and leave Willow Creek staff, his influence on me as a pastor, leader, mentor and friend has played a major roll in my development as a follower of Christ and as a leader. Like many who have served under his leadership, I would have to say that Bill is not a perfect person. He has made mistakes in many aspects of his leadership over the years. He can also be an incredibly difficult person to work for, with what would seem like impossible standards to attain. Read more...
January 24, 2011 – 9:00 am
Back in 2005 I went on a Journey called the Justice Journey. I am not going to go into the details of the Journey here. I wrote a little about the Journey itself in the following link. http://www.mikegold.org/2009/05/justice-its-personal. However, it is safe to say that the Journey changed the lives of many of us who experienced it forever. For this post however, I would like to focus my attention on a dear friend I met on the Journey and how God used his influence to change my life. This friend’s name is Reverend Mike Neal. Mike and his beautiful family live in the Bronzeville Neighborhood of Chicago where Mike is currently pastor of the Glorious Light Church. Today happens to be Mike’s birthday. I thought that it would be very appropriate to share the top 5 things I learned from him as a token of my appreciation of him and in celebration of all the blessings he shares with so many… Read more...
January 17, 2011 – 10:56 pm
As Martin Luther King Jr’s. Day, 2011 comes to an end, and as I reflect on what this day means, I don’t think I have the intelligence, the insight or the experience to comment on this great hero of mine. I definitely don’t have the credibility to comment on the era of history in which he lead. Read more...
