Blog

I have asked my good friend Kervin Raugust to write a guest blog.  He serves at as the Lead Pastor of Global Church Ministries at Centre Street Church in Calgary.  In recent years he has had his own life-changing journey of learning to pay attention to his soul.

Just recently I had a pastor friend call me about a problem with a staff member. It had all the normal ingredients of a typical staff “situation”… poor chemistry, philosophy of ministry difference, and colliding expectations. The bottom line is that “it just wasn’t working” and everybody knew it.

Every great leader must master the art of the “hard conversation.” Whether it is talking with an underperforming staff member, addressing a problem with your staff team, firing an employee or discussing a rift in a friendship, hard conversations are inevitable. None of us like having the “hard conversation," and if you do enjoy them you probably shouldn’t be in ministry. When you love people and you have a shepherd’s heart, “hard conversations” will cause a little angst and turmoil in your soul....

One of the most common questions I get asked regarding the health of a team or an organization is this one: “what if I’m not in charge?” If you are not leading the team or running the organization, how much can you really influence it’s health? It’s a fair question. And, if you are not in charge you can begin to feel discouraged and hopeless.

As we get older we tend to mellow. There are many things that I used to get so uptight about that just don’t matter that much any more. But there is one area where I am not more mellow.

Tonight I am sitting in 12A. We are soaring 35,000 feet above the earth. I am surrounded by people, all who are pre-occupied with their own world.

One of the best days of your life is the day you take full responsibility for your own life and health. I can’t tell you how many times I played the “victim card”. Or, I would lie to myself with statements like “it will get better” or “this is just for a season” or “once we get through this building campaign”.