You are not required to set yourself on fire to keep others warm.—Unknown

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Payne lives in the United States but is from Great Britain. Payne grew up as an agnostic. When he came to the U.S., he accepted an invitation to church and heard the minister encourage people to give in support of the ministry. Payne was surprised when the pastor guaranteed that if anyone tithed and did not see God bless their efforts and consequently lost money, he would return their total gift. After the service, he went up to the pastor and said, “Let me get this straight. You are giving us a money-back guarantee if we give and do not see an increase in our finances?” The pastor replied,

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If our set course is to enjoy life we boarded the train bound for oblivion. Pastor Tony Evans, commenting on Solomon’s experiment declared, “. . . if you look for the meaning of life in life, you’ll never find it.”[1]

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[1] CSB Tony Evans Study Bible, by Holman Bible Publishers, (2019), p. 748.

When I read Agur, son of Jakeh’s words in the book of Proverbs, my first thought was: If he is immensely stupid, why is his writing part of wisdom literature? How does a man with zero knowledge of God have his musings included with Solomon? Explain this.

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We have all experienced them—leaders, who exhibit selfishness in the midst of a crisis. One of the reasons why I believe the Bible is the greatest book on leadership is the plethora of examples of good and bad leaders. So let’s look at a man who shows us what not to do.

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Do you know someone who constantly bothers you? Are there people who consistently distress your life by their words or actions? If this is your experience it is not unusual. I am pretty sure almost every human on the planet gets agitated—some on a daily or hourly basis! What causes such tension? Immaturity, unnecessary volume, rudeness, dangerous driving habits, failure to learn and correct mistakes, claiming to know what someone thinks, not listening . . . the list can be annoying long.

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Jennifer was suffering.  Her finances languished after months of just getting past too many bills. Her favorite dog, Lightning, a family fixture for thirteen years, passed away. Her job required her to be vaccinated but she was allergic to the ingredients of the shot. Despite her doctor’s note exempting her, she was getting hassled by her coworkers. Yesterday her car broke down. Just how was she supposed to pay her mechanic for this unexpected disaster?

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One of the hardest things about being human is the reality of the unfinished and the certainty of the unknown.  For example, no matter what plan we devise, truthfully, we do not know what the outcome will be. Steve excitedly began a new job only to be let go eight months later. Shaq thought he would spend his life in poverty and inherited a fortune from a rich relative who died. Sally trained for a . . .

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God’s word in the Bible to Isaiah challenged me to study the word righteous because it is in that context that things go well for people.  What I found was staggering in some ways.  But before we look at the signs and fruit of righteous living we should understand 14 lessons that teach . . .

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We can learn sometimes as much or more about leadership from weak leaders. As the year 2021 closes, this would be a great time to reflect on the subject of balance. A year of upheaval is the perfect backdrop for evaluating equilibrium.  Why?  Because strong leaders find stasis regardless of the circumstances around them.  And they are able to do this for at least three compelling reasons.

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