Leadership Ladder

Can You Drink the Cup? "And they said unto him, We can. And Jesus said unto them, Ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of; and with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized:" - Mark 10:39   I do not know what I can do.   Nor do I really understand the price of the things I desire and require.   The disciples were posturing and negotiating. Who was most important among them? Who would be entitled to sit with Jesus in his throne room? They still assumed it would be like Herod’s throne.   It was a rather immature exercise. Yet, we still do it, even when we are more subtle about it.   We flash our credentials and flaunt our titles. We brag about our accomplishments and list our achievements as often as possible .  It may be insecurity; it may be self-doubt; or we may just be prideful.   We try to leverage our relationship with Jesus and our spiritual insights for material wealth, prestige, and power.   Jesus ...

What are we saying when we say, God bless America?" Who are we blessing? What do we mean?

   As much as partisan folks may think they want all the votes and a room full of people who agree with them, they soon find out that it does not work. There are many reasons it does not work. Not all perspectives are voiced. Nothing is challenged. Improvement is stifled. Nothing changes. The people are not well represented. The same principle applies to leadership. Starting with your inner circle and throughout all of the concentric circles, you need multiple voices and multiple views being voice. Fly with Both Wings I wrote a version of this in 2007. As I have been listening to partisan debates, distortions, and distractions lately, it seemed appropriate to review. I find it difficult to entrust leadership to people who call each other names, paraphrase other people's beliefs into less-than-accurate sound bytes, and attack each others characters and motives. I would rather trust a person of reason and goodwill with whom I disagree than someone who is not courteous or balanc...