Toward Excellence in Life and Ministry

Winter 2011


What if our lives are motivated by a deep inner desire for what Jim Collins, in his book, Good to Great, calls “unadulterated excellence”? Imagine for a moment what our lives, families, relationships, ministries, churches, and communities could look like if, in our “unadulterated” pursuit of excellence, we lived by the slogan, “Aspire to Something Greater Than Yourself.” A great deal of thought and prayer has gone into this issue’s theme, “Toward Excellence in Life and Ministry.” May the articles and authors challenge you to “Aspire to Something Greater Than Yourself.”


Articles:


  1. Introduction Aspire to Greatness
  2. Personal Soul Care
  3. Toward Excellence in Life and Ministry
  4. Get a Life
  5. SIDEBAR: 10 Steps to Setting Life Goals
  6. Excellence in Prayer
  7. Becoming Strong Again
  8. SIDEBAR Daily Debriefing Lowers Stress
  9. Necessary Endings, Pruning, and the Balanced Life
  10. Caring For Your Intellect
  11. SIDEBAR: Growing Intellectually
  12. Caring for Our Bodies
  13. Caring for Your Family
  14. Eliminating Obstacles to a Healthy Ministry
  15. SIDEBAR: Character Really Matters
  16. Chair No. 3
  17. SIDEBAR: How To Keep Your Leaders From Losing Heart
  18. Relationally Based Ministry
  19. SIDEBAR: Why Am I Afraid To Tell You Who I Am?
  20. SIDEBAR: Portrait of a Friend--Relationally Based Ministry
  21. Coming Out of the Desert - He Restores My Soul!
  22. Apostasy and Backsliding
  23. Seven Skills for Fair Fighting in the Fellowship
  24. Abstinence From Whine
  25. The Grand Design - Truth Or Fiction?
  26. Human Enhancement
  27. The Value of Succession Planning in the Church
  28. Don't Expect Others to Help
  29. Growing in Leadership
  30. Getting Rid of the Small-Church Mentality
  31. The Top 10 Things To Learn in Pastoral Ministry