June 2018 E-News from the Siburt Institute
The Way of Wise Leadership It’s June – one of my favorite times of the year! Abilene has not yet hit the full blistering heat of August, and our Doctor of Ministry students were here this month for classes. These men and women are usually mid-career ministers and leaders from across the nation. They arrive […]
Summit 2018 Reading Project
This year, Abilene Christian University’s Summit attendees are invited to join the staff and faculty of ACU in reading a book selected by the Summit team to prepare for the event. The team chose Alan Jacobs’ How to Think: A Survival Guide for a World at Odds. Jacobs wrote the book as he struggled to […]
The Rebellion of Father’s Day
Another Father’s Day is upon us and I can’t help but think of my dad and his rebellious lifestyle: As a popular high-school football player he decided to spend his life telling others about Jesus. As a young preacher he switched pulpits with one of his close friends, a young, African American preacher. In the […]
Learning to Listen – Discipline
Listening is a discipline. It isn’t a skill that comes naturally to many of us. Talking is much easier and often much less thoughtful. Listening is a discipline. Listening takes security. It is difficult for an insecure person to be a good listener because an insecure person is always testing the waters of how others […]
Do You Struggle With Anger? Maybe It is Because You Are a Poor Listener – James 1:19-21
James makes a connection in James 1:19 that I have not only missed in the text but failed to notice in my own life. Here is what James wrote, “My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20 because human anger […]
The Spirit Speaks in Silence
I’ve spent a lot of my Christian life trying to “find” the Holy Spirit. I’ve tried many methods and read several books to help teach me how to “engage with” the Holy Spirit. I now see how foolish that was. I suppose it was more out of longing to be closer to God, but even […]
June 2018 Theme – Learning to Listen
The Bible is full of reminders on the importance of listening to God but how often do we intentionally do so? There are many stories in the Bible where the people failed in their plans because their plans were not initiated by listening to and for God. This happened in Joshua 7 when they entered […]