​A Word to the Wise: How Prayer Fights Back Against Trouble (Kie Bowman)
Most Americans pray, and many pray every day; but what do we pray about? Not surprisingly, according to Lifeway research, 74 percent of Americans pray for their own needs and difficulties. Predictably, most people pray for their own problems, since troubles and challenges are common to everyone. 
 
Of course, over and above the challenges most of us face, each of us has a long list of personal troubles unique to us. Our relationships are fragile, we worry too much, and we struggle with personal temptations. In light of all this trouble, what should we do? In reality, there are only two ways to face troubles: God’s way or your way, and God’s way always involves prayer. 

​A Word to the Wise: You Can’t Life-Hack Your Way to Holiness (Trevin Wax)
 
The center of spiritual formation isn’t about what you do or the practices you adopt—it’s about the Spirit forming you into Christ's image. The spiritual life is more about learning to abide in Christ than about following a pattern or liturgy, however helpful your practices may be. The point isn't just to do your duty but to trust the Spirit to transpose your desires and transform you into a different kind of person over time.
 
Spiritual growth requires attention. And attention is our most precious resource. Prayer is hard, often boring, and sometimes excruciating. Sitting in silence before God while our thoughts flit about can be a painfully revealing process of where our hearts are drawn. Kyle Strobel warns that we might turn to tools and techniques as a way to avoid a genuine encounter with God. Blaise Pascal noted that humanity's problems stem from our inability to sit quietly alone in a room. If that was true in his day, how much more so in our age of endless distractions?
 
Life hacks prioritize speed and efficiency, and they promise quick results. Yet those who walk with grace over decades often seem unhurried. They don’t obsess over tools or methods. They embrace each moment as a gift, focus on the person before them, and don’t view prayer as a productivity tool but as a way to commune with God. Setbacks and distractions aren’t obstacles to spiritual growth but part of the process of renewal.
 
I’m grateful for the tools and techniques that aid in spiritual growth. But I’m even more thankful we cannot life-hack our way to holiness. The Spirit is essential, not peripheral. His work is mysterious, not manageable. Miraculous, not marketable. And for sinners in need of his sanctifying work, that’s really good news.
Trevin Wax, 11.12.24, excerpts from: You Can’t Life-Hack Your Way to Holiness

​A Word to the Wise: The Practice of Accepting Disappointment (Tim Challies)

One of the most important habits you can develop is the habit of accepting that life is full of disappointments. One of the best ways to grow in contentment is to accept the inevitability of discontentment. One of the ways you can be most joyful in life is to be realistic about life, to know that the people in it will so often fail to meet your expectations. Having admitted all of this, you can embrace it as the way life is and even the way God means for it to be.
 
The right response is to understand that nobody and nothing can live up to your expectations and that nobody and nothing is meant to…
 
God’s gifts are good and are meant to be enjoyed. Yet none of them can deliver all that they promise. Each of them brings a level of satisfaction but also a level of disappointment, a sense of beauty but also a sense of longing for more…
 
So when you encounter life’s disappointments, do not be surprised and do not be dismayed. Do not allow them to cause you to turn aside or turn away from those who love you and those God has called you to love. Learn to accept them as an inevitable reality of life in this world. Instead of resenting them, embrace them and allow them to deepen your love and your longing for the only One who will never let you down.
Tim Challies, 10.28.24, The Practice of Accepting Disappointment

A Word to the Wise: 

To clarify your core values, consider asking this question instead: What qualities do I most admire in others? 
The answer to that question normally reflects the values we hold most dear. Contemplate the two or three qualities you most admire in others by reflecting on your experiences and reactions in your many prized relationships. This question and its answers will help you cut through the noise and identify what really matters to you. 

Good leaders often use this question to ascertain what others value as well. Asking this question in an interview setting when assessing people you don’t know well, such as job candidates, often reveals important insights. Most importantly, their answers will disclose what human attributes they most aspire to possess. 
What they admire in others provides leaders with a shortcut into value clarification. Give it a try.

Admired Leadership Field Notes, 10.27.24, Your Admiration of Others Reveals Your Core Values

​A Word to the Wise
 
In 1990, 16% of Americans hadn’t read a single book in the previous year. In 2015, it was 27%. Last year, it was 65%. Most of what was read isn’t helpful anyway. According to USA Today, between 1993 and 2013, the best seller lists were dominated by self-help and young-adult fiction. Today, people are mostly just reading their phones.

In Amusing Ourselves to Death, Postman presciently warned of a “vast descent into triviality.” Christians, because they believe that Christ is the truth and the Word, should always prioritize discernment, but especially in the information age. Otherwise, we risk being tools in somebody else’s arsenal.
 
John Stonestreet & Dr. Timothy Padgett, Breakpoint Daily, 10.10.24, Outsourcing Discernment in an Age of Mass Information

​A Word to the Wise: Admired Leadership Field Notes
 
What gets rewarded in organizations is what gets done. Good leaders never change a strategy without ensuring that the reward and recognition scheme advances the differences they hope to see. Leaders always get what they reward. 

Admired Leadership Field Notes, 10.10.24, With a New Strategy, Be Sure the Old Structures Still Support It 

​A Word to the Wise: Admired Leadership Field Notes
 
Leaders might think that having the will to succeed ensures the self-discipline it takes to achieve, but evidence points to the contrary. Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment. The desire to excel often exists independently from the focus, organization, and consistency discipline provides. 
 
Now for the bad news: leaders can’t teach attitude or instill discipline in others. These are decisions and practices only the team member can infuse in themselves. It’s not that people can’t learn to be more self-disciplined, but it takes a significant investment of time. Time leaders simply don’t have. 
 
Before becoming attracted by a great attitude and investing in skill development, leaders would be best served to explore the personal habits and discipline of team members. 
A great attitude is only a game-changer if it comes with the self-discipline to make the daily actions connected to success. Those without may as well lack will and skill. They are unlikely to ever become valuable team members.  

Admired Leadership Field Notes, 9.27.24, A Great Attitude Without the Discipline to Excel

​A Word to the Wise – 
 
"Today, 61 percent of U.S. adults report viewing pornography—and 84 percent of this group say they don’t have anyone helping them avoid pornography. It's clear: the time is now for the Church to step up and engage in this critical conversation.
 
Join Barna Group and our partner Pure Desire Ministries on October 2 for a powerful webinar. Beyond the Porn Phenomenon: Fresh Data and Practical Strategies to Help Churches Confront Today’s Porn Crisis will equip church leaders with key insights and actionable tools to address the challenges of today’s porn problem. 

Discover how to lead honest conversations, promote healing and guide your church to respond with compassion in this critical area of ministry. Empower your community to find freedom from pornography."
​Barna email 9.18.24 

A Word to the Wise – 
 
The best leaders are conscious about the impact their behaviors have on others. They don’t give themselves a break from serving as a role model for the behaviors they want to see from others. 
 
In particular, good leaders are attuned to what they decline, avoid, ignore, and dismiss. They know others are watching and will likely adopt their choices. 
 
It’s an honor and privilege to be a role model. Good leaders never forget that. They remind themselves daily that their behaviors spread like fast-growing roots on the tree of imitation.
​
Admired Leadership Field Notes, 9.15.24, Leaders Spread Behaviors Like Germs