​A Word to the Wise: Paul Tripp
 
Eternity amnesia grips us all. We have bought into the “here and now is all you get” perspective that rules the day. We are Forever people who have quit believing in Forever.
 
This life is a preparation for a final destination.
 
Many of us treat today as the final destination. Whatever our confessional theology says about eternity, at the functional level, we live as if this is all there is. We live with a destination mentality instead of a preparation mentality.
 
You were made for Forever. That is your inescapable identity, and it is your guaranteed destination. Life only works as it was meant to work when you live with Forever in view.
Paul Tripp, 7.1.26, Forgetting Forever

A Word to the Wise: 
 
And so it is good and right to grow in your skill and it is good and right to maximize your potential. Yet the main matter in life is not attempting to be someone else and not longing for what God has given to another. It is not being known for your reputation. The main matter in life is simply being who God has called you to be. And I am certain you will find there is a lifetime of challenge in that!

Tim Challies, 6.23.25, Being the Best You Can Be

​A Word to the Wise: 
Open doors are only promised to those who knock.

Justin Huffman, 6.8.26, Does Prayer Make a Difference?

A Word to the Wise: Dr. Hance Dilbeck
People Will Hurt You.
People Will Help You.
People Will Be Your Primary Kingdom Contribution

Major Points from Dr. Hance Dilbeck’s message based on 2 Tim. 1:15-2:2 during the 2026 SBCAL Annual Conference

A Word to the Wise:
​
A surprising number of leaders don’t listen to understand. They listen to disagree.
This approach to listening allows leaders to stand out for their expertise, intelligence, and conviction. Unfortunately, it also robs them of their ability to connect with and learn from others, making them susceptible to poor decisions, false assumptions, and untested viewpoints.
Simply stated, leaders who listen to disagree process information in order to discern difference. They don’t listen to understand the views of others. They listen to find discrepancy.
When curiosity, learning, and personal growth take a backseat to the goal of being the smartest person in the room, listening becomes a weapon, not a tool for shared understanding.
Maybe you know a leader who listens to disagree. Share this Field Note with them. But don’t be surprised if they argue against it while they are reading it.

Admired Leadership Field Notes, 5.29.26, Leaders Who Listen to Disagree

A Word to the Wise:  6 Critical Skills to Lead at the Executive Level
 
1) Translate vision into strategy.
2) Communicate faith and hope.
3) Raise up, develop and empower capable leaders.
4) Demonstrate self-leadership and cultivate spiritual vitality.
5) Solve problems and make difficult decisions at intricate levels.
6) Take risks and lead change.
 
Dan Reiland, 5.25.26, 6 Critical Skills to Lead at the Executive Level

A Word to the Wise from Dr. Chris Crain, Birmingham Metro Association, Birmingham, AL
 
Sitting in worship services, meeting with pastors, listening to lay leaders, and observing congregational life has given me a front-row seat to what God is doing in and through His church. I tell people often, “I have the best job in the world because I get to see the same Jesus worshipped in 180 different contexts!"
 
My list is not a scientific study. It is not exhaustive. These are simply prayed-over observations shaped by the Word of God and confirmed through my own real-life ministry experiences. My hope is not that we would measure ourselves against one another, but that we would reflect, recalibrate where needed, and rejoice in what God is already doing among us.

Ten Evidences (Among Many) of a Healthy Church

1. Evidence of a caring and joyful spirit.
2. Awareness of the importance of diversity in spiritual gifts and perspectives.
3. An attitude of welcoming (and seeking) people from all backgrounds and generations from the local community.
4. Emphasis on spiritual devotion to Jesus Christ through worship, the ordinances, and prayer.
5. Collaborative leadership among staff and laity.
6. Awareness of the Christian story throughout the ages and within the specific congregation.
7. Scriptures are the final authority and the subject matter of the church's teaching and preaching ministry. The focus is on the redemption by the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ and adoption into His family, the Body of Christ, by grace through faith.
8. Problems and disagreements are approached with a unified desire to work toward solutions.
9. Discipleship approaches are intentional and vary to meet the needs of the people.
10. Missions activities & strategies go beyond praying and giving, to include partnering, going, and sending.

​Chris Crain, Executive Director, Birmingham Metro Association, Birmingham, AL, Weekly Newsletter, 5.20.26

A Word to the Wise from Mac Lake:
 
One of the most helpful things I’ve discovered studying the life of Jesus in chronological order is not just what He did, but when He did it.
 
As I’ve studied the timeline of Jesus developing His disciples, I noticed something that has helped shape the way I think about leadership development and it is this:
 
Jesus started with relationship before responsibility. Because healthy leadership development doesn’t begin with using people. It begins with knowing people.
 
Who around you has potential that may simply need more intentional connection from you before they’re ready for greater responsibility?
 
Mac Lake, 5.12.26, Why Jesus Started with Relationship Before Responsibility

A Word to the Wise: 

Are you building or maintaining? 
 
James Clear, 3-2-1 Thursday, 4.30.26
​

A Word to the Wise: The Modern Flattening of Sin—and What We Lose (Trevin Wax)
 
Whatever happened to the seven deadly sins? For centuries, theologians, philosophers, and poets treated pride, envy, sloth, gluttony, lust, wrath, and greed as a diagnostic of the human soul in its self-centered sickness. These sins were the biggest windows into the condition of humanity’s broken-down house, the particular ways the soul curves in on itself rather than turning upward to God…sin as sickness and sin as estrangement from God—can be found in Scripture. The trouble comes when we let the second picture eclipse the first.
 
When we recast sin as primarily a matter of feeling far from God rather than being in an objective state of rebellion against him, the solution gets altered. We no longer need a physician who prescribes a cure for a dying patient; we go looking for a therapist who helps us understand our feelings. 
 
Our greatest need isn't for a Savior who will die to make us feel better about ourselves but for a Savior whose death will pardon rebels, a Great Physician whose blood can heal our sin-sick hearts, a Liberator who sets us free from our captivity.
 
Scripture gives us a view of sin large enough to require the gospel. Unless we understand what we've been saved from, we’ll never fully grasp what we've been saved for.

Trevin Wax, 4.24.26, The Modern Flattening of Sin—and What We Lose
Social science has reframed sin in terms of symptoms. We need a vision of sin large enough to require the gospel.