This post was first published in January, 2015. —ed. What is the most important quality leaders can demonstrate? Intelligence, a forceful personality, glibness, diligence, vision, administrative skills, decisiveness, courage, humor, tact, or any other similar natural attribute? Those all play a part, but the most desirable quality for any leader is integrity. While integrity is… Continue reading The Power of Integrity
Author: Crossmap Blogs
Crossmap.com is a Christian living portal website serving the U.S. and global Christian communities. It is pan-denominational, viewing all Christian denominations as equal constituents of the body of Christ, and all Crossmap staff and contributors adhere to our statement of faith.
The Home of a Godly Shepherd
This post was first published in January, 2015. —ed. The pastor’s primary mission field is not his congregation or the surrounding community—it’s his own home. His abilities to communicate the gospel, to be a godly example, and to lead others in sanctification and godliness are never more accurately on display than in the lives of… Continue reading The Home of a Godly Shepherd
Leadership and Spiritual Maturity
This post was first published in January, 2015. —ed. New believers, and especially young men, are often very passionate for the truth. The joy of new life in Christ goes hand in hand with the desire to proclaim God’s truth to others and see them come to repentance and faith in Him. But that passion… Continue reading Leadership and Spiritual Maturity
The Shepherd’s Public Reputation
This post was first published in January, 2015. —ed. Have you ever considered what the unbelieving world thinks about your pastor? He doesn’t need to be a household name or a celebrity preacher with a worldwide audience—it’s not a question of how famous he is. Put it this way: What do the nonbelievers in his… Continue reading The Shepherd’s Public Reputation
Should Fallen Pastors Be Restored?
It always saddens me to watch church leaders bring reproach on the church of Jesus Christ. What’s perhaps most shocking to me is how frequently Christian leaders sin grossly, then step back into leadership almost as soon as the publicity dies away. It seems like Christians don’t expect much of their leaders anymore. Some time… Continue reading Should Fallen Pastors Be Restored?
God’s Infinite Perfection
This post was first published in June, 2020. —ed. We can’t fully understand God’s holiness. But we can understand it much better than we currently do. By and large, the typical evangelical’s understanding of God is pathetically superficial. Too many professing believers think about God in only self-centered and self-indulgent terms, reducing Him to little… Continue reading God’s Infinite Perfection
Face to Face with the Holy One
This post was first published in July, 2020. —ed. No human eyes have ever seen the full manifestation of God’s holiness and glory. But some biblical authors caught a glimpse and lived to tell the tale. In Isaiah 6, the Old Testament prophet brings us along with him into the throne room of heaven. Verse 1… Continue reading Face to Face with the Holy One
The Revelation of God’s Holiness
This post was first published in June, 2020. —ed. God is never becoming—never growing, learning, or increasing in anything. From eternity past to eternity future, He is always being who He has always been. His infinite perfections cannot be improved upon. It’s hard for us to comprehend the difference between being and becoming. God’s moral perfection and sinlessness… Continue reading The Revelation of God’s Holiness
The Seismic Shift in Christ’s Teaching
This post was first published in August, 2017. —ed. One very busy day near the end of Jesus’ second year of public ministry, the whole character of His teaching changed. The continual rejection of His teaching by hostile Pharisees triggered a massive and sudden shift. He stopped preaching straightforward sermons peppered with key prophetic texts… Continue reading The Seismic Shift in Christ’s Teaching
The Parable of the Sower and Bad Evangelism
This post was first published in August, 2017. —ed. One of the dominant myths in evangelicalism is that the growth of Christianity hinges on its popularity. The idea that more people will repent if only the preacher were cooler or funnier invariably causes the church to suffer through a ridiculous parade of entrepreneurial types who act… Continue reading The Parable of the Sower and Bad Evangelism