Author: Scott McClelland

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My Unremarkable Life

img_3860If my life is so unremarkable, why the idle chatter and incessant neediness? Are we attempting to be coddled in the ambiance of indifference, from the echoes of our own voice and those who sound just like us? Let’s all live down to the averages or below, and spew idle and persistent encouragement to our comrades in chains, snared in uselessness and blind wandering. Will we ever grow sick of ourselves? i hope so.

Why do we set our eyes, hopes (and fears) on everything that surrounds us, and not lift our gaze to the only One who imbues with transforming power? Or should we go on and continue to let our circumstances define us, drawing our identity from mediocrity?

We seem to have gone so long on the road of the nominal – keeping within expectations – that we are trying to make it a more comfortable passing, instead of rising above it. Perhaps we prefer all of this underwhelming existence to the risk required to break free? And yet, even with a hint of hope that breaking free is possible, it lingers just outside our grasp. How can we summon the courage necessary for change?

Phooey, and utter contempt on the low living of the averages. I was born, you were born, to overcome. Continue reading “My Unremarkable Life”

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Effective vs. Ineffective Forms of Confrontation, by Danny Silk

 What environment are you creating around you?

 /  (Used by permission.  Please find other great leadership resources at LovingOnPurpose.com)

As leaders, it is our responsibility to create an environment where people feel honored, and therefore, safe to be confronted. There will be no culture of honor without the active use of effective confrontation. The skill of combining these two relational elements-honor and confrontation- is the key to sustaining an environment of grace.

Continue reading “Effective vs. Ineffective Forms of Confrontation, by Danny Silk”

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Thailand 2016

Mopeds in queue at traffic light
Mopeds in queue at traffic light

There isn’t a place in the world I wouldn’t want to go, at least once.  I don’t say this in a bragging way, it’s just the way I feel.  Not sure why.  I guess I like the idea of seeing new places and meeting new people.  With this in mind, I was happy to make my first ever trip to Asia a few weeks ago.

The way I tend to do travel, and decide where to go, is probably not that unusual, tho I haven’t discussed it at length with others, and didn’t get the idea from observing some other person.  It’s on the basis of relationships that I decide where to go.  Clearly the Lord can prompt us to go to places where we don’t know anyone.  For the most part, that hasn’t been the way it’s worked with me.

Continue reading “Thailand 2016”

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What’s Wrong with Western Missionaries – Nik Ripken

(This content re-posted in keeping with guidelines from DesiringGod.Org)

What Makes a Good Missionary?

As we talked with persecuted believers, we discovered that they often wanted to talk not just about their own persecution, but also about us, workers from the West. As darkness settled in, after a full day of stories and interviews, I asked these believers about Western missionaries.

“What do we do well? What things do we not do well? What should we start doing? What should we stop doing? What should we pick up? What should we lay down? What makes a good missionary?”

These believers looked at each other in horror. For hours, they had related their most personal stories. Continue reading “What's Wrong with Western Missionaries – Nik Ripken”