Leadership lessons, connected with faith and wisdom.

“Leadership Ezra” now available on Amazon

Earlier this week, I published an article in which I said that “Ezra developed an intimate, personal relationship with God. Because of that personal and deep relationship, he didn’t simply learn to know who God was and is; he also came to understand God’s nature and heart. He had developed a relationship that enabled him to trust in God even in uncertainty and difficulty. It was from this relationship that he was, therefore, able to move and act with confidence in God’s sovereign plan and that he was able to see God’s hand and His purpose in the events that occurred.”

I went on to say that “in our leadership development, we absolutely must study Scripture, growing in intimacy with God. We need regular time with God, in prayer and in His Word. This must be central and foundational to what we do, to how we live, and to our call or purpose from Him. Doing this first is what makes us knowledgeable and gives us the capability to lead, because we will learn to see people and circumstances from God’s perspective, shaping how we think and act. It is from this growth of knowledge and relationship with God that we are able to “walk the talk,” modeling and practicing what we know and living authentic, genuine lives that inspire trust and result in effective leadership.”

These are some of the pivotal lessons on leadership that can be drawn from Ezra’s story: understanding our purpose and responsibility in the context of God’s sovereignty, and understanding the importance of the connection between what we believe and know with how we live and act. And these are just a little taste of the lessons on leadership that I talk about in my new book, Leadership Ezra, now available on Amazon. Order a copy and learn valuable insights from Ezra that can help you in your leadership role!

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Leadership Ezra

“I think I want to write books.”  That was my answer to my dad’s question.  I had completed my seminary master’s degree in marriage, family, and personal counseling and had started working in my first counseling job.  However, I was still wrestling with my future goals and where I ultimately wanted to be in my life.  Writing books sounded like a worthy goal, and I admired people who could write books that inspired, helped, shaped, or guided others (like some of my professors at Liberty University).  So, when my dad asked me what I thought I wanted to be doing in ten years, that was my answer.  “I think I want to write books.”  He reflected quietly for a moment and then with his usual wisdom, said to me, “Jeff, before you can say something, first you have to have something to say.”

Now, thirty years of life and experience later, it seems God has given me something to say.  Or at the very least, something to say for my own benefit, lessons that I have learned and continue to learn from the life of ministry to which God has called me over that span of time, and that I can put down on paper.  In particular, God has taught me lessons based on stories, principles, and truths from the Bible that have been translated into personal application.  I am a connect-the-dots kind of person; therefore one of the ways God has taught and grown me is in connecting the dots between scriptural truth and life application.   

That’s the goal of this book:  to connect the dots between Scriptural truth and life application, specifically within the realm of leadership, using a story in the Bible to do so.  In this case, the story is actually the story contained in the book of Ezra, a book comprised of two different journeys of return for the people of God.  The experiences in this book demonstrate and illustrate lessons that can then be applied to our practice of leadership today.  

I “discovered” these lessons when I randomly decided to do a personal Bible study on the book.  I had been reading in the Old Testament and came across the first verse of Ezra 1, and figured out that it was connected to Jeremiah 29:10-11.  That piqued my interest, so I decided I wanted to start reading through the book as a Bible study and asked the Lord to teach me from it.  I started writing down my thoughts and responses to the story I was reading and began to recognize valuable lessons that directly impacted my leadership role at that time and place.  By the time I finished the study, I was amazed at how much God had taught me about leadership from this unexpected book.

Now I am sharing it with you. In this newly published book, “Leadership Ezra,” I hope you can also make the same connections to your leadership.  But before you order your copy, open it up, and start reading, I would encourage you to first read the book of Ezra from start to finish.  You might be surprised at what God teaches you from your own reading of His Word!

Order your copy of “Leadership Ezra” on Amazon here.

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