Categories
Leadership

Does Consensus Kill Courage?

Cartoon of man selling idea to skeptical businessmen asking does consensus kill courage

Carey Nieuwhof had a great post entitled, 5 Signs Bad Governance Is Stifling Your Church’s Growth and Mission. In a previous post that he no longer has posted, Niewshof had some great points on how committees can knock the wind out of good ideas. In his post, he said,

When it comes to courageous change, here are four things that are true:

Committees kill vision

Individuals are almost always more courageous than teams

The more people you seek to please up front, the less inspiring your idea will become

Leaders don’t always walk alone, but sometimes they have to start alone.

Carey Nieuwhof
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Categories
cartoon children cartoons

Facing Your fears

Rough sketch of a girl and a monster who is eating someone. The girl says, "You see that, Roger? That's why I don't like facing my fears."

When it comes to facing your fears, it can be tough to let people see you as vulnerable and in a rough state, like this old sketch.

When I originally posted this, I thought I’d take one of my roughs out of my sketchbook. Is it facing my fears of showing my rough lines in all its glory? Perhaps. I did a lot of sketching then but didn’t have much time to create polished artwork unless I could invoice it.

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Categories
Devotions

Spiritual Desert

Cartoon of a man lost in a desert looking parched. The Caption reads, "Devotions! Devotions!"

Do you ever feel like you are lost in a spiritual desert? Sure you do! We all face times that feel like we are lost in a dry, parched land. We all have times when we:

  • Get a bad diagnosis
  • Wonder if this is all there is to life
  • Suffer a relationship breakup
  • Get caught up in bad news, whether personal or through the media
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Categories
Bible Gospels

Official T-shirts

Cartoon of two happy, proud men. One has a shirt that says, "Disciple #7. The other has "Disciple #3" on his shirt. The caption reads, "The disciples felt special when they received their official t-shirts."

When I drew this, I was thinking how great it would have been to be Jesus’ disciple and get official t-shirts. Did they know they were part of something really big?

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Categories
church cartoons motivation

Why do you look so different?

cartoon of two people. A man wears a mask. A woman says, "You look different. New Mask?
Published in the June 20202 CHOGNews

I originally posted this on June 19, 2020. I find it especially interesting now that the WHO recently declared the global COVID health emergency is over. It only took three years. May it be a very long time before we see another one. In the meantime, I must ask: why do you look so different?

For the last couple of weeks, my wife and I traveled for our daughter’s wedding. It’s been touch and go for the last several months. Would COVID-19 postpone the wedding? Would we have to limit the guests to just ten people? Would quarantine prevent us from going?

As we made our journey, we saw many people in masks. We wore ours when we were in stores. We even experienced our first COVID-19 checkpoint. Modern travel in the USA never felt so adventurous.

Now that we’re back, we are hearing that the first wave of the pandemic isn’t over and that there may be more constraints coming. We are just glad we were able to have the wedding and celebrate our daughter and new son-in-law.

When I drew this cartoon earlier, I thought of how it will be when more churches will be meeting again. Our local church begins its first in-person services this Sunday. Undoubtedly, there will be people in masks, which may make church a little awkward as we speak through masks or are concerned about someone who forgot we are still supposed to follow social distancing guidelines.

Mask or Not

So do you look different these days? Are you a little more anxious? Are you more concerned about your health than ever? Do you waffle between wearing a mask in public and having faith that this is not as big of a deal as some make it?

Mask or not, I think we all look a little different these days. Let’s remember to show grace and compassion to those who are fearful. And to those with fear and anxiety, know that so many understand and are wrestling with these questions too. We’ll get through this time of health and economic uncertainty. Have patience and courage. And it’s still a good idea to wear that mask!

cartoon of two people. A man wears a mask. A woman says, "You look different. New Mask?
Published in the June 2020 CHOGNews

I drew this cartoon for the June 2020 CHOGNews.