{"id":1163,"date":"2015-12-08T13:05:14","date_gmt":"2015-12-08T13:05:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?p=1163"},"modified":"2015-12-08T14:43:14","modified_gmt":"2015-12-08T14:43:14","slug":"preparation-for-leadership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?p=1163","title":{"rendered":"Preparation For Leadership"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"08-02-15<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Me:\u00a0 Howdy, Prodigal!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Prodigal:\u00a0 Howdy, how are you today?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Me:\u00a0 Good, just doing some extra reading.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Prodigal:\u00a0 Would you like to share?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Me:\u00a0 Sure<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This comes from the book Start Where You Are by Chuck Swindoll<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Far too many today live in a dream world when it comes to preparation for leadership.\u00a0 There is this popular yet mistaken notion that leaders somehow emerge on the scene having been dropped from a lacy cloud—white, ideal and spotless–like a living Mr. Clean, “untouched by human hands.”\u00a0 Perhaps that is the reason God led Paul to go back to those painful days when many would have said, “Now, that was in vain.”<\/strong><\/p>\n

But it wasn’t.<\/strong><\/p>\n

What a perfect place to begin when building a biblical model of leadership…the pain of mistreatment, the humiliation and loneliness of being imprisoned.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Some (dare I say most?) of God’s choicest leaders have emerged from wombs of woe.\u00a0 The Ghetto.\u00a0 A prison.\u00a0 Shame or sickness.\u00a0 A broken home.\u00a0 Mistreatment and fear.\u00a0 But resiliently and triumphantly they came through.\u00a0 From a stormy and tumultuous world of outward opposition or personal insecurity or emotional breakdown or financial failure or physical affliction, they stand today as living trophies of grace.<\/strong><\/p>\n

My point?\u00a0 Disabilities need not disqualify.\u00a0 On the contrary, struggling makes a great background for leadership!\u00a0 Not unless you have struggled with the hopelessness and brokenness of life’s pains can you possibly know how to lead others through such valleys.\u00a0 Since the prime function of the leader is to keep hope alive,its absence helps the leader never to forget its value.\u00a0 Yesterday’s pain prompts today’s praise.<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What is your idea of\u00a0 a leader?\u00a0 Would you vote for the perfect one that has no flaws or would you want the leader who could really understand your brokenness.\u00a0 The one with compassion.\u00a0 The one who knows about suffering?<\/p>\n

The one who knows that the only leader that will ever be perfect is Jesus.<\/p>\n

I will take the broken leader any day of the week.\u00a0 I want compassion and not condemnation.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2 Timothy 3:5<\/p>\n

Having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power.\u00a0 Avoid such people.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jennifer Van Allen<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

www.theprodigalpig.com<\/p>\n

www.faithincounseling.org<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Me:\u00a0 Howdy, Prodigal!   Prodigal:\u00a0 Howdy, how are you today?   Me:\u00a0 Good, just doing some extra reading.   Prodigal:\u00a0 Would you like to share?   Me:\u00a0 Sure   This comes from the book Start Where You Are by Chuck Swindoll   Far too many today live in a dream world when it comes … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nPreparation For Leadership - The Prodigal Pig<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?p=1163\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Preparation For Leadership - 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