wilderness lessons on leadership & life
About Gregg
Hello, I'm Gregg Burch. I've just finished writing God's Faint Path, a book that we are publishing over the blog. I hope you'll join us for the journey. More about me, contact me...
Blog
Apr 29, 2012
“ The Christian faith is contagious. If we are to endure as Christians, it must be through apprenticeship-observing more experienced and well-formed Christians, following their moves, taking up their way of life, inculcating their virtues. Through such observation and imitation, we take up the practices of faith and come to embody those practices for ourselves. The church must look for ample opportunities for its members to be observed by and to observe one another as we mature in the faith.”
From the Renovare Study Bible notes to 2Timothy 3:10.
Apr 28, 2012
“ Millions of Christians are persecuted and martyred still because of their commitment to Christ. It cannot be that we have at last found a society in which no one can be hurt following Jesus. More likely, our Church has settled in comfortably with the powers; we have scaled the gospel down to some message that never offends; we have practiced faith in ways that never present a rebuke to the ways of the world.”
Renovare Study Bible Study notes for 2Timothy:1
Apr 24, 2012
“ Look up, with the vision of the heart to the Person of Christ, and listen for the impress of His will on your will through His words, that is, through the Book of the Gospel that was written to be the means of communication with the souls of His people. As you become familiar with them He will by His Spirit bring them to your memory as you need them, to be your defense in the dangers of the way. ”
Lilias Trotter from the profile of Joshua in the Renovare Study Bible.
Apr 23, 2012
“ The only way to deliver me from my self-centeredness is by winning my entire heart's devotion, the total allegiance of my will to God-and this can only be done by the Divine Love of God disclosed by Christ in his life and death.”
William Temple, from the Renovare Study Bible biography of Timothy
Mar 18, 2012
“ You get what you get, and you don't pitch a fit.”
Annabelle Byrd, preschool wisdom shared with grandparents.
Jan 18, 2012
“ The Reformation put the Bible into the hands of the people. Then came the Enlightenment, and the Bible was subjected to the scrutiny of the scientific method. It was taken out of the hands of the people, and handed to the academics and professors who trained our pastors out of their doubt. The Pastors pass this gift along. Today our Biblical literacy is similar to that of the post-Reformation era.”
Mike Breen
Jan 4, 2012
“ If you ever start to feel enlightened, just go home for Christmas with family and see what comes up....”
Ram Dass
Jan 22, 2011
“ We try to bring out the difference between calling and drivenness. Many people confuse the two, and that's unfortunate, because drivenness is a terrible thing. To know your calling is a wonderful thing, but to be enslaved by some inner compulsion can be maddening.”
Dr. Oz Guinness, quoted in Bob Buford's "Finishing Well", pg 248
Jan 16, 2011
“ Mindless undisciplined Christians will soon find themselves extruded into a foreign mold by the viselike pressure of Roman outlooks and practices.”
Renovare Study Bible intro to 1Peter, pg. 434. Found in my morning devotional reading. Could you not substitute the words 'American culture' for the words 'Roman outlook' and find this prediction coming true today?
Jan 15, 2011
“ Walk away quietly in any direction and taste the freedom of the mountaineer. Camp out among the grasses and gentians of glacial meadows, in craggy garden nooks full of nature's darlings. Climb the mountains and get their good tidings, Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves. As age comes on, one source of enjoyment after another is closed, but nature's sources never fail.”
John Muir. Shout out to my dear friend Beverly Gholson for sharing this wonderful Muir quote with me.
“ He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.”
Micah 6:8 came up in my morning bible reading, and it's one of my favorite passages.
Jan 6, 2011
“ We had human parents to discipline us, and we respected them. Should we not be even more willing to be subject to the Father?....He disciplines us for our own good, in order that we may share his holiness. Now, discipline always seems painful rather than pleasant at the time, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. ”
Hebrews 12: 9-11. I was reading Hebrews in my study time this morning, and was struck once again by this text. In my Old Testament reading, I finished the story of Jonah, and got a picture of God's discipline. I was once again touched by the truth of it
Dec 6, 2010
“ Words can't describe it. It's a wonder what God can do in a person's life, and I thank him every day. Every morning, as soon as my feet touch the floor, my knees touch. I can't ever be happier than I am right now.”
Cam Newton, quoted in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, reflecting on leading his Auburn Tigers to the SEC Championship, and a place in the National Championship of college football. What a testimony to share, despite the controversy around him. Amen
Nov 24, 2010
“ To add growth, lead followers-to multiply, lead leaders. Leaders who develop followers grow their organization only one person at a time. But leaders who develop leaders multiply their growth, because for every leader they develop, they also receive all of that leader's followers. That's the difference between addition and multiplication.”
John Maxwell, from the Maxwell Leadership Bible, notes on 2 Timothy, page 1484
Oct 27, 2010
“ Core coaching questions: What's working? What's not working? What are you learning? What needs to change? What are the next steps? What now?”
Jonathan Reitz, CEO of Coachnet
Oct 13, 2010
“ Those who delight in a multitude of words, even though they say admirable things, are empty within.”
Isaac of Nineveh, a Syrian monk, from Richard Foster's book, Prayer, in the Contemplative Prayer chapter. Been dwelling on these words since I read them. Foster goes on to say, "We today stand under the rebuke of this observation." Guilty, as charged.
Oct 12, 2010
“ Crisis doesn't necessarily make character, but it certainly does reveal it. Adversity makes a person choose one of two paths: character or compromise. Every time a leader chooses character, he grows stronger. Character is the foundation on which a leader builds his or her life. It all begins with character, because leadership operates on the basis of trust. People will follow a leader only as far as they trust him or her. Character communicates credibility, harnesses respect, creates consistency, and earns trust.”
John Maxwell, from his Maxwell Leadership Bible, page 1340, a profile of Daniel.
Sep 21, 2010
“ Remember that pride is the worst viper that is in the heart, the greatest disturber of the soul's peace and sweet communion with Christ; it was the first sin that ever was, and lies lowest in the foundation of Satan's whole building, and is the most difficultly rooted out, and is the most hidden, secret and deceitful of all lusts, and often creeps in, insensibly, into the midst of religion and sometimes under the disguise of humility.”
Jonathan Edwards, Letters and Personal Writings, taken from the cover of the City Church Eastside worship bulletin.
