Behind all the issues of ministerial conduct and character lies a simple reality. The heart of ministerial ethics and integrity, argues Barbara Blodgett, is trust - trust expected, trust earned, trust practiced. In Lives Entrusted, Blodgett shows how trust is not an emotion or intention but a transaction. People entrust each other with things they value, and that interaction endows a relationship, which in turn helps to create community. Trust, however, is undermined by a number of trust-busters common in the church, including secrecy, auditing, gossip, and b.s. By focusing on crucial practices of trust-identified in terms of risk, vulnerability, and power-Blodgett shows us how we may practice better trust and thus create a unique new framework for ministerial identity and ethics.

Lovingkindness in the Morning will revolutionize your life and allow you to walk in divine favor, prosperity and health. Change your days from the ordinary to the extraordinary, from labor to grace, from chaos to peace and from fear to love. Are you ready for a change in your life? If so, start experiencing God's Lovingkindness in your Morning.

The Core Values of an Entrusted Leader: a HEART willing to do all God asks; a MISSION for leading characterized by a commitment to multiplying followers of Jesus Christ that supersedes all other endeavors; an APPROACH to leadership characterized by denial of self and serving others; the STABILITY for leading created by applying a balance of skills, character, and compassion; a LIFESTYLE that is beyond reproach and publicly demonstrates faith, hope, and love; the FORTITUDE for leading built on faith in the love and sovereignty of God and the discipline of prayer; a WORLDVIEW founded on absolute truth and the words of Jesus Christ. Entrusted Leaders are people of vision who faithfully serve the investment God has ¿entrusted¿ to them by using skills, character, and compassion to encourage others toward a common goal while upholding rock solid core values. In The Entrusted Leader, learn how to live these core values through the teachings of Dr. L. Hollis Jones and the power of God¿s Word.

For religious communities to have integrity and credibility they must flourish as places of love and respect. Every aspect of church life is defined and protected by essential boundaries: boundaries around space, time, thought, speech, will, emotion, and behavior--both for clergy and church members. Lack of awareness and attention to boundary keeping diminishes the integrity of the church and harms its mission, whereas insight and vigilance about best practices lend freedom and energy to the calling of the church to care for others and to reach out to the world. In a flourishing Christian community, a wide array of boundaries must be recognized, celebrated, and navigated--from the boundaries that define and protect us as individual persons to role boundaries and the boundaries that define essential communal functions, such as worship. This book is no conventional account of boundaries. It takes a comprehensive approach to the challenge of understanding and creating healthy boundaries. It applies the lessons from the emerging field of behavioral ethics to the rich and rewarding complexity of boundaries in church life, helping us to be more loving and responsible in how we think, speak, and act, so that the church can be true to its identity and mission.