God commanded Joshua to have strength and courage. Joshua led with strength and courage. And Joshua modeled strength and courage across all realms. From scripture, he shows us by his actions and his words what to do and what not to do. Joshua is a leader worthy of emulation. I will shed light on some leadership lessons inspired by Joshua from the first few books of the Bible, of course all through the book of Joshua, and the first two chapters of Judges. There are innumerable lessons we can all benefit from. Read and think through the lens of leadership. I will show each reader how Joshua was unquestionably a perfect person to be born, raised, commissioned, and tested in the crucible of leadership to lead Israel into the promised land. I love the study of leadership, have been doing it for 33+ years, and expect to do it my whole life. Leadership fascinates me and the more I study it the more I validate how critical it is to teams, organizations, our nation, and our church. My life’s purpose is to Positively Influence Lives. This is done primarily through leadership. My measure of success with this project is expose readers to God’s Word, expose readers to some leadership lessons, and enable readers to build upon their leadership knowledge.

A man of destiny, Moses was born to lead a nation through impossible situations, despite not starting his primary mission for eighty years. Leaders and leadership are found everywhere, past and present. There are great examples everywhere you look, if you know what to look for. There are differences as well as commonalities in all leaders that we study. Moses is a phenomenal example to learn from. He is one of the most-mentioned characters in the Old and New Testaments. God held Moses in the highest regard, over all other prophets, and he was the only prophet to speak to God face-to-face. Born in the most inauspicious of environments, under a death warrant by Pharaoh, raised as an Egyptian for his first forty years. Then Moses escaped to the furnace of the Midian wilderness where I believe his leadership, character, and humility were honed for his God-given mission that would last the rest of his lifetime. His final forty years was as unquestioned leader of the Israelites out of Egyptian bondage to the precipice of the promised land. Studying the inspired leadership lessons of a man who lived one hundred and twenty years is as formidable as it is thrilling. This journey will be enlightening, exciting, and energizing.

Jesus is the epitome of what leadership is all about. Amongst other things, Jesus defines service, love, empathy, humility, doing the right thing, being THE example, being a person of character, and being people and mission focused. He is the Perfect Model of leadership and one we should all aspire to emulate. I realize no one can measure up to the perfectness of Jesus or do the supernatural things He did but please take these lessons at face value. Through Jesus’ day-to-day actions and supernatural behaviors there are terrific leadership gems we can all learn from. I love the study of leadership, have been doing it for almost 34 years, and expect to do it my whole life. Leadership fascinates me and the more I study it the more I validate how critical it is to teams, organizations, our nation, and our church. My life’s purpose is to Positively Influence Lives. This is done primarily through leadership. My measure of success with this project is expose readers to God’s Word, expose readers to some leadership lessons, and enable readers to build upon their leadership knowledge.

David is one of the most perfect characters on which to do a study of leadership. We can learn a lot from David’s life. We can learn what to do and what not to do. I think both are important. No one is perfect and learning those tough lessons on someone else’s behalf is as important as learning the more positive ones. David was God’s anointed. He started as a shepherd and through God’s leadership, he became a ruler of a nation and a shepherd over His people. David did not set out to be Israel’s king. He did not set out to ‘be a leader.’ He was thrust into circumstances not of his making. He went through his own crucible time and time again. Through each experience he put more tools in his toolbox so to speak. Although not perfect by any measure, his zeal for God and faith in God became the standard that all future kings of Israel would be measured against. We can learn a lot from current and prior leaders, regardless of where we find them. Like the cook making a stew, you choose which ingredients and how much to use, and learn what works and what doesn’t work for you along the way as you perfect your recipe.

We can find excellent leadership lessons in a lot of places. One of the most interesting and instructive would be the study of Nehemiah. He is one of the great leaders in the Bible and is one of the great leaders in all of history. In this project, we will explore leadership lessons gleaned from his own personal journal and focus on the first seven chapters of the book that bears his name. Additionally, I will reference quotes and other scripture to reinforce the lesson. I summarize each chapter with Nehemiah’s “Master Builder Principles.” Nehemiah was a master builder. He built a wall around Jerusalem in just fifty-two days, when others apparently could not. He built the Jews’ confidence. He built progress. He built a strong and positive culture. He built relationships. He built his positive reputation. He built a phenomenal legacy. He built an example for all to emulate. I love the study of leadership, have been doing it for 33+ years, and expect to do it my whole life. Leadership fascinates me and the more I study it the more I validate how critical it is to teams, organizations, our nation, and our church. My life’s purpose is to Positively Influence Lives. This is done primarily through leadership. My measure of success with this project is expose readers to God’s Word, expose readers to some leadership lessons, and enable readers to build upon their leadership knowledge.

Teams, organizations, and institutions rise and fall on leadership. The simplest definition of leadership, and the one I prefer, is leadership is about influence. Most people think they can define leadership – good and bad leadership – but you definitely know it when you see it. Also, most people can easily tell when leadership is absent. In this study of the leadership lessons inspired by the judges, from the book of Judges and 1 Samuel, I will highlight situations when there was good, bad, or no leadership present. The common theme in the book of Judges starts with apostasy, oppression by a foreign antagonist, Israel’s appeal to God, God’s raising up of a ‘deliverer,’ and the peace that follows, and oftentimes the turn back to apostasy. I love the study of leadership, have been in the midst of it my whole adult life, will study it the rest of my life, and believe it is of highest importance regardless of environment.

The most important disciple a parent will make is within their own home, and yet this is the most difficult disciple to make. Family Discipleship by Matt Chandler and Adam Griffin helps readers develop a sustainable rhythm of gospel-centered discipleship through a guided framework focusing on moments of discipleship in 3 key areas: time (intentional time gathering your family around gospel activities or conversations), moments (leveraging opportunities throughout the day), and milestones (celebrating significant life events). Each section provides parents with Scriptures to consider, questions to answer, structures to implement, and ideas to try out as they seek to see Christ formed in their children. Here is a book that begins with the end in mind, offering ideas and examples of what gospel-centered family discipleship looks like, helping parents design their own discipleship plan as they seek to raise children in the love and fear of the Lord.