Todd Engstrom

Category: leadership

  • Called | JD Greear

    I loved JD Greear‘s thoughts on calling as they are seeking to plant 1000 churches in 40 years.  Below is the excerpt: First, calling is not: * Necessarily a Burning Bush/Damascus Road/Warm Fuzzy experience. We all want the Mark Driscoll, “God told me to marry Grace, plant churches, and train men” kind of experience, and…

  • Discipleship and Ministry

    I’ve been spending some time lately reflecting on my ministry and the coming season.  As my role has continued to change and our church has continued to grow, the pressures have changed and my time is increasingly spoken for. In addition, it seems like there is always a person or a task that needs immediate…

  • Between Two Worlds: Calvin’s Death-Bed Charge to Older and Younger Men

    The following quote is from Between Two Worlds: Calvin’s Death-Bed Charge to Older and Younger Men on Douglas Bond’s The Betrayal: A Novel on John Calvin (P&R, 2009). Here’s how John Calvin wisely charged older and younger men just one month prior to his death (p. 369): April 27, 1564, Calvin called members of the…

  • Leadership | Contexts

    Before the next section, below is a short personal aside: — As I’m working on writing this series of posts on leadership, it is proving to be a really great learning experience.  Although it seems incredibly pretentious to write about this topic, especially when I have such little experience, I decided that it is beneficial…

  • Leadership | Service

    As I’ve been thinking on discipleship for the last few weeks, it naturally has been provoking thoughts of leadership.  I’m going to start a new series with my philosophy and practice of leadership and leadership development, especially within the church. Service The foundation on leadership is very simply service.  Godly leadership is very simply a…

  • Discipleship | The Austin Stone Summer Conference

    I’m on a panel called “Making Disciples in the Church” for The Austin Stone’s Summer Conference. Below are the questions I’m being asked (phrased from the point of a facilitator). Section 1 How did you start making disciples? How did you find the person you are discipling? What prompted you to be intentional with that…

  • Tribes Thoughts | Leadership is Influence

    One good insight from Tribes has been thinking through how leadership is influence, which is practically exercised through commonality of an idea and communication. Godin’s most basic argument is that marketing has changed the rules for markets, and more concretely, the internet has changed the face of marketing to provide greater influence to individuals disconnected…

  • Tribes Thoughts | Assimilation is Connectivity

    In Tribes, Seth Godin talks about Senator Bill Bradley’s elements of movement: A narrative that tells the story of who the tribe is and the alternate future they are building Connection between the movement leader and the tribe Something to do, or actionable items In my context, number two is the hardest to accomplish, and…

  • Ministry Idolatry from Tim Keller

    The following is from 3 questions with Tim Keller at Towers Online. Q: What safeguards should 20-something pastors have in place to avoid the idolatry of ministry fame and the attitude of big numbers equals success? TK: If you know it is a danger, that is a very important start. Additionally, when you find yourself…

  • Wearing Many Hats

    Through the last few years, I am becoming infinitely more aware of the necessity of adaptation and flexibility in whatever environment I am working. No matter how much I desire to have things under control, or how much I want to have the requisite skill set completely mastered for a job, I continue to find…

  • Choosing Who to Mentor | Touchpoint

    The more I read David Watson’s Blog, the more I am enjoying his insights.  He has some excellent words in a post about who to choose and mentorship/discipleship, and what he looks for before investing in someone. His six points of evaluation are below: Christ-like Christ-centered Character Capability Competency Capacity Chemistry Read how he expands…

  • Reflections on the Ministry : Rick McKinley

    This was a convicting message for me to hear from Rick McKinley of Imago Dei in Portland. The art of unbusyness and unneccesariness is essential to the being available to God. There is disaster awaiting the one who gets bogged down with doing good, and not dwelling in the excellent. It is our job to…