The Trip Home
April 20, 2006
Kathryn and I just returned home from Columbus, Ohio, a three-hour drive. What a beautiful day for a drive. The spring trees and bushes were in full bloom, the sun was out and the fields were green with new grass. We had a great time together, and I enjoyed my time at the conference where I taught and counseled many concerning their personal PurposeQuest.
When we got home, our May issue of Charisma magazine was in our mailbox. In that issue, they published my article entitled, Sinners in the Hands of An Angry Leader. It should be available soon in part on the Charisma website, although it isn't there as I write. In that article, I make the point that the hallmark of authoritarian leaders is anger, and I use many biblical examples to back this up. If you would like to read my original article that is on my website, you can go there or just download it below.
But now it's late, and my wife has gone off to get some Chinese food for dinner. The next few days will be busy as we prepare to head to Florida and New Jersey next week. Then I am off to Africa on May 1, to return to the States on June 27.
Download sinners_in_the_hands.doc
Technorati Tags: Charisma Magazine, servant leadership, leadership
John,
I look forward to reading your article on angry leaders.
I’m just now finishing a book that I’d recommend called Achilles in Vietnam. The book, by Jonathan Shay, is about PTSD in Vietnam Vets, and uses Homer’s Iliad as a historical reference point for discussing what happened in Vietnam. It is a fascinating read. There is a piece in it about gentleness in leadership. Here’s a snippet.
“A veteran in our program has written: Gentle people who somehow survive the brutality of war are highly prized in a combat unit. They have the aura of priests, even though many of them are highly efficient killers.” …
“Time and again Homer makes very sure that we understand that gentleness and kindness were Patroklos’s leading traits of character by bringing testimony to it from every conceivable quarter …”
I’ll blog on your article and this later. Just wanted to reference it to you. It is an important issue to address as the culture in some church traditions encourages anger as a pastoral method for communicating the gospel.
Posted by: Ed Brenegar | April 21, 2006 at 10:39 AM