Leadership Development
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May-07-2022 | Leadership DevelopmentFinding the Innovation Sweet Spot
Community, or collective based societies, characteristically are more loyal but may struggle with innovation; because, permanence of custom guides the group while individualistic thinkers can chart unique paths. If you nurture a blend of both individualistic thought and community, that is actually an innovation sweet spot.
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Oct-16-2021 | MJY StrategiesA Revival of Loving Your Enemies is Coming… and You Can Join
I dream of a church that paints huge targets of love on her enemies. Could we be a church that has a reputation for aggressively loving, blessing, and praying for terrorists, democrats, republicans, evil bosses, colleagues, betrayers, etc.?
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Nov-22-2020 | MJY StrategiesNavigating our Tensions with Government
Is it okay to view politics from more than one side?
The early church both honored Rome’s leadership and saw Jesus’ kingship over the cosmos. How can you have two world rulers? “By myself I have sworn; from my mouth has gone out in righteousness a word that shall not return: ‘To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear allegiance’” (Isaiah 45:23). Paul paraphrases this in Philippians 2:9 to mean Jesus. In contrast to this, we are told to “honor the emperor” (1 Peter 2:17). It is a tension to determine what ruler we should honor.
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Oct-25-2020 | MJY StrategiesWho Is Your Enemy?
Christians in this area sometimes face persecution, and missionaries and businessmen have been the target of many kidnappings and executions (including beheadings). The region has been fraught with raids and massacres by militant groups.
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Aug-23-2020 | MJY StrategiesFostering Peace in Violent Regions
Many of the regions we work have been steeped in decades of violence. Militant groups capitalize on this culture by actively recruiting among the youth, offering them paid positions in rebel groups and using education to try to convince them to join extremist causes.
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Aug-09-2020 | MJY StrategiesDreaming with Leaders
Many organizations work within a prescribed—or a one-size-fits-all—approach to impacting their respective communities. Where these approaches can fall short is in failing to recognize and empower the most important vision of all: that of the local leaders…
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Jul-18-2020 | MJY StrategiesBlack Fathers Matter
Circumstances are making many black fathers MIA throughout society, so it is not too much of a surprise that they are also missing from the official #BlackLivesMatter website. My blog explores expressions of family, the value that fathers add, and especially why #BlackFathersMatter in developing an amazing rising generation.
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Jun-20-2020 | MJY StrategiesThe Leadership Call Of The African American Community
About 14 years ago, I was told to give a prophetic word to an African American Church. I didn’t have a clue what to say but as I prayed and wondered if God would say anything, the words fell into my head like rain out of blue sky. The perspective I heard has forever impacted the way I have thought about the African American community.
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Jan-11-2020 | MJY StrategiesThe Purpose of Conflict
The purpose of conflict should not be to take out the person we are in conflict with, but to destroy the weapon—the disagreement—creating the conflict. Let’s make sure conflict focuses us on the true enemy.
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Apr-21-2019 | Project-AK47Leaders Without Guns
This area is favorable for rebel armies and for good reason...
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Aug-03-2018 | Project-AK47Seeking Peace: An Update from Mindanao
Out here, military and police checkpoints seem as common as fruit-stands. Outside every school is a green sign with bold white letters stating simply: “This school is a ZONE OF PEACE. Let us protect it from conflict.” Security is tight and it needs to be.
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Aug-27-2015 | Leadership DevelopmentFormer Child Soldier Turns Entrepreneur
It's amazing what can come out of a life of oppression.
Emmanuel Jal, a young man from South Sudan, grew up in a life that many of us cannot imagine. At 7, he was forced to become a child solider to fight in the South Sudan civil war. He says that one of his most haunting memories is from when he was tempted to eat one of his fellow soldiers for survival.