Dr. Mark D. Roberts is a Senior Strategist for Fuller’s Max De Pree Center for Leadership, where he focuses on the spiritual development and thriving of leaders. He is the principal writer of the daily devotional, Life for Leaders, and the founder of the De Pree Center’s Flourishing in the Third Third of Life Initiative. Previously, Mark was the Executive Director of the De Pree Center, the lead pastor of a church in Southern California, and the Senior Director of Laity Lodge in Texas. He has written eight books, dozens of articles, and over 2,500 devotions that help people discover the difference God makes in their daily life and leadership. With a Ph.D. in New Testament from Harvard, Mark teaches at Fuller Seminary, most recently in his D.Min. cohort on “Faith, Work, Economics, and Vocation.” Mark is married to Linda, a marriage and family counselor, spiritual director, and executive coach. Their two grown children are educators on the high school and college level.
Workday Prayers: The Rewards of Walking with God at Work
Sometimes we think our faith is relevant only to our personal life, to matters of family, friendship, personal devotions, and private morality. Psalm 128 reminds us that our relationship with God has implications for all of life, including our daily work. If we want to enjoy the benefits of our work, we should honor God in all we do at work, and seek to walk in God’s ways.
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How Thinking Differently Can Unleash Your Imagination
If you wish to develop your imagination, by all means “think differently.” Be willing to think in new ways, to take risks, to unleash your imagination. Let the Spirit of God transform your thinking so that you might not be conformed to this world. As you do this, find companions who are willing to support you and encourage your creativity. Moreover, let your imagination be molded and inspired by the God whose “thoughts are not your thoughts.”
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How Solitude Can Unleash Your Imagination
No matter how busy our lives might be, all of us would benefit from setting aside even a modest amount of time for solitude. When we’re by ourselves, like Jesus, we’re not really alone. Rather, we’re away from people so we might draw near to God. As we do, our imaginations will be unleashed so that we might participate creatively in God’s work in the world.
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Will I Be Remembered After I’m Gone? Does It Matter?
This article was inspired by two experiences I had last month, one in Vermont and the other in Massachusetts. Both experiences got me wondering: Will I be remembered after I’m gone? And does it matter?
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Clarifying Your Purpose in the Third Third of Life, Part 5
This is the fifth article in a series on “Clarifying Your Purpose in the Third Third of Life.” To this point, I have offered six suggestions to help you identify and live into your third third purpose…
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How Worship Can Unleash Your Imagination
Feel awe in the presence of natural wonders. Marvel at the glowing beauty of a sunset. Feel stunned by the power of a thunderstorm. Wonder that you are dwarfed by the majesty of lofty mountains. All of these sources of awe reflect the power and glory of God. But don’t stop with feeling awe in response to God’s creation. Rather, let your worship open your imagination to the presence and power of God, whose awesomeness dwarfs everything in the universe.
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Leave the Campfire
Fear can bind up our imaginations. Fear of the unknown, of the disapproval of others, of what we cannot control ties down our creative capacity. But knowing that God is with us sets us free from fear. Thus our confidence in God’s presence unleashes our imaginations.
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Workday Prayers: When You Feel Anxious About Work
Help me, O God, to trust you more and worry less. Help me to take on what is mine and to let go of what is yours.
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How to Liberate Your Imagination: A Personal Example
No matter the particular challenges you’re facing today, whether at work or at home, in your relationships or in your community, in your leadership or your discipleship, God’s Spirit is at work in you, and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom: freedom to imagine, freedom to dream, freedom to fail, freedom to confess, freedom to grow, freedom to serve others with vision and compassion.
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How to Liberate Your Imagination
No matter the particular challenges you’re facing today, whether at work or at home, in your relationships or in your community, in your leadership or your discipleship, God’s Spirit is at work in you, helping to liberate your imagination so that you might live and lead with greater freedom, vision, fruitfulness, and joy.
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The Redemptive Imagination of Jesus, Part 4
How open are you to being surprised by Jesus and his plans for your life? If Jesus were to call you to something you did not expect, how would you respond? What would hold you back? What would encourage you to speak and live an unequivocal “Yes” to Jesus?
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The Redemptive Imagination of Jesus, Part 3
Jesus sees us as we are, with mercy. Jesus sees us as we shall be, with confident hope. The redemptive imagination of Jesus sets us free from self-doubt and shame so that we might become all that God intends for us.
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Workday Prayers: For Joy and Blessing When Work is Painful
Work is often hard—and not just hard, but painful. Yet in our struggles at work, we pray for God’s blessing. We look forward to the joy that is coming even in the midst of our pain.
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The Redemptive Imagination of Jesus, Part 2
The example of Jesus challenges us to consider how we picture the people in our lives. Do we use our imaginations to see people’s potential? Or do we see them in a rather static way? And if we see their potential, do we help them to grow? Or do we keep them in their place if it serves our own interests?
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The Redemptive Imagination of Jesus, Part 1
There is certainly a time and place for didactic language, for explanations and demonstrations, for elucidation and evidence. But the power of imaginative story can take the truth from our heads to our hearts, and from our hearts into our daily lives. We experience this power as we hear the parable of Jesus known as The Prodigal Son.
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