Nick Chellsen's Blog, page 4

Galactic Wisdom: 47 Leadership Principles From Star Wars

Happy Star Wars Day!

To celebrate 47 years of Star Wars, I’m sharing 47 quotes from the movies and TV series as well as the leadership principles we can learn from them. 

A New Hope (1977)“May the Force be with you.” — Han Solo, et alPrinciple: The most well known quote in all of Star Wars (if not all of film). This quote highlights the importance of believing in something bigger than yourself. “Who’s the more foolish: the fool or the fool who follows him? — Obi-Wan Ke...

How to Pray

The Church of Pater Noster (Photo by Nick Chellsen)

During my undergraduate studies, I had the opportunity to take a two-week class in the Holy Land. The experience felt less like a field study and more like a pilgrimage. At each biblical site we visited, we would read a passage of Scripture about that place. 

One of my favorite places that we visited was the Church of the Pater Noster on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. I learned during my visit that “Pater Noster” is Latin for “Our Fath...

Book Summary: START WITH WHY

I find that anytime time I meet someone new, there will inevitably come a point in the conversation where they ask, “What do you do?”

This can be a good question to get to know someone. However, I think there is a better question you can ask when meeting someone for the first time. Instead of asking someone what they do, you can ask why they do it. 

In his book, Start With Why1 (2009), Simon Sinek writes, “People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it.” Essentially, why we do wh...

START WITH WHY Book Summary

I find that anytime time I meet someone new, there will inevitably come a point in the conversation where they ask, “What do you do?”

This can be a good question to get to know someone. However, I think there is a better question you can ask when meeting someone for the first time. Instead of asking someone what they do, you can ask why they do it. 

In his book, Start With Why1 (2009), Simon Sinek writes, “People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it.” Essentially, why we do wh...

Exploring Emotions Through Psalms

Photo by Tim Wildsmith on Unsplash

During my undergraduate studies, I took a class on pastoral care and counseling. My professor for this class was Dr. Dennis Nichols. He had experience as a chaplain in both military and healthcare settings, as well as in pastoral ministry.

In this class, Dr. Nichols taught us that there were four basic types of feelings:

GladSadMad“Frad” (afraid) 

As Christian leaders, we will not only experience each of these emotions ourselves, we wi...

Resurrection Sunday: Hopeless Times & Hopeful Leaders

James Tissot, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Holy Week Reading Plan: Matthew 28:1-10

I don’t need to tell you that the times we are living in are not the most hopeful. Your favorite cable news network can probably do that for me. There are plenty of things happening around the world that would make us feel hopeless. 

Because of this, it can be easy for people to let the current circumstances dictate how much hope they have. This is one reason leadership is important and opport...

Holy Saturday: Everyday is Holy Saturday

James Tissot, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Holy Week Reading Plan: Matthew 27:62-66

Holy Saturday is the day in-between Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

As Christians, it can be easy to jump from the crucifixion to the resurrection without any reflection on the day in-between.

I’ve led and attended many Good Friday and Easter Sunday services. However, I have never been invited to a Holy Saturday Service.

Part of me gets it. In Mathew’s gospel, there are not that many ver...

Good Friday: What does it mean to “take up your cross”?

James Tissot, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Holy Week Reading Plan: Matthew 27:1-61

Good Friday commemorates Jesus’ crucifixion.

As we reflect on the cross Jesus carried on Good Friday, we must also consider the cross He calls us to carry today. 

Luke 9:23 reads, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me” (NIV).  

There are two ways to think about the cross in this passage: physical and spiritual. A physical cr...

Maundy Thursday: What does “maundy” mean?

James Tissot, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Holy Week Reading Plan: Matthew 26

Maundy Thursday commemorates Jesus’ last meal with his disciples. The Last Supper is documented in Matthew 26:17-30, Luke 22:7-38, Mark 14:12-26 John 13: 1-38. The word “Maundy” comes from the Latin word meaning “command” and refers to Jesus’ command to wash feet. 

In John’s account of the Last Supper, Jesus washed His disciple’s feet. This likely would have shocked them. Foot washing was often...

Holy Wednesday: The Last Parable

Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Holy Week Reading Plan: Matthew 24-25

There are 40 parables in the Gospels. A parable is a short story that teaches a spiritual principle. The last parable Jesus teaches in the book of Matthew is “The Parable of the Sheep and the Goats” (Matthew 25:32-46). 

In this parable, the Shepherd King separated His followers like sheep and goats. He put one group on His right and one group on His left.

The group on the left shunned peo...