Dr Paul Allen

One of the most memorable events from the book of Daniel—a book with no shortage of memorable events—is Belshazzar’s feast in chapter 5. The potency of the entire empire, its nobility, sexuality, and wealth, is on display in garish fashion—until everyone’s merriment is brought to a sudden end by a vision of a heavenly hand. Talk about awkward. The hand appears immediately and disrupts the hapless, reckless celebration initiated by the drunken regent Belshazzar. Contrary to some interpretations, the vision seems to be literal and apparent to everyone. The image of the appendage is so disturbing that it has a physical effect on the king, causing the color to drain from his face and making his knees buckle (v. 6). We should also notice that no one in the room can understand the message. It may be in a script that appeared illegible. Perhaps the letters are visible, but the significance of them is not. Whatever the case, no one—not the king, the lords, or even the wisest men in his kingdo...

Image via Wikipedia Image via Wikipedia The Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men, and he gives them to whoever he wishes. Leadership is a stewardship that is temporary and can be taken away; we are always accountable. God puts people in leadership . People love to follow humble leaders. There is a self-centeredness involved in leadership that is inherent - the question is how do we deal with this? We deal with this by waking up every morning and say, "the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and he gives them to whoever he wishes." Many of us have worked with leaders that get arrogant, that started out great and that are Christians , but they get so arrogant and it hurts them. Men and women get caught up in their own press release. Read Daniel chapters 4 and 5 about Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar . This story should liberate us as leaders - three words: Diligent  - If you are truly a leader called by God, and God put you where you are, then yo...