New Edition of Leadership Lessons of Jesus

Broadman & Holman has just released a brand-new edition of Leadership Lessons of Jesus, a book I co-authored with Bob Briner. The new edition takes selected chapters from the two original volumes, “Leadership Lessons of Jesus” and “More Leadership Lessons of Jesus.” The result is a “best-of” that contains over 70 short vignettes on leadership, all based on Mark 1-10. I wrote most of the biblical material and Bob contributed most of the business-related stories.I am happy about this for a number of reasons, but mostly because it keeps Bob Briner’s name in print for a new generation of readers. I first met Bob in the 1980s when I pastored Northeast Bible Church in Garland, Texas. At the time he had a very successful career as a sports TV promoter. He knew everyone there was to know in pro tennis plus he knew all the sports TV producers and announcers. He circled the globe, meeting heads of state from Iran to Korea to France to Russia to you-name-it. In 1976 he was the first Western sports executive to enter China after the Cultural Revolution. Along the way he helped make tennis a truly worldwide sport. And he was good at what he did, very successful, and highly respected. Plus he was a strong Christian. He never made a big deal about it, preferring to let his life explain his faith, but everyone who knew Bob knew he was a follower of Jesus. It helped that he was never very impressed with himself and therefore he wasn’t intimidated by the high and mighty types he encountered on his travels.

I can still remember the day when I sent Bob an email saying he should do a book on leadership based on one of the gospels. He faxed me back saying, “I’d like to write that book with you.” A few days later I drove to his home in Greenville, IL to discuss the project with him. From that meeting came Leadership Lessons of Jesus. It turned out to have a long shelf life, being widely used both in classroom settings and also by Christians seeking to know how to lead like Jesus.

In the summer of 1998 Bob was diagnosed with abdominal cancer. He left us a year later, dying much too soon at the age of 63. The last time I saw him, a few days before he died, he was in obvious pain but greeted me as he always did by saying, “Pastor Ray, it’s good to see you.” And then,”You shouldn’t have come all this way,” but it was a small thing compared to all he had done for me. Before we left, I kissed him on the cheek and said, “I’ll see you again.”

I am very happy this morning to remember my dear friend and to know that his wisdom is being made available for a new generation of readers.