The Igniting Hope Blog

The Most Overlooked Leadership Skill By Steve Backlund If someone asked us to name the greatest leadership qualities, we might think of vision, wisdom, communication, or integrity. Those are all important. Yet I believe that after love, hope is the most influential leadership quality we can possess. The Greek word for hope in the New Testament means “the confident, joyful expectation that good is coming.” Hope is far more than optimism. It is a conviction rooted in the goodne

Being a Prophetic Person By Steve Backlund I used to think prophetic ministry was only about giving a prophetic word to a person, but I have come to realize the greater invitation is to become a prophetic person—someone who consistently sees and speaks through Heaven’s perspective. Many believers experience moments where they feel inspired to encourage someone or share something they sense from God. Those moments are wonderful, but prophetic living goes deeper than occasional

Who Do You Say They Are? By Steve Backlund “Who do you say they are?” Could this be the third most important question in all of life? The most important question to answer is who we say Jesus is. “(Jesus) said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter answered and said, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven’

Stir It Up By Steve Backlund “Therefore, I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:6-7). The Greek word translated “stir up” denotes the kindling of a fire, as by bellows (a device that provides a strong blast of air). We learn from these verses: Just as a fire can go out due to inattention, our spiritual gifts