When asked what one has to do, Jesus said that we needed to love God with all our heart, soul and mind and love our neighbors as ourselves. Is that radical? Is that out there? It is a concept that we will often quote in church and to each other, but do we really do it? Jesus was a radical for his day. He met with women by himself in public. He met with sinners, sick people and a host of others that were just wrong for Jewish males, let alone a rabbi to be in public or by themselves with. Talk the Samaritan women for instance. Jesus was not only alone with her, a big no no, but he was also alone with a Samaritan, which was an even bigger no no. You see in that world, Jewish despised Samaritans. They would take the long way around Samaria which required crossing two rivers just to get from one side of the Promised Land to the other.
Jesus also gives us the story of the Good Samaritan for our consideration. Using the same type of person that Jews despised to show an example of what it means to be a good neighbor. This example provides us with what it truly means to be friend. Giving up time, money, and convenience in order to help those in need, even if they are someone you would generally despise. So what can we take from this example of Jesus?
Everyone is our neighbor. Everyone is our neighbor and we should not discriminate. At the same time, if everyone is our neighbor that means that we have to love them as ourselves even if they engage in things that we may or may not approve of. After John 3:16-17 reminds us that God sent the Son to save us and gives us eternal life, but it is 17 that reminds us that Jesus did not come into the world to condemn it, but to save it. If that is the case, we cannot condemn the world, but try to love and save it. No condemnation means that we have to push past polarizing issues such as homosexuality, people who drink, or have sex, the poor and the downtrodden. What someone does should not matter to us as much as loving them as our neighbor.
Love happens outside of the church. Did you ever notice where Jesus does most of his ministering and healing? In the church? No. Out in the church and on the fridges of society. Where people were cast out, left to fend for themselves, and overlooked. Rarely did Jesus every ministry or heal in church. He did it out side of the church. He did speak in church and provide teaching there, but love and healing for the most part took place outside of the church. What does that mean for us? Should we not go out and do rather than stay inside and hide. That is not to diminish time together with believers and worship, after all Jesus did that with the disciples, but we need to recognize when it is time to go out and be the hands and feet and not just hang around in the sanctuary.
Being a neighbor takes resources. In the story of the Good Samaritan, we get the glimpse of what it takes to be a neighbor. One of the things is resources. We need to make sure that we are willing to offer shelter, pay for food and other incidentals without question. Why, because God told us too. Jesus gave the example for us to learn from. And we are called to go out and do on the Lord’s behalf. We have to be ready to provide resources when we can and in any way we can.
So what king of neighbor will you be? Will you be an example of the Good Samaritan or will you be an example of someone who lives in their Christian bubble and never goes out into the word. Jesus told us to go out and create disciples and baptize and obey everything Jesus commanded to us. He did not say stay…..he said go. What will you do?
Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Can you over plan?
I work with people in my office and friends on time management and planning. I even try with my 12 year old, but I keep getting these looks like “Are you serious?” Regardless, I do my best to provide a myriad of topics to them based on my research and trial and error over the past 10 to 15 years of trying and failing and be successful at time management. The one thing that I suggest to them that gets chuckles the most is that you should try and plan as much as you can even time with yourself or family members. I usually get this look like “You’re kidding.” But I explain to them that it is important to plan time for what you need.
I suggest to them the follow:
1. Time scheduled is more likely to be kept. We often tell ourselves I will clean the garage out this weekend or mow the grass tomorrow night and it seems that they never get done because we get caught up doing something else. I often point out to people this question “When was the last time you missed a meeting or an appointment that was scheduled in your calendar?” Most the time it is I haven’t. Then I point out that if this is the case, why would you not schedule the things in your life that you need to get done too.
2. Faith, Family and “Me” are big rocks. Using the FranklinCovey method of big rocks. Things related to faith and family and myself are the big rocks that need to be scheduled first on our calendar. This way they are put into the calendar and should be marked as non-negotiables in our life. We need to get these scheduled first. Then we can plan everything else around us. I schedule things as innocuous as prayer time in the morning and homework time with my son and time out with the wife and kids. Some people call this going over board and trivialize these things. But I do not think so. It makes my commitment more to them knowing that I carve out time for them and let others know that the time is a non-negotiable. Plus it also allows people who have access to my calendar at work to know that these times, I am not available.
3. Schedule goof off time. Really? Are you losing it? That is what most people say. But if you do not do this, you will find yourself working yourself to death, taking care of others and soon find you self burned out and worn down. We have to have time to sharpen the saw and refuel. Again in my experience, if you don’t plan it you are less likely to do it. If you are less likely to do it, you might not do it at all.
4. Have a family calendar. In order to keep everyone on the same page and for family members to know what each one is doing. I often suggest a common calendar for family. This calendar has info on it for everyone’s activities and then family members know who is doing what and when time is available for them. As part of this I recommend setting aside time to sit down together, each week if possible, to plan for the follow week and update the family calendar.
5. Schedule time once a year for deep reflection. I schedule time a day or two at least for deep reflection once a year. This time is usually spent reviewing my mission statement and updating it. At the same time, I look at things from a high level perspective and plan the big rock goals that I will work on for the following year. This time is refreshing, realigning, revealing, and provides great revelation. I suggest this to all who ask.
Can you over plan? Maybe, but for me it seems to work. Not everything I teach or suggest works for everyone but it does work for some and it might work for you. So, what do you suggest? What types of things do you do to control your time and getting things done? Let me know.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
I suggest to them the follow:
1. Time scheduled is more likely to be kept. We often tell ourselves I will clean the garage out this weekend or mow the grass tomorrow night and it seems that they never get done because we get caught up doing something else. I often point out to people this question “When was the last time you missed a meeting or an appointment that was scheduled in your calendar?” Most the time it is I haven’t. Then I point out that if this is the case, why would you not schedule the things in your life that you need to get done too.
2. Faith, Family and “Me” are big rocks. Using the FranklinCovey method of big rocks. Things related to faith and family and myself are the big rocks that need to be scheduled first on our calendar. This way they are put into the calendar and should be marked as non-negotiables in our life. We need to get these scheduled first. Then we can plan everything else around us. I schedule things as innocuous as prayer time in the morning and homework time with my son and time out with the wife and kids. Some people call this going over board and trivialize these things. But I do not think so. It makes my commitment more to them knowing that I carve out time for them and let others know that the time is a non-negotiable. Plus it also allows people who have access to my calendar at work to know that these times, I am not available.
3. Schedule goof off time. Really? Are you losing it? That is what most people say. But if you do not do this, you will find yourself working yourself to death, taking care of others and soon find you self burned out and worn down. We have to have time to sharpen the saw and refuel. Again in my experience, if you don’t plan it you are less likely to do it. If you are less likely to do it, you might not do it at all.
4. Have a family calendar. In order to keep everyone on the same page and for family members to know what each one is doing. I often suggest a common calendar for family. This calendar has info on it for everyone’s activities and then family members know who is doing what and when time is available for them. As part of this I recommend setting aside time to sit down together, each week if possible, to plan for the follow week and update the family calendar.
5. Schedule time once a year for deep reflection. I schedule time a day or two at least for deep reflection once a year. This time is usually spent reviewing my mission statement and updating it. At the same time, I look at things from a high level perspective and plan the big rock goals that I will work on for the following year. This time is refreshing, realigning, revealing, and provides great revelation. I suggest this to all who ask.
Can you over plan? Maybe, but for me it seems to work. Not everything I teach or suggest works for everyone but it does work for some and it might work for you. So, what do you suggest? What types of things do you do to control your time and getting things done? Let me know.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Are you organized?
A friend of mine at work is trying to get their life organized. They have tried, unsuccessfully, to take a class that I teach on getting organized about 4 times. They have recently purchased an organizer by Franklin Covey to try and help too. I helped them put their planner together and reminded them of some of the tricks of the trade that we have talked about before. I also recommended reading the David Allen book that I posted a review about before.
As I think about this, I wanted to try and put together some best practices list that would help people based on the years that I have been trying to work on this. This is a melding of ideas and I will attempt to make sure that I give proper credit where credit is due.
1. I recommend that you have some type of organization system. It needs to be organic, that means it grows as you grow and changes as you change. I use a combination of Microsoft Outlook and a Franklin Covey planner.
2. Time management all starts with a deep seated understanding of who you are. I was introduced to this concept in the 7 Habits and through the Franklin Covey system. The concept is to have a personal mission statement. It took me about 10 years to get one done and in line with my beliefs, so do not get discouraged if you think that it is not coming along. It is similar to a mission statement of a company, but it is for you. The reason that this is so important is that you need to make sure that you have a basis for what you are going to do each and every day. With a mission statement you have a “true north” and Stephen Covey would put it. You can agree and not agree to do things based on that statement and you can feel good about it. It also reminds you what the important things are and the not so important things are as you start to plan you days each week.
3. A combination of things that I have learned from my experience with Covey and with Allen is the importance of scheduling/reviewing weekly. You need to take time each week to look at what you did, see if there is anything new you need to add into the system and then plan for the following week. It is important to set aside this time each week to do this.
4. One of the best rules that I learn from David Allen is the “2 Minute Rule.” Anything that you encounter through the day (or as David Allen puts it the “stuff” that you encounter) you need to look at it and ask if it can be done it 2 minutes or less. If it can be done then you need to go ahead and do it since it would cost you more time to look at it now, put it in the system and retrieve it and do it. This is a great bit of advice for dealing with e-mail and snail mail as well.
5. David Allen also tells us of the importance of the 3 Ds. That means you need to either do it, delegate it of defer it. I think the important part is about deferring it. It needs to be considered when you have things that have gone undone or that you have not been able to get it. By doing one of the three Ds you allow yourself to help clear things out of your head and you start to think clearly.
6. Speaking of getting things out of your head, another David Allen topic, it is important to keep paper and pen close by all the time. This allows you to write down anything that comes to mind that you need to get out of your head. In essence, this provides you a way to get the mess out of your brain and clear up some of the space between your ears that you can use to be more creative and focus on the things you really need to focus on.
7. When you are planning, plan the “big rocks” first and then the “little rocks” next. I learned this in Franklin Covey training. Big rocks are the things that are most important in your life and need to be addressed and put into the calendar first. Once those are in your calendar or system, then you can start scheduling less that are of lesser importance.
8. I learned this helpful tip from David Allen. Group similar tasks together and get them done at the same time. Take the time to schedule and make all your phone call that you need to make. If you have a variety of work that needs to be done with the use of a computer or the internet, schedule them together and make sure you are at your desk. Taking time to group things makes it easier to get them done and helps you to compartmentalize things in your brain so you are not worrying about calls when you are working on your computer and vice versa.
9. I used to get bogged down the massive tasks in my life. It seems like I would just stare and big things and never get them done. It was only when I started to realize that I need to not look at how big the task was, but break them down to smaller levels that I was able to get things done. It also allowed for me to celebrate successes on the way to getting it done and I was able to help build momentum for the larger task at hand.
10. Sometimes I think that by nature we are intense people. Because of that I could get started of something and then get burned out quickly or start to lose focus the longer I was at it. So I had to realize that something I needed to step back and take a small break and then make sure I was not to focused and missing things. It allows for recharging the batteries and making sure that I am able to get the most out of my abilities.
11. Another tip I got from David Allen is to have things available for down time. Often we do not sue our downtime wisely. We have free time that just slips by us when we could be using it to get things done. You can listen to books on tape during commutes to and from work or if you are picking the kids up. You can have articles and books available that you can read during the wait for the doctor or while you are waiting for soccer practice to end. Having things with you that you can do when you find yourself with extra time is important for getting things done.
12. Finally, I would suggest knowing when your peak times are. What I mean is that we all have different times of the day when we are in the zone versus out of the zone. When our energy is higher than other times of the day. Remembering this will help you to understand how to schedule work based on your energy cycle and will help with concentration too.
These are just a few of the tips that I use to help me stay organized through the week. Doing these things help me to live a life that is easier, look at a e-mail box that is almost always at zero and to free up my mind to think about the important things in life. I hope that they will help you too.
God bless
Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
As I think about this, I wanted to try and put together some best practices list that would help people based on the years that I have been trying to work on this. This is a melding of ideas and I will attempt to make sure that I give proper credit where credit is due.
1. I recommend that you have some type of organization system. It needs to be organic, that means it grows as you grow and changes as you change. I use a combination of Microsoft Outlook and a Franklin Covey planner.
2. Time management all starts with a deep seated understanding of who you are. I was introduced to this concept in the 7 Habits and through the Franklin Covey system. The concept is to have a personal mission statement. It took me about 10 years to get one done and in line with my beliefs, so do not get discouraged if you think that it is not coming along. It is similar to a mission statement of a company, but it is for you. The reason that this is so important is that you need to make sure that you have a basis for what you are going to do each and every day. With a mission statement you have a “true north” and Stephen Covey would put it. You can agree and not agree to do things based on that statement and you can feel good about it. It also reminds you what the important things are and the not so important things are as you start to plan you days each week.
3. A combination of things that I have learned from my experience with Covey and with Allen is the importance of scheduling/reviewing weekly. You need to take time each week to look at what you did, see if there is anything new you need to add into the system and then plan for the following week. It is important to set aside this time each week to do this.
4. One of the best rules that I learn from David Allen is the “2 Minute Rule.” Anything that you encounter through the day (or as David Allen puts it the “stuff” that you encounter) you need to look at it and ask if it can be done it 2 minutes or less. If it can be done then you need to go ahead and do it since it would cost you more time to look at it now, put it in the system and retrieve it and do it. This is a great bit of advice for dealing with e-mail and snail mail as well.
5. David Allen also tells us of the importance of the 3 Ds. That means you need to either do it, delegate it of defer it. I think the important part is about deferring it. It needs to be considered when you have things that have gone undone or that you have not been able to get it. By doing one of the three Ds you allow yourself to help clear things out of your head and you start to think clearly.
6. Speaking of getting things out of your head, another David Allen topic, it is important to keep paper and pen close by all the time. This allows you to write down anything that comes to mind that you need to get out of your head. In essence, this provides you a way to get the mess out of your brain and clear up some of the space between your ears that you can use to be more creative and focus on the things you really need to focus on.
7. When you are planning, plan the “big rocks” first and then the “little rocks” next. I learned this in Franklin Covey training. Big rocks are the things that are most important in your life and need to be addressed and put into the calendar first. Once those are in your calendar or system, then you can start scheduling less that are of lesser importance.
8. I learned this helpful tip from David Allen. Group similar tasks together and get them done at the same time. Take the time to schedule and make all your phone call that you need to make. If you have a variety of work that needs to be done with the use of a computer or the internet, schedule them together and make sure you are at your desk. Taking time to group things makes it easier to get them done and helps you to compartmentalize things in your brain so you are not worrying about calls when you are working on your computer and vice versa.
9. I used to get bogged down the massive tasks in my life. It seems like I would just stare and big things and never get them done. It was only when I started to realize that I need to not look at how big the task was, but break them down to smaller levels that I was able to get things done. It also allowed for me to celebrate successes on the way to getting it done and I was able to help build momentum for the larger task at hand.
10. Sometimes I think that by nature we are intense people. Because of that I could get started of something and then get burned out quickly or start to lose focus the longer I was at it. So I had to realize that something I needed to step back and take a small break and then make sure I was not to focused and missing things. It allows for recharging the batteries and making sure that I am able to get the most out of my abilities.
11. Another tip I got from David Allen is to have things available for down time. Often we do not sue our downtime wisely. We have free time that just slips by us when we could be using it to get things done. You can listen to books on tape during commutes to and from work or if you are picking the kids up. You can have articles and books available that you can read during the wait for the doctor or while you are waiting for soccer practice to end. Having things with you that you can do when you find yourself with extra time is important for getting things done.
12. Finally, I would suggest knowing when your peak times are. What I mean is that we all have different times of the day when we are in the zone versus out of the zone. When our energy is higher than other times of the day. Remembering this will help you to understand how to schedule work based on your energy cycle and will help with concentration too.
These are just a few of the tips that I use to help me stay organized through the week. Doing these things help me to live a life that is easier, look at a e-mail box that is almost always at zero and to free up my mind to think about the important things in life. I hope that they will help you too.
God bless
Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Thursday, February 11, 2010
What does it mean to be a servant leader?
I am reading a book called Practicing Greatness and meeting with a peer group to discuss it. We were revealing the first chapter on the art of self-awareness. It seems to me that all that we do as good leaders’ starts with self-awareness. If we do not know who we are then we cannot ensure that we are not letting things blind us to our opportunities and keep strengths hidden and not used.
As part of the discussion, the concept of servant leadership came up. This is a topic that has been around for a long time especially with the seminal book by Robert Greenleaf call Servant Leadership. It has also been a focal point of Christians as we look to the example of Jesus and what He might model to us about leadership.
For example in Matthew 20:25-28 we get the following passage “25Jesus called them together and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 26Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— 28just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’” This is similarly quoted in Mark 10:42-45.
But what is the key to servant leadership. The corporate world would seem to severely contradict this type of model, but I am sure that there are some that do it. Churches nowadays seem to follow the corporate model to set up its hierarchy, so can the church practice servant leadership this way.
It would seem to me that the key to this concept is “humility.” While Jesus was the ultimate example of what it means to be a servant leader, He is also the ultimate example of humility. Imagine what it took to be God, yet decide that in all His power and glory that He would in term lower Himself to the level of a human and in order to save us. This is the ultimate practice of humility and the example that we should look to in order to determine how to be a self-aware, humble, servant leader.
So what can we do to help us become self-aware and humble servant leaders? I think the first thing that we do is look to other great leaders who exhibited these qualities and read about them and see what it is that they did that helped them to get to where they are and how they practiced their habits to developed these characteristics.
Look for ways to have an impact on others. Great leaders bless, inspire and encourage others. They help them to become something bigger than they are themselves, but they do it at a personal cost. Being a servant leader takes time and resources if we are going to help others. Just as the Good Samaritan gave of his time and money to help the injured man, so we must be willing to do so to if we are going to build up the body. This also means that we might just being creating people who are even great that we are and that requires a great amount of humility to be able to handle that.
Disciplines or practices can also help us grow in this area. Reggie McNeal in the Practicing Greatness book talks about self-awareness, self-management, self-development, mission, decision making, belonging and aloneness as some practices that will help us along the way.
For me there are some things that I do daily to help in this. One is that I surround myself with people who I can trust to tell me about the good and bad about what I do. I call it my “Board of Jim.” Only when we are open to people who can point out both our weaknesses and strengths, can we find ways to grow as individuals and become better leaders.
I also would like to expand on the concept of mission. As much as it sounds weird, along with my board, I also have a mission statement, just as most companies do. This is a very helpful document as it helps me to know what things to do in life and what things to say no to. Plus it is rejuvenating each day to read my mission and to remind me about what it is that makes me tick.
I also find time to carve out of my day for quite time, devotional time, prayer and Bible Study, each important for the development of oneself, personally and spiritually. This also helps to make sure that I am right with God before I try to be right with everyone else.
Hopefully this will give you some thoughts to think about and it will peek some interest into what it means to become more like a servant leader and also how to develop oneself to become formed, or better yet transformed into the image of Christ.
May the grace of the Lord be with you.
As part of the discussion, the concept of servant leadership came up. This is a topic that has been around for a long time especially with the seminal book by Robert Greenleaf call Servant Leadership. It has also been a focal point of Christians as we look to the example of Jesus and what He might model to us about leadership.
For example in Matthew 20:25-28 we get the following passage “25Jesus called them together and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 26Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— 28just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’” This is similarly quoted in Mark 10:42-45.
But what is the key to servant leadership. The corporate world would seem to severely contradict this type of model, but I am sure that there are some that do it. Churches nowadays seem to follow the corporate model to set up its hierarchy, so can the church practice servant leadership this way.
It would seem to me that the key to this concept is “humility.” While Jesus was the ultimate example of what it means to be a servant leader, He is also the ultimate example of humility. Imagine what it took to be God, yet decide that in all His power and glory that He would in term lower Himself to the level of a human and in order to save us. This is the ultimate practice of humility and the example that we should look to in order to determine how to be a self-aware, humble, servant leader.
So what can we do to help us become self-aware and humble servant leaders? I think the first thing that we do is look to other great leaders who exhibited these qualities and read about them and see what it is that they did that helped them to get to where they are and how they practiced their habits to developed these characteristics.
Look for ways to have an impact on others. Great leaders bless, inspire and encourage others. They help them to become something bigger than they are themselves, but they do it at a personal cost. Being a servant leader takes time and resources if we are going to help others. Just as the Good Samaritan gave of his time and money to help the injured man, so we must be willing to do so to if we are going to build up the body. This also means that we might just being creating people who are even great that we are and that requires a great amount of humility to be able to handle that.
Disciplines or practices can also help us grow in this area. Reggie McNeal in the Practicing Greatness book talks about self-awareness, self-management, self-development, mission, decision making, belonging and aloneness as some practices that will help us along the way.
For me there are some things that I do daily to help in this. One is that I surround myself with people who I can trust to tell me about the good and bad about what I do. I call it my “Board of Jim.” Only when we are open to people who can point out both our weaknesses and strengths, can we find ways to grow as individuals and become better leaders.
I also would like to expand on the concept of mission. As much as it sounds weird, along with my board, I also have a mission statement, just as most companies do. This is a very helpful document as it helps me to know what things to do in life and what things to say no to. Plus it is rejuvenating each day to read my mission and to remind me about what it is that makes me tick.
I also find time to carve out of my day for quite time, devotional time, prayer and Bible Study, each important for the development of oneself, personally and spiritually. This also helps to make sure that I am right with God before I try to be right with everyone else.
Hopefully this will give you some thoughts to think about and it will peek some interest into what it means to become more like a servant leader and also how to develop oneself to become formed, or better yet transformed into the image of Christ.
May the grace of the Lord be with you.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Haiti: Hands and Feet
Few people have not been touched, devastated, nor amazed at what has happened in Haiti. This devastation is something that, at least in my lifetime, is unfathomable. It is amazing what the forces of nature did to this tiny island country.
In a short time period, major news networks had set up ways to get money for aid, the State Department, singers and others have introduced the text for Haiti program, and celebrities are rallying for the cause and even companies are donating money.
Several days into it, I heard on the radio that World Vision was getting involved and started to hear more and more about Christian involvement, although I was disappointed by what one prominent religious leader had to say about it. I know that people are entitled to their opinion and I am not going to judge someone for what they said. I am just really troubled when we focus on the negative of a situation instead of how we can help. Jesus said “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” (John 3:16-17) We often forget that 17th verse and I think we would be served well to remember it.
I guess here is the point, who cares why it happened or if there is any big cosmic reason that it did occur, or if the sins of the father and mother are put up on that country. The fact of the matter is that it occurred and the next step should be how we can be the hands and feet of Jesus. One of Casting Crowns new songs is title “If We’ve Ever Needed You.” The point is that we need Jesus’ light shining in the world today and if the people of Haiti ever needed followers of Christ, it is now.
Most people say that they wish that they knew what to do. We all can’t go. We can’t be there in the physical presence. But we can be there spiritually through prayer. We can be there through our ability to donate aid to help them. We all cannot be like companies that donate millions of dollars or a celebrity that does the same, but if enough of us rallied to the cause a million $5 donations becomes $5 million in aid, $10 can become $10 million, and $50 can become $50 million and so on and so forth. Each of us can give up a Starbucks or value meal for one day to make a difference in the life and well being of this country that if they ever needed Christ and Christians, they need us now.
Will you be the hands and feet.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
In a short time period, major news networks had set up ways to get money for aid, the State Department, singers and others have introduced the text for Haiti program, and celebrities are rallying for the cause and even companies are donating money.
Several days into it, I heard on the radio that World Vision was getting involved and started to hear more and more about Christian involvement, although I was disappointed by what one prominent religious leader had to say about it. I know that people are entitled to their opinion and I am not going to judge someone for what they said. I am just really troubled when we focus on the negative of a situation instead of how we can help. Jesus said “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” (John 3:16-17) We often forget that 17th verse and I think we would be served well to remember it.
I guess here is the point, who cares why it happened or if there is any big cosmic reason that it did occur, or if the sins of the father and mother are put up on that country. The fact of the matter is that it occurred and the next step should be how we can be the hands and feet of Jesus. One of Casting Crowns new songs is title “If We’ve Ever Needed You.” The point is that we need Jesus’ light shining in the world today and if the people of Haiti ever needed followers of Christ, it is now.
Most people say that they wish that they knew what to do. We all can’t go. We can’t be there in the physical presence. But we can be there spiritually through prayer. We can be there through our ability to donate aid to help them. We all cannot be like companies that donate millions of dollars or a celebrity that does the same, but if enough of us rallied to the cause a million $5 donations becomes $5 million in aid, $10 can become $10 million, and $50 can become $50 million and so on and so forth. Each of us can give up a Starbucks or value meal for one day to make a difference in the life and well being of this country that if they ever needed Christ and Christians, they need us now.
Will you be the hands and feet.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Book Review: The Monkey and the Fish
I recently read Dave Gibbons book The Monkey and the Fish: Liquid Leadership for a Third-Culture Church. Perhaps the best part of the book for me was the analogy he uses through an Eastern parable. It is the parable of the Monkey and the Fish. In essence we have a monkey, whom perhaps is well-intentioned, who sees a fish in the water. There has been a recent typhoon and the fish is struggling with all its might to get to up river. The monkey sees this and reaches down into the volatile waters at great personal risk to save the fish. The monkey grabs him and places him on dry land. To the monkey the fish showed great excitement but soon fell into a peaceful sleep. As Gibbons so eloquently puts it, it died. As so his revelation to the church in the 21st is that we are flapping away in excitement on the land, but soon if we are not careful we will to will be asleep with the fishes.
With that Dave walks us through the concept of Liquid Leadership for a Third-Culture Church. In other words, how do we in the church world lead in the global world of today? In order for us to do that we need to live like Christ did in a culturally contextual world that allows us to understand the people to whom we are trying to reach. It essence it shatters the old mission concept of going into a land and build churches that look like western churches with their big pillars and pews, instead it asks us to look at how we can meld faith into the cultural context of the group we seek to be missionaries to.
Dave goes on to explain that to be first culture is to embrace one culture, to be second culture is to embrace another culture. The synergy point is the third culture or that you do not embrace either/or, but to embrace both/and, working synergistically hand in hand with both cultures.
He talks about how to lead in a third culture church through his chapters Liquid, Wardrobe, Neighbor, Liquid Bruce Lee, Three Questions That Become the Answer, cWoWs: Everyone Plays and Ripples. Liquid focuses on the need to understand globalism and how this impacts the church. It also focuses on how we can understand and embrace other people’s culture better in the vein of the Parable of the Good Samaritan. In other words, we need to be willing to cross lines, whatever they are, in order to reach people, where they are, not where we think that they should be.
This is a warning cry for the church. The more we try to reach people the way we think, the more we push them away from us. Just think about the story that Gibbons uses with the Good Samaritan. The way of the church at that time was to think of the Samaritan as a lesser person, someone that did not deserve the time of day, yet Jesus uses this person as a powerful example of what it means to live in a “Third Culture “ world where you are friends to all. Being a good neighbor means being good to those who are different than us. It also means to be a good neighbor to people who believe different than us.
This book is a must read for anyone in church leadership, but it also has some powerful things to think about for those of us who are lay leader and just members. Gibbons not only points us in the direction of leadership in a “Third Culture” world, but gives us just some good life lessons to live by as a people who are called to follow Jesus and embrace His calling and fulfill the Great Commission.
Some people have said that they do not think that Dave’s exploitation of “Third Culture” is clear. However, he tells us that it emerges from Genesis 12. This is a great passage. This is the call to Abram to go out to a land that he is not familiar with and God’s promise that “all peoples on earth will be bless through you.” (Genesis 12:3) “Third Culture” is about being called to go out, to love, to server and to do it no matter what even if it is difficult. Why? Because all people will be blessed through all of us that go and serve as God has commanded us to.
We are often too worried about our own kingdoms that we forget about those who are on the outside, marginalized and cast aside. These are the people that Jesus went to do his ministry with. He meets them where they were. He ate with them. He walked with them. He cured them. He saved them. He died for them….and us.
The good news is that this it is not too late. We have been given a tremendous challenge by Dave’s book. We can either watch the fish swim upstream and pull it out to be with us, or we can just into the water with the fish and help it get to its destination. The choice is yours. God has prepared you. Now you need to take the next step.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
With that Dave walks us through the concept of Liquid Leadership for a Third-Culture Church. In other words, how do we in the church world lead in the global world of today? In order for us to do that we need to live like Christ did in a culturally contextual world that allows us to understand the people to whom we are trying to reach. It essence it shatters the old mission concept of going into a land and build churches that look like western churches with their big pillars and pews, instead it asks us to look at how we can meld faith into the cultural context of the group we seek to be missionaries to.
Dave goes on to explain that to be first culture is to embrace one culture, to be second culture is to embrace another culture. The synergy point is the third culture or that you do not embrace either/or, but to embrace both/and, working synergistically hand in hand with both cultures.
He talks about how to lead in a third culture church through his chapters Liquid, Wardrobe, Neighbor, Liquid Bruce Lee, Three Questions That Become the Answer, cWoWs: Everyone Plays and Ripples. Liquid focuses on the need to understand globalism and how this impacts the church. It also focuses on how we can understand and embrace other people’s culture better in the vein of the Parable of the Good Samaritan. In other words, we need to be willing to cross lines, whatever they are, in order to reach people, where they are, not where we think that they should be.
This is a warning cry for the church. The more we try to reach people the way we think, the more we push them away from us. Just think about the story that Gibbons uses with the Good Samaritan. The way of the church at that time was to think of the Samaritan as a lesser person, someone that did not deserve the time of day, yet Jesus uses this person as a powerful example of what it means to live in a “Third Culture “ world where you are friends to all. Being a good neighbor means being good to those who are different than us. It also means to be a good neighbor to people who believe different than us.
This book is a must read for anyone in church leadership, but it also has some powerful things to think about for those of us who are lay leader and just members. Gibbons not only points us in the direction of leadership in a “Third Culture” world, but gives us just some good life lessons to live by as a people who are called to follow Jesus and embrace His calling and fulfill the Great Commission.
Some people have said that they do not think that Dave’s exploitation of “Third Culture” is clear. However, he tells us that it emerges from Genesis 12. This is a great passage. This is the call to Abram to go out to a land that he is not familiar with and God’s promise that “all peoples on earth will be bless through you.” (Genesis 12:3) “Third Culture” is about being called to go out, to love, to server and to do it no matter what even if it is difficult. Why? Because all people will be blessed through all of us that go and serve as God has commanded us to.
We are often too worried about our own kingdoms that we forget about those who are on the outside, marginalized and cast aside. These are the people that Jesus went to do his ministry with. He meets them where they were. He ate with them. He walked with them. He cured them. He saved them. He died for them….and us.
The good news is that this it is not too late. We have been given a tremendous challenge by Dave’s book. We can either watch the fish swim upstream and pull it out to be with us, or we can just into the water with the fish and help it get to its destination. The choice is yours. God has prepared you. Now you need to take the next step.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Friday, January 8, 2010
Should women preach in the church?
I was reading an interesting article about Reverend Robert Schuller, the founding pastor of the Crystal Cathedral in Southern California on Ethics Daily. The article pointed out that he was going to be turning over the administrative duties of the ministry to his daughter Shelia Schuller Coleman. As I was reading this it reminded me of the old debate that has ripped apart many congregations as well as a few conventions as it relates to whether or not women should preach in church.
I remember attending the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship convention a couple of years ago and as I was walking around, I saw a lot of shirts that women were wearing that said; this is what a pastor looks like. It makes me wonder why this has been such an issue of debate to the point of becoming a civil war in the midst of the church. The Bible is filled with examples of women who have done great things on behalf of God and even talks about some who founded some churches too. Yet thousands of years later we are still dealing with this issue today.
The interesting part is that I have talked to a lot of people and most of them come down on one side of the fence, and it is about 50/50 in terms of people I talk to. I do not know why that surprises me but it does. I guess I had hoped that we had move on in the world of squashing women in ministry. But alas we have not.
The classic text that is always brought up is the text-segment in 1 Corinthians 14:34-35. So how would you help someone understand this particular text-segment?
When addressing this passage, I think that it is important to understand the issues that surround the text. First, there is the thought that this is a later addition into the letter. There are manuscripts that indicate that 34-35 was actually after verse 40 in some cases and was written into the margin of some of these writings. Given this, it is possible that Paul did not even write this in his original letter. However, this could be a difficult discussion to broach with a member of the church who may not understand the implications of how the Bible came together and that there could be variances in the Holy Word.
However, taking a closer look at what is written can also provide some basis to discuss the concept further. We have to take the original meaning to heart when we look at this passage. It seems that Paul is addressing a specific issue and unless we examine that issue we cannot truly understand what Paul was addressing. We already know that there are conditions to think about with this passage. As a matter of fact in 1 Corinthians 11:5, Paul clearly indicates that it is okay for women to prophesize as long as their head is covered, which is another issue to talk about.
One of issues in our passage is that verse 35 presumes that all women have husbands to go to ask questions. Obviously, we know that not all women would, so it would seem that this is meant to address a specific issue as it relates to something going on in the community faith as it relates to women who do have husbands.
After considering this, we have to look at part of the issues facing the church at Corinth. Paul is arguing to the Corinthians about their abuse of the gift of tongues and their views about spirituality. In other words, the church has been abusing their gifts and using them more as an example of their religiousness versus for the reason God intended them to. Given this, it is possible that Paul could have been admonishing some of those women who were abusing their gifts rather than making an edict that no woman should speak.
So in this way, it seems that Paul may have been actually encouraging women in speaking and prophesying in church, but perhaps they are not to speak out for merely show. This would also fit in with the cultural context of the situation at hand.
It would not be very subversive for a woman to speak and prophesize, but it may have been very controversial for them to interpret or evaluation someone else’s prophesies. There may have been a faction of women, who were married, that were taking their gift and making a scene with them and Paul may have been advising them not to disrupt the service and seek guidance from their husbands in this case.
In any case, it is clear that it is difficult to really understand the passage, without really looking into it and making sure you understand the context surrounding it. Given this, it would be wise for us to consider what it means in the passage and reconsider the role in women in the church. After all, if it were not for the women of the world, we would not have half as many churches we do today. But that is this person’s humble opinion.
God bless.
I remember attending the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship convention a couple of years ago and as I was walking around, I saw a lot of shirts that women were wearing that said; this is what a pastor looks like. It makes me wonder why this has been such an issue of debate to the point of becoming a civil war in the midst of the church. The Bible is filled with examples of women who have done great things on behalf of God and even talks about some who founded some churches too. Yet thousands of years later we are still dealing with this issue today.
The interesting part is that I have talked to a lot of people and most of them come down on one side of the fence, and it is about 50/50 in terms of people I talk to. I do not know why that surprises me but it does. I guess I had hoped that we had move on in the world of squashing women in ministry. But alas we have not.
The classic text that is always brought up is the text-segment in 1 Corinthians 14:34-35. So how would you help someone understand this particular text-segment?
When addressing this passage, I think that it is important to understand the issues that surround the text. First, there is the thought that this is a later addition into the letter. There are manuscripts that indicate that 34-35 was actually after verse 40 in some cases and was written into the margin of some of these writings. Given this, it is possible that Paul did not even write this in his original letter. However, this could be a difficult discussion to broach with a member of the church who may not understand the implications of how the Bible came together and that there could be variances in the Holy Word.
However, taking a closer look at what is written can also provide some basis to discuss the concept further. We have to take the original meaning to heart when we look at this passage. It seems that Paul is addressing a specific issue and unless we examine that issue we cannot truly understand what Paul was addressing. We already know that there are conditions to think about with this passage. As a matter of fact in 1 Corinthians 11:5, Paul clearly indicates that it is okay for women to prophesize as long as their head is covered, which is another issue to talk about.
One of issues in our passage is that verse 35 presumes that all women have husbands to go to ask questions. Obviously, we know that not all women would, so it would seem that this is meant to address a specific issue as it relates to something going on in the community faith as it relates to women who do have husbands.
After considering this, we have to look at part of the issues facing the church at Corinth. Paul is arguing to the Corinthians about their abuse of the gift of tongues and their views about spirituality. In other words, the church has been abusing their gifts and using them more as an example of their religiousness versus for the reason God intended them to. Given this, it is possible that Paul could have been admonishing some of those women who were abusing their gifts rather than making an edict that no woman should speak.
So in this way, it seems that Paul may have been actually encouraging women in speaking and prophesying in church, but perhaps they are not to speak out for merely show. This would also fit in with the cultural context of the situation at hand.
It would not be very subversive for a woman to speak and prophesize, but it may have been very controversial for them to interpret or evaluation someone else’s prophesies. There may have been a faction of women, who were married, that were taking their gift and making a scene with them and Paul may have been advising them not to disrupt the service and seek guidance from their husbands in this case.
In any case, it is clear that it is difficult to really understand the passage, without really looking into it and making sure you understand the context surrounding it. Given this, it would be wise for us to consider what it means in the passage and reconsider the role in women in the church. After all, if it were not for the women of the world, we would not have half as many churches we do today. But that is this person’s humble opinion.
God bless.
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