True Leadership

Read this while looking at a passage of Mark this morning.  Made me think about how I choose to lead as an elder, a member of the missions team, and in other areas of the church.

So Jesus called them together and said, "You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them.  But among you it will be different.  Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else.  For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many."  Mark 10:42-45

Exporting America

Read this relevant quote from "Red Letter Revolution" by Shane Clairborne and Tony Campolo this morning.  This keeps coming up in things I am reading about our Western approach to missions.  Here they are actually talking about our government and allegiance to country, but it is the same thought.

"We've got to stop trying to export who we are to other nations.  We must recognize the sovereignty of other nations and not go around believing that we have a messianic calling to make other nations into what we are."

Tiny Houses

Interesting approach to housing the homeless that I came across today.


Tiny houses help address nation's homeless problem

The Business of Missions

From "The Poor Will Be Glad" by Peter Greer and Phil Smith

I thought this was inciteful and worth noting:

Churches and ministries never have sufficient time, talent, and money to accomplish all they wish.  However, additional resources already exist in the form of businesspeople within the church who are an essential and underutilized part of fighting physical and spiritual poverty.  You can see one of the most obvious reasons business is important if you glance at your calendar, especially if it looks like mine...The simple fact is that, for most of us, we spend far more time developing relationships and interacting with those in the world or work than we do in the world of church.

The church I attend demonstrates another advantage of involving businesspeople in the mission of alleviating spiritual and physical poverty.  On a typical Sunday, we have over a thousand Christians enter our doors.  That is certainly something to celebrate.  But we seldom have many non-Christians pop in for a visit and, despite our best efforts, many of those infrequent visitors find it difficult to follow the terminology or get meaningfully engaged.  Business offers an environment where non-Christians can watch the behavior of committed Christians and learn about Christianity at their own pace and in their own way.  Business is a window through which the people who most need the gospel can watch Christ at work in the everyday lives of Christians.

His Plans, Not Ours

We continue in our season of uncertainty and waiting.  Some things have become more clear, such as we are having another baby in August (although we are still not sure the why behind it), and others like jobs and future moves not so much.  We continue on in faith and obedience, confident in the care of our Father and his plan above ours.  I learned in Haiti the true meaning of praying "Lord, give us this day our daily bread" and believing it.  Although my situation is not so dire and I have more abundance than can even be imagined in many places, I cling to that prayer.  The Lord will provide and has a plan.  More of Him and Less of me.

I have been drawn to James 4:13-17 these past few weeks.  It is my life verse for right now I guess.  Should be interesting when we get to discussing these verses in Tuesday morning men's group in a few weeks.

James 4:13-17

New International Version (NIV)

Boasting About Tomorrow

¹³ Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” ¹⁴ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. ¹⁵ Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” ¹⁶ As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. ¹⁷ If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.

Ushers, not Bouncers

I have been reading Bob Goff's book "Love Does".  It is great and inciteful in so many different ways, but one thought in what I was reading today really stuck out to me.  He talks about how we as the church, or followers of Jesus should think of ourselves as ushers and not bouncers.  This is in relation to Jesus' story about the banquet where those invited do not show up so the master invites those from the street.  Going back to the mediphore, God decides who gets into heaven.  "We are simply showing people to seats that someone else has already paid for."

The Presence and Sacrifice of Jesus

From "Love Does:  Discover a Secretly Incredible Life In an Ordinary World" by Bob Goff

I learned that faith isn't about knowing all of the right stuff or obeying a list of rules.  It's something more, something more costly because it involves being present and making a sacrifice.  Perhaps that's why Jesus is sometimes called Immanuel - "God with us."  I think that's what God had in mind, for Jesus to be present, to just be with us.  It's also what He has in mind for us when it comes to other people.

The kind of love that God created and demonstrated is a costly one because it involves sacrifice and presence...What I learned from Randy about the brand of love Jesus offers is that it's more about presence than undertaking a project.  It's a brand of love that doesn't just think about good things, or agree with them, or talk about them.

Love requires action.  Real love costs us something.  God's love cost him a lot in sending Jesus into our presence and Jesus' love for us cost him everything though his sacrifice.

That gives a whole new insight into this time of year when God came into our world to dwell among us - Immanuel.